Today would have been the 100th birthday to the one and only Stan Lee.
The EYG Hall of Famer brought me a lot of enjoyment and taught me more than you would know. His characters, in particular Spider-Man, mean more to me than I ever would have guessed.
There will never be another person like “The Man” Stan Lee.
So… in tribute to Stan’s 100th b-day, all I have to say is…
.
Excelsior!
2022 brought a major change for one of my favorite shows.
The Movie Trivia Schmoedown entered its ninth season seemingly strong. It started its own Friday night program called Friday Night Titans. It continued to have exciting and competitive matches every week in singles, teams and InnerGeekdom (Star wars too, but I rarely saw any of those).
After several years of debate, I opened the Movie Trivia Schmoedown Wing of the EYG Hall of fame and inducted the first class of inductees, with the plan of inducting three or so every year.
It was not too long after the Hall of Fame announcement that the announcement from Chairman Kristian Harloff shook the MTS to its core. The Schmoedown would be ending with season 9. There would be no more Movie Trivia Schmoedown moving forward.
It was quite the blow. It had been a major aspect of my life for many years and it felt like I had lost something. I added a few more members to the Hall of Fame, those that would have been the second year inductees and those that I almost added to the first class originally.
The show ended with the 7th Schmoedown Spectacular in October, which featured some fun matches with all of the favorites, but lacked that intensity because they all knew this was the end of the line. It was a greta opportunity to say goodbye to this show that had meant a lot to me over the years.
That brought me to the Year in Review. I normally do up a whole list of award winners for the Schmoedown, but I am not going to do that this year. Clearly, Samm Levine, who ended the Schmoedown as Champion is the Player of the Year.
However, I wanted to give out the final Match of the Year Award because the matches in season 9 were every bit as important as the previous ones.
Movie Trivia Schmoedown Match of the Year
Previous Winners: JTE defeats Drew McWeeny in Sudden Death(2017), Mara Knopic defeated Rachel Cushing in Innergeekdom Tournament (2018), Rachel Cushing defeated Mike Kalinowski in Sudden Death to win the Innergeekdom championship (2019), Dan Murrell defeated Ben Bateman in Sudden Death to win the Movie Trivia Schmoedown Championship (2020), Andrew Dimalanta defeated Alex Damon in Sudden Death to win Star Wars Championship, 51-50 (2021)
2022 Movie Trivia Match of the Year… the final winner is…
Samm Levine defeated Marisol McKee for the Singles Championship, 38-35
This is a final goodbye to the MTS. I have been watching some early matches on YouTube and I do miss it.
Previous Winners: James McAvoy (Split), Denzel Washington (Fences), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick…Boom)
We have ten actors on the list for 2022. All of them have done great work and deserve the recognition.
#10. Jonathan Majors (Devotion). Jonathan Majors is on his way to superstardom and this performance will be pointed at as a gem when he is dominating the discussion as Kang and in Creed 3.
#9. Nic Cage (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent). Playing Nic Cage had to be more difficult than it seemed. Nic Cage is really into the joke as he brought an excellent version of himself to the screen.
#8. Mark Rylance (The Outfit). This is one of those films this year that snuck under the radar, but Rylance was exceptional in his one setting film. He showed how clever his character was with every step taken.
#7. Daniel Craig (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery). Our Southern gentleman detective, Benoit Blanc, returned to the screen in a new Knives Out story and entertained us thoroughly once again.
#6. Jeremy Pope (The Inspection). A black gay man trying to make it in the Marines is filled with drama and tension and Pope’s performance showed every bit of that feeling.
#5. Daniel Radcliffe (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story). When you think of who could play Weird Al in a biopic, Daniel Radcliffe does not immediately come to mind. Yet, the former Harry Potter star was brilliant in bringing to life the master of the parody in one of the funniest performances of the year.
#4. Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin). Colin Farrell had a great year and he ended it with this amazing performance of a lonely man who does not understand why his friend has deserted him.
#3. Austin Baker (Elvis). This casting was weird. Austin Baker was a young guy and who thought he could be Elvis Presley? Well, anyone who doubted him has to now eat those words as Austin Baker was brilliant as The King of Rock and Roll.
#2. Ralph Fiennes (The Menu). Ralph Fiennes anchored this wonderful entourage and absolutely dominated every scene he was in. The Menu was such a great surprise and Ralph Fiennes made every moment count.
