Steve Stebbing

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Sep 21

stevestebbing

September 21, 2023

New Releases:

Expend4bles – A new generation of stars joins the world’s top action stars for an adrenaline-fueled adventure in Expend4bles. Reuniting as the team of elite mercenaries, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Sylvester Stallone are joined for the first time by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia. Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world’s last line of defence and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give “new blood” a whole new meaning.

Expectations: “They’ll die when they’re dead” is the tagline for this fourth Expandables film that we never knew was coming, the big team-up of all the greatest action stars. The team is looking a bit thinner these days, without the inclusion of heavyweights like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li or Harrison Ford but there is something fun to these dumb, bombastic and one-liner-filled movies that satisfies the original action kid in me and I expect this to be no different. It is also the first entry in the franchise to be rated R, so that’s fun.

Dumb Money – The ultimate David vs. Goliath tale, based on the insane true story of everyday people who flipped the script on Wall Street and got rich by turning GameStop (yes, the mall videogame store) into the world’s hottest company. In the middle of everything is regular guy Keith Gill (Paul Dano), who starts it all by sinking his life savings into the stock and posting about it. When his social posts start blowing up, so does his life and the lives of everyone following him. As a stock tip becomes a movement, everyone gets rich — until the billionaires fight back, and both sides find their worlds turned upside down.

Expectations: A bizarre story straight out of the pandemic era, I was wondering how quickly the Game Stop stock saga was going to get the film biopic treatment and here it is, helmed by the capable director of I, Tonya, Craig Gillespie. A phenomenal cast led by one of the greatest character actors today, Paul Dano, I have very good thoughts about this movie and have been looking forward to it ever since it’s first trailer. This might be the sleeper hit of this month to alleviate the boredom that has been September.

No One Will Save You – This film introduces Brynn Adams (Kaitlyn Dever), a creative and talented young woman who’s been alienated from her community. Lonely but ever hopeful, Brynn finds solace within the walls of the home where she grew up–until she’s awakened one night by strange noises from decidedly unearthly intruders. What follows is an action-packed face-off between Brynn and a host of extraterrestrial beings who threaten her future while forcing her to deal with her past.

Review: I’ve been a huge fan of Kaitlyn Dever for years and with the release of Booksmart she really started getting some good attention. This kind of film is my total jam, a one-on-one battle for survival between a great character actress and an extraterrestrial force and I loved every second of it. The writer and director Brian Duffield hit another home run, something very common for him after his debut, Spontaneous, as well as his scripts for Love And Monsters and both of the Netflix-made Babysitter movies. The guy rocks and hopefully, this one will grow into a sleeper hit as well.

Barber – Val Barber, a private investigator, is hired by a wealthy widow to find her missing granddaughter Sara. As initial investigations into her disappearance begin to darken, secrets surface in unexpected ways. Before too long, Barber finds himself entangled with powerful men of shady morals determined to thwart his investigations. Has he bitten off more than he can chew?

Review: Anyone who is a fan of The Wire and Game Of Thrones knows how great Aidan Gillen is as an actor and just coming off the newest season of Mayor Of Kingstown, my vigour for the Irish character chameleon’s work is at an all-time high. This film feels like a standard BBC film thriller but the focus here is Gillen’s nuanced work which is evident with every moment of screen time he has. To be honest, if Val Barber’s character were to continue on in another film or series form, I would be on board with that. It reminds me of Idris Elba’s Luther a bit.

Relax, I’m From The Future – A man from the future, now trapped in the past, tries to make a life for himself, oblivious to the consequences he has set in motion.

Review: One of the funniest New Zealanders ever, Rhys Darby, stars in a film set in Toronto with one of Canada’s more niche actors, Julian Richings. That’s all you need to say to sell me and it really works to combine in a dopey low-fi comedy sci-fi that comes through with some mild chuckles. It feels very independent which will hurt it on a financial box office level but fans of Flight Of The Conchords and Our Flag Means Death may discover it and champion it through word of mouth. It may be a Canadian-made international darling.

Cassandro – Saúl Armendáriz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso, rises to international stardom after he creates the character Cassandro, the “Liberace of Lucha Libre.” In the process, he upends not just the macho wrestling world, but also his own life.

Expectations: Gael Garcia Bernal stars in this true story pro wrestling biopic so you know I’m on board with it immediately but I also have to note that it co-stars the massive recording star Bad Bunny in the romantic lead, a big acting breakthrough for the Grammy winner. As a fan of the industry, I know a little bit about this story and am excited to see the crossover with the mainstream stuff I know really well but, as a story of the struggle of a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I hope it is handled well and with sensitivity to the real Cassandro. The film is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes so I’m assuming it is well crafted in all aspects.

It Lives Inside – Sam, an Indian-American teen, lives in an idyllic suburb with her conservative mother and her assimilated father. Sam’s cultural insecurities grow due to her estranged friend, Tamira, who mysteriously carries around an empty mason jar all the time. In a moment of anger, Sam breaks Tamira’s jar and unleashes an ancient Indian demonic force that kidnaps Tamira. Sam searches for Tamira, following the trail of a young man who performed a deadly ritual, until the demonic entity starts targeting her, murdering her boyfriend and shattering her reality with terrifying visions. Sam must band together with her parents and a sympathetic teacher to save Tamira and put an end to the terror of the demon.

Expectations: Yes, another horror movie dumped into a month that is filled with productions that studios don’t know what to do with. This one instantly interests me as it is a chilling demonic force story set against a cultural background, exploring the Indian ancestry and the evil that could be contained within. I really enjoy the lead actress in this, Megan Suri, as I enjoyed her a lot in the Netflix series Never Have I Ever and she recently showed up as the main character’s friend in the screen-based thriller Missing, so it’s cool to see her get the big push in this bigger Hollywood horror. This could be really great.

Blu-Ray & DVD:

The Little Mermaid – The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, Ariel is a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. Longing to learn more about the world beyond the sea, Ariel visits the surface and falls for the dashing Prince Eric. Following her heart, she makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, to experience life on land.

Review: I had a low bar set for this live-action adaptation of a Disney classic, one largely regarded to be the greatest of their library. None of the other big screen versions had been even close to the calibre of the originals and, while this one falls short of that mark as well, it really is a pretty solid film with some really great moments from most of the main cast. Halle Bailey is an instant star in her main role as Ariel and Melissa McCarthy excels in her villain role, something she clearly had a lot of fun with. I was really surprised with how much this film worked for me and I chose to go beyond the faux outrage that many have levelled at it.

Past Lives – In Korea, Na Young, a girl and Hae Sung, a boy are schoolmates and good friends. They often walk back home together after school. Na Young moves to Canada and then to New York with her parents. Hae Sung continues living in Korea, does his engineering course, goes through a short spell of military service and then takes up a job. Both keep in touch periodically through video chats where they talk about their past and general stuff. Meanwhile, in New York, Na has changed her name to Nora, made a name as a playwright and is happily married to Arthur, an American. Hae is keen to meet Nora and visit her in New York, where he spends time with her and Arthur. What has the future in store for Nora and Hae in their relationship?

Review: This film may have snuck in and become my favourite film of 2023, a story full of soul, human connection and also the effect on lives when that is abruptly cut off. This is such a bold debut for writer and director Celine Song who crafts this tale of two fibres connected and severed to be reconnected again in twelve-year intervals. I was engaged from the start as both Greta Lee and Teo Yoo are so brilliant together and when it becomes a trio with John Magaro’s character, the film elevates to perfect levels. This is my recommendation of the year and I am here lobbying for it to be a Criterion Collection entry. It’s that damn good.

Biosphere – In the not-too-distant future, the last two men on earth must adapt and evolve to save humanity.

Review: A simple movie at its core, following two men living in a biosphere, assumedly the last two men on earth, but it’s a premise that could lead to almost anything and the avenue it chooses is one I could never see coming. Written and starring one of my favourite indie filmmakers, Mark Duplass, this movie has commanding performances from him and Sterling K. Brown who is able to take this wild situation and make it so deep and meaningful. I loved this film a lot once I was able to contextualize it afterwards but I can see many people being put off by it.

Bad City – In a city plagued with poverty and crime, a corrupt mafia-connected businessman runs for mayor and starts eliminating his opponents. A former police captain in jail for murder is secretly released and put in charge of a special task force in a desperate, last-ditch effort to take down the corrupt tycoon.

Review: Just tell me a movie is a Yakuza underground crime thriller and I’m more than game to watch your movie but I will say that Takeshi Kitano or Takeshi Miike are kind of the masters of that genre. This story exists in a lower budget and subtler tone but the blood is always flying and the action is pretty fast and furious. I was also surprised by the artfulness of the film for being such a smaller production. They utilized their budget well and some of the set pieces really stand out.

Fire Country: Season 1 – Bode Donovan, a young convict seeking redemption, joins an unconventional prison release firefighting program in Northern California, where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires. It’s a high-risk, high-reward assignment, and the heat is turned up when Bode is assigned to the program in his rural hometown, where he was once a golden all-American son until his troubles began. Five years ago, Bode burned down everything in his life, leaving town with a big secret. Now he’s back, with the rap sheet of a criminal and the audacity to believe in a chance for redemption.

Review: Honestly speaking, a series about wildfires and firefighters is a little close to home being a resident of British Columbia or even the Okanagan alone, but this show has some appeal to it that I can get behind. The series is led and co-created by SEAL Team’s Max Theriot, who has become a pretty solid television star through that show’s run and makes Bode a pretty solid character, although with some glaring cliches starting with the hometown mysterious kid storyline. I do really like that it follows a group of inmate firefighting program volunteers, giving it a different edge than you’d see on your standard procedural.

Steve’s Blu-Ray & 4K Geek-Outs:

American Pop – This animated trek across the musical landscape of the 20th century begins with young immigrant Zalmie (Jeffrey Lippa) arriving in New York City. He’s addicted to show business, but an accident ruins his voice. He marries a stripper (Lisa Jane Persky) and their son, Benny (Richard Singer), becomes a jazz pianist. Although Benny is killed in World War II, his son, Tony (Ron Thompson), goes on to great success as a songwriter during the ’60s, as does Tony’s son, Pete (also Thompson), in the ’80s.

Review: As a big fan of Ralph Bakshi’s work for a long time, I love films like Heavy Metal, Fritz The Cat and his unfinished Lord Of The Rings, but this film has always been a blind spot until this Blu-ray release. The film is interesting in its commercial appeal, which only poked up its head in Heavy Metal to my memory, but something rare in the animator’s work. I love that the restoration of the picture for this format makes the rotoscope animation style sort of pop off a good television and to experience something so daring at its time of release in an era that has definitely felt its influence is very cool. A niche film for sure but something worth watching.

The Legend Of Zorro 4K – The legendary Zorro (Antonio Banderas) goes on another adventure to protect the future of California and its citizens. This time, he fights against evil-doers with the help of his beautiful wife, Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones), and their precocious young son, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso). Don Alejandro de la Vega is torn between two worlds: his life as Zorro, and his life as a family man. After Alejandro once again breaks his promise to stop wearing the mask, Elena leaves him and soon begins seeing Armand (Rufus Sewell), a haughty French Count. But a mysterious explosion in the desert leads Zorro to believe that there’s more to Armand than meets the eye, and our hero is intent on finding out what that is. Little does he know, there are others working to uncover certain truths as well.

Review: Getting a short little franchise around the 2000s, Antoni Banderas was pretty well cast as the title character, ironically enough being cast as Puss In Boots in Shrek 2 the year before this sequel, and Catherine Zeta-Jones was one of the hot A-listers at the time. I remember not enjoying this film as a jaded twenty-something. Still, in this new 4K upgrade I felt the movie was pretty fun and it’s that adventure style that director Martin Campbell excels at, coming from the Bond franchise’s GoldenEye and Casino Royale which he would release the same year. The film also features Rufus Sewell in a villain role which always makes an action adventure come together well.

The Princess Bride 4K – A kindly grandfather sits down with his ill grandson and reads him a story. The story is one that has been passed down from father to son for generations. As the grandfather reads the story, the action comes alive. The story is a classic tale of love and adventure as the beautiful Buttercup, engaged to the odious Prince Humperdinck, is kidnapped and held against her will in order to start a war, It is up to Westley (her childhood beau, now returned as the Dread Pirate Roberts) to save her. On the way, he meets a thief and his hired helpers, an accomplished swordsman and a huge, super-strong giant, both of whom become Westley’s companions in his quest.

Review: Easily one of my favourite films of all time and a movie responsible for my love of filmmaking as a craft, the loving edition that the people at the Criterion Collection have put together is a piece of art within itself. Packaged in something that feels like a real book, this is crammed with special features on the disc and a beautiful book of essays from the cast and those inspired by the film as well as behind-the-scenes photos, a majority taken by star Mandy Patinkin. If you are a fan of this film at all, you really owe it to yourself to go out and get this, the most definitive version you will find of it.

Television:

Sex Education: Season 4 (Netflix) – Socially awkward high school student Otis may not have much experience in the lovemaking department, but he gets good guidance on the topic in his personal sex ed course — living with mom Jean, who is a sex therapist. Being surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations about sex, Otis has become a reluctant expert on the subject. When his classmates learn about his home life, Otis decides to use his insider knowledge to improve his status at school, so he teams up with whip-smart bad girl Maeve to set up an underground sex therapy clinic to deal with their classmates’ problems. But through his analysis of teenage sexuality, Otis realizes that he may need some therapy of his own.

Expectations: One of the great British Netflix creations draws to a close, a hilarious, thoughtful and, at times, pretty outrageous high school comedy graduate with very high marks. The iconic Gillian Anderson is absolutely perfect as Otis’s sex therapist mom and Asa Butterfield was already a sizeable star in films like Ender’s Game and Hugo but this show also gifted us future stars like Emma Mackey, recently in the box office smash Barbie, and Ncuti Gatwa who is about to kick off a brand new season as the new Doctor Who. I am sad to see this show come to an end, one that rarely disappoints, but I’m glad to see it go out on its own accord, a luxury that a lot of shows don’t get to do.

