Judd Apatow has released his latest movie on demand this weekend and it is very much a Judd Apatow movie.

Apatow has had a bunch of movies in his career that I would consider to be similar to The King of Staten Island.  Films such as This is 40, Trainwreck, Funny People, Knocked Up appear in his oeuvre.  They tend to be heavily reliant on dialogue, focus on characters over plot and tend to be fairly long.

I think those descriptors work well to describe The King of Staten Island.  The film starred Pete Davidson as Scott, a 24-year old high school dropout who lives with his mother Margie (Marisa Tomei) and smokes weed.  He wants to be a tattoo artist and practices on his friend, but he has not been very good at it.

Scott’s father was a fireman who died in the line of duty when Scott was seven years old and this loss affected him dramatically.  So when his mother starts dating another fireman Ray (Bill Burr), Scott does not respond well.

The performances are all very solid in the film, which, of course, is desperately important for a film like this one.  Pete Davidson gives his second strong performance in a film this year, the first being Big Time Adolescence on Hulu.  Davidson has shown some range here as the material hinges on the character.

Davidson has to dive into the complicated history of his father and how his relationship with his mother and his sister (Maude Apatow) were affected from his father’s death.  The film looks into the choices made by Scott as well.  He did things that made him a serious pain in the butt, but everybody seemed to understand why he did it.  He was not the most likable character ever, but the charming portrayal made it easier to support him.

Bill Burr was excellent too.  This is another character who you are never quite sure of and who showed you several of his figurative warts.  Yet, as the film progresses, Ray gives us reasons why he was more than what you first see.

Yes, there is not that much of a plot involved in the movie.  It was more like a series of events strung together in a larger narrative.  Still, the style does work for this type of film.  It may have been a tad over long and could have used a shorter run time, but the time is taken to really show the audience whom these characters were.

The King of Staten Island is a strong film that leans more toward the drama than you might expect.  There are funny moments, but they are more like the situational humor than anything else. It is a little long, but you don’t realize that for much of the film.  Pete Davidson shows his charisma here and exceeds the expectations.

3.8 stars  

I’m not sure there could have been a more effective or relevant movie to be dropped on Netflix today than Spike Lee’s next film, Da 5 Bloods.

Beautiful.  Painful.  Poignant.  Shocking.  Pertinent.

Four African-American Vietnam veterans, Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.), returned to Vietnam in search of gold that they had buried during the war and for the remains of their friend and squad leader Norman (Chadwick Boseman) who had died during the war.

The years since returning from ‘Nam was difficult on the men and this movie takes its time to show us their struggles and challenges.  In particular, the film dives into the pain of Paul who had trouble leaving the pain of the war behind him.  Ghosts of the past had colored his perception of the world and drove him to deep anger.

Delroy Lindo’s performance is brilliant.  He shows every last bit of anger and frustration from the past and how it has turned him into the man that he is now.  His relationship with his son Davis (Jonathan Majors) was complex and complicated.  It felt real.  It was the challenges that someone may face who was struggling with mental illness brought on from PTSD or deep seeded trauma.

Spike Lee does a tremendous job of interweaving black history into the story, with allusions to major black events and human figures from the years.  Showing the distinct contributions made from the African-American culture to the history of America made the struggles of these men even more significant.

Violence is not hidden.  This is every bit a war film, though it deals with messages that transcends the gunfire and the explosions.  There are moments that are completely shocking and caught me off-guard.  Da 5 Bloods masterfully portrays the feeling of chaos that comes from war.  It also deals with the brotherhood of comrades and what might shatter that connection whether it be betrayal or death or greed.

Da 5 Bloods feels as if the film was made after the events of the nation over the last few weeks, even though I know that cannot be possible.  Spike Lee created a film that totally capsulizes the passion of a movement.  Black lives do matter and the power of that statement is not lost in this film.

Truly a masterful outing from everyone involved.  It is a tough watch, but one that is extremely important.

5 stars

Artemis Fowl has been scheduled for theatrical release for while now.  It got pushed back once because of the competition and then a second time because of COVID-19, eventually finding its way onto Disney +.  I have been anticipating the release of the film for some time because I like the idea and I felt as if the trailers looked better than most people claimed.  There was negativity surrounding Artemis Fowl, but I was still excited to see it.

Do you know that old phrase, “Be careful what you wish for?”

Based on the young adult book series by Eoin Colfer, this was one of the biggest misfires in many years.  Artemis Fowl is like if Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings combined, but without any sense or any form of magic.