And the Number One and winner of the Strangelove is…
Brendan Fraser (The Whale). This movie made me feel uneasy and, even at times, depressed and I did not give it a positive review, but there is no denying that Brendan Fraser was utterly transcendent as Charlie. The screenplay may not have treated Charlie well, but Brendan Fraser took every second of the role and made it more than just an actor in a fat suit. Fraser absolutely overcame the cruelty of the film and gave the best performance of the year.
Previous Winners: Frances McDormand (3 Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri), Viola Davis (Fences), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Rosemund Pike (Gone Girl), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Renee Zellweger (Judy), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story)
Top 11
#11. Kali Reis (Catch the Fair One). A brutal performance with a character that was in search of her sister and would do anything to find her.
#10. Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans). Michelle Williams gives a solid performance in a film where her character is a little unbalanced and unhappy despite having a seemingly good life.
#9. Sosie Bacon (Smile). The daughter of Kevin Bacon came to play in the frightful horror film, Smile. There is no doubt that Smile was one of the scariest films of the year and her performance anchored it.
#8. Viola Davis (The Woman King). The only actor to win The Liz twice, Viola Davis was at it again this year with a powerhouse performance as an African warrior in The Woman King.
#7. Naomi Ackie (I Wanna Dance with Somebody). Whitney Houston herself. Ackie gave a great performance as the iconic singer, really becoming her and not just doing an imitation.
#6. Letitia Wright (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). Wright faced the difficult task of becoming the next MCU Black Panther after the loss of Chadwick Boseman and she gave her best performance ever. She gave an emotional and deep performance that both established herself as the character and honored her on screen brother.
#5. Alisha Weir (Matilda the Musical). The “I See Kid Actors” Award winner this year also makes The Liz list. Alisha Weir was fantastic as the titular character, not only acting, but also singing and dancing. It’s an all around great performance.
#4. Cate Blanchett (Tar). The Oscar front runner falls in at number four for me. She was great in the movie, but I only liked Tar. No doubt that Cate Blanchett was the reason to see that film.
#3. Mia Goth (Pearl). Mia Goth was amazing in this prequel to X. She was great in X too, but I think she really brought the crazy in Pearl as we see how she became the dangerous psycho killer she would become.
#2. Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once). Michelle Yeoh brought such a credibility to this small movie that helped elevate it to the next level. She was certainly everything to this movie.
And the number one and winner of The Liz Award for 2022 is…
Danielle Deadwyler (Till). One of the most powerful and heart-wrenching performances of the year, Danielle Deadwyler showed the anguish of a mother whose only son was brutally lynched in the south during the 1950s, but would not stand for it and helped make the world a better place through her tragedy. Not many people saw Till, but it was an amazing film with the performance of Deadwyler at the heart of it.
Previous Winners: Patrick Stewart (Logan), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Edward Norton (Birdman), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Richard Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Robert Downey Jr (Avengers: Endgame), Sasha Baron Cohen (Trial of the Chicago 7), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home)
As with the Female Supporting Actor Award, we had a name change for this award too. Named it after three of the great supporting characters in film history.
There are ten on the list of Male Supporting Actors
#10. Bokeem Woodbine (The Inspection). The drill sergeant who went out of his way to make things horribly difficult for Jeremy Pope in The Inspection.
#9. Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway). Henry was one of the standouts of the Apple TV + film Causeway.
#8. Mark Rylance (Bones and All). I did not like this movie much, but there is no denying that Mark Rylance was amazing as the crazed cannibal.
#7. Stanley Tucci (I Wanna Dance With Somebody). Clive Davis was a close friend and record executive that helped Whitney through her life and career and his care was special.
#6. Paul Dano (The Fabelmans). Paul Dano was excellent as the father who was supporting of his son while his marriage was falling apart.
#5. Tom Hanks (Elvis). Colonel Tom Parker had his fingers all over Elvis for years, manipulating him and everyone around. Hanks showed he could play an unlikable person as well.
#4. Colin Farrell (The Batman). Farrell is unrecognizable as The Penguin in the newest Batman film. He may not have been the main villain of the film, but he may have been the best.
#3. Tenoch Huerta (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). Huerta did an amazing job with Namor, a longtime character of Marvel with a new background and culture. He was a villain who you did not want to root against.
