There was a new original science fiction film on Amazon Prime this weekend starring Owen Wilson called Bliss. I was unimpressed.

It had been a bad stretch for Greg (Owen Wilson). He had gotten divorced and then fired from his job. After making a huge mistake, he found himself in a bar looking to drown his sorrows. There he came across a mysterious woman named Isabel (Salma Hayek), who tells him that the world that is falling apart around him is not real, that he is trapped in a computer simulation.

I have to say that I think Owen Wilson does an admirable job here. Despite the silliness of the film, he is giving his very best performance and effort. The problem is there is just not enough here to justify it.

I have always enjoyed Salma Hayek too, but this character of Isabel is just not one that I can connect to. She seems to be all over the place and I am just not certain what she is meant to be. That maybe is done for a purpose, but it made her unlikeable and she was hardly written in a manner that made her someone I wanted to root for.

The story itself was was messy and lost my attention several times. Much of what happened felt coincidental and unearned while the movie spent more time explaining the rules of the film and then breaking them as it went. Some of the dialogue was unintentionally funny and really gave a disservice to Wilson and Hayek.

The third act just took the entire setup and just flushed it down the toilet. The ridiculousness of the third act took any of the possible good will from earlier in the movie or the potential of the premise and tossed it aside.

Bliss’ core premise has some possibilities, but the execution of this film does not come anywhere near those. Despite the likeable actors involved, Bliss is just not worth the time.

2.1 stars

Boy, oh boy.

I was watching Fatman Beyond last week, as much to catch Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin’s views on the new episode of WandaVision as anything else. Then, Marc Bernardin made a recommendation of a film on Hulu called In & Of Itself, and he said it the was the best thing he had seen that week. He said it was a filmed version of a stage show featuring magic and storytelling and he called it “revelatory and remarkable.” So with that recommendation committed, I wrote the movie title down on my notepad to remind me to catch it when I could.

Marc Bernardin was 100% correct. This was a masterful piece of entertainment that was both awe-inspiring and emotionally transcendent. This film grasped me and took me to a place where I didn’t know that I wanted to be. Honestly, the last film that has made me feel like this one did was the Mr. Rogers’ biopic documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor.

Derek DelGaudio is a magician and this is a one man show where he uses the magic he does, some of which is utterly amazing, to emphasize and illuminate the stories that he would tell. The idea behind the stories was to reveal to the audience not only who Derek DelGaudio was, but who they were are as well. The use of the audience in this film was part of the masterful manner DelGaudio makes these stories feel universal and connects us to the emotions and feelings of a group of strangers.

It is the type of interactions that we really need to have in this time in our history.

I do not want to go into too many specifics because part of the magic of the film is not being sure exactly where it is heading as it moves you along. The very first story DelGaudio tells us was tremendously gripping and carried through as a throughline, effectively connecting everything together. It was truly powerful.

The whole time, Derek DelGaudio looked haunted or ravaged as the stories continued, draining the emotions rom him. I cannot imagine how he could do this as a one-man play for a year and a half without being overcome with emotion constantly. It is an amazing performance.

The film is directed by Frank Oz and was executive produced by Stephen Colbert and Evelyn McGee-Colbert. Colbert had seen the stage show and was so impressed with the manner of the show that he wanted to help create the film version to preserve the experience.

In & Of Itself is a powerful film that is truly an important piece for the world we live in now.

5 stars

DC Animation continues to be a top notch storytelling company, bringing some extra special stand alone content featuring DC superheroes and characters.

Yes, many of them include The Batman, which only makes sense since the Caped Crusader is arguably the most popular superhero character in the world.

This time, they toss Batman into the world of martial arts and they created a film honoring the different types of martial arts movies that have populated the genre for years.

Batman: Soul of the Dragon features Bruce Wayne (David Giuntoli) head back to his roots of his original training to recruit his former allies in order to stop a villainous cult from bringing back an evil god.

His associates included Richard Dragon (Mark Dacascos), Lady Shiva (Kelly Hu) and Ben “The Bronze Tiger” Turner (Michael Jai white). Interestingly enough, three of these four characters are considered villains in DC Comics 9with Lady Shiva being an assassin). However, these characters are portrayed much differently here than they are in the comics.

