Week Ending 10/18/24
New website under construction
Even though I’ve been doing this newsletter for two years now—in which time I have not posted anything new at my website—the visitor overcharges that I thought were rectified restarted. Why? Because the site was getting spammed by web crawlers and, for whatever reason (profit), my host counts those pings as “billable visits” unless you go through the trouble of challenging them.
Since the next upgrade to alleviate this hassle is twice what I’m already paying and the support team’s attempts to blacklist the spammers failed (again), I decided to turn the site private with the intent of moving everything over to Wordpress proper.
It’s something I’ve thought about for a while considering I’ve had no issues running my other sites through them and the pricing is much cheaper (with more space) as long as I don’t use plug-ins. However, relocating close to 5000 posts isn’t something their import can handle. At all.
So, I’m currently in the process of moving things over one post at a time. It will take years (if I ever finish), but I like that it allows me to streamline things by deleting unnecessary drag on bandwidth. My tag list got extremely out of control and no review needs three images when a header does the job.
Once I get a decent baseline moved (enough to populate my planned layout), I’ll turn it live again. Having all those links dead right now is hardly ideal. Hopefully I can do it by the end of the month. I think I might start putting up my reviews from here up there too so they’re (eventually) all in one place. Fingers crossed.
What I Watched:
ALL HAPPY FAMILIES
(limited release & VOD)
Change is happening for the Landry family all at once. Mom (Becky Ann Baker’s Sue) is retiring. Dad (John Ashton’s Roy) is struggling with new technology putting his gambling addiction a click away on his phone. Rob (Rob Huebel) has placed himself in hot water personally and professionally without possessing the capacity to ever look inward at the reasons why. His transgender daughter (Ivy O'Brien’s Evie) has just come out and given him permission to tell the rest of the clan. And Graham’s (Josh Radnor) forty-year-long arrested development is either on the cusp of ending or doubling down into permanence.
Director Haroula Rose and co-writer Coburn Goss start ALL HAPPY FAMILIES off with the knowledge that these changes are usually experienced and repressed alone. It’s not that they can’t talk to each other about what ails them, they’ve simply never done it to realize they could. None of them make it easy, of course. They all seem to have a foot perpetually stuck in their mouths wherein epiphanies only come after they’ve already made matters worse, so they retreat and/or deflect. It takes a week like this one—where they have no choice but to confront decades of unhappiness and frustration—to finally allow themselves vulnerability.
It’s a nice sentiment at the back of familiar familial strife that’s ripe for a comedic treatment. Everyone is so intent on helping to fix the others without them asking that they ignore the fact they should be helping themselves first. Add an overt metaphor through the Landry’s childhood home (needing a lot of fixing—especially rotten pipes that have been neglected too long by hiding out of sight just like the family’s emotions—before Graham can rent out the first floor) and you know the dam is going to break sooner than later. That the climax can unfold without easy answers and concrete resolutions is a plus because it spotlights the complexity of constantly being disappointed in those we love.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot going on, though. Or that it’s not very much a film about “white people problems” with two Black characters standing patiently on the edges to help guide Graham firmly away from his father and brother’s toxicity (Chandra Russell’s love interest Dana and Antoine McKay’s scene-stealing plumber Phil Love). Picking ALL HAPPY FAMILIES apart isn’t going to be difficult for those who wish to do so, but I also don’t think audiences should dismiss the underlying message of finding the time and space to reinvent yourself in your own image instead of trapping yourself in that of another. Despite the clichéd manner of its delivery, there is resonant truth to that.
Baker is the unquestionable highlight. Radnor does well to give his introvert the sympathy necessary to care about his upward trajectory despite the failings of the other men in his family, but her Sue is quite literally staging a jail break that’s thirty or more years in the making. Yes, it’s a role mired in stereotypes like the others (exploited at home and at work, creatively stifled, sexually abused, always left to apologize for the men in her life), but there’s an authentic anger in the performance that forces you to perk up whenever Baker comes on-screen. There’s an intent to her actions that can inspire anyone desperate to believe more remains possible. You only need the courage take it.
