Brick (2005)

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DailyView: Day 351, Movie 499

Today’s DailyView is Rian Johnson’s directorial debut. It was a film that I had never heard of, but I saw it mentioned by film critic William Bibbiani on Twitter as one of the better whodunits around. I like a good whodunit so I added it to my list and rented it on Vudu.

Brick is a neo-noir mystery film from 2005 that featured Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a high school student who discovered the body of Emily (LOST’s Emilie de Ravin), the girl he was in love with but who had broken up with him. Gordon-Levitt’s character, Brendan, decided that he would be the person to solve her murder, not the police, and so he hid her body and went about injecting himself into the world of drug running that had gotten her killed.

This film was well constructed and kept the viewer thinking about what had happened through the whole plot. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was excellent as Brendan, who took quite a beating as the film progressed. Laura (Nora Zehetner), tied to the drug runners, was becoming closer with Brendan, despite his doubt in her. Matt O’Leary played The Brain, the kid Brendan went to in order to figure out what he could. Lukas Haas played The Pin, the head of the drug runners in the school who Brendan tried to get in tight with. The Pin’s muscle, Tug (Noah Fleiss) reacted to most situations violently and attacked Brendan several times as Brendan continued to try and ingratiate himself into the Pin’s world.

All the performances were strong, but they were all anchored by Gordon-Levitt. He does a fantastic job of showing Brendan’s dedication to finding out who put Emily in the line of fire.

There was a great use of dialogue in the film and the writing was solid. I enjoyed seeing the noir based, for the most part, in the high school setting with high school students behind the issues. You could tell that Rian Johnson had that something special that would lead to success.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secret of Dumbledore

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While I have enjoyed most of the Harry Potter movies, my experience with the Fantastic Beast trilogy is a different beast. The original movie was okay, but I did not love it much. The second film, The Crimes of Grindelwald, was horrendous. The third in the trilogy now takes it place squarely better than the second one, but not a film that I ever want to see again.

The second movie was so odd because it seemed to take the few parts of the first film that I really liked and got rid of them in the sequel to make it less about a new story and more about a prequel for Harry Potter. This one has more to it, but it lacks some of the real magic for this world.

Dumbledore is being played by Jude Law and Grindelwald is now Mads Mikkelsen, the third different actor to take the role because so much behind the scenes drama. Mikkelsen is a great choice though and makes Grindelwald much more sinister.

There is not much way of Dumbledore secrets here either. There is a controversial secret that is mentioned quickly and not returned to, but there is little more that falls into the camp of secrets, making the title of the movie not quite accurate.

The first hour and a half to hour and forty-five of this movie was deadly dull to me. I had no idea what was going on and I was not entertained. The only parts that I found at all engaging was Newt (Eddie Redmayne) and his interaction with the beasts in his suitcases. There was a scene where Newt was trying to rescue his brother (Callum Turner) from a prison and he had to do his weird movements to betwixt a group of crab-like things. Redmayne was funny in that scene and he was more charming as Newt than in the other two films.

However, the finale was actually quite engaging, dealing with a political election of sort and a manner of a three-card Monty style caper which I found fun. This last part was much more simple and did a good job of getting me to care about what was happening. The rest of the film I just could not give a bigger crap about and I was wishing it was over for most of the time.

There is no reason this movie needed to be 2 hours and 22 minutes long. That is just excessive for the story that they were telling. This needed to be a more personal film than what we got. There were also way too many characters that meant nothing to me. Outside of Newt and Jacob (Dan Fogler), none of the rest of Team Dumbledore seemed to be worth my time.

Trouble child Ezra Miller was here too as a nephew to Dumbledore, mastering the emo trope. This character was so unremarkable that I did not realize that it was Ezra Miller until the credits.

Perhaps I would have cared more for these characters if the second film was better or if the first film was more memorable, but neither happened and so this third film was muddled and meh.

As I said, the final act was more interesting and elevated the star rating I planned on giving it, but there was just not enough in The Secrets of Dumbledore to recommend the movie. If you loved the first two movies, this would be right up your alley. For me, this is quite the step down from the Harry Potter franchise.

2.75 stars

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

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Last week’s #1 movie in the US did not fit into my schedule, but with spring break starting today, I was able to get caught up with Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I found myself surprisingly enjoying the first film which came out just prior to most theaters closing down because of the pandemic. Would the sequel match up to the original?