Still Up (AppleTV+) – Bonded by insomnia, best friends Lisa and Danny stay connected to each other late into the night and find their way through a world of wonderfully weird surprises as their relationship deepens.

Review: Having no knowledge about this series heading in, I was surprised by how likable it was from the get-go. I really enjoyed Antonia Thomas from her time on the Channel 4 series Misfits and Craig Roberts has been on my radar as both an actor and a writer and director for years, a really talented dude. This show has some of the cliche romantic tropes of will they or won’t they get together, but it works mostly because the characters are well-written. It also bums me out as a story because Thomas’s love interest is a former Inbetweener, Blake Harrison. I love that show so much and hold it close to my heart.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Sept 14th

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September 14, 2023

New Releases:

A Haunting In Venice – In post-World War II Venice, Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to uncover the killer again.

Expectations: Kenneth Branagh returns both behind the camera and in front of it as Agatha Christie’s iconic sleuth Hercule Poirot in the third film he has done with the character to varying degrees of satisfaction. I enjoyed his Murder On The Orient Express but Death On The Nile was a bit of a mess in multiple places so I’m getting my bar at a mid-level for what I see as his last kick at the character. That said, from advanced reviews I’m reading, this might be his best Christie yet.

The Retirement Plan – When Ashley (Ashley Greene) and her young daughter Sarah (Thalia Campbell) get caught up in a criminal enterprise that puts their lives at risk, she turns to the only person who can help – her estranged father Matt (Nicolas Cage), currently living the life of a retired beach bum in the Cayman Islands. Their reunion is fleeting as they are soon tracked down on the island by crime boss Donnie (Jackie Earle Haley) and his lieutenant Bobo (Ron Perlman). As Ashley, Sarah and Matt become entangled in an increasingly dangerous web, Ashley quickly learns her father had a secret past that she knew nothing about and that there is more to her father than meets the eye.

Expectations: When it comes to this guy, anytime Nicolas Cage is on the big screen, I’m in the audience guaranteed and this film is no different. This movie has more added character power than one of my all-time favourites as Ron Perlman and Jackie Earle Haley also have some really plum roles that they have some fun with. Australian director Tim Brown makes his Hollywood debut with a film that has Cage with long hair and a scraggly beard dispatching bad guys better than Liam Neeson in almost all of his 2010s action films outside of the Taken franchise. What more do I need to sell you?

Blu-Ray:

AIR – The movie explores how Nike’s basketball shoe division was struggling in 1984 due to low sales, and how the company’s Marketing VP Rob Strasser and CEO Phil Knight tasked basketball talent scout Sonny Vaccaro to find a new spokesperson for their shoes. Although they considered third-draft pick Michael Jordan off limits due to his preference for Adidas and Converse, Vaccaro convinced them that Jordan was a generational talent and that Nike should pursue him and try to convince Jordan to sign with Nike.

Review: Ben Affleck’s return to the director’s chair is easily one of the best scripts of the year, best casts of the year and best films of the year. An absolute crowd pleaser around a sports phenomenon and change in the industry that is fascinating from the get-go. Affleck has a gift for crafting these brilliant character stories and Damon might have worked his way to at least an Academy Award nomination as Sonny Vaccaro. This is one of my most recommended films of the year and a definite candidate for an enjoyable home viewing now on Blu-ray.

Joy Ride – The hilarious and unapologetically explicit story of identity and self-discovery centers on four unlikely friends who embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international adventure. When Audrey’s (Ashley Park) business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the aid of Lolo (Sherry Cola), her irreverent, childhood best friend who also happens to be a hot mess; Kat (Stephanie Hsu), her college friend turned Chinese soap star; and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), Lolo’s eccentric cousin. Their no-holds-barred, epic experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging, and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are.

Review: One of the funniest films of the year, this debut film from writer and director Adele Lim may have spots of formula you would recognize in The Hangover, Bridesmaids or other raunchy epic odyssey films but it also takes so many bold and original chances with a cast that is game at every turn. Star power performances from these four ladies in a year that had Hsu as an Oscar-nominated actress, Park guest starring in the new season of Only Murders In The Building and Cola co-leading Randall Park’s fantastic debut film and this film capitalizes on their fantastic chemistry. I absolutely loved this one.

Cobweb – Eight-year-old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tap, tap from inside his bedroom wall — a tapping that his parents insist is all in his imagination. As Peter’s fear intensifies, he believes that his parents (Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr) could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trust. And for a child, what could be more frightening than that?

Review: An eight year old is your narrative conduit into a story that would have terrified everyone as a kid, the simple notion that your parents are in cahoots with the monsters that go bump in the night. Absolutely chilling visuals and sound design make this one of the creepiest horror experiences of the year and it should be on any genre fan’s list. Crazy that it comes from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg as producers but it has relied on largely word of mouth.

Aporia – Since losing her husband Mal (Edi Gathegi) in a drunk-driving incident, Sophie (Judy Greer) has struggled to manage crippling grief, a full-time job, and the demands of parenting her devastated teenage daughter (Faithe Herman). When her husband’s best friend Jabir (Payman Maadi), a former physicist, reveals that he has been building a time-bending machine that could restore her former life, Sophie will be faced with an impossible choice–and unforeseeable consequences.

Review: At the top of this well-constructed, thoughtful and unpredictable drama with seasonings of sci-fi, I was cheering inside for another chance to see Judy Greer dig into that character actor bucket of hers. Paired with a soulful performance from the always-great Edi Gathegi, this movie does slow burn right and leaves you with a resonant story about hope and grief. A really unexpected hit with me and I hope it lands with a bigger audience.

Poker Face – A mystery-of-the-week series following Charlie Cale, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road in her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve. Guest stars are plentiful throughout, from Ellen Barkin and Adrien Brody to Luis Guzmán and Chloë Sevigny. An inverted detective series, also known as a “howcatchem” and popularized by “Columbo,” the crime and perpetrator are shown at the beginning of each episode, and follow Charlie as she tries to solve the mystery.

Review: This show ROCKS! Created and directed by Rian Johnson, the mind behind Knives Out, Glass Onion and many more awesome things, this is the kind of show I could watch for countless seasons, a callback to the mystery sleuth shows of the seventies and eighties with Natasha Lyonne at the helm delivering every knowing line so beautifully. Johnson’s style in both writing and visual flair is all on display and with each mystery, you are more and more on board with Charlie and her run from a big bad enemy in Las Vegas. This right here is must-see television.

Rick And Morty: Complete Seasons 1 to 6 – Rick, an alcoholic mad scientist, stumbles into his grandson Morty’s room begging for help on an intergalactic adventure. Morty reluctantly agrees and finds himself on a never-ending quest across time, dimension and space. Morty must keep Rick in check as he causes havoc everywhere they go.

Review: It’s been a crash course in a cartoon that I was way late to the game for but I will say that I was on board so quickly because the writing is so good I get euphoric with its brilliant complexities. Admittedly, the show has gone through the wringer of controversy in the last year or so with co-creator Justin Roiland being let go from Adult Swim amid a sexual assault accusation but, really, the show has been speculated about ending for a few seasons now and still seems to keep rolling. Even more, than that, the show is thriving just as popular as ever with no horizon of slowing down as they have to have more than twenty-five episodes in the tank from that last batch of contracted episodes. We also should be grateful that WB Discovery didn’t shut the show down entirely in those massive restructurings.

Succession: Complete Series – Waystar Royco is a global media company with holdings across several industries and continents. At the helm is its CEO and founder, 80-year-old Logan Roy. There is speculation that he will retire soon and hand over the reins to one of his children but he appears to have no intention of doing that. This does not sit well with his children, three of which have ambitions to run the massive company.

Review: In just three seasons, the Roy family came and went but drew in a massive audience as their saga was told. Brilliant writing contained within a cut throat world, the series reminded us how incredible Brian Cox is as an actor, the patriarch of the whole affair, as well as raising Keiren Culkin, Matthew MacFayden and Alan Ruck to new heights in their careers. Beyond that, it also made Jeremy Strong and Sarah Snook household names that can never be ignored again and I appreciate that a lot as I’ve loved their work for years. I look forward to re-watching this series and finding the subtler nuances that I missed the first time around.

Steve’s Blu-Ray Geek-Outs:

The Book Of Henry – In a small suburban town in the Hudson Valley, 11-year-old boy genius Henry Carpenter and his younger brother Peter are being raised by their single mother Susan, a waitress who is working on writing children’s picture books. Henry has used his intellect to invest successfully in the stock market, building up a very substantial nest egg for his family. Henry also protects Peter from a school bully and builds Rube Goldberg machines in their tree house. Henry and Susan are both fond of their next-door neighbour (and Henry’s classmate), Christina Sickleman, who has recently become glum.

Review: This is an interesting film because it was the bomb that effectively, or according to rumour, got director Colin Trevorrow removed from the director’s chair on what would become The Rise Of Skywalker as well as the second Jurassic World movie. It is a fascinating narrative mess though, going to weird and outlandish places for twists and character developments, and because of this I couldn’t say I wasn’t entertained but I certainly was baffled. It was definitely ambitious in where it was trying to pull their emotional manipulation from but I think the end result is just too out there.

Rush – Both on the track and off, Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) couldn’t have been more different. Yet as much as Englishman Hunt’s showy public persona clashed with Lauda’s reputation for tightly controlled perfectionism, both men remained bound together by one undeniable fact–they were both among the best drivers ever to grace the racetrack. But when a horrific crash during the 1976 Grand Prix at the Nürburgring nearly claims Lauda’s life, a grudging respect develops between the two racers as Hunt realizes just how devoted his greatest adversary is to the sport they both love.

Review: Just a few weeks after watching the latest based on a true story racing flick Gran Turismo, it was cool to take this racing biopic in again, a slick film directed by Ron Howard and what I think is his last truly great film. Hemsworth delivers a character performance that I didn’t know he was capable of at the time, with Thor and Cabin In The Woods being his only claim to fame at the time, but this movie is really Bruhl’s at its core. His performance as Niki Lauda should have been award-nominated across the board as it makes the film absolutely must-see if you haven’t.

Television:

Wrestlers (Netflix) – Ohio Valley Wrestling of Louisville, Kentucky is a regional wrestling gym whose alumni include Brock Lesnar, The Miz, John Cena, Dave Bautista, and Randy Orton. Once a proud finishing school for aspiring pro wrestlers, the gym has since hit hard times. Acclaimed wrestler Al Snow clings to an old-school wrestling philosophy with a heavy emphasis on storytelling, but in spite of the love of a few diehard fans, the gym struggles week to week to stay relevant enough to keep its doors open. Things have become so dire financially that Al has to sell a majority stake to a group of local businessmen including Matt Jones, the most popular radio personality in the state of Kentucky. Matt and the new ownership group have infused the struggling gym with much-needed cash but it still operates at a staggering loss. The new owners have given Snow the summer to turn things around. Wrestlers chronicle the efforts Al and his band of aspiring wrestlers make as they struggle with their personal ambitions and each other while they attempt to come together to save this historic gym.

Review: Being a massive pro wrestling fan, tis was an easy watch for me as I’m really passionate about the industry from the grounbd up but this isn’t about the glamour side of it at all but the work horse side that builds that star power. Besides the trainers, there are no superstars here but ones on the verge of becoming the next best thing and, having my eyes on the industry all the time, this is very cool. I will say that calling Al Snow “one of the greatest wrestlers of all time” is more than a bit of hyperbole.

The Morning Show: Season 3 (AppleTV+) – After a fallout with their previous morning show co-host, the popular but #MeToo-scandal-ridden Mitch Kessler, a New York City TV station hires a new spunky journalist, the progressive and hotheaded southern girl Bradley Jackson, as the new co-host. The scheming station head manager Cory Ellison sees in her the chance to push his career further. The show’s other popular co-host Alex Levy, disgruntled by the fact that she has to take in a newbie, tries to use this new situation to make her own power move and turn Bradley into an ally. Meanwhile, Mitch refuses to accept defeat and tries to take everyone in the station who knew about his sexual abuse scandal but said nothing down with him. Other characters include Chip Black, the show’s cynical top producer and program organizer, Hannah Shoenfeld, the station’s employee and Mitch’s emotionally gutted silent victim, Yanko Flores, a romantic and the Morning Show’s most popular reporter, Claire Conway, a British junior employee of the station and Yanko’s smitten secret girlfriend, and Fred, the station’s sleazy chief executive who tried to help Mitch cover up the scandal.

Expectations: AppleTV+’s biggest remaining draw comes back for another series, a show that definitely relies on the star power of both Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. That said, for me, the draw is most certainly Billy Crudup who is an absolute artist with the script he is given and how he delivers it. Within moments of his appearance on screen in the pilot episode, I knew I wanted to follow this show. Drawing from real stories in the media and obviously the Matt Lauer drama, this show is quite good, even though I don’t find Aniston very strong in it. It’s a water cooler show for sure.

Welcome To Wrexham: Season 2 (FX) – A docu-series in which Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds learn to run the third oldest professional football club in the world. In 2020, Rob and Ryan team up to purchase the fifth-tier Red Dragons in the hope of turning Wrexham AFC into an underdog story the whole world can root for, but the concern is that neither has any experience in football or working with the other. From Hollywood to Wales, from the pitch to the locker room, and the front office to the pub, the docuseries will track Rob and Ryan’s crash course in football club ownership and the inextricably connected fates of a team and a town counting on two actors to bring some serious hope and change to a community that could use it.