- 6/10
FANATICAL: THE CATFISHING OF TEGAN AND SARA
(streaming on Hulu)
This really is the perfect storm necessary for an extensive case study to be done about the psychological impact of social media and fandom on audiences and artists alike. Tegan and Sara’s fame grew right alongside that technological evolution: a queer pop band speaking to a marginalized community that was trying to find its place in the world during the early aughts comprised of two musicians keenly aware of their impact and thus willing to help foster a safe haven. So, when a nefarious entity pretending to be Tegan Quin decides to prey upon fans searching for that inclusion and visibility, it’s not far-fetched to believe them. She’s always given time to fans. Always treated them like peers. How is this any different?
The answer might be obvious to those of us on the outside (although the number of male celebrities caught sliding into the DMs of young women hardly makes it an impossibility), but we’re talking about impressionable kids desperate for validation. Maybe they’re still closeted and afraid to discover their parents or friends won’t accept them after learning they’re queer. Maybe they’re introverts whose relationships are mostly online already and thus highly susceptible to the kindness of strangers. Whatever the case may be, these women received a message from their idol, did their due diligence to see the details of that correspondence was superficially truthful, and went all-in on befriending a superstar who understood.
It hasn’t stopped either. Erin Lee Carr’s FANATICAL: THE CATFISHING OF TEGAN AND SARA explains how this person (or persons) has been pretending to be Tegan Quin for sixteen years. They still haven’t been caught. The pop star is therefore correct to worry that going public might cause “Fegan” to start their attacks all over again. But maybe the exposure will also help teach today’s teens to be more careful online. That’s the real value here. Not the mystery (although it doesn’t hurt our entertainment), but the warning. Because this isn’t just a case of identity theft where Tegan becomes the sole victim. Every person “Fegan” duped must now confront the shame and anger this truth has wrought.
The situation goes well beyond the hazards of parasocial relationships too once we meet JT: someone who personally knew and hung out with Tegan before becoming a victim to the imposter. It’s one thing to always be removed from her via a computer screen and then feel “connected.” It’s another to be connected and then get led on by someone else. Rather than have that a-ha moment of “this person doesn’t know who I am” when attempting to move from online to IRL, JT has no choice but to think “this person is maliciously messing with my life.” Some of these “friendships” lasted years. “Fegan” might be fake, but the victims’ emotions aren’t.
Carr does a nice job juggling the desire to dig deeper against the necessity of not rocking the boat. This film isn’t possible with Tegan and Sara’s involvement, so you can’t begrudge her for not pushing harder during moments when the former comes off detached from the plight of her wronged fans (although, you must also consider her need to emotionally distance herself from strangers as a result of this ordeal due to safety and sanity considering loved ones were also impacted). Besides a Ph.D. speculating why someone would do this and what they gain from it, FANATICAL is very specifically focused on the victims’ experiences rather than the crime itself. No police are involved. This is an internal investigation.
That fact holds things back where the overall subject of celebrity and fandoms is concerned, but it makes the whole more personal and cathartic for those impacted. One could say the film is Tegan’s way of apologizing to those hurt by “Fegan.” It’s an acknowledgement that they weren’t crazy as well as a means to prove her own innocence to those who believe it was all a cover-up. Add “Tara” as a potential victim and suspect who genuinely can’t understand how Tegan was affected by any of it and you see just how dangerous what happened is. This ongoing event ruined lives, created trauma, and permanently altered how Tegan and Sara interact with their fans. And the scariest part is knowing it could have been a whole lot worse.
- 7/10
HYSTERIA!: Season 1
(streaming on Peacock)
“The fear was real.”
As soon as the doctor sees Linda Campbell’s (Julie Bowen) rash, she clocks it as being psychosomatic. It’s easy for her to say considering it’s the first case she’s seen, but Linda knows better after seeing the same rash being hastily hidden by Aubrey Hudson. She’s seen it slowly creeping up Police Chief Dandridge’s (Bruce Campbell) neck too. So, unless whatever is happening proves to be a town-wide delusion, they all have a reason to be scared. Not just because the Hudson boy is dead. Not just because of a rumored Satanic cult. It’s because it’s often easier to fear the unknown than it is to believe the truth.
That’s the hook inherent to Matthew Scott Kane’s HYSTERIA! The crazy events occurring on-screen are just as easily explained by criminal acts as they are demonic infestation. The question is thus posed to the audience about which makes more sense in context with what we’ve seen. Where does a reliable cause and effect lie? What part of what we’ve experienced is tainted by the perception of Happy Hollow residents hanging at the end of their respective ropes? Because people are committing crimes. And kids are starting a cult. Is the crossover a coincidence? Intentional? An unfortunate consequence?