That answer is no.

There were parts of the new film that were interesting. I loved Idris Elba as Knuckles and Jim Carrey continues to be a standout as the villainous Dr. Robotnik.

The weakest part of the film is the middle bit that I found boring, the entire wedding storyline that I found stupid, and the human cast (outside of Jim Carrey) who felt shoved in to the narrative for no real purpose.

However, I did enjoy the conclusion of the film, with the big battle between Sonic and his friends vs. Robotnik. Is it predictable? Yep. Still, I think there are parts here that are decent enough. It should be a very effective film for the younger viewers too.

Sonic looks great, as does any of the other animated/CGI characters involved in the story.

I do not think that I am going to really remember this movie later in the year, outside of the great Jim Carrey, who has been talking about retiring from acting. Carrey looks like he is having a blast out there and makes a wonderful antagonist for Sonic.

It’s ok. It is definitely watchable, but I do not consider it the same level as the first one.

3 stars

Jonestown: Paradise Lost (2007)

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DailyView: Day 350, Movie 498

Day 350 of the year-long DailyView has arrived and I make it with a documentary/historical drama of one of the great tragedies of human memory: the mass suicide (and murder) at Jonestown by cult leader Jim Jones where over 950 people, whether voluntarily or by force, drank poisoned Kool-Aid or were injected by poison. That number included around 300 children.

This documentary included some of the actual videos and tapes of Jim Jones and his followers, interviews with the few survivors and escapees, and reenactments of the last days of the cult.

While some of the reenactments were not necessarily the greatest acting, there is enough horrendous moments included here that make this a challenging watch.

The story of what happened at the People’s Temple was both fascinating and horrific. The tragedy only amplified by the use of the real pictures and words of some of the victims.

In particular, the words of Jim Jones’s own son, Stephan Jones, about his memories of the time and of his father’s psychosis.

Even with the iffy dramatization, the story was emotional and powerful to watch. It is amazing how someone can talk people into doing what he wants them to do, whether or not it is in their best interest. Especially when we are talking about walking your children up and having them take poison and watching them die, some times in painful ways.

This is a lesson to us all about charismatic leaders and to be wary of those who may not be completely stable.

Moon Knight S1 E3

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SPOILERS FOR EP. 3

“The Friendly Type”

Moon Knight’s third episode continued to be some excellent television. I have loved this show very much so far. The biggest facet of the show that I have loved has been Oscar Isaac’s amazing performance as two distinct characters in one body. Playing both personalities, Marc Specter and Steven Grant, he has done stunning work, providing subtle but definite differences between the two characters.

However, in this episode, we get the hint that there may be a third personality hiding inside the head of Oscar Isaac’s character. And that is awesome news. Is it Jake Lockley or some other version? I assume we’ll learn that soon. We are half way through the season now.

Marc Specter was in control of the body much of this episode, with Steven appearing in the reflective surfaces around Egypt. We got more action here, but some of the best action beats continue to be when the personalities are switching. When that happened to Marc early in the episode, it gave us the idea that a third personality had arrived.

Layla found her role elevated this week, including the cold open with her “mother” making her a fake passport. That scene reminded us that Layla’s father was an archeologist and he had been killed in the sand years before. Clearly that is a story bit that is going to pay off down the road.

We had a meeting of the Gods, through their avatars that looked to judge Harrow, but, instead, seemed to place judgment on Marc and Khonshu.

This episode was really packed with material. So much so that it might have been nice to have this episode increased to two instead of one. The whole Egyptian God’s Court scene could have been extended to easily a half hour or more. Understand, it was a great episode, but I would have liked more specifics than what they gave us. Oscar Isaac, who was acting as if Khonshu was speaking through him, and Ethan Hawk’s Harrow were tremendous together once again.

Khonshu and Steven helped turn the night sky back in order to use a map they found on a sarcophagus as a way to find Ammit’s tomb. It was an incredible display of power, as well as some of the best visuals of the series.

This was the episode that featured the actor Gaspard Ulliel, who passed away in January of this year in a skiing accident. Ulliel played Anton Mogart, a wealthy collector who owned a specific sarcophagus that Marc had been directed toward. In the comics, Mogart is known as the Midnight Man. In the episode, Mogart was wounded as he was on horseback riding into the fog. Did the character die? Who knows. Marvel Studios dedicated the episode to Gaspard Ulliel. RIP.