Expectations: My wife and I started watching this show based on our mutual love for both Ryan and Rob but the infectious love for Wrexham itself, its townspeople, the fans, the players on the team and all those in the background immediately endeared itself to us and made it a total binge-worthy event. Of course, the love for Ted Lasso must have rubbed off in this feeling too but it is an underdog story that really keeps you engaged and I hope that this isn’t the end of what we get from Wrexham FC because I want a season for everyone that they do under the ownership of these two loveable dudes.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC) – Following his departure from The Commonwealth, Daryl Dixon washes ashore in France, raising the ire of a splintered but growing autocratic movement centred in Paris and endangering a young boy at the heart of a benevolent religious movement.

Review: For those keeping track, this is the fourth spin-off of the mothership we call The Walking Dead, but the second since that show ended. That said, and as much as I was enjoying Dead City, this is the one that people have been waiting for big-time as Daryl Dixon, although a creation just for the television series, is a clear audience favourite. I’m bummed that Melissa McBride’s Carol wasn’t included in this post-apocalyptic ride but, after one episode, it really rocks and channels its own attitude through Norman Reedus who is finally getting his flowers for real. I hope others love it as much as I do.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Sep 7

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September 7, 2023

New Releases:

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 – After travelling to Greece for a family reunion, a woman attempts to locate her deceased father’s childhood friends.

Expectations: After the release of The Equalizer 3 last week, September continues to be the month of unnecessary sequels with a double shot this week, kicking off with this film that is the second “Why did you make this?” in the franchise. Nia Vardalos is charming and I enjoy her on screen but all these movies do is try to capitalize on a remarkable first movie by diminishing the returns every time. I like and even own the first film but this is where I stop and, hopefully, it’s where the studio stops too because no one is even talking about this one.

The Nun II – A follow-up to the enigmatic gothic horror about a strong evil that haunts and causes supernatural harm to everybody it comes into contact with. After the events of the first film, the said powerful evil begins to spread in 1956 throughout a town in France as word gets out that a priest has been violently murdered. A finished contemplative in her novitiate, Sister Irene, begins to investigate the murder, only to find a demon behind it — the same evil that terrorized her in the original film as a nun — Valak, whom she once again soon comes to encounter.

Expectations: Unnecessary sequel number two here and we all know that this film only serves to further the expanded universe of James Wan’s Conjuring universe as Bonnie Aaron’s Valak character first appeared in the second of those films. I will say that the first film benefited from a great creepy monster performance from Aaron and I love Demian Bechir a lot but it is now up to Taissa Farmiga to carry the franchise and I think she is pretty capable of doing that, much like her mom does with the mothership franchise. I also find it interesting that Aaron is suing Warner Bros. when this is being released for profiting off her likeness without compensation. Sounds like one of those issues this strike is about to me. Get ’em, Bonnie!

Blu-Ray:

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.

Review: This is one of the best movies of the year easily the greatest animated feature of 2023 and a must-see for all audiences. The creators manage to capitalize on a perfect first movie brimming with heart and soul and make a film that equals it and doesn’t waver your journey with Miles Morales whatsoever. These movies sit at the pinnacle of superhero storytelling and leave an open ending that will keep you salivating for the third piece of the trilogy. The sad news is, because of the writer’s and actor’s strike, it has all been delayed. The sadness is real.

Asteroid City – Following a writer on his world-famous fictional play about a grieving father, who travels with his tech-obsessed family to the small rural town of Asteroid City, to compete in a stargazing event. Only to have his worldview disrupted forever.

Review: Wes Anderson holds his audience in the palm of his hand as we, for decades now, have salivated over all of his work since he debuted with Bottle Rocket and then really introduced us to his style with Rushmore. Now he is making the movies for himself it seems as both The French Dispatch and this film take very different approaches to storytelling. Dispatch played more of an anthology game but this film is more about the method of writing, less about character development and way more about the mindset to go into it with. Oh, and there’s an alien too, done totally in his own way, but the draw is the cast, especially those who have never worked with him before.

Star Trek Picard: Complete Series – Shortly after the Destruction of Romulus, Starfleet reneged on a prior commitment to help the evacuation of Romulus. Culminating With a battalion of “Rogue” Starfleet Synthetics attacking The Mars Colonies (Short Trek: Children of Mars) This set forth a series of unprecedented events that led to a Galactic Conspiracy. Ten years into his retirement, Jean Luc Picard has a stranger ask for his help, which unearths unnerving questions that no one will answer. So now it is up to Picard to rise up and face those challenges head-on.

Review: Just three seasons, that’s all we got from the return of Patrick Stewart to the most iconic role of his long career and they went full bore for a Next Generation reunion for the final season, making any stumbles in the first season absolutely worth it. The series definitely got better as it progressed so I recommend plowing through the uneven first season because I had fun with season two and absolutely loved the third season. To be honest, if we got a spin-off with Todd Stashwick’s Captain Shaw I would definitely watch it.

NCIS Los Angeles: Complete Series – Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J star in this second show in the “NCIS” franchise, focusing on the high-stakes world of the Office of Special Projects (OSP) in Los Angeles. Highly trained agents use the most-advanced technologies available and go undercover to apprehend criminals deemed a threat to national security. Special Agent G. Callum can transform himself into whoever he needs to be to infiltrate criminal factions. His partner, former Navy SEAL Sam Hanna, is a surveillance specialist who uses state-of-the-art equipment to monitor field agents and feed them information.

Review: Scott Bakula and the New Orleans crew bid audiences adieu, Mark Harmon did the same from the original spin-off from JAG under some damning allegations and now the Los Angeles contingent is calling it quits too. This leaves the flagship show still running under the new eye of Gary Cole as well as the newbies, Hawaii and Sydney, but this will leave a void as I really enjoyed this one the most and definitely because of Chris and LL who make the show pretty great with their banter. The good thing is now I can roll through all fourteen seasons on my own accord.

Steve’s Blu-Ray and DVD Geekouts:

Personality Crisis: One Night Only – Continuing his vibrant and invaluable documentaries about iconic American artists and musicians such as George Harrison: Living in the Material World, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, and the Fran Lebowitz portrait Public Speaking, Martin Scorsese turns his camera on another beloved New York institution: the singular David Johansen. Equally celebrated as the lead singer-songwriter of the androgynous ’70s glam punk groundbreakers The New York Dolls and for his complete reinvention as hepcat lounge lizard Buster Poindexter in the ’80s, the chameleonic Johansen has created an entire genre unto himself, combining swing, blues, and rock for something at once mischievous and deeply personal.

Review: Out comes another one of my many documentary biases, the music-focused films and this is actually a great follow-up for anyone who enjoyed the film, New York Doll, as this is a David Johanssen-centric story, the frontman for the legendary-punk group. This film comes together so well under the co-direction of one of the greatest directors of all time, Martin Scorsese, adding this to the pantheon of great documentaries on his resume. This film is fascinating, and informative and gives a full portrait of one of the most interesting individuals in the New York scene for decades.

The Black Demon – Oil company inspector Paul Sturges takes his family on a vacation to a small town in Baja, where he is sent to inspect an oil rig called “El Diamante.” Upon arrival, they discover the town in ruins and encounter a massive and deadly megalodon shark known as “El Demonio Negro.” Stranded on the dilapidated rig with limited time and constant shark attacks, Paul and his family must fight for survival and find a way back to shore before it’s too late. It becomes a thrilling battle between man and nature in this harrowing adventure.

Review: I would be lying if I said I wasn’t leery about getting into another megalodon movie after the disappointment that was the Meg sequel, a film that is severely lacking some Meg action but this looked like something fun to dispel that. I like the casting of Josh Lucas, fresh in everyone’s mind at the moment with his performance as the young John Dutton on Yellowstone, and the film languished in that B-movie effects pool that entertains as long as you don’t get too in-depth with the script. I can honestly say it was a step up from the August blockbuster I just took in but the comparison isn’t that great.

Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage – A documentary about the Canadian rock band Rush relates the group’s 40-year history and examines its continuing popularity. Using extensive archival footage, it follows the resilient rockers, lead guitarist Alex Lifeson and singer/bassist Geddy Lee, from when they started the band in the late 1960s through to the present. A diverse group of interviewees, such as musician Billy Corgan, actor Jack Black and “South Park” creator Matt Stone, share what makes the band so special.

Review: The original greatest band out of Canada, the power trio that brought us the birth of progressive rock in a way and classic album after album got the full-on documentary approach from Victoria-born director Sam Dunn in 2010 and I just got my hands on a copy of the steelbook blu-ray this week and I had to gush about it. Even if you aren’t a fa, Dunn engages you with a story of three technical geniuses in music who strived, persevered and inspired so much more creativity and music on their musical journey. Geddy, Alex and Neil are gods of music and this film celebrates them perfectly in my opinion. An absolute must-see.

Television:

I Am Groot: Season 2 (Disney+) – Baby Groot is a mischievous toddler who is growing up and getting into trouble among the stars as a member of the superhero team, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Review: Another round of short films arrives on the Mouse streamer that again follows one of the fan favourites from the Marvel cinematic universe and, really, how can you not love this dude? Voiced by Vin Diesel, each little installment is adorable and endearing and now seems like our last grip on James Gunn’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, the perfect trilogy with the expansive franchise. Gather the whole family for this one and binge all of them, it is definitely worth it.

The Changeling (AppleTV+) – When Apollo Kagwa’s father disappeared, he left his son a box of books and strange recurring dreams. Now Apollo is a father himself–and as he and his wife, Emma, settle into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Apollo’s old dreams return and Emma begins acting odd. At first, Emma seems to be exhibiting signs of postpartum depression. But before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act and vanishes. Thus begins Apollo’s quest to find a wife and child who are nothing like he’d imagined. His odyssey takes him to a forgotten island, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever.

Review: Alternate worlds, pre-destinies and Lakeith Stanfield as the lead? Yeah, this show is something I can definitely dig into and it is another genre gamble for AppleTV+, a streaming service that always seems to surprise me with their releases. The series also features Canadian actor Jared Abrahamson, star of the underrated heist flick American Animals, and Alexis Louder, who blew me away in her starring role in CopShop as well as the Christmas action thriller Violent Night, both featured in a story that feels fresh and unpredictable at every turn. I hope this isn’t a limited series because I’m really loving it so far.

Star Trek Lower Decks: Season 4 (Paramount+) – The series focuses on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the USS Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi must keep up with their duties and their social lives, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. The ship’s bridge crew includes Captain Carol Freeman, Commander Jack Ransom, Lieutenant Shaxs and Doctor T’Ana. This is the second animated spin-off in the franchise after 1973-74’s “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” but has a decidedly more adult tone and humour.

Expectations: It’s not crazy to see the success of another Star Trek series after the Paramount+ created Discovery hit screens and the resurrection of Picard and his crew for his own show but the fact that a very adult series within the franchise has survived to a fourth season is pretty wild. I really love this show and Jerry O’Connell and Jack Quaid’s characters are the big reason why and I’m excited to see what the crew will do this time around. I’m also looking forward to them addressing Quaid’s character Boimler who just did a stint on Strange New Worlds with Captain Pike and his crew.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Aug 31

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August 31, 2023

New Releases:

The Equalizer 3 – Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.

Expectations: As a big fan of the first Equalizer film, I have to preface my thoughts on this third one by saying that I really disliked the second installment and don’t really see this follow-up being earned. Still, Denzel is always a great presence on the big screen and sequels are definitely not his regular jam as Equalizer 2 was the first one he ever did. He must love doing this Robert McCall role and dispatching bad guys effortlessly. Those parts are really cool to see and probably the highlight of each film. I also like that there is a Man On Fire reunion in this film with Denzel and co-star Dakota Fanning.

Blu-Ray & DVD:

The Flash – A bolt of lightning strikes Barry Allen and thus, an extraordinary power is born inside him: The Speed Force. When he uses this power to run back in time and save his mother, he creates a world without heroes and General Zod has returned. To defeat him, his only hope rests in the hands of a retired Batman, another Barry and an imprisoned Kryptonian.

Review: This might be easily my most disappointing movie of the year as well as one of my most hated ones which is so depressing as it took so long for it to come out and it featured the return of a childhood favourite in Michael Keaton’s Batman. I will admit that the emergence of Supergirl was cool as well but once the film brings both back, it has no idea what to do with them. This film is a struggle thoroughly. Bad CGI, a script that struggles to find a tone throughout and a purely unlikable performance from Ezra Miller in a dual role hamper the film constantly through its almost two-and-a-half-hour run time.

No Hard Feelings – In the enigmatic town of Montauk, New York, Maddie, a struggling Uber driver facing dire financial circumstances, stumbles upon an intriguing Craigslist ad. Responding to the cryptic posting, she enters into an unconventional arrangement with secretive parents who harbour concerns about their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy. In a secret pact, Maddie agrees to immerse herself in Percy’s life, delving into a world where dating and intimacy are foreign concepts. Little does she know the enigmatic path that awaits her as she embarks on this mysterious journey to guide Percy toward adulthood while grappling with her own uncertainties.

Review: Judging from the trailers, I wasn’t sure what to think of this raunchy comedy but I knew Jennifer Lawrence put her all into every film so I kept an open mind. The result was a very funny film that highlights the Academy Award winner’s comedic chops, wears its burgeoning heart and soul on its sleeve and the whole show almost gets stolen by her young co-star, Andrew Barth Feldman, who is an absolute delight every moment he is on screen. The movie makes some bold choices and has one unforgettable fight scene on a beach and I think is one of the more underrated ones to hit the box office this year. Hopefully, with VOD and streaming, the film gets some distance through word of mouth.