The result proves a lot of fun while also being a smart subversion of the Satanic Panic era wherein parents believed everything from heavy metal to Dungeons and Dragons was a sign of the Devil’s corruption. Kane, his writing room, and their producers (including familiar names like Jordan Vogt-Roberts, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein) understand the hypocrisy religion wields by declaring itself arbiters of good despite its own proactive violence (physical, emotional, or psychological) towards that end inherently making it evil. So, they ensure bad things are happening on both ends of the spectrum to cloud the truth.
They demand characters on either side to bend their moral compasses. What better way to allow them that opportunity than through branding. We’re talking about fandoms and deprogramming after all. It’s all a product of identity and marketing. It’s about finding community and purpose whether we’re talking about Dylan (Emjay Anthony) and his friends’ (Chiara Aurelia’s Jordy and Kezii Curtis’ Spud) fledgling band Deth Krunch or Tracy Whitehead’s (Anna Camp) fledgling church group against Satan. A serenely boring town like theirs doesn’t need either because it exists within the static of complacency. Then tragedy changes everything.
Why? Because the way the victim’s body is found appears ritualistic in nature. Throw that on the news and everyone pays attention. Here’s Dylan and company’s chance to profit off the allure of counterculture by leaning into the Satanic aspects of their music to coax in kids looking to rebel. And it’s Tracy’s chance to rebrand herself from church nut to prophet. This murder provides them the fuel to set two opposition fires to get everyone frothing at the mouth. Teens seeking the power of darkness. Adults ready to satisfy bloodlust in God’s name. It’s a wonder Chief Dandridge doesn’t retire and get the heck out of town the moment he realizes this powder keg is forming.
That’s precisely where HYSTERIA! excels. Because just as we know Satan isn’t real, so does Dandridge. It doesn’t matter how many parents want Dylan’s head on a pike, he knows this dweeb playing dress-up isn’t a threat. Except he doesn’t really have any other leads and everyone in town is experiencing weird hallucinations alongside the aforementioned rashes. He can only divert his attention so long once images of winged demons start showing up in his line of sight. And the same goes for us. Maybe Dylan’s “cult” didn’t start with serious intent, but his new girlfriend (Jessica Treska’s Judith) and their troubled friend (Elijah Richardson’s Cliff) aren’t joking. Maybe they accidentally opened a door for a demon to wreak havoc.
This compelling duality helps get us through the first two or three episodes of exposition because they can drag a bit (especially in the pilot). Once we get into the swing of things and intention becomes hijacked by new characters in new ways, however, the show starts to hit its comedic and dramatic stride. It helps that the enigmatic Reverend’s (Garret Dillahunt) role becomes fleshed out more alongside Tracy’s daughter Faith (Nikki Hahn) while supporting cast members like HEREDITARY’s Milly Shapiro are allowed the room to overcome parts that initially feel like one-note punch lines. The more we know, the more entertaining and mysterious things get.
Just know that everything has an over-the-top edge—one I wish Kane and company took even further. When Bruce Campbell is your pragmatic straight man, you get an idea of how unhinged the rest can become. That means Camp and Dillahunt have the space to provide more arch villainy (although still nuanced in the sense that they “mean well”) while the twenty-somethings playing teenagers can ramp up the earnestness to feel young despite appearances (there’s definitely a COBRA KAI through line in that regard). The big swings don’t always work considering the script’s desire to keep things grounded even as they spiral out of control, but that only adds to the truth’s uncertainty.
Because part of the fun is wondering just how supernatural Kane will go. Will he let these humans off the hook by introducing a malevolent force as puppet master? Or will he hold their feet to the fire and turn a mirror onto our own present-day politicized fearmongering? That he’s kind of able to do both should feel like a cop-out and yet it’s actually the strongest part of the whole because it reminds us that fantasy is rooted in real world events. The evil we read about in storybooks like the Bible didn’t manifest out of thin air. They’re written from experience.
- 6/10
MADS
(streaming on Shudder)
It’s Romain’s (Milton Riche) birthday and he’s preparing for the bash ahead by picking up his drug of choice from his dealer. He takes a couple bumps, tells his girlfriend (Laurie Pavy’s Ana) that she should head over to his place, and jumps into his father’s Mustang to speed back, shower, and party all night long. Since he’s already high, however, a fumbled lit cigarette forces him to quickly pull over so as not to burn the upholstery. And, in the time it takes to brush off the ash and laugh away his nerves, an unknown woman (Sasha Rudakova) with a bandaged head and fingertips arrives to sit shotgun. Cue the screams, blood, and chaos.