The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)

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DailyView: Day 349, Movie 497

If you were after one of those old fashion Disney action adventures of a girl and her wolf, The Journey of Natty Gann will be right up your alley.

Set during the Great Depression when jobs were scarce and difficult to find, The Journey of Natty Gann followed young tomboy Natty Gann ( Meredith Salenger) on her desperate trip to reunite with her father (Ray Wise), who had to take a job 2,000 miles away from her in the Pacific Northwest. Along the way, she was befriended by a wild wolf and the pair of them go on several adventures on her path to find her father.

She also came across grifter Harry (John Cusack) who helped her jump several trains. John Cusack’s role is not as large as one might expect. The film is certainly Meredith Salenger’s and she does a very good job of being the lead protagonist. She never feels whiny, as some Disney characters tend to be. She and the wolf which she named Wolf, have a nice relationship, even if they come about it in a somewhat easy manner.

As a Disney film, you kind of already have an idea of where this was heading, but, to be fair, there is a scene where Natty was picked up by a guy in a truck who tried to force himself on her. Thankfully, Wolf is much more powerful than window glass, but I was surprised by the implication of the creepy guy in a truck in a Disney film.

The film sort of skirts around the dangers and the death that accompanied the trip, leaving much of it to the imagination of the viewers. It is in the film, it is just not front and center.

Ray Wise is always good, but I have to admit that I kept thinking that this film is not too far from when he would be wrapping Laura Palmer in plastic. That is, of course, my own problem and not a critique of this movie.

The Journey of Natty Gann is improbable, but fun. A good family film that has some darkness hidden inside it.

Howl (2015)

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DailyView: Day 348, Movie 496

Werewolves, at least, sort of werewolves, are all over the British horror film Howl from 2015, directed by Paul Hyett. They certainly play with the mythology of the creatures, which is fine of course. However, the basically reduce one of the classic monsters into nothing more than a slasher flick.

A group of people aboard a train are placed in mortal danger when their train breaks down in the woods that happens to be filled with human eating werewolves.

That is basically it. Exactly what you think will happen, happens. The group of people have absolutely zero characters I wanted to root for. They were all nothing more than the typical victim character with, perhaps, one or so, defining characteristics trying to pass them off as developed charatcers.

There is not a single one of the characters that I gave a hoot for and, much like the slasher movies I referenced earlier, you just set them up to see how they are killed.

That would still be okay if the werewolves did not look as silly as they did. There was very little horrific about the creatures. They looked so much better when they kept them in the shadows without revealing their appearance. Once the brought the werewolf into the light, it stopped any further tension.

There was little difference between these werewolves and the classic zombies, with the exception of the howling and some extra hair.

I found this to be quite disappointing and uninteresting.

All the Old Knives

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Amazon Prime has a new film that opened this weekend starring Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton called All the Old Knives. This was a thriller directed by Janus Metz Pedersen.

CIA agent Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) is sent to investigate the potential leak that led to a disastrous terrorist attack on an airplane 8 years before. Henry interviews Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton), and they were lovers during the event of Turkish Airlines 127.

The story of the film tells this story with flashbacks to 2012 showing what happened with the agents and the airplane, and 2020 when Henry is interviewing Celia at a restaurant. They also have flashbacks within 2020 when Henry was interviewing Celia’s old boss Bill Compton (Jonathan Pryce).

I’m not going to lie. This movie confused me multiple times because of the way the flashbacks were written. There were times where I wasn’t sure which year they were in so I had a hard time following it.

The performances are solid. Lawrence Fishburne was in the film, but was not used as much as I would have expected. Chris Pine was good and Thandiwe Newton was excellent. They had great chemistry in their scenes.

The resolution of the thriller was a tad convoluted, but not terrible. There are much better spy thrillers than this movie, but it is a reasonable film.

2.8 stars

Fernando Nation (2010)

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DailyView: Day 347, Movie 495

As a lifelong Dodger baseball fan, when I came across this ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on one of my all-time favorite pitchers, Fernando Valenzuela, it immediately went onto my watchlist.

Fernando Nation was a 51 minute doc on the history of one of the great phenoms in baseball history. Fernando Valenzuela was a 19-year old sensation when he started opening day for Los Angeles in 1981. The Dodgers initial opening day starter, Jerry Reuss, was not ready for the season to start and Fernando was given the ball in his first career start. He threw a complete game shutout against the Houston Astros and Fernandomania kicked off.