#2. Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans). He was there for maybe ten minutes, but he absolutely dominated the screen while he was there. Perhaps the best performance of his career.
And the NUMBER ONE Best Male Supporting Actor is…
Ke Huy Quen (Everything Everywhere All At Once). What a comeback! As a child, Ke Huy Quen was Short Round in the Indiana Jones franchise and Data in The Goonies. He was amazing in the Multiversal movie, playing a couple of different characters. I am glad that he returned to the screen and I hope that he will have plenty of great roles moving forward!
Previous Winners: Dafne Keene (Logan), Tilda Swinton (Dr. Strange), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Emma Stone (Birdman), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Sally Field (Lincoln), Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses), Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place), Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit), Margo Martindale (Blow the Man Down), Rita Moreno (West Side Story)
As you can see, I have renamed this award. The term “actress” has fallen out of favor lately and so I thought, with the chance of being referred to as ‘woke’, it was as good as time as any to rename the award.
We actually have 11 female supporting actors on our list this year. We are counting them down.
#11. Sally Field (Spoiler Alert). Field was great in the film as a mother of an adult son with cancer. She did not have that much screen time though so this is her spot.
#10. Tamara Tunie (I Wanna Dance With Somebody). Tunie played Whitney Houston’s mother Cissy and she was a great support for Whitney.
#9. Sadie Sink (The Whale). Sadie had a great year, with her work on Stranger Things and her turn as sociopathic daughter to Brendan Fraser. How horrible was her character in that film? Sadie Sink has remarkable talent.
#8. Gabrielle Union (The Inspection). Another mother on the list. Gabrielle Union played a pretty rotten mother who could not accept her son’s lifestyle.
#7. Carey Mulligan (She Said). Mulligan could really be considered a co-lead of the film.
#6. Lashana Lynch (Matilda the Musical). Lynch played the sweet Ms. Honey and brought a new flair to the role.
#5. Hong Chau (The Whale). Chau was the friend/nurse in The Whale and she created a balance to the depression of Brendan Fraser character.
#4. Jamie Lee Curtis (Everywhere Everything All at Once). Jamie Lee Curtis was a great addition to this stellar cast. You can never go wrong with Jamie Lee Curtis.
#3. Emma Thompson (Matilda the Musical). Thompson was unrecognizable as the headmistress Agatha Trunchbull, the wicked and cruel woman who was trying to put an end to the “maggots.”
#2. Evan Rachel Wood (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story). Evan Rachel Wood was a huge scene stealer in Weird as Madonna, who truly becomes the villain of the film.
And the NUMBER ONE Best Female Supporting Actor for 2022 is…
#1. Angela Basset (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). Angela Bassett was a force of nature as Queen Ramonda, leader of Wakanda who was mourning the loss of her son, T’Challa while desperately trying to help her daughter, Shuri. There were some amazingly savage dialogue for Queen Ramonda in some powerful monologues.
Damien Chazelle, director of such great films as Whiplash and La La Land, has a new film out wide in theaters right now entitled Babylon, and there have been plenty of pundits who believe that Babylon will receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
I, on the other hand, absolutely hated it.
I have not come out of a theater angry after watching a movie in a long time, but I was angry after spending time with this mess of a film. After fifteen minutes, I was ready to be done with Babylon, and I knew that I had another 2 hours and 45 minutes to go. I considered just leaving, but I have a rule about writing a review about a movie that I have left.
I hated this movie so much. Within five minutes of the movie, one of the actors is show getting literally shit on by an elephant. No joke… and I don’t care if that is a spoiler. He was shit on. By an elephant.
Set at the beginning in the later 1920s, the story of Babylon was all over the place following several different characters. The main ones were Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) a huge star in the movies and the eventual loss of his status in Hollywood as he got older and silent pictures left. Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) was an aspiring actress who claimed to be a star despite not yet being in any film. Margot Robbie’s story turned out to be a story taken from Singing in the Rain as they quite literally showed scenes in the third act from Singing in the Rain for anyone who did not catch the similarities. Then there was Manny (Diego Calva) who just seemed to be in the right place at the right time for his career, starting off as an assistant to Jack Conrad and winding up as a studio exec.
There were others that were tossed in for reasons, but not sure why.