Having said that, I did not hate watching this.  I did not find myself wishing that this was over.  I actually had a decent time watching the movie.  It reminds me of staring at the car crash.  You know you shouldn’t do it, but you can’t help yourself.

Artemis Fowl (Ferdia Shaw) is the namesake of his infamous father (Colin Farrell), a well-known master thief.  His father has been kidnapped by the villain with a flashlight who contacts young Artemis and demands a trade… his father for The Aculos, this film’s MacGuffin that has some kind of magical power of the Fairies world.

Oh, did I forget to mention that there were fairies?  Yes, they, along with goblins, trolls and dwarves, live in an underground world inside the earth.  Holly Short (Lara McDonnell) was one of the fairy patrol (or whatever they were called… it is called the LEPRecon)) and her father was supposedly a traitor and involved in stealing the Aculos.  She gets deeply involved despite a penchant for not following the rules.

Then we meet Commander Root (Judi Dench).  What can I say about Commander Root?  I love Judi Dench, but good lord.  The last time we saw Judi, she was dressed as a giant cat named Old Deuteronomy in the bizarre musical Cats.  Now she is a high ranking leader of the LEPRecons, dressed in green with pointy Spock ears, and a gravelly voice.  Ironically, she is an Academy Award winner.

There is also a dwarf named Mulch Diggums (Josh Gad) who we meet immediately as he is used as the narrator for parts of the movie.  When we see him narrating, he has been arrested by someone and he is, for some reason, in black and white.  Mulch is a thief/pickpocket and is apparently a giant dwarf.  Picture Hagrid but smaller and with less charm.  Oh, and a gravelly voice too.

Domovoi Butler (Nonso Anozie) is the Fowl’s manservant/butler, but apparently, as the film tells us, you should never call him that.  Why?  We never find out, nor do we see it happen.  When something like that is dropped, usually that sets up a scene where that very thing happens.  Nope.  Not here.  He brings in is little sister Juliet (Tamara Smart) who really does nothing but blend into the scenery.

I will say that this movie flew by.  Perhaps that is because they shoved so much into the first half of the movie, it never gave you a chance to be bored.  In fact, I had paused the film at one point and saw that it was over half done, which shocked me.  This 90 minute film probably should have been something like 3 or 4 episodes of television to properly introduce everything that it did in the first 45 minutes.

So many things happen that make no sense whatsoever.  Artemis has his crew capture Holly and he locks her up in a cage in Fowl Manor.  They interact, all negatively, until Artemis needs her help.  He asks her “Do you trust me?” and I am like….why would she?  The entire scope of this relationship is antagonistic.  If I remember correctly, she had threatened to kill him once. But now that the plot needs them to be friends, they are seemingly tight as thieves.

There is a plot thread of a crooked, power hungry member of the LEPRecons, but that is neither developed or returned to in the film.  It is just completely dropped.

Artemis Fowl cost $125 million dollars to make, but it is difficult to find where that money may have gone.  There are some moments of CGI that are as bad as we’ve seen in years.  In fact, there are times when you may think you are watching an old 1980/1990 film.

As I said, this is easily one of the worst movies of the year, but I did get a strange satisfaction from watching it.  This could fall into the category of so bad it is good, but that might be too good for it.  I was entertained by the train wreck though.  I laughed a few times and stared at amazement that anyone green lit this.  Kenneth Branagh directed it, which is a shocking fact.

1.2 stars

There is a great cast in this movie.  Makes you wonder why the movie itself is such a boring sludge.

Tye Sheridan stars as Bart, a night clerk at a motel, who is a high performing individual on the Autism Spectrum and a tech wizard.  Bart uses his tech savvy to set up cameras to watch the guests in order to “study” humans.  When a guest is murdered, police Detective Espada (John Leguizamo) believes that Bart had a hand in it.  Meanwhile, a new guest, Andrea (Ana de Armas) shows up and develops a bond with Bart.

Not much makes sense here and the film appears to be at cross purposes.  Is it a sweet love story or a brutal murder mystery?  Or is it a story of a plucky underdog overcoming the odds to find love or is it a sexual deviant unable to form a true bond with anyone?

Meanwhile… what the hell is wrong with the cop?  His line of questioning is so dumb and nonsensical that the entire story arc of the death is unreasonable and stupid.  I hate it when supposedly intelligent people do such idiotic things.

Ana de Armas, who was absolutely wonderful in Knives Out, is nowhere near as transcendent here as she was in that film.  She felt miscast in this role, not taking advantage of her natural charisma and her easiness of performance.  This movie does not take advantage of her natural skills.