The doc looked back upon the racial troubles of Mexican-Americans in LA, especially with the ejection of several people from Chavez Ravine, the location where Walter O’Malley wanted to build his new Dodger Stadium for when the Dodgers moved west from Brooklyn. That was an interesting piece of history that I was unaware of, but that did not surprise me.

In his rookie season, Fernando started 8-0, with a ridiculous 0.4 ERA. He threw a bunch of complete games and helped lead the Dodgers to the World Series in that strike-shortened 1981 season.

They covered the rookie season fully, but the years post it was not covered as much. The doc looked at the contract dispute between LA and Fernando, and there were some ugly moments, including someone from immigration saying that if Fernando did not pitch for LA, he would be asked to return to Mexico.

The documentary was a great look at a pitcher who was a worldwide sensation and one who had to face difficulties as an idol for the Hispanic population of, not only Los Angeles, but of the world.

Summer of 84 (2018)

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DailyView: Day 347, Movie 494

Summer of 84 felt like it was one specific type of genre film and then it swerved into a whole different type without any warning. I guess I should have known since it was on Shudder that it would be considered a horror movie, but I did not expect how things developed.

This absolutely felt like those 1980s flicks where a group of kids pursue the villain and/or solve the mystery at the end, films like The Goonies, Super 8, Monster Squad, It, Stand by Me. Sure, the topic was darker, but the feel of the film was very much similar.

Over-imaginative teen Davey Armstrong (Graham Verchere) suspected that his neighbor, police officer Wayne Mackey (Rich Sommer) was a serial killer who had been targeting kids for years. Though he had his suspicions, Davey had no proof so he and his friends started to spy on Mackey over their summer searching for the evidence that they needed to bring their theory to Davey’s parents.

The best part of the movie was the fact that I was never sure which way the film was going to go. There was certainly a possibility that Davey was correct and that Mackey was the killer, but there were also hints and nods that Mackey was not the killer and that Davey was mistaken. I actually switched my thoughts several times throughout the film and was not sure until a certain moment occurred. I love not being 100% sure and being kept off balance by the story.

Graham Verchere did a fantastic job as Davey. He was a perfect protagonist, someone everybody could relate with and the personification of the innocence of youth. His friends were all great too, with each getting something extra added to their characters as the story went along to provide each of them more depth. Davey’s best friend Woody (Caleb Emery), Faraday (Cory-Gruter Andrew), and Eats (Judah Lewis) spoke like real teenage boys with too many hormones to think straight. Each of the boys had something to build the characters on so they were not just tropes.

There was also the older and beautiful girl next door Nikki (Tiera Skovbye) gave Davey a foil to bounce things off even while driving Davey’s friends crazy with her beauty.

While all of these characters fit nicely into the group of kids and a mystery genre film, Summer of 84 took a drastic turn at the end. At first, the ending felt anticlimactic after building to a certain scene, but then the film went seriously dark and left the viewers with a gut punch of a conclusion that I did not see coming.

I do not think the film needed to be set in 1984. There was a Reagan-Bush yard sign and a reference to Steven Spielberg, but, after that, there was not much use for this as a setting. Perhaps it was set in 1984 to prevent the use of cell phones and such, which does ratchet up the tension in several moments where a cell phone could have been helpful. I think the setting was more for the ambiance of the film genre than for anything else.

Summer of 84 was engaging throughout, perhaps a tad long, but flipped the script in the third act to really earn its horror classification. The film featured great performances from its young cast and an ending that will stick with you.

Cow

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This documentary debuted at Cannes Film Festival in 2021, but was released in theaters on a limited release in April. It is from Academy Award winning documentarian Andrea Arnold.

It is a fascinating look at the lives of two cows, a mother and her calf. The mother, a dairy cow, was named Luma and lived at Park Farm, in Kent, England.

The documentary, which is shot without any sort of voice over and only includes some background talking from the farmers, started with Luma giving birth to her calf. Not too long after this (in the film), they were separated as the calf was removed. The calls of the mother were some that I can remember growing up on a farm when the mother cow did not know where her calf was.