Blue Bloods: Season 13 – The series follows the lives of the NYPD’s First Family of Law Enforcement: the Reagans. Frank, the Police Commissioner and son of former PC Henry Reagan must balance his duties of running the largest police force in the world and being his kids’ boss. His daughter Erin is an Assistant District Attorney, son Danny is a senior detective and fellow Marine Veteran, and new Harvard Law grad turned cop, Jamie all swirl through this family drama and passionately defend their city from harm. The Irish-American family is deeply rooted in their patriotism, passion, and love of family.

Review: Unlucky season thirteen rolls in this week and it actually saw the return of former regular cast member Jennifer Esposito to her role of Jackie Curatola in a guest starring capacity, which is a bonus for me as I really liked her character. Let’s face it though, the series draw is all about Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg who bring it every time they are on screen. This is sort of like your regular run-of-the-mill Law & Order procedural but the Reagan family dynamics keep each season pretty engaging.

Smiling Friends: Season 1 – Smiling Friends Inc. is a small company whose main purpose is to bring happiness and make people smile. The series follows the day-to-day lives and misadventures of its representatives, the lazy, cynical Charlie, and the cheerful, optimistic Pim, as they try to cheer up and comfort the troubled people who call their company’s hotline. They receive seemingly simple requests but the jobs turn out to be more complicated than they seem, making it difficult to bring happiness to the world.

Review: Adult Swim strikes again with another delightfully weird piece of animation and this one will appeal to the niche viewers who love stuff like Superjail or Mr. Pickles. You know, the downright deranged stuff. It comes from the mind of Michael Cusack, an Australian creator who recently brought his brand to Hulu and Disney+ with Koala Man, a hysterical little series. I really love it but take that for what it is.

Steve’s Blu-Ray Geekouts:

Champions – Woody Harrelson stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that, despite his doubts, this team can go further than they ever imagined.

Review: I will admit, that this movie had bad reviews so I went into it with a chip on my shoulder and I ended up really liking it. I’ve been done in some of the solo work of the Dumb And Dumber and There’s Something About Mary directing duo, the Farrelly brothers, but Woody wins me over in this alongside his very funny team players and a great romantic role for It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s Kaitlin Olsen who is honestly incapable of phoning it in. Ingire the slights on this one, I had fun with it.

River Wild – Joey (Leighton Meester) fears there could be trouble ahead after her brother Gray (Taran Killam) invites Trevor (Adam Brody), a childhood friend with a troubled past, on their whitewater rafting adventure with two tourists. Once they become stranded in raging rapids, the thrill-seeking trip quickly turns from exciting to utterly terrifying as the rafters are trapped in a desperate fight for their lives, all while someone seems intent on sabotaging to ensure shocking secrets stay buried. To survive the wild river, Joey will have to face her fears, and everyone will have to develop killer instincts before they’re torn apart by deception aboard the raft, or by deadly waters wreaking havoc all around them.

Review: This film got me in two ways as, one, I am a huge fan of Curtis Hanson’s original film, starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, David Strathairn and John C. Reilly, and, two, it stars two people from the 2000s teen dramas, The OC’s Adam Brody and Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester. Fun addition to that, they are actually married in real life. Now, this is not a direct remake at all, just a film that sort of uses that same energy and makes Brody, against type, play the menacing bad guy. That said, I actually enjoyed the film quite a bit once I was able to separate it from the pre-established film I know. I would say that the performances against the white water rafting peril is what got me and it would be a really tough story to completely screw up in my opinion.

Nuclear Now – The movie, narrated by Oliver Stone, promotes nuclear power as a safe and viable solution to combat climate change by replacing fossil fuels. Stone predicts a significant increase in global electricity demand in the next three decades and suggests mass-producing nuclear power plants to meet this growing need for low-carbon energy. He argues that recycling, electric cars, and eco-friendly products are merely superficial attempts by the middle class to feel good and that they won’t make a substantial impact on the climate. The scriptwriters also accuse the anti-nuclear movement of associating nuclear power with nuclear weapons, thus instilling a deep-seated fear of this energy source. Additionally, they imply that the oil and gas industry has been funding campaigns against nuclear power.

Review: Being a huge fan of his narrative work, Oliver Stone is one of those cinema gods to me and has been since I was an early movie aficionado but as an adult, I’ve scrutinized some of his historical beliefs, political beliefs and social commentaries as he can some times have, well, a wide range of ideas. This one is really fascinating though because it centers around a resource that is pivotal to our world, both in use and execution. The energy battle, especially now, may make or break our world so to have open and frank discussions on how our kids are going to survive and how they will power things is crucial. Stone knows the conversation and knows what questions to ask, making this film really important and I wish it got more of a mainstream push, honestly.

Television:

One Piece (Netflix) – An alternate version of Earth, and one that is currently in the midst of the ‘Golden Age of Pirates’. Ruthless cut-throat pirates rule the seas, and only the strongest have the chance to lay claim to the mythical treasure known as ‘One Piece’ that was left behind by the greatest pirate of them all, Gold Roger. Years after the death of Gold Roger, a young boy by the name of Monkey D. Luffy has dreams of raising his own crew, finding One Piece, and declaring himself as Pirate King. After eating a devil fruit that grants Luffy the power to make his body like rubber, it gives him enormous strength and agility. When Luffy finally comes of age, he sets sail from Foosha Village in East Blue and sets upon his grand adventure to become the next Pirate King.

Review: A hit with anime fans of all ages for a long time now, Netflix has now put this into live-action form, ahead of the adaptation of Avatar The Last Airbender and after their version of Cowboy Bebop which they sadly cancelled, so I’m sure expectations are high for it. I myself found it a little hard to get into as I don’t have the history of the show to lean on but I am more than willing to give it more than a few episodes because it is colourful, beautifully shot and my kid is getting really into the story.

The Wheel Of Time: Season 2 (Prime Video) – Moiraine, a member of a magical organization, takes five young people on a journey, believing that one of them might be the reincarnation of the Dragon, a powerful individual prophesied to save the world or destroy it.

Expectations: Based on a popular fantasy book series from author Robert Jordan, I have to sadly admit that I was late to this series and just started the first season in anticipation of this new follow-up. To be honest, with the spending on the Lord Of The Rings series, I thought Prime Video would make this show dead in the water like Carnival Row but here we are, more episodes with the badass Rosamund Pike. She is really the draw to the show and the killer action and not shying away from gore make the whole thing really entertaining. Hopefully, they can keep it all afloat with these new episodes.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Aug 24

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August 24, 2023

New Releases:

Gran Turismo – Based on the true story of Jann Mardenborough, the film is the ultimate wish-fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver.

Expectations: Sony Playstation rolls out their second feature film based on one of their popular titles after Uncharted and this one is special because it is an adaptation of one of their original games from when their first system launched. The supporting cast is very likeable, with Stranger Things star David Harbour, former Legolas, Orlando Bloom, all around the young British star, Archie Madekwe, known to horror fans because of Ari Aster’s Midsommar. I want to have faith that this is an entertaining film but I worry about the muddled nature of the storytelling as it comes from director Neill Blomkamp who has stumbled notably since his debut with District 9 in 2009. Hopefully, this will put him back on top with a whole new blockbuster rejuvenation.

Dreamin’ Wild – This film, the true story of love and redemption, is about what happened to singer/songwriter Donnie Emerson and his family when the album he and his brother recorded as teens was rediscovered after thirty years of obscurity and was suddenly hailed by music critics as a lost masterpiece. While the album’s rediscovery brings hopes of second chances, it also brings long-buried emotions as Donnie, his wife Nancy, brother Joe, and father Don Sr. come to terms with the past and their newly found fame.

Review: This film is a winning true story music-driven film that satisfies with great performances from the entire cast with Casey Affleck, Walton Goggins, Noah Jupe and Jack Dylan Grazer leading the way. An interesting story about a young talent that was kept hidden by so many conflicting elements and the juxtaposition of being appreciated for it decades later. It also raises the fascinating notion of the rediscovery of unappreciated art of the past. Really enjoyed this one.

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah! – Stacy and Lydia are BFFs who’ve always dreamed about having epic bat mitzvahs. However, things start to go comically awry when a popular boy and middle school drama threatens their friendship and their rite of passage.

Review: Adam Sandler lands with his latest Netflix original movie and this time it’s a family affair with wife Jackie Sandler playing a supporting role and daughter Sunny shouldering the leading weight instead of her father. That said, this might be the most cohesive film he has released since Uncut Gems for sure and it is all from the sheer heart and likability displayed from the start. I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I really love this movie and I hope it gets popular.

Vacation Friends 2 – Picking up a few months after the end of “Vacation Friends,” this uproarious sequel finds newly married couple Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Emily (Yvonne Orji) inviting their uninhibited besties Ron (John Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner), who are also newly married and have a baby, to join them for a vacation when Marcus lands an all-expenses-paid trip to a Caribbean resort. His reason for traveling there in the first place is to meet with the owners of the resort to bid on a construction contract for a hotel they own in Chicago. But when Kyla’s incarcerated father Reese (Steve Buscemi) is released from San Quentin and shows up at the resort unannounced at the worst possible moment, things get out of control, upending Marcus’ best laid plans and turning the vacation friends’ perfect trip into total chaos.

Expectations: The first film, when I initially saw the trailer, looked like a bottom of the barrel crude comedy that Fox and Disney didn’t see having the clout for a theatrical release and they were sort of right. I definitely don’t see this movie making box office waves but I thought it was pretty funny and that rests on the broad shoulders of John Cena who is pretty hysterical. Do I see his character having enough comedic muscle to carry a sequel? I definitely don’t want to count him out and I will be watching for sure!

Blu-Ray:

The Blackening – The film centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherfu**in’ game. Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (The Amber Ruffin Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?

Expectations: Horror comedy is a genre that will always have a warm place in my cinematic heart and when they pull at tropes that are solidified in how we look at slasher films, well, that gets me even more. The setup is all here but the unpredictability and winks to the audience will surely be what wins audiences over and if it is all executed right we could have a runaway hit, much like the writers of this film’s previous work, Girl’s Trip.

You Hurt My Feelings – Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a popular writer, and her husband Don, a well-liked teacher, share the kind of relationship that truly, seriously, for the love of God cannot be real: that is, they’re actually in love. Even after decades of marriage, parenting, and their own successful careers, their physical spark has somehow not diminished; in fact, they seem to relish the opportunity to share a single ice cream cone and drive others — including their son, Charlie — mad. Should it come as a surprise then that his own marriage is in crisis? But when Beth discovers that Don has been untruthful to her about his opinion of her work for years — Beth’s world comes crashing down. Has their whole relationship been one Big Fat Lie?

Review: On the surface, this looks like a film about rich New York intellectuals going through a tiff in their long marriage but writer and director Nicole Holofcener manages to craft a relatable story that can fit into any romantic relationship. With a deft character-driven nuance, this film navigates the unspoken thoughts that exist in relationships, the white lies or dismissive support that is sometimes given and the hurt that comes from the revealing of the truth. Dreyfuss and her counterpart Tobias Menzies play this film with a veteran’s touch that makes it not only believable but makes us root for their relationship and mental health.

Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar – Picking up after the heroic rescue of Toki Wartooth, this new story finds Dethklok frontman Nathan Explosion traumatized in a brutal professional and romantic flat-spin all while he is tasked with fulfilling the prophecy and confronting the ultimate songwriting challenge: write the Song Of Salvation and save the planet. Can Nathan Explosion look beyond his brutally damaged ego to save his band, stop the Metalocalypse, and finally face the ultimate evil: Salacia?

Review: As a forever Metalocalypse fan, the mere announcement of this new movie sent me over a blood moon with excitement but those who aren’t clued into the blood-soaked and death metal-driven hilarity may just be left in the dark on this one. What other show about a fake band has spawned a real band that still tours to this day? Heck, there’s even a tour right now featuring Babymetal which seems amazing. As for the movie? If you love these guys then it’s just par for the course. So, throw your devil horns in the air and headbang to Dethklok… or die!

NCIS: Season 20 – Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs leads a group of colourful personalities in investigating crimes — ranging from murder and espionage to terrorism — that have evidence connected to Navy and Marine Corps personnel. The team includes MIT graduate Timothy McGee, Ellie Bishop, who specializes in international threat assessment, charismatic and unpredictable Nick Torres, and forensic psychologist Jack Sloane. Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard brings his vast experience in forensics into play to help solve cases.

Review: Twenty years his show has been going for? Yes, the Boomers have definitely been keeping this and the other spinoffs from JAG alive but New Orleans ended its course a couple of years ago, and Los Angeles ended its run this past year, so what is keeping this one afloat? The original lead star, Mark Harmon, has already shuffled off into retirement with his character Gibbs, after a reveal of on-set nastiness, and now Gary Cole is the leading man and I kind of love that. It honestly could keep the show going for another handful of years. That complete series box set is going to be massive though.

Steve’s 4K & DVD Geekouts:

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 4K – Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) has an uncanny skill at cutting classes and getting away with it. Intending to make one last duck-out before graduation, Ferris calls in sick, “borrows” a Ferrari and embarks on a one-day journey through the streets of Chicago. On Ferris’ trail is high school principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), determined to catch him in the act.

Review: One of my favourite movies ever made gets its full 4K treatment and it looks just gorgeous. Does the movie still hold up? Definitely, still one of the best high school comedies of all time and another brick in the incredible film foundation that John Hughes left us with. Broderick, Ruck and Sara are an endearing and iconic trio that was pitch-perfect in their casting and there are so many scenes that stick in my mind when I relive this classic. It’s a great addition to anyone’s collection and if you’ve never seen it before, that must be rectified immediately.

Are You Afraid Of The Dark?: Ghost Island – Four best friends and members of a Midnight Society get more than they bargained for when what they think is a fun summer vacation on a resort island turns into something sinister.