It is an unsatisfying film with a great cast that does not get to really sink their teeth into anything worthy of their talents.  Tye Sheridan is fine.  Helen Hunt, as Bart’s mother, gets a couple of scenes of enabling.  John Leguizamo is given a character far below him.  Ana de Armas makes no sense and does not take advantage of her “it” factor.

The best part of the movie is that is is only around 90 minutes.

1.8 stars 

Shirley Jackson was a real-life horror writer, author of two novels and hundreds of short stories, including the most well known The Lottery.  However, this film, Shirley, would not be considered a biopic.  The film is a fictional story involving characters from her life.

Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss) is shown as a withdrawn and reclusive figure, married to a college professor Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg), and she was struggling to write her next book.  Along the way, a young newlywed couple, Rose (Odessa Young) and Fred (Logan Lerman), arrive at their home.  Stanley and Shirley begin playing with them like a cat plays with a mouse.

There is a lot of atmosphere in this film.  The film is not a horror film, but it certainly has an uneasy feeling about it as the time passes with the games going on.  Eventually, Rose becomes a sort of muse for Shirley and her new story.

Elisabeth Moss is amazing in this role.  She is completely engaged in every scene and creates a world of uncertainty with her own mental state and that of everyone around her.  Her quirkiness and unsettling tendencies make the audience feel shaky.

The relationships in this movie are unlike most and are looked at in great detail.  However, there are dream-like moments when you are just not sure what exactly is happening.  How much of what is going on is actually happening and what parts of this are just the imagination of the talented and morose author?

No part of the film better encapsulates that better than the ending sequence.  I won’t spoil it, but the ending involves a lot of ambiguity.  What happened?  There are plenty of possibilities in play here, but those who like to have a definitive end to a film may wind up disappointed.

Elisabeth Moss does a brilliant job, but so does Michael Stuhlbarg as her philandering husband.  These two are shown to be clearly a perfect match for one another.  The movie is not afraid to place two of the main characters front and center as arrogant, superior and mean spirited jerks.  Their snipping toward the young couple is displayed in full detail by both of the two.  At times, you get the feeling they are doing it simply because they could.  They are like the real life trolls on the internet.

Shirley is a moody and morose film, taking its cue from the author that the film is based upon.  It is a masterful group of performances from the talented cast within a narrative that creates an ambiance of anxiety.

3.5 stars 

Kevin James?  Who knew you had this in ya?

Becky is a new film that appeared on VUDU this weekend featuring the former King of Queens star in a role that was a complete 180 degree turn for the actor.

Becky (Lulu Wilson) was on the way to a weekend getaway with her father Jeff (Joel McHale).  The was tension and troubles since her mother passed away and this weekend was meant to help get their relationship back on track.  However, there was more than just that on the agenda.  Jeff had brought Becky to tell her that he was going to marry Kayla (Amanda Brugel).  Becky reacted poorly to the news and ran off to hide out.

While this was going on, a group of killers, led by Dominick (Kevin James), escaped from custody and were making their way to the same lake house.

This was an extremely violent and gory survival film with some scenes that were very gross.  Becky took things to a definite level of viciousness that you would not expect from a teenage girl.  Driven by anger and vengeance, Becky a much more brutal version of Kevin McCallister from Home Alone.

There was also a good turn of acting from former WWE superstar Kurrgan, Robert Maillet, as the giant who was beginning to regret his actions.

As the group of villains, they were good, but I would have liked to have known more about them than what the film gave us.  They were certainly effectively evil, but their motivations were in question.

In particular, the group was after a key that Becky had found, but we never found out exactly why.  It feels like it is nothing more than a MacGuffin presented as a reason to get everyone at the lake house, but I did not know why this was such an important object.  Again, there were moments when the key is referenced or implied about, but the film totally leaves us wondering about it.  While that can be effective, in this case, there needs to be something more to let us understand what value the key holds.

Despite that, Lulu Wilson is completely savage in this movie and I would have liked a little more explanation on why she went so barbaric right away.  The actress is excellent in the role and I totally believed that she was crazed, but I just wanted a little more character here.

Still, it was very easy to root for Becky as she battled to survive and escape from this situation.

Though Becky could have used more development of the characters and maybe a touch more on the key, the movie is a tension-filled gorefest that actually had me looking away at least once.  Lulu Wilson and Kevin James are outstanding in their individual roles with James, perhaps, reinventing his career.

3.4 stars