The film may feel a touch long because of the repetitive nature, but some of the shots are amazing, especially with the cows in the meadow with fireworks going off in the distance. The film does not skip any of the challenges that a dairy cow faces in a day, from simple things like flies to having their horns removed (in what looked like a terribly painful process).

It does seem that the idea of keeping the cow pregnant to maximize the amount of milk produced is a bit barbaric sounding. They bottle fed the calf to keep it from nursing on the mother.

The imagery of this film certainly tries to get the audience to connect with the cow and to create an emotional stake in the film (forgive the pun). It is tough to watch at times and it made me wonder what was going through the mind of these animals. All the close ups of Luma seem to indicate that the filmmakers wondered that as well.

And the final moments of the film will stick with you for awhile.

Cow is a fascinating look at the dairy cow process and how the cows play such a large role.

3 stars

Everything Everywhere All at Once

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Multiverses are the in thing right now. With the Multiverse of Madness coming up from Marvel Studios soon off the heels of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the Flash film due this year, multiverses are everything and everywhere.

I certainly hope that the superhero ones are as good as the multiverse in the Daniels’ newest film, Everything Everywhere All at Once. The Daniels are directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who have worked together on several great films, including a personal favorite of mine, Swiss Army Man.

This film starred Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn who, along with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), own a failing laundromat and are having troubles with their taxes. Their daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu) was coming to see them with her girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel). Evelyn had plenty of issues with the choices that Joy had made in her life.

However, just prior to their tax appointment, Waymond gave Evelyn a bizarre message and acted like a completely different person. Turned out he was from a different universe and performing a “verse jump” maneuver that allowed him to inhabit the body of a different universe version of himself and access their skills and memories. He was looking for the perfect foil to counter the great evil of the multiverse, out to destroy all.

The Russo Brothers are among the producers on this project, bringing their own knowledge and skills at presenting timelines from the MCU.

This movie was way funnier than I ever thought it would be. There were moments where it was downright hilarious. The humor reminded me quite a bit of Swiss Army Man, just without the flatulence. The humor did not feel out of place. It felt perfectly in sync with the characters and the situations that we found them in.

Ke Huy Quan, who is best known for his classic roles of Data from the Goonies and Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, was excellent in this film, providing multiple versions of the same character and doing it believably. Ke Huy Quan had retired from acting a few years ago because of the lack of roles for Asian actors, but he came back for this and just was outstanding.

Also outstanding was James Hong as Gong Gong, Evelyn’s father. James Hong has been one of the most active and prevalent Asian actors in films and TV. He brings a definite gravitas to this film.

Then, Jamie Lee Curtis is in the movie too as an IRS agent Deirdre Beaubeirdra. Curtis is spectacular in the role, also being involved in playing several versions of the character. Curtis and Yeoh have great chemistry and work extremely well together, whether they be fighting or bonding.

The creativity on display here is unmatched. I won’t spoil some of the universes we see, but there are some mind-bending examples that give not only great laughs but also examples that we have never seen before. The Daniels create a complicated story that was not that difficult to follow. They do an exceptional of keeping the audience in the loop and keeping them confused only when it served the story.

At the heart of this chaotic traverse through the multiverse is a film about family and heart. That story of love and acceptance is what grounds this film, allowing it to give us such a bizarre group of worlds without totally losing the viewers. Everything Everywhere All at Once is an early leader for one of the best films of 2022.

5 stars

Ordinary People (1980)

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DailyView: Day 346, Movie 493

This film made the list of Oscar winners when I was using the DailyView to watch Academy Award winners and I had wanted to watch it. The thing is the timing of watching Ordinary People just did not fit the schedule, until now.

Ordinary People tells the story of a single family, led by Calvin and Beth Jarrett (Donald Sutherland & Mary Tyler Moore), who were dealing with the death of their oldest son Buck (Scott Doebler) in a boating accident and the suicide attempt of their younger son Conrad (Timothy Hutton). Well, “dealing with” might be a stretch as Beth is emotionally distant from Conrad and Calvin is trying to find the place between them.

The film focuses on Conrad and his struggles after returning from a mental health hospital where he received treatments. Conrad was having difficulties with every day life and plagued by nightmares of his past. It is clear that he is on edge the entire film.