The story is told both in present day and in flashbacks, featuring Bruce Wayne and his training with his O-Sensei (James Hong).

The film has some great animated martial arts action and does not skimp on the violence of the genre. I was shocked once at the decapitated head rolling off the screen. There are examples of all kinds of martial arts type films here, including Blaxploitation, snake monsters and Bruce Lee inspired action.

The animation itself is the regular DC Animated fare, passable, but anything but impressive. I have said for years that if the DC Animation company would invest some money in the animation, they could present some wonderful movies. As it is, the animation used here is fine. Unremarkable.

Batman feels like he is just a tag along on this adventure. He only dons his Bat suit a couple of times during the fights and he is far from the standout. While that is not the worst take for the character, there are plenty of Batman fans who may find this lacking because of the lack of Batman.

And the main villain of the story, simply put, looks just like a low budget Serpentor from the old G.I. Joe cartoons. I had a problem getting past that.

Still, taking this as a martial arts movie, Batman: Soul of the Dragon was a fun time and I was happy that I got a chance to watch it. The Elseworlds story could have been better, but it was a decent enough film.

3.75 stars

I was having trouble with the Apple TV app yesterday morning as I was attempting to watch their new streaming movie, Palmer starring Justin Timberlake. It would start up and then shut down saying that there was something wrong with the video (or that it was not available…something like that). It was frustrating and made me nervous for Cherry (with Tom Holland) which I am looking forward to this month.

However, I tried again last night and thankfully everything seemed to be straightened out and I was able to watch Palmer.

Eddie Plamer (Justin Timberlake) was a former star high school football player who got in trouble in college with drugs which led him to breaking the law. Eddie wound up in prison for his offenses and he spent 12 years behind bars.

During the time, Eddie was on his best behavior, straightening his life out. He was released and went back to his hometown to live with his grandmother Vivian (the always awesome June Squibb). Vivian, a wonderfully kind and giving person, temporarily took in the neighbor’s son Sam (Ryder Allen) when Sam’s mother Shelly (Juno Temple) ran off. This was something that was not uncommon, something that Vivian had done before.

So as Eddie is trying to find a job and rebuild his life, this young boy entered the picture. Sam was a unique boy, preferring non-traditional gender activities for a boy his age. Because of this, Sam was the victim of bullying at school and in the community.

The relationship between Eddie and Sam was the single most important relationship of the film. If it did not work, the film would immediately crash and burn. Fortunately, there is a strong connection between the actors and you can see how they bonded. I really loved the fact that Eddie, while uncomfortable at times, never looked down upon Sam because of his differences. Through the actions with Sam, you could see that Eddie was a really good person. Justin Timberlake and Ryder Allen gave us very strong performances and carried the film on their shoulders.

Again, I love June Squibb. Every time she is in a movie, I find myself drawn to her as an actor. I wonder if SPOILERS she ever gets tired of being cast in roles where she dies. It seems like she is always dying in the films she is in. Maybe she has reached a place in her life where she just does not give a crap. END OF SPOILERS.

Another great cast member here is Alisha Wainwright, who played Ms. Maggie, one of Sam’s teachers who fell into a relationship with Eddie. Wainwright glowed on the screen and there is just no doubt in my mind that she is a star in the making.

There were several moments in the film that I found to be so unrealistic in this type of film that took me out of it for some time. I had a hard time accepting that a school would hire Eddie as a custodian with his criminal record (especially with the violent nature of it). I love the idea of second chances and redemption, but I just have a doubt that it would happen. Especially in a community where we see a few times, including the sheriff, where people said to Eddie that he should not have been released from prison.

It also felt as if some of the conflicts of the story are handled in a simplistic way. I am not sure that everything would have worked out like it did most of the time. That gave the film a Lifetime movie vibe more than a big screen drama.

Though the story is simple, the strength of the chemistry between Timberlake and Allen do the heavy lifting for the film and you absolutely root for the pair to make it through their struggles. None of the problems I had with the situations took away from that and it did not affect my overall enjoyment of the film. Palmer was worth the effort of having to return to Apple TV to view it.

3.4 stars

Carey Mulligan is on quite the roll.