I will say that I did like Brad Pitt’s arc and the character of Jack Conrad was the least ridiculous of the bunch. I thought his storyline worked fairly well for most of his time on screen. Margot Robbie’s Nellie was all over the place. She was the most inconsistent of the three ‘main’ characters. She had a gambling problem which was mentioned early in the movie, but was never important until the third act when they needed it to be important.
The film was chaotic, messy and filled with decadence and debauchery… and not in the good way.
If this movie receives an Oscar nomination, I will be very unhappy because this would be an example of something that I have noticed over the years. There are critics and pundits who have favorite directors that they like whatever they do no matter how bad it is. Directors such as Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, among others seem to get a pass. Damien Chazelle has been placed in that group. There is no way that Babylon was done by another no name director that anyone would be pushing it for an Oscar.
If I haven’t said it yet, I hated this movie. Brad Pitt was good.
1 star
Nobody tries to make a bad movie, but it happens. We are going to celebrate the rottenness of these films. These are the Batman & Robin Awards for Rottenness.
Worst Movie: We will save this for the Worst of the Year List
Worst Actor: Dave Grohl (Studio 666).
Worse Actress: Sheri Moon Zombie (The Munsters)
Worst Director: Rob Zombie (The Munsters)
Worst Sequel: RIPD 2: Rise of the Damned
My Favorite “Rotten” Movie: Black Adam
Worst Movie I Did Not See: Blonde
Cashing a Paycheck: Kevin Hart & Woody Harrelson (Man from Toronto)
Worst Superhero Movie: Morbius
Book was Better: The School of Good & Evil
Worst Reboot/Remake: The Munsters
Most Successful Bad Movie: Jurassic World: Dominion
Worst Movie Based on TV Show: Jackass Forever
Worst Performance from an Oscar Winner: Jared Leto (Morbius)
Worst Post Credit Scenes: Morbius featuring the Vulture
Worst Vampire Movie: The Invitation
Worst CGI: Jeepers Creepers: Reborn
Worst Movie Take: John Campea’s constant “Marvel is the fake death universe”. I wonder if John made any comments about Avatar: The Way of Water bringing back their main villain from the dead? No? Of course not, because that cuts into his narrative.
I am very torn about this one.
The new film from director Darren Aronofsky is entitled The Whale and it was at times, a triumph, and at other times, an insult.
Charlie (Brendan Fraser) was a morbidly obese English teacher who was carrying on his classes through Zoom. Charlie had suffered through some terrible personal tragedies that led to his weigh gain and his numerous health issues. His friend and nurse Liz (Hong Chau) was not only a protector and a helper, but also an enabler for Charlie’s deadly eating habit. Despite Liz’s insistence, Charlie refused to go to the hospital and be treated for his health issues that seemed prepared to kill him.
During this week, Charlie attempted to reconnect with his estranged daughter, the daughter he left when she was eight year old, Ellie (Sadie Sink). Ellie was a borderline sociopath and only kept coming to Charlie for the money he was going to give her. Or was there more that she was trying to do?
A local, young missionary Thomas (Ty Simpkins) was going door-to-door to preach for the local religious group and he came across Charlie in a state of pain. Thomas was convinced that God had brought him to Charlie to help him, though there was more to the young man than what he let on.
There is no doubt that the standout section of this movie is the remarkable performances, lead by Brendan Fraser himself. Fraser exceeded just the prosthetics and delivered one of the best individual performances of the year. He brought such an emotion and a power to Charlie that he was able to elevate the character above some of the cruelty that the film heaped upon him.
Brendan Fraser is supported with several really great performances in a film that is basically set in Charlie’s living room. Hong Chau is amazing as Liz, the nurse who tried to get Charlie to get help before it is too late. She was exceptional in every scene she was in. Plus, there was an unbelievable performance from Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink as Charlie’s daughter.
Of course, while I believe that all of the supporting performances were outstanding, there is not a single character among them that is not a rotten, horrible person that projects their own issues onto Charlie. Charlie, on the other hand, feels like a character that is positive and intelligent, but who is crushed beneath the hatred of the film toward him. There are so many attempts in the film to make him out to be disgusting that it avoided who he was as a character.
