Expect the Expected
Alexander Payne, David Fincher and the Marvel Machine are all back, with varying movies (and results).
In This Week’s Edition: three very different movies whose titles all begin with the word “The.”
Movie Quote of the Week 🎬 💬
“THE SINK’S A GONER…
…ITS COMING OUT OF ME LIKE LAVA!”
hint: oft cited as one of the funniest movies of the past two decades (ever?)
I’ve got me a flight to catch tomorrow, er, today (I write this on Wednesdays) and some clothes that have yet to be packed 👙 😬, so I’m going to have to leave you with this little thought…
What if, and go with me here, lip balms were square-shaped 🟧 instead of circular 🟢 so they didn’t roll away all the time1.
Think about it. 🧠
Note: based on the poll last week, not that many of you seem to engage with the spoken version of the newsletter, so I may rethink how I incorporate. But if you are all of a sudden severely missing that aspect, please do let me know (just hit reply!).
NEWSY BITS 👾
SAG-AFTRA Reaches Tentative Agreement With Studios, Ending Actors Strike - (Full Article) - like a kid getting to the end of their parents rant about the importance of “good judgement,” we can all collectively say, “finally. it’s over” (and congrats to all involved - sincerely!) - The Hollywood Reporter
Disney Says It Will Take Full Control of Hulu (Full Article) - Comcast (i.e. NBC, Universal, Peacock) owns the other 33% and is selling to Disney. Price is tbd, but this means Hulu can be even further integrated into Disney+ and maybe eventually it just becomes a “tab,” or hell, strong possibility it just goes away completely. This also means any Comcast owned content will be moving off the platform (already the case in some instances like The Voice). Change, it’s the only constant. - The New York Times
‘Legend Of Zelda’ Live-Action Pic In Works At Sony With Wes Ball Directing, Nintendo Co-Financing (Full Article) - look, I don’t normally mention production stuff, but… it’s fucking Zelda. Ok, fine, there’s also the large view that since both The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Barbie did well, it’s emboldening IP holders to invest in “movie-fying” their brands. Not that they weren’t before, but still. - Deadline
EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) 📝
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt - the kind of movie that looks like a poem (it was made by a poet after all), but in movie form, with that sort of wash-over-me quality if you let it. I.e. Terrence Malick-esque. The reviews support, and even mention the poem like qualities of the film and praise it for being able to turn it into something you can still connect with and not just observe. Playing in Limited Theaters NOW
NOTABLE NEW RELEASES 🎟 & 📺
I’m not sure “softy” is the first word I would use to describe Alexander Payne, the director of such sour (but excellent!) comedies Nebraska, Sideways and The Descendants. So I can understand why he is a bit perplexed when people describe his new movie, The Holdovers as “cozy.” It befuddles him so much so that he talked about the issue at length in a recent interview, trying to suss out exactly why someone might describe his film that way. Especially when at the center of it, are three people going through different yet all difficult personal matters that make them, at least initially, quite miserable. The director even makes sure to note that, “a very large percentage of suicides happen between Christmas and New Years.“ And yet, “warm” and “cozy” is exactly how you too may come away describing The Holdovers. Because as we all know, once the artist puts their art out into the world, it becomes whatever the audience feels it is.
But don’t get it twisted, this isn’t some Hallmark movie that’ll just starting shooting its sentimentality through the screen, covering you in its uber teeth-whitened-holiday-glee. This still looks like a classic Alexander Payne movie with disgruntled people just trying to make their lives a little less hell on earth. And who better to typify a curmudgeonly professor at the center of it all than Payne’s Sideways buddy, Paul Giamatti. Uh, probably no one (editor’s note: that was rhetorical 🙄).
But Giamatti is just one third of the triumvirate that you’ll spend time with around the Christmas Holiday of 1970 (note: not only is the movie set in 1970, it’s also made to look as if it was shot in 1970 - including the stylized trailer). Joining Giamatti’s cantankerous prof at this east coast boarding school / holiday daycare are Da'Vine Joy Randolph (from Only Murders in the Building) as the school’s cook who recently lost her son in Vietnam and Angus Tully (it’s his first movie or show) as the only kid without a home to go to.
“Even as the story accrues the heft of personal tragedy, each scene seems to float or bob. That’s touch, and Payne’s always had it, this knack for crudeness and discourtesy, for pleasing whiffs of sweetness that can take the form of wit or revenge, pettiness or justice.“ - from The New York Times review of The Holdovers
You can probably predict exactly where this is going in a lot of ways. Especially with the whole “cozy” discussion above. But as we’ve talked about numerous times, it’ll have to earn that destination. And reviews say it really does, creating a poignancy without sentimentality that takes into account each characters backstory. It didn’t work for everyone mind you (does anything ever?) as a few critics felt it a bit too manipulative - funny considering Payne has also said specifically said “I hate feeling manipulated, myself, in movies” - but beyond a couple haters, it’s getting pretty intense love.
Which I’m sure Payne enjoys, if is a little uncomfortable with.
🌵
Note: playing NOW in limited theaters in some major cities like NY / LA
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
2 hrs 13 mins | R | 🍅: 96%
The Marvel franchise, aka the MCU2, is kinda turning into that once great athlete who completed every goal they set out to achieve, is regarded as one of the best to ever do it, but somewhat perplexingly to onlookers, is still suiting up each and every game as if there’s more to be done and yet it’s quite clear their skills ain’t what they used to be.