Review: Resurrected a while back by Nickelodeon, this original Canadian American horror anthology that chilled us all a teens has been pretty consistent in it’s return. I loved the kick off to it with Rafael Casal’s villainous top hat character and it has managed to stay consistent with this new season. This is purely gateway horror for the kids and, like me, it will prepare them to be total genre fans.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Complete Series – New York City has become the threshold for the crime lord Shredder and his evil associates, such as the genius Baxter Stockman and Hun’s gang of brutal street punks, the Purple Dragons. After fifteen years of living and training in the safe cover of the sewers, it’s time for Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo to venture topside and battle these threats to the city. With the help of their Sensei, Master Splinter, and other allies such as April O’Neil and Casey Jones, the four lean green brothers are in for the fight of their lives if they are to defeat their nemesis.

Review: For those keeping track, this is my second complete series for the Turtles, my last one being the computer-animated version from 2012. Now, this one isn’t the original version I grew up on but this is a pretty solid series of the New York sewer-dwelling heroes and it did last seven seasons and over a hundred and fifty episodes which is very impressive. I dig that a lot of the storylines were taken from the original Mirage comic book, giving it an authenticity that has been lost over the years in varying degrees.

Television:

Ahsoka (Disney+) – After the fall of the Galactic Empire, former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.

Review: A brand new Star Wars series arrives on the big Mouse streaming service and it is definitely the most heady of all the shows produced so far so a deep knowledge of everything in this universe is more than recommended to get a good foothold into the story. Lots across the internet are calling the first couple of episodes a bit of a snooze but I’m loving every second of it. Rosario Dawson is so commanding as Ahsoka Tan, like she was born to play it, and all of the villains are so formidable. I cannot wait to continue through it but am sad to have to go week to week for it. Also, rest in peace, Ray Stevenson. What a presence he was in this.

Invasion: Season 2 (AppleTV+) – Earth is visited by an alien species that threatens humanity’s existence; events unfold in real-time through the eyes of five ordinary people across the globe as they struggle to make sense of the chaos unravelling around them.

Expectations: I was honestly surprised with the pick up of this sci-fi thriller for a second season as the first season felt so slow burn that I was unsure if it would catch on. Some of the main cast is a reason why I checked it out, with the great Sam Neill playing a retiring small-town sheriff and the beautiful and intriguing
Golshifteh Farahani as a mother trying to keep her family protected during a global alien takeover. The story may be a little slight and formulaic but I expect it will take off in this new season. Well, it really needs to or it will certainly face cancellation.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Aug 10

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August 10, 2023

New Releases:

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter – Based on a single chapter, the Captain’s Log, from Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel Dracula, the story is set aboard the Russian schooner Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo – twenty-four unmarked wooden crates – from Carpathia to London. The film will detail the strange events that befell the doomed crew as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage, stalked each night by a terrifying presence on board the ship. When it finally arrived near Whitby Harbour, it was derelict. There was no trace of the crew.

Expectations: We get our second Dracula film of 2023 this week, although this one is very different from the modern comedy horror of Renfield from a couple of months ago. With the stylistic eye of Troll Hunter writer and director André Øvredal, we might have a solid low-key chiller on our hands, featuring cinematography from Clint Eastwood’s usual guy, Tom Stern, and a score from the great Bear McCreary. Øvredal described this movie as basically Alien on a ship in 1897, so based on that description alone, I’m in it for some fun.

Heart Of Stone -An intelligence operative for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable and dangerous weapon.

Expectations: Gal Gadot steps back into the very familiar shoes of an action hero for her second Netflix feature after she teamed with Ryan Reynolds and The Rock for Red Notice. The film comes from director Tom Harper, known for the pretty solid air balloon true story on Prime Video, The Aeronauts, but, most notably, the music-driven indie drama Wild Rose which features a phenomenal Jessie Buckley Performance so I have good thoughts invested in this action thriller. With a string of okay-to-solid genre films recently, The Mother and Extraction 2, it might be a safe bet to say that this might be a worthy watch on your weekend.

The Pod Generation – Set in the very near future world where AI is all the rage and technology has trumped nature in nearly every aspect of life, The Pod Generation follows Rachel (Emilia Clarke) and Alvy (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a New York couple who are ready to start a family. As a rising tech company executive, Rachel lands a coveted spot at the Womb Center, which offers couples the opportunity to share pregnancy on a more equal footing by way of mobile, artificial wombs, or pods. Alvy, a botanist and devoted purist about the natural environment, has doubts, but his love for Rachel prompts him to take a leap of faith. And so, begins the wild ride on their tech-paved path to parenthood.

Expectations: Although a science fiction-based futuristic story, the ideas presented in this film are not that far off from how this is trending with technology so the far-fetched nature sometimes exhibited in the genre is not present here. I’m a fan of Clarke’s work on Game Of Thrones but I can’t say she’s done anything amazing afterward Chiwetel’s a massive draw for me, as the guy brings it to every role. The biggest excitement for me about this film is it is from the mind of writer and director Sophie Barthes, whose film Cold Souls is one of the most meta films I have ever seen and might be the most underrated movie of 2009. With her weird idiosyncrasies, this might be another underrated masterpiece that audiences might sleep on.

Passages – Set in Paris, this seductive drama tells the story of Tomas (Franz Rogowski) and Martin (Ben Whishaw), a gay couple whose marriage is thrown into crisis when Tomas begins a passionate affair with Agathe (Adele Exarchopoulos), a younger woman he meets after completing his latest film.

Review: Ira Sachs, one of my cinema MVPs, makes his return with a film that features one of the most gorgeous leading trios in a film this year. Whishaw has been a favourite of mine since 2004, with both Enduring Love and Layer Cake, Adele absolutely entranced me in Blue Is The Warmest Color and Franz has been a festival favourite since I started attending them, starting with the one-shot feature Victoria. This will be a slow-burn film among cinephiles everywhere but I highly recommend this well-told and beautifully shot film as it is one of the best in a year filled with incredible movies. I hope it doesn’t get lost in the crush of them.

Blu-Ray:

BlackBerry – A company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveal the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway.

Review: A friend of mine called this film The Wolf Of Wall Street of Canadian Cinema and I love that term. Writer and director Matt Johnson was the perfect person to tell this story, also taking on the role of Research In Motion co-founder Doug, and the grainy look of the film and the fly-on-the-wall feel of it is directly attributed to him Glenn Howerton’s Jim Ballsilie is the big star of the film but Jay Baruchel’s understated then ferocious performance as founder Mike Lazaridis is so compelling to watch—definitely one of my favourite films of the year and a champion for Canadian movies.

The Wrath Of Becky – Three years after escaping a violent attack on her family by four Neo-Nazis, Becky and her beloved dog Diego live with a kind elderly woman named Elena Connor to rebuild her life. But when a fascist organization known as the “Noble Men” break into their home, attack both Becky and Elena and kidnap Diego, it’s up to Becky to fight back by returning to her old ways to protect herself and her loved ones, rescue Diego, and uncover the Noble Men’s mastermind plans before it’s too late.

Review: Look, when you cast Kevin James in his first villain role as a neo nazi escaped convict, you have my attention but when you have a young girl dispatch him and his crew in gory fashion, well, you’ve got my fandom. Easy to say, I was psyched for this follow-up and I was satisfied with what I got, an older Becky pushed to the edge by a new group of assholes. Lulu Wilson kicks every ass around her in this hero whose glee for killing may thrust her into the anti-hero category. Even still, I could be totally swayed into watching a third film, hell, make a Becky cinematic universe at this point, I’m game.

The Angry Black Girl And Her Monster – Having developed a preposterous theory in her mind, precocious Vicaria, a teenager obsessed with the unknown after her brother’s brutal murder, dreams of solving the impossible problem of the ultimate disease: death. And having a penchant for science, the driven schoolgirl gets to work. After all, trying to find a cure for the plague is worth a shot. As a result, strange, logic-defying experiments occur in the brilliant young scientist’s secret lab. Has Vicaria made a pivotal breakthrough in death treatment? If the irreversible process is only an illusion, who can stop the angry black girl and her monster?

Review: A gripping horror story set against the backdrop of a violent and brutal neighbourhood, this film pulses with an energy that gets under your skin and has some jarring and unforgettable scenes of tragedy. Lead actress Laya DeLeon Hayes, also the main voice of Disney Junior’s animated hit Doc McStuffins, delivers a hell of a performance that runs that gamut of all dark emotion leading to an ending that sticks to your brainpan and demands unpacking. This may be one of the best lowkey horror films of the year in my opinion.

Night Of The Assassin – Joseon, the last and longest dynasty in Korea, spanned over 500 years and contained some of the greatest unrivalled assassins. One such assassin discovers he has a heart condition and must put his violent career aside while he searches for a cure. With a bounty on his head and an area gang barging into his village hide-out, he must again take up his sword and fight to survive.

Review: This film, at least in North America, is so hard to research before watching as the real title just lists as The Assassin and no search for Night Of The Assassin yields any results so I almost felt like Well Go USA had discovered some anomaly. Well, if they did, I wish they would have unearthed something better as this film seemed to disappoint on every level, a rare South Korean miss. The film feels goofy and slapstick ridden with a lame script, and a consistent struggle to find tone and hair and makeup that looked jarringly bad. Usually, I’m excited to check these movies out, especially the dynasty epics but this one tipped its hat pretty early.

1923 – The next installment of the Yellowstone origin story introduces a new generation of the Dutton family and explores the early twentieth century when pandemics, historic drought, the end of Prohibition, and the Great Depression all plague the Mountain West and the Duttons who call it home.

Review: This prequel spin-off of the popular Kevin Costner series definitely has more legs than its predecessor, 1883, as, spoilers here, but pretty much everyone dies by the end of that one-season series. This show has the added power of Academy Award winner Helen Mirren in a prominent lead role and, a personal icon of mine, Harrison Ford in his first television series. The show does get caught up a bit in sweeping romance when it comes to the one son, Spencer, living abroad in Africa and his new bride there, but when it gets down to the gritty action, Taylor Sheridan always comes through. I’m really looking forward to what’s next after the cliffhanger at the end of this season.

Steve’s Blu-Ray Geekouts:

Golden Gate – New FBI recruit Kevin Walker (Matt Dillon) is tasked with finding communists within San Francisco’s Chinatown. When Kevin comes up empty-handed, he is forced to produce results, leading to his indictment of Chen Jung Song (Tzi Ma), an innocent Chinese worker. This results in tragedy, and the guilt-ridden Kevin feels compelled to look out for Song’s beautiful daughter, Marilyn (Joan Chen). Though Kevin and Marilyn fall for each other, his past deception still hangs over his head.

Review: It’s two weeks in a row of Matt Dillon films in the Geekouts, thanks to the people at Moviezyng.com but this one is about a decade earlier and it doesn’t have him behind the camera as well. This time it’s future Academy Award nominee John Madden, five years before he would be the talk of the movie world with Shakespeare In Love. The film was written by David Henry Hwang, who made his made his mark in the industry the same year with the romantic drama M. Butterfly, directed by the legendary David Cronenberg, which kind of left this film as a forgotten little drama. I think this film is fascinating to watch now, blending this tale of human connection across cultures with the era-specific battles against communism and racism.

Stormy Monday – Brendan (Sean Bean) begins to work at a jazz joint in a seedy part of Newcastle, England, and soon develops a friendship with the establishment’s seemingly ethical owner, Finney (Sting). Cosmo (Tommy Lee Jones), a crooked American businessman, arrives and attempts to force Finney into a shady deal involving the nightclub, but Brendan tries to keep his boss out of the suspicious agreement. Things are intensified when all three men compete for the affection of call girl Kate (Melanie Griffith).

Review: This film is definitely a buried gem but it comes from a time when Melanie Griffith was a queen of the era and dominated the genre market of crime dramas. The movie also has a killer cast of character players including an underappreciated at the time Tommy Lee Jones, rock star Sting and a young upstart British star in Sean Bean. Written and directed by one of the best and most underrated filmmakers, Mike Figgis, in his debut feature film, the story is a new sort of noir that carves its own path and lets the characters breathe along the way. As a guy who only discovered the film in 2023, I loved every moment of this one and hope this new Blu-ray will give it a bit of a resurgence.

Television:

Ladies First: A Story Of Women In Hip Hop (Netflix) – Recreates the role that the unstoppable women of hip-hop have played across the 50 years of this groundbreaking genre, putting them where they belong: at the heart of the present day.

Review: Netflix is getting me in that sweet spot this week as it’s hitting me not only with a new docuseries but it’s a music-centric one as well and I just adore those. This one is really cool as well as it follows the journey of women in hip hop from the ground floor with the originators in the late seventies, Salt n Pepa in the 80s through to the nineties with Queen Latifah, Foxy Brown and so on through to the influence women still exhibit in the genre today. I’m an easy sucker for all of this but any documentary fan can latch onto this one, maybe dispel some myths and learn more about these players in the music industry and not just what they did for music but the gender war as well.

Painkiller (Netflix) – This limited series exposes the roots of the most pressing health epidemic of the 21st century. Powerful narcotic painkillers, or opioids, were once used as drugs of last resort for pain sufferers. Purdue turned OxyContin into a billion-dollar blockbuster by launching an unprecedented marketing campaign claiming that the drug’s long-acting formulation made it safer to use than traditional painkillers for many types of pain. That illusion was quickly shattered as drug abusers learned that crushing an Oxy could release its narcotic payload all at once. Even in its prescribed form, Oxy proved fiercely addictive. As OxyContin’s use and abuse grew, Purdue concealed what it knew from regulators, doctors, and patients.

Review: Following Hulu and Disney+’s limited series Dopesick starring Michael Keaton, Netflix now takes a stab at the OxyContin story with the writers of the Fred Rogers biopic A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood making their debut as the showrunners. The cast is solid with Matthew Broderick playing Richard Sackler, the catalyst for the whole pharma-driven tragedy on the American people, as well as Uzo Aduba, Taylor Kitsch and West Duchovny in main roles and the pilot episode is a well-told dive into a sort of familiar story. It also helps that the veteran direction of Peter Berg for all six episodes drives a story that is fascinating on the surface anyways and just adds a new flavour to what you may have already seen.