Finally, Conrad began seeing psychiatrist Doctor Berger (Judd Hirsch), giving him someone to talk to. The relationship between the two of them really carries through their scenes and provided both actors a chance to show what they had. In particular, a scene near the end of the film where Conrad had a breakthrough was powerfully impactful and brought tears to my eyes. Both Hutton and Judd were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (with Hutton winning) and you can see why they deserved it in this scene.

Mary Tyler Moore played against her type so much as she was a mother who just could not find the connection with her surviving son. She loved Buck so much and when he died, she became more emotionally withdrawn. She is truly an unlikeable character and it is amazing that an actress as likeable as Mary Tyler Moore could pull this off.

The film begins with Pachalbel’s “Canon in D” (which I know through a humorous song about the tune) and is used throughout the film.

The title Ordinary People describes this film perfectly. These are real people dealing with their problems the way real people deal with them. It was not melodramatic despite the topics that it dealt with. It was a serious film with deeply flawed people trying to suffer through personal tragedies.

Robert Redford directed the film, receiving an Academy Award for Best Director. He brought emotion and deep feeling of dread while never losing the hope. I also liked how everything was not necessarily wrapped up neatly by the end of the film.

Ordinary People was a wonderful story that was difficult to watch at times, but always worthy and attention-grabbing.

Friday Night Titans #6

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SPOILERS FOR TITANS #6

On time this week, without any hint of the technical troubles that caused problems for episode five, Friday Night Titans returned to Friday night with two new matchups that had a huge flavor of last week.

Ben “The Boss” Bateman took on Rick “The Rager” Raddus after Team Action came back and defeated Raddus and Brother Lomis last week. Andrew Ghai returned as Bateman’s manager for the night, pounding on a drum and showing how tremendous of a jerk he could be.

While the match was good, I had a problem with this. I did not have someone to root for. Yes, I know Ben Bateman is one of the greats of the game and that he is an excellent competitor, but his style and his gameplay has never been something I enjoyed. Raddus is another heel and not one to elicit my support. You want to see him get his comeuppance. I don’t care how much they try, Ben Bateman will never be a face. He is, at best, a tweener. The character of “The Boss” just does not inspire me to cheer for him.

Of course, Bateman doesn’t care what I think, nor should he. He just has to do the best he can to win as many matches as he can.

Neither man had a good round two tonight, struggling through with several steals involved. Bateman received a spin of Dreamworks animation and Raddus go the 1990s. Bateman had some tough questions and was in danger of getting wiped out, but Raddus’ round two questions switched the momentum of the match. Raddus had a perfect round one, but trailed by five coming out of round two. It was quite a flip.

At the winner’s interview with “Jessica” (Jen Sterger), Andrew Ghai revealed that he would not be returning to full time competition or to managing. He had found a place he feels comfortable, and it is behind the desk. So Andrew removed his sunglasses and left Team Action in the past.

The undercard featured a very impressive Innergeekdom debut for Brother Lomis. I was not sure what was going to happen, but Lomis was great as he completely dominated the new FCS performer “The Pun-isher” Alana Jordan. The puns that she kept giving were, at first, interesting, but eventually annoying. I do not see this character being a long time player in IG, but Brother Lomis could be fascinating. How about Lomis vs. Saul?

Next week is Mike Kalinowski vs. Paige Frabetti. The Killer vs. The Boston Badass. Paige joined the Fan Favorites and Korruption has seemed to have turned face. Will that be Kalinowski as well? We’ll have to see.

They Go Boom (1929)

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DailyView: Day 345, Movie 492

This morning, we go back to 1929 for another trip to the world of Laurel and Hardy in a comedy short called They Go Boom on YouTube.

The setup: Hardy is sick with the “sniffles” and Laurel snores and the pair can not get too sleep. Hardy whines and complains about having “ammonia” while yelling at Stan to do something for him.

There is a ton of slapstick comedy involved in this short with the pair of Laurel and Hardy banging their heads and falling over things. Hardy’s sneezes and creates all kinds of chaos.

Honestly, I was not a fan of this short. It felt as if there was just too much of Hardy yelling at Laurel and I missed the typical connection between them that made their shtick funny and not mean-spirited. I know this is very much like some of Laurel and Hardy’s comedic moments, but there felt like there was a humanity missing in this.

Plus the end was ridiculous.

They Go Boom was one of the earliest talkies in the era of film that had been rediscovered and restored. Directed by James Parrot, I do not think that I would recommend this to anyone.