Which is why it’s kind of hard not to look at a movie like The Marvels with a hint of pity. Obviously that’s a bit weird when you’re talking about a corporate product that has made billions upon billions of dollars (and will make more of them). But emotions are complex, right? Plus, there’s the simple fact each and every film is still the result of a massive effort by the humans behind it.
It’s especially hard when you consider people like The Marvels director Nia DaCosta, who has made some well regarded movies in the Candyman “redo” and Little Woods (co-starring Tessa Thompson who plays Valkyrie in the MCU), and is now jumping into a world so complex and weighed down with story and expectations it’s gotta be hard to establish yourself.
But in fact, it’s DaCosta and her perspective that are actually getting a decent amount of love amidst the fairly muted overall critical response - and potentially lowest ever domestic box office opening for a Marvel movie. But it’s not just the filmmaker, the stars of the movie Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel), and Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau) - with Vellani’s turn as the fan-girling Ms. Marvel getting the most and near universal praise - who are also being lauded. So what gives?
Well, even if DaCosta tries to insert some zaniness, not unlike what maybe Thor: Ragnarok did, reviews say the fact it has to act as yet another “end of everything” situation with so much back story you’d need to watch multiple movies and TV shows to fully understand what’s going on, makes the affair far too difficult to follow initially, but more importantly, makes it hard to give a crap about the events occurring on screen.
Because at least when you’ve seen Tom Brady throw his millionth game winning TD to win his umpteenth Super Bowl, to the point it feels scripted, you can at least know that it wasn’t (or was it?!3), but here it literally is and thus when you’ve seen variations of the same thing 32 times before, knowing it’ll come out essentially the same way, well, you can understand a fan thinking, "but why do I care?”
“This film actually attempts to be new and fresh — Vellani and Parris have enough charm to power 10 more films, and the “wacky” moments that pepper this one are welcome respite that show real originality from DaCosta — but it’s all ripped away for more of the same. That “same”? It’s not working anymore, and if “The Marvels” shows us anything, it’s a fleeting glimpse of what the MCU could look like, if only it was superheroic enough to try.” - from the Indiewire review of The Marvels
Out: Friday
Where: Netflix
1 hr 45 mins | PG-13 | 🍅: 58%
On pure plot alone, The Killer sounds like every direct-to-streaming action movie ever produced: nihilistic assassin does his job meticulously without thinking of those on the other end of his bullet, until *shock* something about this job goes wrong…
But in what looks to be the perfect example of why having a great director matters, The Killer apparently becomes something more than just a bunch of chase scenes and fists impolitely introducing themselves to jaws.
That’s because The Killer was directed by David Fincher. A filmmaker known for being nearly as exacting as the nameless assassin portrayed by Michael Fassbender. His rigorous efforts have produced a list of movies that are well regarded (Se7en, Gone Girl, Fight Club, The Game), if not always for everyone. That’s because Fincher often (but not always) has a tendency to focus on the, shall we say, darker side of things. And you can expect similar hued efforts here, with many critics calling this an almost pitch-black comedy. One where you can expect brutal fight sequences along with wry narration by Fassbender that might bely his actual feelings of a situation.
“Fassbender pulls the challenging job off with a deceptively breezy ease. He plays an empty man with no past to mourn, only a plan to execute. Yet we will come to care deeply for his survival.” - from the Globe and Mail review of The Killer
It’s the kind of stuff that you can see other directors try for, but often fail at, but because Fincher’s just so damn good at what he does, that even if you don’t like it, you’ll still probably appreciate it.
“Throughout it all, as you might well expect, Fincher’s filmmaking is immaculate. It is pure pleasure to luxuriate in imagery made with such obvious, deliberate care. You feel his precise framing, his careful composition, his notorious multiple takes.“ - from the Empire review of The Killer
And while you’ll be following Fassbender nearly exclusively, he will encounter other players, the best of which will almost assuredly be Tilda Swinton, who as always, reportedly keeps on giving with her acting. 🙏
Note: playing NOW in limited theaters in some major cities like NY / LA
Out: Friday
Where: Netflix
1 hr 58 mins | R | 🍅: 88%
TRAILERS! ⏯ “I wonder…”
The Fall Guy - I wonder… if Ryan Gosling planned this perfect capitalization of his Kenergy.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - I wonder… if you could just slot in any word before “…of the Planet to the Apes” and it’d sound epic.
Mean Girls - I wonder…. why Paramount didn’t show any actual musical scenes in the trailer for this Mean Girls musical, which is based on the Broadway musical, which is itself based on the original film.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - I wonder… if the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man makes a return since they returned to the ol’ NYC.
The Boy and the Heron - I wonder… if I really expected American audiences to not get a trailer like Japanese audiences did before the release of Hayao Miyazaki’s next film4.
The Family Plan - I wonder… does Mark Wahlberg even fucking care anymore, or is he just too tired from getting up at 3:30am everyday and saying yes to whatever scipt is tossed his way? (kidddinnngggggg5)
Lift - I wonder… if Kevin Hart can actually pivot to becoming a legit action star like it seems he’s trying to do here (I wouldn’t bet against him).
just me?
Marvel Cinematic Universe
it’s not
I did not
kinda