Strange Planet (AppleTV+) – A look at a distant planet not unlike Earth, with hilarious yet poignant observations on life, love and friendship, as told in the most peculiar way.

Review: Based on a hilarious webcomic done by Nathan Pyle, this is something I never would think of getting a television series adaptation but here we are and, you know what? It’s pretty fun. Will it translate to a broader audience that has no connection to the origins of it? I think that is your harder sell as the whole idea, especially the way the dialogue flows, is nuanced to what. made the usually one to four-panelled comic work. I enjoy it but I also question the gamble with adapting this for a streaming service.

Only Murders In The Building: Season 3 (Disney+) – Follows three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the three unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretch back years. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living amongst them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it’s too late.

Review: One of my current favourite comedy shows is back for a new season and bringing some serious firepower in the guest star department with Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd. The chemistry with Martin, Short and Gomez is brilliant and it really gave me an appreciation for how talented Selena is in the genre as her deadpan deliveries are consistently hilarious. As a lifelong fan of both Steve Martin and Martin Short, I was an easy mark for this show but beyond that, it is one of the best-written shows on television today and always surprises and entertains. Can’t wait to see how this one will all turn out but I won’t go into specifics because of spoilers for new readers.

Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty: Season 2 (Crave) – Beginning with the arrival of Earvin “Magic” Johnson as the #1 overall pick of the 1979 draft, the Lakers played basketball with gusto and pizzazz, unleashing their famed “Showtime” run-and-gun style on a league unprepared for their speed and ferocity and became the most captivating show in sports and, arguably, in all-around American entertainment. The Lakers’ roster overflowed with exciting all-star-calibre players, including center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and they were led by the incomparable Pat Riley, known for his slicked-back hair, Armani suits, and arrogant strut. Hollywood’s biggest celebrities lined the court and gorgeous women flocked to the arena. Best of all, the team was a winner. Between 1980 and 1991, the Lakers played in an unmatched nine NBA championship series, capturing five of them.

Expectations: Adam McKay has got himself yet another hit in the true story realm with this famed sports story of a benchmark in the history of the NBA under the ownership of a guy who had no idea of the mountain he was facing at the time. It’s a good thing this was a hit too because it cost his friendship with Will Ferrell over not being offered the chance to be involved. Beyond that behind-the-scenes drama, this show is really compelling with a great cast but I do wonder what the real people think about their stories being told because some of them definitely do not come off great.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Aug 3

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August 3, 2023

New Releases:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers. Their new friend, April O’Neil, helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.

Expectations: For the first time since 2007’s TMNT, the Turtles are back on the big screen in animated form and the anticipation for this movie is high, with some eye-popping style that is reminiscent of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. The voice cast around our four heroes is fantastic, including Jackie Chan, Paul Rudd, John Cena, Ayo Edibri and Seth Rogen, who also produced and co-wrote the film. Another cool thing about this film is that Leo, Donny, Raph and Mikey are all voiced by real teenagers, the first time this has been done with the characters, and, to me, that adds so much. This is going to be awesome.

Meg 2: The Trench – Get ready for the ultimate adrenaline rush this summer in a larger-than-life thrill ride that supersizes the first movie and takes the action to higher heights and even greater depths with multiple massive Megs and so much more. Dive into uncharted waters with Jason Statham and global action icon Wu Jing as they lead a daring research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal Megs and relentless environmental plunderers, our heroes must outrun, outsmart, and outswim their merciless predators in a pulse-pounding race against time.

Expectations: Speaking of things that are going to be excellent, the first Meg film was way more fun than I expected it to be and now that we have a usually arthouse horror and thriller director Ben Wheatley helming this one, I think all bets are off. With bigger monsters, bigger stakes and Jason Statham defying all expectations, the trailer is an absolute blast and I think we will have a wild ride ahead of us. Giant shark movies for the win!

Shortcomings – Ben, a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend, Miko, who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an arthouse movie theatre as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice, a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.

Review: The writing and directing debut of Randall Park, this film is a total win with a great script and smart and funny characters framed by great performances from Justin H. Min, Sherry Cola and Ally Maki. Meta in a lot of its delivery, the interesting this about the film is that it leads with a pretty unlikable character but one that is very unassuming of his lesser traits. This counteracts Chon’s onscreen likability as I always have enjoyed his work, especially on The Umbrella Academy.

A Compassionate Spy – Directed by two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Life Itself), the film is a gripping real-life spy thriller about controversial Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall, who infamously provided nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, told through the perspective of his loving wife Joan, who protected his secret for decades. Recruited in 1944 as an 18-year-old Harvard undergraduate to help Robert Oppenheimer and his team create a bomb, Hall was the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project and didn’t share his colleagues’ elation after the successful detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. Concerned that a U.S. post-war monopoly on such a powerful weapon could lead to nuclear catastrophe, Hall began passing key information about the bomb’s construction to the Soviet Union. After the war, he met, fell in love with, and married Joan, a fellow student with whom he shared a passion for classical music and socialist causes and the explosive secret of his espionage. The pair raised a family while living under suspicion and years of FBI surveillance and intimidation. This film reveals the twists and turns of this real-life spy story, its profound impact on nuclear history, and the couple’s remarkable love and life together during more than fifty years of marriage.

Review: This new documentary is capitalizing on the fact that the Christopher Nolan-written and directed biopic was only released last week. So, with some of the Manhattan Project facts fresh in our mind, we get a story that is only slightly eluded to in that blockbuster film about leaking weapons secrets to the Soviets. The decision to do interviews along with dramatic re-enactment is one that I don’t agree with the story is interesting but that may be my residual Oppenheimer high from last week.

Blu-Ray:

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 – In the final part of their story, our beloved band of misfits is looking a bit different these days. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.

Review: Writer and director James Gunn closes his chapter in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe with a film brimming with heart and soul, so much so that if you didn’t leak a tear then I’m curious if you are a robot or not. I will contend that Guardians was the perfect trilogy contained within this expansive story and Gunn seemed to get the assignment every time and knock it out of the park. I also love that this is Rocket’s movie and every emotional beat lands with an incredible crescendo. This is one of 2023’s best, without a doubt.

About My Father – The film centers around Sebastian (Sebastian Maniscalco) who is encouraged by his fiancée (Leslie Bibb) to bring his immigrant hairdresser father Salvo (Robert De Niro) to a weekend get-together with her super-rich and exceedingly eccentric family (Kim Cattrall, Anders Holm, Brett Dier, David Rasche). The weekend develops into what can only be described as a culture clash, leaving Sebastian and Salvo to discover that the great thing about family is everything about family.

Review: I have to say that my feelings for this comedy may come from a low bar being set for it, given De Niro’s comedy choices recently and the “comedians-centric” movies that have always been hit or miss. The film has to fight through its cliches and plot points that are completely predictable but there are some genuine laughs to be had in this movie and enough to elevate it to being a solid watch. Much like Jo Koy’s Easter Sunday, there was something about this movie that just won me over.

Steve’s Blu-Ray Geekouts:

Best Seller – Police detective and successful author Dennis Meechum (Brian Dennehy) has not been able to write since his wife’s death and owes an overdue manuscript to the publisher. When corporate hitman Cleve (James Woods) proposes his life story as a book, Meechum suspects he is a fraud. However, Cleve has proof of his hits for executive David Madlock (Paul Shenar). While this convinces Meechum, it also endangers his daughter (Allison Balson), whom Madlock kidnaps to stop the story from coming out.

Review: It’s cool that Moviezyng.com hooked me up with this 1987-made action flick as it just celebrated its thirty-fifth anniversary and it is a time portal to a different time of movies with very different ideas of a genre star. Yes, James Woods was at his early career peak and Brian Dennehy was in his F/X phase and the action section was filled with great gritty films. Both actors make this Larry Cohen script a hell of a lot of fun and it inadvertently led to Stallone calling director John Flynn to make Lock Up, another action favorite of mine at the time.

City Of Ghosts – Waiting for the heat to cool from a failed U.S. insurance scam, Jimmy (Matt Dillon) grows restless in Bangkok. When he hears rumours that his partner and mentor Marvin has surfaced in Cambodia, he sets off to get his promised cut. What he finds there is a mysterious and hostile environment where even the most polished criminal can end up on deadly ground. The further Jimmy gets in his search for Marvin, the deeper he plunges himself into a predicament from which he may not return.

Review: Matt Dillon’s debut as a writer and director in a feature film makes its debut on Blu-ray and I remember checking it out on DVD when it was originally released twenty years ago. Featuring a solid cast around him with James Caa, Stellan Skarsgard and Natascha McElhone, Dillon tells a pretty well-told story against an exotic and interesting backdrop. The cinematography is the true MVP here, done by Jim Denault, the eye behind Boys Don’t Cry and The Grizzlies.

Diary Of A Hitman – A veteran hitman, Dekker (Forest Whitaker) is ready to call it quits and leave the profession. Dekker’s final job, however, proves to be trickier than expected when the sadistic Zidzyck (Lewis Smith) recruits the assassin to kill his wife, Jain (Sherilyn Fenn), along with the couple’s baby. While Dekker has a change of heart and resolves not to shoot Jain and her child, his decision places all their lives in danger, since Zidzyck has dispatched another killer to perform the task.

Review: Dipping back to an action drama from 1991, this was also a Forest Whitaker blindspot for me, as well as a Sherilyn Fenn one as I’m a huge Twin Peaks fan as well. The film has that early 90s noir grit to it that benefits from having Forest’s gravitas, as well as a solid performance from Sharon Stone, just a year before she hit it big with Basic Instinct. I also like the added Twin Peaks connection of a quick cameo from Jim Belushi.

Television:

Physical: Season 3 (AppleTV+) – Set in the idyllic but fragile beach paradise of sunny 1980s San Diego, the show is a half-hour dark comedy following Sheila Rubin, a quietly tortured, seemingly dutiful housewife supporting her smart but controversial husband’s bid for state assembly. But behind closed doors, Sheila has her own darkly funny take on life she rarely lets the world see. She’s also battling a complex set of personal demons relating to her self-image; that is until she finds release through the unlikeliest source: the world of aerobics. At first, hooked on the exercise itself, Sheila’s real road to empowerment comes when she discovers a way to merge this newfound passion with the burgeoning technology of videotape to start a revolutionary business. The series tracks her epic journey from a stifled, overlooked enabler to a powerful, confident economic force, as Sheila transforms into someone we take for granted today but was entirely radical at the time- the female lifestyle guru.

Expectations: Rose Byrne is an absolute treasure, especially comedically, but this show loves to dabble on the razor’s edge of dark comedy. That said, I think it still plays to Rose’s dramatic side and her portrayal of Sheila is biting, pragmatic and oh-so awful to herself. This show, in a sea of other shows that seem plucked from other networks, is a crown jewel in quality from AppleTv+ and I think it is the show that is being seriously overlooked on a grand scale. If you love character-centric dramas with a funny bite to them, this is your bag for sure.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jul 27

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July 27, 2023

New Releases:

Haunted Mansion – A single mom named Gabbie hires a tour guide, a psychic, a priest and a historian to help exorcise her newly bought mansion after discovering ghosts inhabit it.

Expectations: Disney is taking a second attempt at making one of their storied theme park attractions into a movie following the 2003 Eddie Murphy film that didn’t do what they wanted business-wise. I’m mostly attracted to this film by the director, Dear White People’s Justin Simien, who hasn’t disappointed yet and is now saddled with a definite blockbuster. The cast is also awesome, featuring Sorry To Bother You’s Lakeith Stanfield and some legends in Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson and, a forever favourite, Danny Devito. Not much chatter about this one but it could be a low-key hit for Disney, a studio that really needs it at the moment.

The Beanie Bubble – Why did the world suddenly treat stuffed animals like gold? Ty Warner was a frustrated toy salesman until his collaboration with three women grew his masterstroke of an idea into the biggest toy craze in history. “The Beanie Bubble” is an inventive story about what and who we value, and the unsung heroes whose names didn’t appear on the heart-shaped tag.

Review: Obviously, being a nineties kid, I knew about the obsession over Ty’s Beanie Babies but I really didn’t know the rabid degrees that the consumers when to in their quest to obtain the discontinued ones nor the story about Ty Warner, the founder of the company, played by an oddly beardless Zach Galifianakis in the film. The film is a solid comedy biopic with great performances and some really beautifully shot sequences. Another studio dump to streaming, this time on AppleTV+, but I think word of mouth will do it well.

Hidden Strike – Two ex-special forces soldiers must escort a group of civilians along Baghdad’s “Highway of Death” to the safety of the Green Zone.

Expectations: This is kind of the best surprise action comedy because it pairs legendary action star Jackie Chan and former WWE superstar and current “that guy’s in everything” star John Cena and, judging from the trailer, it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. I mean, a tanker truck backflip? You’ve got my money for that alone, gentleman. The film is one of those non-Netflix productions, produced by a Chinese company but directed by Need For Speed’s Scott Waugh so the action beats may be the reason to check this out. To be honest, Cena is a big draw for me as the guy improves every time I see him.

Theater Camp – Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) are lifelong best friends and drama instructors at a rundown camp in upstate New York. When clueless tech-bro Troy (Jimmy Tatro) arrives to run the property (into the ground), Amos, Rebecca-Diane and production manager Glenn (Noah Galvin) band together with the staff and students, staging a masterpiece to keep their beloved summer camp afloat.