This was the reason I felt so uncertain about what I was watching. As a person who is fat and who has been extremely fat, there felt to me like there was a concerted effort to fat shame Charlie and to go out of the way to be cruel to him. Instead of dealing with his overeating as a symptom of his depression over the loss of his boyfriend to suicide, the film feels as if his eating is something to blame Charlie for and to make him gross. I could relate to Charlie in a lot of ways, but the film did not want people to relate to him so they went out of the way to show Charlie as a monster.
There was also a definite homophobic nature to several scenes in the movie and, while it is never specifically called out, it absolutely exists. There was a particularly gross scene between Charlie and Thomas that brings this to the light and is never dealt with properly.
There was a scene with a pizza delivery guy (Sathya Sridharan) that made me angry when it happened. It was a chance for the film to show some empathy toward Charlie, but it failed drastically to do so. There is a serious lack of empathy for Charlie. I am struggling to come up with an example of it, even among the characters that were supposed to be his friends.
So I am torn. While I found much of this movie to be cruel and gross, the actors take that grossness and cruelty and act the heck out of it. I had a general icky feeling coming out of The whale for the subject matter and the manner in which they address Charlie simply because of his disability, but I was impressed with the skill the actors displayed in having their characters be so horrible. It has several five star performances, but the overall rating or The whale is…
2.75 stars
Previous Winners: A.G. Inarritu (Birdman), Tim McCarthy (Spotlight), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame), Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods), Jon Watt (Spider-Man: No Way Home)
2022 had a bunch of excellent directors doing a lot of great work. I had a large list of potential directors for the “All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award.
Honorable Mention: I will start off by mentioning Baz Luhrmann with his Elvis work. It was a fun and well shot biopic. Dan Kusan and Daniel Scheinert are together known as The Daniels and they created one of the top films of the year with Everything Everywhere All at Once. We got a brand new look at Gotham City with Matt Reeves‘ vision of The Batman. Guillermo del Toro brought a new concept to the Pinocchio story. The Banshees of Inisherin is an Oscar favorite and Martin McDonagh may be a director nominee there. He gets a shout out in the EYG world. James Cameron did an amazing job on his sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water. Another giant epic film was The Woman King and Gina Prince-Bythewood did an amazing job with the massive battle scenes. Rian Johnson has been known to be divisive among the geek world, but that is unfair. His work is always great as it is in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Sam Raimi made Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness into an amazing Sam Raimi-movie. Top Gun: Maverick was a huge smash and Joseph Kosinski knocked it out of the park. One of the best foreign films this year was RRR and S.S. Rajamouli had huge dance and battle scenes to work. Another Oscar favorite is Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans, but he is well down my list. The Menu is absolutely awesome and Mark Mylad brought some amazing tension. Finally, Matthew Warchus gave us a wonderful film, Matilda the Musical, which is now on Netflix and EVERYONE should go watch that immediately.
The 2022 winner of Best Director is…
Ryan Coogler
No director had to deal with more than Ryan Coogler did. Not only is he responsible for directing the sequel to a culturally significant film in Black Panther, but he also had to fit the new film into the gigantic MCU franchise. Then, as the script was finished, the lead of the movie, Chadwick Boseman, passed away from cancer… something that caught everyone off guard. They had to redo the entire script, but only after he, along with Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios folks, decided not to recast. That decision stirred up the haters on the internet. He had to deal with those people who were going to hate the idea of Shuri being Black Panther for reasons that only the internet can justify. And the final film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, had to be a way to honor Chadwick Boseman while still having a solid movie. Ryan Coogler was able to be hugely successful while having all these problems.
Congrats to Ryan Coogler on his amazing achievement despite it being one that came under terrible tragic circumstances.
Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
As a professional wrestling fan, that was a sound that we all know. It was the call of “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. But even as a lifelong wrestling fan, I had no idea about some of the twists and turns that happened in the life of the man known as the “limousine-riding, jet-flying, kiss-stealing, wheeling-dealing, son of a gun.”
The new documentary of the life of Ric Flair dropped today on Peacock and it was as sensational as it was shocking. Set around interviews from Tom Rinaldi, Ric Flair talked about the ups and downs he had over the years as one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots.
We weren’t in the doc more than a few minutes and my jaw dropped. When Rinaldi asked Flair was his birth name was, I was expecting him to say “Richard Fliehr” but instead he said “Fred Phillips.” My jaw dropped open. He said he did not know that until three years ago. Turned out that Ric Flair started life in an orphanage and that he may have been stolen from the hospital as a baby as a black market baby. Unbelievable.
