Call Me Captain Obvious 👨✈️
Aye Aye?
In This Week’s Edition: various stages, some bigger than others and a challenge to readers
“Come play with us, Danny.”
-hint: the writer of the novel upon which it’s based hates the (first) filmed version
Can I point out something obvious?
You, as a human, are able and allowed to hold multiples thoughts in your head at once.
I know, absolutely wild revelation, right?? It’s almost as if two things can be true at the same time. Or three! Even four! Hell, why not try five?!
I bring this up because the world seems to be thriving on a search for certainty. A sort of quest for the one truth. If we don’t have an answer, we must find one. And the answer that one finds is the only answer.
It’s a topic I’ve addressed numerous times as it relates to cinema - whether a movie can honestly be described as “bad” or “good.” It’s actually one of the fun parts of the whole moviegoing affair. The debate you can have on a film’s merits. But it’s *ahem* certainly not an issue exclusive to media. It’s pervasive. And it’s what seems to drive our culture at the moment (always?). One’s certainty against another’s rightness. An epic battle that will forever light the sky with the sparks of the dueling swords of conviction (editor’s note:🙄).
I bring it up, yet again, because two of the movies coming out this week will engender discussions of certainty. Whether in the realm of opinion or facts. Likely both. And I want you to consider them with a little forethought of whether being 100% in your vision of things is always the best way. Or at least, the only way. To flirt with a sort of agnosticism on rightness. At least for the next few minutes while you consume the rest of this email. And then after, you can go back to knowing exactly how the world is.
Or who knows, maybe you’ll like it, and start to question everything. 😈
NEWSY BITS 👾
Hollywood Writers Ratify New Contract With Studios (Full Article) - why interesting: they did it! actors on the other hand… - NY Times
EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) 📝
Scrapper - I’ve been waiting to highlight this one for a while (when it went to streaming) because it looks absolutely adorable. It’s a UK set dramedy about a girl that loses her mother who then sees her estranged father show up and they have to navigate the new reality together. The reviews are extremely warm, saying it just skirts the line of being too cute / emotionally manipulative and ends up being great. Streaming This Friday
Totally Killer - I meant to mention this one last week, when it first came out, but hey, shit happens. If you’re keen, you still have time before Halloween to watch this 80’s set time traveling slasher where a teenager (Kiernan Shipka from Mad Men / Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) is sent back in time and has to find a killer with her (also now teenage) mom. The reviews are actually pretty into it, with a focus on the well done melding of genres. Streaming on Amazon Prime NOW
NOTABLE NEW RELEASES 🎟 & 📺
A few days ago I read an article about the retirement of the co-creator of Tiny Desk concerts, that NPR creation which has become a bit of cultural force (see: Mac Miller’s performance before his death or Usher’s “watch this” meme). The piece featured three different YouTube videos from the series: Anderson .Paak and the Free Radicals, The Cranberries and, you guessed it, Taylor Swift.
But only Taylor Swift.
As in it was just her, a mic, a guitar and a piano. Over 28 minutes she runs through various songs in her catalogue, taking breaks in-between to explain the meaning or origins of a track. In presentation it is the exact opposite of The Eras Tour, the record breaking stadium mega-tour Swift has also turned into what is already a record breaking concert film.
To some fans, her Tiny Desk effort might prove just how talented she is, showing that she doesn’t need all the flashiness of humongous screens, fireworks and backup dancers to show off her talents. Because at her core, she’s a songwriter. But to others, it might lay out exactly why they don’t like her - an intensely packed viewing area for what? Yet another breakup song with trite lyrics? For the airy lilt of her singing voice which can’t compete with some of the belters out there? Or gawd, her silly style choices…
Because whenever you start talking about Taylor Swift, the conversation almost inevitably never stays solely on her music. It can quickly become about her talent, or lack thereof, about her looks, or lack thereof, her ability to dance, or lack thereof, her vocal range, her politics, her dating past, present and future. Things tend to get maximized - she’s either “the best 🎉” or “the worst 🤮”.
It’s likely why in part, Taylor Swift the person is TAYLOR SWIFT the cultural phenom. The obsession from fans has created an almost opposite obsession of detractors who ask, what exactly is the big fuckin’ deal?
Which are all opinions that have little to do with this movie directly, because this is essentially some nicely shot and cut footage for those people who were not able to grab some very difficult to get tickets (or others who want to relive a very expensive night). It shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but it is a big deal. Because “the deal,” is Taylor Swift.