Expectations: I want to get behind this new comedy musical but seeing Ben Platt’s face makes me have bad flashbacks to the movie version of Dear Evan Hansen, a truly awful experience. The point where I can hook back in si Molly Gordon, an actress who has currently surfaced on the hit series The Bear but also wrote and directed this film as well as starring alongside Platt. This movie definitely has potential but I’m still a little reserved on it.

Talk To Me – When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and opens the door to the spirit world forcing them to choose who to trust: the dead or the living.

Expectations: This is the dark horse of the week, a horror film from first-time writer and director brothers Danny and Michael Philippou with a story that seems a bit familiar in horror, pushing on the Monkey Paw tale. There are no big actors in this one, just a creepy tale from the glorious studio of A24, the people responsible for distributing some of my favourite films of the past decade. The festival buzz about this creepy movie has been bouncing around the internet since the beginning of the end and the trailer is super effective so I, as a huge horror fan, say “bring it on”. I want a best of 2023 for the genre and this may be it.

Kokomo City – In the wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary, filmmaker D. Smith passes the mic to four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City, Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver, who unapologetically break down the walls of their profession. Holding nothing back, the film vibrates with energy, sex, challenge, and hard-earned wisdom.

Review: A deeply personal film, shot in stark black and white, giving the spotlight to four people of a community that is mercilessly and relentlessly under attack by today’s society at its core. The four ladies are so fascinating, just as characters, and came across as so likable and lively that it is so easy to get on their side of the struggle. The film isn’t likely to get a lot of attention but I think it is one of the best docs I’ve seen in 2023.

Blu-Ray:

Book Club: The Next Chapter – The highly anticipated sequel follows our four best friends as they take their book club to Italy for the fun girls’ trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.

Expectations: After the “what the hell am I watching?” experience of 80 For Brady, I think I need a cooling off period before I jump into another Jane Fonda vehicle, especially this film that had a loathsome first film. I’m very aware that these films are written for a very specific age group but the construction of the first film felt so clunky that no one could elevate it. I do like that cast though as I adore Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen. All of this aside, this movie is definitely digging for that Mother’s Day market this weekend and will surely make some money.

Master Gardener – Deep within the lush grounds of Gracewood Gardens, horticulturist Narvel Roth tends to more than just plants. With a meticulous hand and unwavering devotion, he’s created an idyllic sanctuary for his demanding employer, Mrs. Haverhill. But when troubled great-niece Maya arrives seeking an apprenticeship, Narvel’s perfectly cultivated life begins to unravel, unearthing secrets from a violent past that threatens to destroy everything he holds dear.

Review: Paul Schrader returns with another complex character drama that gives Joel Edgerton a career-best performance in a filmography full of them. Schrader’s gift of getting the audience to care so deeply for conflicted and tortured men is fully on display here again and supporting work from the great Sigourney Weaver and Black Adam actress Quintessa Swindell strengthens it all that much more. Like the usual outcome of the Taxi Driver writer’s films, I doubt it will be spoken about around Oscar time but at this point, it’s one that I’d have at the top of the best actor and original screenplay conversation.

Polite Society – A merry mash-up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action, Polite Society follows martial artist-in-training Ria Khan who believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.

Review: A fun rush of martial arts action embedded in the story of two British Pakistani sisters living in Sheperd’s Bush that works for the most part. There start to be some unbelievable cliches and action tropes that feel forced from the teen comedy beats the main artery of the film is trying to pull from which start to dull the edges as you’re watching it. At the end of the film, it lands on being pretty entertaining but forgettable, even if it is a sweet lead role for The Umbrella Academy’s Ritu Arya.

Paint – Owen Wilson portrays Carl Nargle, Vermont’s #1 public television painter who is convinced he has it all: a signature perm, custom van, and fans hanging on his every stroke… until a younger, better artist steals everything (and everyone) Carl loves.

Expectations: There is no doubt at all that Wilson is channelling Bob Ross in this comedy, so this is as close as we will get to a biopic but that sort of wackiness is kind of my wheelhouse so I’m willing to excuse it’s bad review meter online. The film comes from a first-time writer and director in Brit McAdams but the veteran help of Wendi McClendon-Covey, Stephen Root and Michaela Watkins can’t hurt the whole situation and the story just seems so wacky and fun. It’s also great to see Owen explore some character work because I know he’s good at it.

Buddy Games: Spring Awakening – After the death of one of their own, Bobfather and the boys steal the urn and go on a trip to commemorate his life at the place where the Buddy Games began, but everything goes wrong when they find themselves in the middle of spring break.

Review: This is the sequel to the directorial debut of Josh Duhamel, a really personal one that he wrote as well. Although he didn’t write this one, he returns to direct as well as play one of the lead roles in a comedy that pulls on the comedy strings of lesser Adam Sandler films like Grown Ups but it manages to find some charm within it from time to time.

The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is The Blood Of The Baboon Heart – A nationwide manhunt for Hank Venture leads to untold dangers and unexpected revelations. At the same time, an imposing evil from the past reemerges to wreak havoc on the Ventures, The Guild, and even the Monarch’s marriage.

Review: Just over a month after the release of the complete series box set, an absolute beauty, we get an all-new movie to whet our appetites for more Venture Bros. This movie plays to every strength the series had and, if this is the last time that we see the doctor and his sons, it was a really great send-off. I think there are some hints of a continuation within the film but I really don’t want to get any hopes up.

One False Move – After an “LA drugs deal” leads to blood and carnage, the perpetrators end up in a small town in Arkansas where the leader Ray contacts his ex-girlfriend. Two LA Detectives ensue and soon find themselves out of sorts in the sticks. Chief Dale ‘Hurricane’ Dixon sees his chance to impress and get a dream a move to the big city but his Hicksville approach leads to mockery and derision. Keeping important information from the two officers he tries to play clever and capture the criminals himself. ‘Classic’ neo-noir, tough is tough but evil is evil.

Review: I was so excited to get this 4K upgrade of this Bill Paxton-led classic from director Carl Franklin as it was a blind spot in my viewing of the entire filmography of the late actor. To be honest, I hadn’t even heard of it but the Criterion Collection seal of approval is enough for me and now it is one of my favorite new discoveries this year. Fantastic character work and a darkly funny script that always knew where to show up. This is definitely a hidden gem.

Television:

The Witcher: Season 3 Volume 2 (Netflix) – Geralt of Rivia is a witcher, a mutant with special powers who kills monsters for money. The land is in a state of turmoil, due to the empire of Nilfgaard seeking to enlarge its territory. Among the refugees of this struggle is Cirilla, the Princess of Cintra, one of Nilfgaard’s victims. She and Geralt share a destiny. Meanwhile, another figure looms large in Geralt’s adventures: Yennefer, a sorceress.

Review: Weare now at the end for Henry Cavill as Geralt OF Rivia, a role he was destined for and had the reverence and responsibility to play, and I can’t say I’m excited to see a new person do it. All we have left is to savour what we’ve got as I enjoy this series and its lore plus the action scenes are awesome and the progression of the story has been handled very well. I also adore Jaskier, the bard, played brilliantly by Joey Batey. His dialogue is hilarious.

Heels: Season 2 (Crave) – The show is a story about the men and women who chase their dreams in the world of small-town pro wrestling. Set in a close-knit Georgia community, it follows a family-owned wrestling promotion as two brothers and rivals, Jack Spade and Ace Spade, war over their late father’s legacy. In the ring, somebody must play the good guy, and somebody must play their nemesis, the heel. But in the real world, those characters can be hard to live up to — or hard to leave behind.

Expectations: Finally my passion for dramatic television combined with my love for professional wrestling has collided with this series starring Arrow’s Stephen Amell and Vikings star Alexander Ludwig. Season one was really solid and also had the inclusion of real-life former AEW and WWE champion CM Punk and this year sees the inclusion of his wife, AJ Mendez, a former WWE champion herself. The drama is great, the love for the industry is always present and, as a fan, it makes me yearn for more wrestling-related movies and TV shows.

Good Omens: Season 2 (Prime Video) – A naked archangel turns up at the door to renegade angel Aziraphale’s bookshop, with no memory of who he is or how he got there, and Aziraphale and retired demon Crowley’s lives become extremely complicated. Heaven and Hell are both desperate to find the runaway. As Crowley and Aziraphale attempt to fix a human romance, things become increasingly unsafe for them, in the past and the present.

Expectations: Two of the best character actors out of the United Kindom who happen to share brilliant chemistry and connection, Michael Sheen and David Tennant, playing a counterpart of Heaven and hell, all written by Neil Gaiman. Yes, you’ve definitely got a hit here and it’s so cool that we’ve got, not just one season, but now this follow-up, sure to be filled with great dialogue, incredible endo f the world scenarios and hopefully the opening for the third series.

Special Ops: Lioness (Paramount+) – Cruz Manuelos, a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine, is recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program is tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives.

Review: Pretty soon they’re going to have to rename Paramount+ to Taylor Sheridan+ because the guy has made so much content fr the streaming services and we get another new one this week, led by Zoe Saldana and featuring Morgan Freeman and Nicole Kidman. Episode one is a solid establishing point, giving us an entry point with the new recruit Cruz, played by In The Tall Grass actress Laysla De Oliveira. It is a bit formulaic and corny, suffering a bit from that unpolished nature that plagues all first episodes. I have a feeling it will even out though.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jul 20

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July 20, 2023

New Releases:

Barbie – To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.

Expectations: It’s crazy to think that this film is part of the most anticipated one-two-punch screenings of the year but “Barbieheimer” is a real phenomenon and I can’t wait to check out this new film from writer and director Greta Gerwig. This film feels tailor-made for lead actors Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and I can’t wait to see what they do with a story about falling relevancy in the toy world. This might be one of the year’s best here, who knows?

Oppenheimer – The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in developing the atomic bomb.

Expectations: Master filmmaker Christopher Nolan returns with a huge passion project of his and what is surely going to be deemed the front-runner for the Oscars in 2024. The cast is incredibly stacked here, toplined by Cillian Murphy in the title role but also featuring Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt and many, many more and I expect there to be some breakout performances from some of these supporting stars. This is most likely the top film of 2023 but at a daunting runtime of three hours, will audiences make it a box office success or will it get a knockout punch from Barbie?

They Cloned Tyrone – A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy in this pulpy mystery caper.

Review: This is the surprise hit of the week, a genre-laced comedy that has a great sense of character and a fantastic scope of cinema. I don’t want to get to any sort of spoiler talk because it’s best to go in cold but I will say that Boyega, Foxx and Parris all deliver career-best performances with each in a cleverly nuanced way and debuting writer and director Juel Taylor nails this film from the opening moments. I hope this one becomes an instant weekend hit for Netflix because this film deserves acclaim.

The Deepest Breath – Descending to remarkable depths below the sea on one single breath, Alessia Zecchini enters what she describes as the last quiet place on Earth. The Italian champion is determined to set a new world record in freediving, a dangerous extreme sport in which competitors attempt to reach the greatest depth without the use of scuba gear. Freedivers are often subject to blackouts upon ascent, necessitating the help of safety divers like Stephen Keenan, a free-spirited Irish adventurer who fell in love with the sport in Dahab, Egypt. Having formed a special bond on the freediving circuit, Alessia and Stephen train together to make an attempt on Dahab’s legendary Blue Hole and its challenging 85-foot-long tunnel 184 feet below the Red Sea, their fates inextricably bound together.

Review: Some of my favourite documentaries are the ones that get an almost physical reaction out of me and this film joins the National Geographic release Free Solo as stories that almost turned me inside out with viewer anxiety. Much like that previously mentioned film about climbing Yosemite without ropes or gear, this one left me in awe, watching Zecchini plummet to beyond fifty feet deep in the beautiful waters of the Blue Hole. The thread of ambition leading to obsession is fascinating as the limits of what these two could do as humans are pushed in the lead-up to these beautifully shot dives. I feel like this is a broad enough documentary to grab a big audience on Netflix and I know people will be talking about it next week.

Blu-Ray & DVD:

Love Again – What if a random text message led to the love of your life? In this romantic comedy, dealing with the loss of her fiancé, Mira Ray sends a series of romantic texts to his old cell phone number…not realizing the number was reassigned to Rob Burns’ new work phone. A journalist, Rob is captivated by the honesty in the beautifully confessional texts. When he’s assigned to write a profile of megastar Celine Dion (playing herself in her first film role), he enlists her help in figuring out how to meet Mira in person…and win her heart.

Expectations: It’s an easy assumption to make to assume that romantic comedy dramas are generally not my thing unless they are really well written, subversive or have cast members that I love and I will say that this movie has none of the above I think. What’s that, Steve? Not going to watch it for Celine? That’s right, it has no appeal for me. I will say that I am enjoying Citadel with Priyanka Chopra-Jonas and I do like her lead in this, Sam Heughan, in his series Outlander but nothing from the trailer has any effect on me.

Little Richard: I Am Everything – The film tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator — the originator — Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard’s complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon’s life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions. In interviews with family, musicians, and cutting-edge Black and queer scholars, the film reveals how Richard created an art form for ultimate self-expression, yet what he gave to the world he was never able to give to himself. Throughout his life, Richard careened like a shiny cracked pinball between God, sex and rock n’ roll. The world tried to put him in a box, but Richard was an Omni being who contained multitudes — he was unabashedly everything.

Review: Those who know my thoughts or follow this page know that I love a good music documentary and this is a special one because of how widely spread Little Richard’s musical influence was spread but, also, what he himself as a persona meant to the pop culture zeitgeist. Told through one and one interviews with those who were affected by one of the Kings of Rock ‘n’ Roll as well as archived interviews with the man himself and other mega-stars who have since passed, the film gives a pretty in-depth look at an icon who was cool and charismatic on the outside but conflicted from time to time on who he was a sexual being and how that would be received. Another interesting film from the combination of CNN Films and HBO Max.