David Moreau’s MADS propels itself forward from there with sparse exposition in a technically sound one-shot that seamlessly shifts locations no matter what vehicle the current focal point uses to get there (car, bike, scooter, or feet). The stranger carries a recording device with her that talks about a patient and virus, but she cannot elaborate herself (presumably because her tongue has been removed). So, an already blitzed Romain is left smacking his face to wake-up en route to the hospital so the cops won’t discover he’s holding. But she doesn’t want to be saved. She wants to die. A few self-inflicted stabs to the neck should do the trick.
This is the set-up to a wild ride. It starts with Romain’s fear and paranoia leading him towards that party anyway, continues through Ana’s pursuit to find him after, and finally ends with their friend Julia’s (Luicielle Guillaume) attempt to escape. All three take the same drug before starting to witness crazy events like an armed militia mowing down innocent souls. They also start losing control of their mental faculties to aggressively and enthusiastically attack each other. What’s the cause? What can they do to stop it? Why are some people no longer able to die? Your genre know-how will need to discern the answers since the film concerns itself solely with the experience. That’s both its strength and weakness.
I love being thrown into this mythology to watch it rapidly devolve without the characters understanding what’s going on themselves. It adds a sense of urgency and mystery that allows us to let go of preconceptions and hypotheses so Moreau can simply have a blast wreaking havoc. But that lack of a true narrative coupled with the one-shot device does no favors insofar as engaging the audience’s investment. The thing about this technique that proves to be the downfall of so many who try it is the inability to remove those empty moments that other films edit out to tighten pacing and drama. Moreau does a nice job giving them purpose through carnage, but not enough to mask them being a means to an end.
So, no matter how much fun I had with the aesthetic and fresh take on a familiar horror trope, MADS cannot help but drag. Yes, it’s mostly a product of repetition (one character tries to figure out what’s happening, acts violently, and tries to survive before two different characters subsequently follow that exact trajectory themselves), but it’s also a result of Moreau creating a world rather than people. He uses his characters to flesh out his concept. They are pawns affixed to tracks so we can learn more about what’s happening and experience the escalating danger. We don’t care about them because they barely care about each other. It’s therefore great as far as the ride goes. There just isn’t much below the surface.
- 6/10
RUMOURS
(in theaters)
People like to say that movie stars no longer exist today, but Bleecker Street has chosen to seemingly give experimental Canadian auteur Guy Maddin’s latest film RUMOURS a wide release in America based solely on Cate Blanchett’s involvement. Does the Oscar-winning actor have what it takes to coax people to the box office for a surreally absurdist satire about the vapid, cartoonish hollowness of career politicians who meet at the G7 to write the next great empty speech? I guess we will find out on Sunday.
Co-directed with Galen Johnson and screenwriter Evan Johnson, this comedic nightmare follows the leaders of Germany (Blanchett’s Hilda), England (Nikki Amuka-Bird’s Cardosa), America (Charles Dance’s Edison), France (Denis Ménochet’s Sylvain), Japan (Takehiro Hira’s Tatsuro), Italy (Rolando Ravello’s Antonio), and Canada (Roy Dupuis’ Maxime) as they sit inside a newly constructed gazebo on castle grounds to brainstorm a way forward through their current, intentionally vague crisis. Rather than actually compose something of merit, however, they become lost in their own personal woes … and victims to an attack by Iron Age bog bodies.
Add a giant human brain, an unstable EU advisor (Alicia Vikander’s Celestine), and an AI chatbot scouring the world for pedophiles by targeting those who hold the most power and it’s no wonder these seven “leaders” find themselves on the edge of sanity. Some just want to die. Some wanted to die, but now have the newfound strength to save the day. Others merely want to finish the task assigned to them so they may live forever amongst the great orators with nothing of substance to say. And then there’s Antonio—attending his first summit—happily offering the rest of them slices of meat he’s taken from the buffet and stashed in his jacket.
These characters are at once pathetically ill-equipped for conflict and over-confident in thinking they can conquer whatever comes their way. They speak to each other with the same flowery platitudes that they do their constituents, not because they have things to hide, but because they have little to actually say. They want to pick each other’s brains to crib off their successes and avoid their failures. They oftentimes want to get in each other’s pants regardless of how dire things appear. And they’ve very clearly drunk their own Kool-aid as far as believing in their importance despite possessing the self-awareness to know no one else cares.