Then the doc went through every major event in the life of Ric Flair, from the plane crash he survived that led to him sustaining a broken back, to being struck by lightning, to the death of his son Reid, to his near death experience from drinking.
And of course, they focused on his career in the world of professional wrestling, from his time under Verne Gagne in the AWA to his days as NWA and WCW Champion and his time in the WWE.
One of the main themes of the documentary was how the real life Richard Fliehr had disappeared inside the character of Ric Flair and how even Ric himself was unsure of who Richard Fliehr was.
It detailed a lot about the lack of confidence issues he dealt with later in his life around the profession that he had been thriving in for decades. It is fascinating to see Ric Flair speaking as if he had no confidence in himself while everyone interviewed spoke of him as the greatest of all time.
They interviewed multiple individuals about Flair, not just contemporaries of his, but other big time names. We heard from Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Charlotte Flair, Booker T, Eric Bischoff, JJ Dillion, Hulk Hogan, Lex Lugar, Sting, Dave Bautista, as well as Mike Tyson, Stephen A. Smith and Post Malone.
Some of the most emotional moments of the doc came when discussing the overdose death of Reid Fliehr, Ric’s youngest son. They spoke to the entire Fliehr family and the heartbreak was clear. When Ashley “Charlotte” Fliehr spoke about her brother, whom she had broken into the wrestling business with and she said she felt guilty at times because she was living Reid’s dream, it was heartbreaking.
The loss of Reid was a triggering factor in Ric Flair’s near death from drinking. Somehow Flair survived the bout, despite being given a 15% chance of survival, but he continues to drink. I’m not sure what kind of a picture that paints of Ric Flair, but it was a moment that I found disturbing.
There did feel like the early days as NWA/WCW champion was brushed through quicker than I would have liked, though I understand that you are looking at a long career for a great performer and something had to be brushed through. They mention it, but it just did not feel as if they focused enough about it.
Ric Flair is mor than just a character. He is more than just a persona. He is a legend and, no matter what you may think of him, Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair is a powerful and intriguing look at a man and his identity.
4.4 stars
Whitney Houston had one of the greatest voices music has ever heard. Her tragic death was a tremendous loss for everybody. We now have a new biopic telling her story. Well, sort of.
I Wanna Dance with Somebody tells the story of Whitney Houston (Naomi Ackie) and her rise to superstardom, accomplishing feats on the Billboard music charts that were not accomplished by The Beatles or Elvis Presley.
The music in this biopic is stunning. Whitney Houston’s voice was unbelievable and she consistently drove the narrative of her talent with performances that was completely awe-inspiring. Hearing the songs was worth the entire film.
However, the biopic part of the movie was a tad lacking. It was a basic timeline of her life, touching upon both the good and the bad without diving into anything too deeply. Houston’s whole tumultuous marriage and relationship with Bobby Brown (Ashton Sanders) did not feel as if it was given the weight it should have been. Because of the lack of depth in any of the problems the singer faced downgraded the end result and made it more difficult to understand what happened to the singer.
As I watched the film, I enjoyed it enough. It is hard not to enjoy a film with such a powerhouse singer involved, but I do not feel as if I know Whitney Houston any better than I did before I watched it and I would not consider myself a large fan of her.
Naomi Ackie is amazing in the role of Whitney. She becomes the singer and it was hard, at times, to tell when they were using actual sounds of Whitney Houston. Reportedly, the film used Whitney’s voice about 95% of the time (according to IMDB) but Ackie is flawless with her performances.
When they allowed her to get into the role, she absolutely nailed it. A scene late in the film with Bobby Brown and Whitney’s best friend Robyn (Nafessa Williams) showed what Ackie was capable of doing. There was just not enough of that kind of moment.
Stanley Tucci was great in a supporting role as Whitney’s long time friend/producer/agent Clive Davis. Their relationship was fascinating and received more time than many of the other ones. Tamara Tunie was also really great as Whitney’s mother Cissy Houston. Her screen time was limited, but Tunie did a lot with what she was given.
In this movie, I was shown what a powerhouse of a singer Whitney Houston was, but I wanted to see what a powerhouse of a person she was and there was just not enough scenes like that in I Wanna Dance with Somebody. If you are a fan of Whitney Houston, this biopic is for you. If you are a fan of amazing music and singing, you can’t go wrong. If you don’t mind a basic, paint-by-numbers biopic, then this is also one for you. I would have liked some more.