The actress just appeared in the sensational Promising Young Woman movie at the end of 2020, and now she stars in the newest Netflix film, The Dig, a true story about the discovery of a buried Anglo-Saxon ship just prior to the beginning of World War II.

Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) wanted to hire an excavator Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to excavate the mounds on her property at Sutton Hoo. She believes there are treasures in the mounds. Brown bonds with Edith’s son Robert (Archie Barnes). When they make the massive discovery, everything changes.

The Dig is a fantastic film with some wonderful characters dealing with pain and loss and worry. Carey Mulligan was amazing once again and Ralph Fiennes plays off her so well. There is a couple of wonderful scenes from young actor Archie Barnes, who brings the emotions of loss that is brought forward from an airplane crash.

There is an interesting secondary romance involved here as well including Edith’s cousin Rory (Johnny Flynn) and one of the archeologists on site, Peggy (Lily James). Peggy was involved in a marriage where her husband was too connected to his work and we see her loneliness develop. This was a solid secondary story in the film that build more tension with everything around it.

There is not necessarily one simple throughline of a plot here though as there are several subplots that are brought together in the story. We see the events of this group of characters’ lives and they are mixed together around the idea of this dig. I found the lack of a central narrative a little weak, but the subplots are all so intriguing and well done that it did not bother me that much.

The cinematography and the images of the British countryside are beautiful and elegant. It is a visually stunning film that places these characters into some exceptional settings. There is a plane crash involved in the film too and the sequence of Rory trying to save the pilot is one of the most dramatic instances of the film.

As I said, the scenes are all so great (one with Ralph Fiennes being buried alive is utterly tense) that you aren’t bothered with the limited overall narrative.

The Dig is a very entertaining and lovely film with some top of the line performances of a cast that strong together some brilliantly written scenes into a engaging, if not completely connected, canvas.

4.2 stars

The next film released both in theaters (where safe) and on HBO Max by Warner Media hit the screen this weekend with the new Denzel Washington movie, The Little Things.

John Lee Hancock reportedly wrote this screen play for The Little Things in the 90s, but could not get it sold to a studio. Finally, he made the decision to be his own director and, because of the differences in time frame, this movie certainly has a feel of a 1990s thriller.

Washington played Joe Deacon, a former homicide detective who had a mysterious case that caused him to leave the LA police and become a local sheriff’s deputy. The case stuck with Joe, leading to a heart attack and a world of pain and anguish. When another case arrived in which Joe saw similarities, he returned to the LA police in hopes of putting the past behind him. He met up with a young star detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) and they begin to unofficially work together. The investigation led them to a real lowlife named Albert Sparma (Jared Leto), who they believed was their man. However, the film continued to make it unclear whether or not Sparma was indeed guilty of the murders.

There is no doubt that the cast of The Little Things is the standout piece of the film. Denzel Washington, Jared Let and Rami Malek all exceed in their performances, elevating the material that is on the page. The story of this film is nothing that you haven’t seen before and the reason this is not a total waste of time is because of these three actors.

Denzel in particular was exceptional as the aging officer who is haunted by his past. You can see the weight of the world on the shoulders of this character and you can see how he did not handle the weight very well. It cost him his marriage, his job and health.

Leto too does his normal transformation into a sleazeball character that the audience can despise. Yet, the film does a strong job of keeping the uncertainty of the guilt of the character in question.

I have seen some complaints about the third act of the film being unsatisfying, but I did not get that vibe. In fact, I thought the end was decent as it gives us a hint at what was going on.

The film does an admirable job of creating the atmosphere of the moment, giving it that throwback feel and making you wonder how these detectives could maintain their sanity dealing with the horrors on a regulars basis.

Again though, the biggest issue with the movie is that the story is cliché-ridden and without the great cast, it would not stand out of the genre at all. This one is not for everybody, but if you are a fan of Denzel Washington, he provides his usual strong work and has a nice interaction with Rami Malek. For me, this one is right on the border between recommendation and not.

3 stars

Here is the next Netflix movie that was originally released in October, but just arrived on the streaming service this weekend. 2020/2021 have been the bizarrest of years when dealing with movies.