RUMOURS becomes the wilderness adventure of a bunch of idiots spiraling through uncertain mystery who prove more desperate to look good than to survive their current predicament. There are few better ends than martyrdom to cement one’s legacy after all. What’s the alternative anyway? Retirement? The private sector? Yuck. Thankfully, none of them needs to solve anything anyway. They must only put the public at ease with an acknowledgement that they know things are bad and are working towards working towards a solution somewhere down the line … if anyone is still paying attention after something worse arises.
It’s a humorous if overlong ride. Blanchett, Amuka-Bird, and Dupuis are great in their triangle vying for control (and, in the case of the former two women, the latter’s affections). Ravello, Dance, and Hira do well as comic relief in the background as Ménochet steals the show doing the same in the foreground. Those paying attention to the degradation of politicians into empty suits in it for the money won’t gain new insight, but it is a laugh watching grown adults with nuclear arsenals smiling like children when someone compliments the dumb thing they said.
- 7/10
Cinematic F-Bombs:
This week saw GUILT TRIP (2012) added to the archive (cinematicfbombs.com).
Barbra Streisand dropping an f-bomb in THE GUILT TRIP.
New Releases This Week:
(Review links where applicable)
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 10/18/24 -
BOUGAINVILLEA at Regal Elmwood
EXHIBITING FORGIVENESS at Regal Elmwood, Transit & Galleria
“That's where the difference between effective and transcendent lies—a filmmaker putting truth ahead of convenience in a way that allows the characters to accept the past without fear or denial. It happened and it mattered, but it's no longer in control.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
FOOD AND COUNTRY (select times) at North Park Theatre
GOODRICH at Dipson Capitol; AMC Market Arcade; Regal Transit & Quaker
GRACIE & PEDRO: PETS TO THE RESCUE at Dipson Flix & Capitol; Regal Quaker
KENSUKE’S KINGDOM at Regal Transit & Quaker
MITTRAN DA CHALLEYA TRUCK NI at Regal Elmwood
RUMOURS at Dipson Capitol; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
Thoughts are above.
SMILE 2 at Dipson McKinley, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER (select times) at North Park Theatre
TIME MASTERS (select times) at North Park Theatre
WE LIVE IN TIME at Regal Quaker (expands to more theaters on 10/24)
“Garfield and Pugh are also just plain adorable in their capacity to shed all pretense of celebrity and embody an everyman vibe ruled by desire. They're very funny in that way to alleviate the heavy weight that cancer holds on a movie like this too.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
Streaming from 10/18/24 -
FANATICAL: THE CATFISHING OF TEGAN AND SARA – Hulu on 10/18
Thoughts are above.
HAPPINESS IS – Netflix on 10/18
LEGO MARVEL AVENGERS: MISSION DEMOLITION – Disney+ on 10/18
MADS – Shudder on 10/18
Thoughts are above.
MAXXXINE – Max on 10/18
THE MAN WHO LOVED UFOS – Netflix on 10/18
THE PARK MANIAC – Prime on 10/18
THE TURNAROUND – Netflix on 10/18
WOMAN OF THE HOUR – Netflix on 10/18
YINTAH – Netflix on 10/18
CARVED – Hulu on 10/21
FAMILY PACK – Netflix on 10/23
CANARY BLACK – Prime on 10/24
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
ALIEN: ROMULUS (10/15)
CALIGULA [Ultimate Cut] (10/15)
HOARD (10/15)
REAGAN (10/15)
STREAM (10/15)
THE WILD ROBOT (10/15)
ALL HAPPY FAMILIES (10/18)
Thoughts are above.
BAGMAN (10/18)
BOOKWORM (10/18)
“Thankfully, both Wood and Fisher refuse to let the script's wild swings get in the way of their charming and endearing performances. The two have a wonderful rapport in their role reversal.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
DIE ALONE (10/18)
LEE (10/18)
THE STOIC (10/18)
THE UNIVERSAL THEORY (10/18)
“Whereas most [multiverse] examples focus on a single vantage with which to designate superiority (a "true" timeline), Kröger leans into the chaotic nature inherent to the collective ignorance of believing ourselves to be the protagonist.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.