And while I’m 100%1 certain none of what I just wrote made any difference in whether you were planning on attending this what I can only call an “event” (but if you are, make sure and get tickets, because it’s only running a few short weeks and only from Thursdays - Sundays) I’m still glad we had this… discussion? Because no matter your opinion of Swift, I would ask one question: how well do you actually know her? Because unless y’all hang out on the regs, she’s likely far more what you want her to be, than what she really is. So until you two are FaceTime buddies, let’s maybe hold off on some of our more capricious opinions and enjoy the show.
Or don’t.
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
2 hrs 48 mins | PG-13 | 🍅: TBD
How ugly are those giant-ass-90’s-ties in the photo above?
Pretty damn ugly if you ask me. It’s fine, clothing goes in and out of style. But you know what never seems to? A damn good crowd-pleasing courtroom drama (with excellent performances). Which is exactly what The Burial looks like it is.
All the more impressive when you consider the fact the particulars of the movie sound sleepier than a corporate training video on “Document Security” - an owner of a small chain of southern funeral homes (Tommy Lee Jones) sues a much larger company trying to screw him and his family over a failed business deal. Snooze-fest, right? Apparently not if you have a solid director (Maggie Betts) and cast Jamie Foxx as a flashy injury lawyer trying his first contract case who learns there’s more to this trial than just drab legalize but a larger story about how the funeral industry has harmed Black people with their practices for years.
It’s the kind of stuff you would’ve expected to see, well, in the 90’s. Which funny enough, is the time period in which The Burial is set since it’s based on a true story. And in what one could argue happened far more often in the 90’s, when actors were given far more leeway to be the centerpiece of a big mainstream films, you’re probably going to understand why a star, is a star, because Foxx is getting ridiculous love from critics, saying that his ability to fill up the screen with his charisma or command attention in the smallest moments, makes an already well told story that much more compelling.
But it’s not just Foxx who seems to elevate his work, but Jones as well, who reviews call out for having a sort of freedom in his performance he hasn’t shown in a while. And then there’s Jurnee Smollet as the defense attorney who acts as foil, if not exactly foe, to Foxx’s character.
So unless you suffer from cacophobia2 centered on ties so large they could blot out the sun, there’s a good chance you might want to consider The Burial.
Out: Friday
Where: Amazon Prime
2 hrs 6 mins | R | 🍅: 89%
My father might be a bit surprised by this, but I’m going to quote him. After years of practicing law and representing numerous people during their divorces, I have a vivid memory of him saying that the only people who really know what’s going in a relationship, are the people in it (I might be more paraphrasing than quoting, but it works). It clearly made an impression on my teenage brain which was damn confident it knew how things were and should be.
So consider the above when I ask, how well do you really know the romantic relationships of those around you? Well enough that if one of them died under somewhat suspicious circumstances, you could say unequivocally that the other did not harm them? Because even the most seemingly secure relationships have their issues...
Hell, there was research a few years back that indicated the more you post on social and the like (i.e. increased relationship visibility), the more likely you are to have insecure feelings about your relationship. So yes, even that beautiful smiling couple you love to hate on Insta may *gulp* fight sometimes.
But gossiping is one thing, what if you had to determine the fate of one half of a couple in the event the other died? The dynamics of a relationship start to take on whole new meaning and importance. Was a fight just a fight, or cause for bloodlust?
These are central questions of Anatomy of a Fall, this year’s winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes (basically the Best Picture award). And while it takes place in a courtroom at times, the movie looks to be less about litigation and more about dissecting something from the outside that can only really, truly be known from the inside. By the parties who gave rise to the entanglement. But when someone dies, we start to ask questions, looking for answers.
But what if, and go with me here, there aren’t any? At least not in that way you want. And if that’s the case, then you have to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty, instead of rightness and condemnation or absolution.
If the thought of feeling emotionally unmoored frightens you, then Fall may not be your movie. But if on the other hand you enjoy taking your mind to murky places, by all means, buy that ticket.
Out: Friday
Where: Limited Theaters
2 hrs 30 mins | R | 🍅: 97%
TRAILERS! ⏯ “You might think…”
You might think… The Iron Claw is some weird medieval torture movie, but it’s actually a story about an ill-fated wrestling family starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allan White.
You might think… The Color Purple could be a kid’s YouTube video series about, um, the color purple, but it’s actually a musical remake of the classic film.
You might think… The Taste of Things is a hedonistic movie about a drug fueled exploration of youth, but it’s actually an already very well liked romance starring Juliette Binoche where food is at the center.
ok, 99.99%
it’s a fear of “ugliness”