3 stars
There have been dozens of adaptations of 19th century novelist Charles Dickens’ iconic classic A Christmas Carol. While The Muppets Christmas Carol is my personal favorite version, the version that is considered by many to be the best was the 1951 film starring Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge.
This was the version that I remember watching as a young boy and learning the story of Scrooge. Reflecting back on it, I remembered thinking that I did not like how Scrooge only came around when he saw his tombstone. I wanted him to show more change going through the different scenarios that he was placed in by the Ghosts. Watching it now today, there is more of that than I remembered with Sim showing that the past and present affected him too. However, I do think I like versions that show Scrooge changing more obviously than right at the end.
This was a fascinating watch considering I hadn’t seen it since I was young. There was way more scenes included in the past than any other version that I have seen, which was interesting. Some of the things included in the trip to the past felt as if it could have easily been dropped out, such as Scrooge’s power play with Jacob Marley (Michael Hordern) with their business. There were some new info that I did not know before, but I am not sure that it was as impactful as it could have been.
Then, I thought the scenes with the Ghost of Christmas Present (Francis De Wolff) were short changed, especially the scenes involving Fred (Brian Worth). Fred’s Christmas party showed a little dancing and that was it. The scenes at the Cratchit’s house with Bob Cratchit (Mervyn Johns) were fine, but this was also the biggest Tiny Tim (Glyn Dearman) I had ever seen. This kid did not seem too sick and that pulled me out of his scenes every time I saw the giant lad. I also thought that poor Bob Cratchit would never be able to carry him on his shoulders (he did though).
Alastair Sims was the reason to watch this film as he brought a sensational performance, especially when Scrooge returned from the future and was bouncing around his room and scaring Mrs. Dilber (Kathleen Harrison). I nearly fell off the couch laughing when he went to stand on his head. Sims brought an undeniable energy to that scene in particular and it was amazing to watch.
I appreciated the effects used on the ghosts too considering this was 1951. The different ghosts, especially Jacob Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Past, looked really good. There have been scarier versions of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come before and this one was just basic.
Another weird thing was Scrooge’s fiancé from the past, which I always knew of as Belle, was named Alice (Rona Anderson) in this version. I am not sure why the film changed the name of Belle to Alice. The recent Spirited also changed the name of Belle. This made me wonder what the novel called her and, after a touch of research, I do see that it is listed as Belle in Dickens’ original novel.
After rewatching this version, it is pretty clear that this is a great adaptation that still holds up. Alastair Sim stood out among the rest of the film as the highlight, and, despite the fact that I thought they could have cut some of the past and increased some of the present, A Christmas Carol (1951) was one of the best adaptations still.
I’m not sure there has ever been a more independent of an independent film than Aftersun. It is everything that you might expect from an independent film, including the lack of a general plot.
Calum (Paul Mescal) and his 11-year old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) were together on summer vacation in Turkey. Calum and Sophie’s mom were separated. Calum was having plenty personal issues, but he clearly loved his daughter. They spent time together.
Honestly, I am not exactly sure what I watched. There was not a lot of throughline to the story and there was not a ton of character development either. We got some examples of Calum struggling, but we did not find out why. There was also scenes interspersed in the story of an adult Sophie and a weird dance club with a strobe light making it tough to tell what was happening. It looked as if Calum was there and was very out of it and the relationship with Sophie seemed to be on the rocks, but, as I said, the scenes were tough to wath.
I believe the film was meant to be shown as memories, as we see Sophie later reflecting back upon the Turkey trip. Perhaps the disjointed feeling was intended as a way to illustrate memory. Either way it was diffiuclt to follow.
When the scenes were more straight forward, I thought Frankie Corio did a great job as the young Sophie. She and Paul Mescal were magic together as their performances kept me engaged in a movie that I did not feel was telling me much of a story or that I was fully understanding what was going on.
I have to say that final section of strobe-lit dance club made me feel very uncomfortable as my imagination played with what I was trying to see. It just made me feel odd.
I am sure that critics love this movie, but I had a tough time with it. There just seemed to be too much independent movie about it for my tastes.
2.75 stars
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 