I am not sure where to classify this when it comes to the year end stuff. Of course, in December, will I remember this one at all?

Vacationing married couple Christine (Maggie Q) and Neil (Luke Hemsworth) are on a beautiful tropical island of the coast of Thailand. Neil is a photographer who is doing a photo study on the natives. However, both husband and wife wake up one morning with no memory of the night prior. Finding a mysterious video on his phone, they discovered that Neil and Christine had sex and he then broke her neck and buried her.

Of course, she was apparently fine at the time they woke up in their room. The mysterious events were emphasized by physical issues for Christine that sent the pair on an investigation of what exactly had happened to them.

There was a great set up for this film. The mystery of what exactly happened when Neil apparently killed Christine was a great premise. Unfortunately, it was not as strong moving forward as it was in the first part of the film. I still found myself engaged in much of the film though it felt as if the third act really became continually confusing and convoluted.

Maggie Q was definitely the best part of the movie as the desperate Christine. Her performance was hectic and chaotic as Christine searched for answers against the backdrop of paranoia that the entire island was out to get her. I enjoyed the chemistry between Maggie Q and Luke Hemsworth too.

There are too many horror clichés in a film that had such an intriguing premise. There are good moments here as well, but the movie certainly could have been more than what it turned out to be.

2.9 stars

This one is wild.

It is hard to explain exactly what PG: Psycho Goreman is. It plays totally against the expectations of the viewers and embraces some of the worst characteristics of the human condition, and yet it does so with a remarkable energy and a biting humor that makes this one of the most entertaining films you are going to see.

Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and her older brother Luke (Owen Myre) were playing “Crazy ball” in their backyard, a game with rules that only they understand. Mimi is anything but kind hearted. In fact, an argument could be made that she is a horrendous brat with the worst attitude you will see in a film this year. She wins the game and so Luke has to dig his own grave (exactly how much of that was a joke is never truly mentioned). As he is digging, he uncovers a gem and Mimi takes it. Unbeknownst to them, they had opened a portal allowing an ancient evil demon (Matthew Ninaber), who had been banished by forces of heaven after a failed attempt to destroy the universe. However, the demon needed the gem back to fully gain his powers, and the gem gave Mimi the power to control him. So Mimi basically set him up as her family pet and used his power for her own desires.

You may believe that you will know where this is headed, but you would be wrong. This is as funny of a film as I have seen in awhile and it embraces the rottenness of the characters. Lessons are not learned. Behaviors are not altered. It is just fantastic.

The effects are done on the cheap side. Honestly, this feels like a cheaper version of the old Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers meets the Evil Dead. The effects are mostly (if not totally) practical and the budget clearly only allowed for so much. However, this played perfectly into the kind of movie that Psycho Goreman is and worked. In fact, had there been CGI involved, it feels as if the film would have suffered. The film is also very violent and filled with blood, but it felt very non-real. A lot of red liquid that is tossed around and B-movie creatures and their gross deaths.

These are not the typical characters you see in these movies. These characters feel as if they should all be the villains in the films. There are so few characters that you would normally root for that it adjusts your perception of the film. Yet you find yourself hoping for them to make it through.

Without the recommendation of the Critically Acclaimed podcast (with William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold), I never would have watched this film. So I owe them a thanks. The quirkiness and overall weirdness of PG: Psycho Goreman is a winning combination and I laughed more than I have in a while.

4.3 stars

Netflix’s new film is based on a book of the same title written by Aravind Adiga, which speaks directly to the caste system throughout the country of India.

Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gourav) narrated the film, revealing his story coming from the poor villager in India to major entrepreneur. Through his personal efforts, Balram was able to become a driver for Ashok (Rajkummar Rao) and Pinky (Priyanka Chopra-Jonas), a wealthy couple from a powerful Indian family. Balram made himself indispensable to the couple. However, one on terrible night, Balram discovered his position in the family.

I enjoyed the film for the most part. It was an interesting story and I was intrigued into how Balram became the man he became. It looked good and the acting was solid.

I have to say that the subtitles were tough to read and I did miss some of them. I usually do not mind the subtitles, but these were quicker and more challenging this time.

Honestly, this was fine, but I am not sure that I will remember it in a month.

3.3 stars