The Last Of Us: Season 1 – 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed, Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Review: The video game adaptation story has been long and storied as large narrative failures with a few exceptions but this HBO series broke the mold. Featuring fantastic performances from both Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, I think it’s safe to say that this series is an easy candidate for best new series of the year and the anticipation for the second season is at a fever pitch. I don’t have a connection to the games, as I’ve never played them, but this story is so well written, the production level is so high and it feels so fresh and different from any other post-apocalyptic or zombie fare.

Your Honor: Season 2 – Bryan Cranston stars as a New Orleans judge who is forced to confront his own deepest convictions when his son is involved in a hit-and-run that embroils an organized-crime family. As a storm of vengeance, lies and deceit threatens to engulf the entire city, Michael Desiato faces a series of increasingly impossible choices and discovers just how far an honest man will go to save his son’s life.

Review: It came and it went quickly with just two seasons but Bryan Cranston’s return to television gave us an intense twenty episodes filled with unpredictable tension and another fiery performance from character actor Michael Stuhlbarg. The series comes from UK writer and creator Peter Moffat who finally got a solid hit in America after a few cancelled shows and he and Cranston created something pretty memorable here. I don’t know how popular this show was during its run but it definitely deserves some views.

Steve’s 4K Geekout:

National Lampoon’s Vacation 4K – The Griswold family–father Clark W., wife Ellen, daughter Audrey, and son Rusty–set out in high spirits to spend their vacation driving cross-country from Chicago to the glorious Walley World on the West Coast. The trip Clark planned down to the minute slowly loses its smoothness from the moment the first grain of sand gets in. A meeting with constantly-in-debt, simple-minded cousin Eddie results in the Griswold family giving cantankerous Aunt Edna a lift to Phoenix. Of course, the Griswolds receive one strike of bad luck after another. But Clark promised his beloved family the best vacation ever.

Review: One of the most iconic if not THE iconic vacation movie, this film doesn’t lose its lustre at all as being one of the funniest Odyssey comedies ever made, with fantastic directing from Harold Ramis and a great script from one of the greatest of all time, John Hughes. Chevy Chase stars in the most memorable role of his career, the driven and determined Clark Griswold, and everyone plays so brilliantly off of his lead, most notably Beverly D’Angelo who is a lifetime favourite from these films. It was a true pleasure to revisit this film at the higher level of 4K.

Television:

The Bear: Season 2 (Disney+) – Carmen Berzatto, a brilliant young chef from the fine-dining world is forced to return home to run his family sandwich shop – the Original Beef of Chicagoland – after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he’s used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing reality of trading in Michelin-star restaurants for the small business’ kitchen filled with strong-willed and recalcitrant staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother’s suicide.

Expectations: This is without a question the best show on television right now and the series I have been looking forward to most so a lot is riding on it’s sophomore season. Jeremy Alan White is so gifted on screen but the whole ensemble that rounds out the crew in the restaurant, like Ayo Edibri and Eban Moss Bacharach, make each episode so gripping due to a fantastic writing team as well. Everybody was talking about the first season and I expect that to resume this week. Heck, it may go down as one of the best network shows of all time in my eyes.

Minx: Season 2 (Crave) – In 1970s Los Angeles, an earnest young feminist joins forces with a low-rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women.

Expectations: This is a low-key hit from HBO that o one is seemingly taking notes of and it won’t be appreciated until it’s gone. Starring the incredibly likeable Jake Johnson from New Girl and British actress Olivia Lovlibond, the chemistry and scriptwriting for the two actors is so damn good and drives the series in such a good way. I also like that it can be a good recommendation for anyone who enjoyed the Maggie Gyllenhal and James Franco series The Deuce but it also has a great feminist angle and energy to it that I really enjoy.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Jul 13

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July 13, 2023

New Releases:

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One – Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission — not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Expectations: Shoot for the sky in your excitement for this film because Tom Cruise and this entire franchise have done nothing but dazzle us with phenomenal action, intriguing stories and a fast-paced ride that thrills at every turn in the whole lead-up to this point and from the advance reviews, including some from friends of mine, this might be the best one yet. I’m an easy mark for these movies but Tom Cruise’s uber enthusiasm and love for cinema translates to the big screen and always guarantees a satisfying movie experience. This one is going to be massive.

Blu-Ray:

Scream VI – Following the latest Ghostface killings, the four survivors leave Woodsboro behind and start a fresh chapter.

Review: So quickly after the Radio Silence team brought back this franchise in the first film not directed by creator Wes Craven, we get this new installment featuring our new core four of players while omitting one of the legacy characters, Neve Campbell’s Sydney Prescott, and bringing one back into the fold with a personal favourite, Hayden Panitierre’s Kirby Reed. The film is bigger and badder with Ghostface slashing up the Big Apple this time around and I’m game for even more if there is any left in the tanks. It also has an opening scene that vies for a series’ best award, simply brilliant and kind of game-changing.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret – For over fifty years, Judy Blume’s classic and groundbreaking novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. has impacted generations with its timeless coming-of-age story, insightful humour, and candid exploration of life’s biggest questions. In Lionsgate’s big-screen adaptation, 11-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is uprooted from her life in New York City for the suburbs of New Jersey, going through the messy and tumultuous throes of puberty with new friends in a new school. She relies on her mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), who is also struggling to adjust to life outside the big city, and her adoring grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates), who isn’t happy they moved away and likes to remind them every chance she gets.

Review: I can’t believe it has taken this long for a literary classic like this to get a film adaptation but I will say that they put it in the perfect hands with Edge Of Seventeen filmmaker Kelly Fremon Craig. With brilliant performances from young actress Fortson and Canadian actress McAdams, this film soars on heart and soul while being unflinching to its central issues. Margaret’s story is every girl’s story of self-discovery, no matter the time period, and its reliability is what makes the film soar. I know this because my wife told me.

Renfield – R.M. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) decides to leave his centuries-long line of work as a henchman and familiar to Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and finds a new lease on life in modern-day New Orleans when he falls in love with a feisty but perennially aggressive traffic cop named Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina).

Review: A lot of people were turned off by this colourful and bloody little horror comedy offering and, yes, it is a bit of a mess in its narrative but there is one key thing that makes this can’t miss, Nicolas Cage’s Dracula. He relishes every moment in the iconic role and is clearly having the time of his life, which translates well to the audience. This film isn’t going to blow you away to any degree but I contend that it is a fun watch at least.

Sisu – During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover they have just tangled with no ordinary miner. While there is no direct translation for the Finnish word “sisu”, this legendary ex-commando will embody what sisu means: a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds. And no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one-man death squad will go to outrageous lengths to get his gold back — even if it means killing every last Nazi in his path.

Review: This is a crazy one-man army epic that has nods to the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood while also forging its own path littered with blood, guts and bone. A silent figure up until the very end, Tommila’s main character becomes bigger than life like an 80s Stallone or Schwarzenegger character and I was here for every second of him dispatching Nazi soldiers. If you love a good action flick and are looking for something John Wich adjacent, this is the film for you.

Beau Is Afraid – With his mother’s gloomy spectre looming over his entire life, grizzled outcast Beau has never made sense of his miserable existence. And perpetually baffled by reality and his conflicting urgent needs, the neurotic New Yorker gets a hearty slice of crippling anxiety and sheer paranoia when he sets foot in a strangely familiar war zone: his neighbourhood. But as the pill-popping hermit reluctantly embarks on a Sisyphean quest for answers, determined to reunite with his estranged mum at all costs, Beau must summon every last ounce of courage to confront everything that has kept him in the dark. To have a fighting chance of deciphering the sinister secrets that continue to rule his life, Beau must grapple with deep-seated phobias, deal with heavy guilt, and face the menacing parent. Because, in his case, love was a fiendish trap–the labyrinthine depths of maternal affection were only the means to an end. Now, the drugs don’t work, and Beau is afraid. As the universe conspires against his conquest and the end draws near, will Beau be able to fight his inner demons for a change?

Review: I had been waiting for writer and director Ari Aster’s new film, being a huge fan of Hereditary and Midsommar but I was certainly not even a little bit prepared for this film and I don’t think anyone was. This is definitely for a niche audience who love to see things that are widely left than center so, with that in mind, you know I absolutely loved it. Joaquin Phoenix is brilliant in his loser character’s odyssey into his own fears of every degree and, if this wasn’t such a wild arthouse swing, he might be praised for it more. I think it’s one of my favorites this year and I will definitely be watching it again but is a hefty sit at three hours long.

Steve’s Blu-Ray Geek Outs:

King Solomon’s Mines – Allan Quartermain leads an expedition into uncharted African territory in an effort to locate Elizabeth Curtis’ husband Henry, who was searching for King Solomon’s legendary treasure. Along the way they encounter a variety of wild animals including snakes, a leopard and a rhino. Quartermain isn’t keen on having a woman on the expedition and he and Elizabeth quarrel regularly. Elizabeth and her husband were not very fond of one another and her journey is driven by her own guilt. She and Quatermain fall in love but survival becomes their goal when they meet dangerous tribesmen.

Review: A marvel of its time in 1951, this film had a lot of technical acclaim behind it and won two Oscars, for cinematography and editing, but also got the nod for Best Picture as well, losing to All About Eve, which is understandable. The adventure film was a box office smash and was progressive enough to be the first time the Watusi tribe allowed themselves to be filmed and gave an in-depth look at indigenous culture, employing existing villages and locally recruited extras. The film was also to blame for the affair between stars Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger who were both married at the time.

Queen Christina – Queen Christina of Sweden ascended to the throne at the age of six and as an adult has proven to be a wise and just ruler. There is much speculation about who she will marry – and produce an heir – but she is not interested in any of the possibilities mentioned, including Prince Charles. She does fall in love with the Spanish ambassador, Antonio, but marriage is out of the question given that he is a Roman Catholic. Some around her, such as Count Magnus, demand that she send him away and the mob rises openly against him. She insists that she has the right to be happy and is forced to choose between love and her duties as queen. Hers is not a happy future, however.

Review: A story about Swedish royalty, made in 1933, this is definitely a project to show off the legendary beauty of lead actress Greta Garbo. She was the driving force of the production as well as she had a big say in the casting of her co-star, somebody that almost was Sir Laurence Olivier before it was discovered that they shared zero chemistry. The film is also interesting as it has been said that the real Queen was a known lesbian which makes this an early entry into queer cinema I think.

One Ranger – British Intelligence meets Texas Justice in this white-knuckle action-thriller. A gunslinging Texas ranger (Thomas Jane) tracks a bank robber (Dean Jagger) across the desert — only to discover he’s an international terrorist set on detonating a bomb in the heart of London. When the lawman’s partner is killed, he is drawn into partnership with a British intelligence agent (Dominique Tipper) and her boss (John Malkovich) to bring the outlaw to justice — dead or alive.

Review: Being a direct to video release, the hopes that this will be fantastic are pretty low but it has the genre grit of Thomas Jane being the lead actor, someone I enjoy a lot. It also is the continued questionable film choices of John Malkovich who seems to do these films more than theatrical releases these days. The film was done by writer and director Jesse V. Johnson and I was hoping for more of a cohesive story like Hell Hath No Fury was but this one, with the convoluted storytelling, is a bit of a mess. Although, it was an entertaining one.

Television:

Quarterback (Netflix) – Following NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota on and off the field from the beginning of the 2022 season to its conclusion.

Review: I would consider myself a sports guy for sure but football has always been a bit of a hard sell for me as I find myself bored with what I’m seeing time to time. That said, I found myself really intrigued by this series and especially the in-game pieces with the quarterbacks all mic’ed up. Hearing the players talk on the field, the trash talk and the moments of self-doubt leading, sometimes, to elation, is a really interesting aspect of the game to focus on. I hope this goes beyond one season because it is a really great concept.

What We Do In The Shadows: Season 5 (Disney+) – Based on the feature film of the same name from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, “What We Do in the Shadows” is a documentary-style look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of four vampires who’ve “lived” together for hundreds of years in Staten Island. The self-appointed leader of the group is Nandor the Relentless, a great warrior and conqueror from the Ottoman Empire. Then there’s the British vampire Laszlo — a bit of a rogue and a dandy and a fop, he might say. He’s a lover of mischief and a great soirée, but not as much as he loves seeing Nandor fail miserably in every attempt. And then there’s Nadja: the seductress, the temptress, the vampiric Bonnie to Laszlo’s Clyde. Also cohabiting in the vampire household is Guillermo, Nandor’s familiar; and Colin Robinson, an energy vampire and day-walker of sorts — he feasts on humans, but not on their blood.

Expectations: Easily one of the funniest shows on television, the Staten Island crew is back for more late-night hijinx and this time Kristen Schaal is part of the main cast and I couldn’t be happier. As a big fan of the original film from Taika Waititi, this series can do no wrong and Matt Berry is a comedic gem but I also now have a deep love for the entire cast, most of whom I had never seen before. This is definitely one of the most quoted shows in my household and for good reason.

Foundation: Season 2 (AppleTV+) – Far in the future, The Empire is about to face a reckoning unlike anything else it’s faced before: several millennia of chaos have been predicted by the galaxy’s leading psycho-historian, Hari Seldon. But can The Empire offset the disaster before it begins?

Expectations: I remember when AppleTV+ released the first season of this series, I knew it looked cool and I knew about the source material by famed Science fiction writer and real scientist Isaac Asimov but had kind of forgotten about it. In my prep for my blog this week, I decided to finally start my journey and I’m so sad that I’m just realizing its brilliance now. Well cast, incredibly shot and intriguing from the first moments, this finally feels like my sci-fi replacement for shows like Battlestar Galactica and The Expanse. There is a braininess to the storytelling that hooks me in and makes me wildly wonder what’s next because it is so unpredictable. All in all, I’m not caught up yet but feverishly making my way to season two.