Week Ending 6/7/24
Just as I’m sure the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers were happy for a week off between the finish of the conference finals and the start of the Stanley Cup Finals, I won’t lie and say I didn’t appreciate a few nights free to watch something other than hockey myself. And that’s nothing against the hockey. Both those series were fantastic. It’s simply nice to fit in a television show every now and then too.
The show: DARK MATTER (thoughts below). Every episode was 45-minutes to an hour-plus, so I was able to get the whole thing done in the equivalent of three hockey broadcasts. And once the Cup is awarded, I’ll have until October to binge whatever other shows I can.
SHOGUN and SCAVENGERS REIGN are definitely on the list, but so too are a bunch more AppleTV+ projects. I’m genuinely surprised that they seem to still be the best pound-for-pound streamer out there when it comes to pure quality over quantity. I’ve got LADY IN THE LAKE, THE BIG CIGAR, and BAD MONKEY on my radar. I still need to watch the last season of PHYSICAL, catch the entirety of DICKINSON, start MASTERS OF THE AIR, and maybe even MONARCH as an excuse to catch-up on the MonsterVerse. I stopped after KING OF THE MONSTERS—not because of it (I actually thought it was pretty good)—but because the two VS movies looked bad).
There’s also the Fantasia Film Festival coming in July and TIFF in September too, so it’s time to get cracking.
What I Watched:
DARK MATTER
(streaming on AppleTV+)
Blake Crouch’s trajectory in Hollywood almost seems like one built by a scenario of cultivated correct decisions similar to that of his DARK MATTER lead character Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton). Authors often get shutout of the creative process once their stories are optioned and yet here he is going from seeing WAYWARD PINES adapted by Chad Hodge to working with Hodge to co-create a series based on GOOD BEHAVIOR (THE LETTY DOBESH CHRONICLES) to showrunning this latest project all by himself. All that in just ten years too. Maybe he too went into the “box” to select his optimal universe.
Not that Jason does so willingly. No, the version we know as “the hero” in the novel and series is kidnapped and sent on this adventure under extreme duress. Why? Because he made the choice to build a life with Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and start a family that included their son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). And he did so at the cost of his scientific dream to physically put objects into the so-called “superposition” state. Jumping off Schrödinger's cat, existing in this state would put you at the precipice of an infinite number of results. While the cat is both alive and dead, the door to Jason’s theoretical box opens on both the world it was created in and every other adjacent world in which it could have been created.
That’s where the science goes well beyond my head since, unlike a time travel film like PRIMER where an alternate “machine” is set up and running from day one to ensure the characters can go back to the start, I truly don’t understand how the box is able to open into worlds that don’t already have their own box. That the box “travels” with the travelers seems implausible and the topic is never addressed in the show. But we’re talking about science fiction. A little suspension of disbelief is hardly unforgivable—especially when a smarter person (or, feasibly, someone who read the book, assuming Crouch went into detail there) might have the answer. So, I just went with it since DARK MATTER is about the characters, not the machine.
Jason #1 is kidnapped by Jason #2—a version of himself that chose his career over Daniela. The latter justifies the crime by believing his boredom and regret would be reciprocated. If he chose science only to regret it and want to go back, couldn’t Jason #1 have grown to regret choosing family? Here he is teaching kids in a university who barely listen to his lectures while his best friend (Jimmi Simpson’s Ryan Holder) wins prestigious awards en route to securing millions in funding for a new project. Maybe Jason #1 would want to live the high-pressure and high-reward life of his counterpart. If only love wasn’t also in the mix.
The show is thus at its core about Jason #1 trying to get back to his real world and stop Jason #2 from taking over his life. Both sides of the equation find their suspense in the fact that these dual leads “don’t belong.” Eventually Daniela and Charlie will grow suspicious of this man that doesn’t quite act like the Jason they know. And eventually Jason (with help from Alice Braga’s Amanda Lucas) will find his way back into the box to jump between universes in search of “home.” This is where we see just how different these two are at the same time as realizing they’re practically identical. Both will do anything and everything to achieve their goals. But one does so through the filter of empathy. The other via self-interest.
It’s a high concept premise that knows how to leave the gimmick in the background as scaffolding so the characters can take flight between the lines. The pacing is a huge part of this as my initial assumptions for where the show was headed after the pilot more or less come to fruition during the first three episodes. With a huge shocker of a cliffhanger early on, however, I realized just how big the scope of this thing would go. Crouch could have kept things small (and maybe he should have shaved off another episode or two of the nine he presents), but instead lets us live in these circumstances and the far-reaching ripples that result. He lets us see multiple versions of everyone to flesh out his theme of choice.
No one benefits more from this than Dayo Okeniyi since his very stoic and stern Leighton Vance can be a bit stifling at the start. To give him the opportunity to really let loose with another version of the character later proves a great showcase of his talents. We get a little of that via Amanda Brugel’s Blair too. And a little via Simpson … although his character is unfortunately written more as a device than a three-dimensional person, one that leads to some loose ends and conveniences that Crouch mostly avoids with the others. His Ryan becomes a pawn so Connelly, Edgerton, and Braga (who is my show MVP) can shine.
The effects are great as the box opens onto devastated (in big and small ways) worlds and the emotions are always high as new personal revelations gradually drive a wedge between Daniela and Jason #2 while new conceptual revelations bring Jason #1 closer to his goal. And anyone who knows the aforementioned PRIMER shouldn’t be surprised with the bonkers chaos of the penultimate episode and an inevitability you might not initially realize. It leads to some thrilling moments as well as a huge increase in violence as we approach the endgame. Yes, it gets pretty silly at times too, but never enough to derail the underlying motives. With a satisfyingly believable conclusion, we receive a winner from start to finish.
- 8/10
THIS CLOSENESS
(limited release; streaming via MUBI on July 3)
Ben (Zane Pais) and Tessa (Kit Zauhar) have arrived in Philadelphia to attend the former’s high school reunion. Deciding to forego a hotel, the couple has booked an Airbnb with a host in Adam (Ian Edlund). It’s a scenario ripe for awkwardness due to the nature of staying with a stranger, but also because of who Ben and Tessa are as human beings. You know things are balancing on a tightrope with them the moment she makes an innocuous comment about Ben going out with friends sans “spouses” and he decides to pedantically point out that she isn’t his spouse. Suddenly it’s very clear that whatever love they believe they possess can’t prove immune to the so-called “misunderstandings” to come.
Written and directed by Zauhar, THIS CLOSENESS unfolds as a dialogue-heavy look into the jealousies and cruelties that exist within us regardless of any experiences that should, on paper, make us more empathetic to the plight of others. We soon learn via an interaction that cannot help but spiral out-of-control (Ben bringing an old friend in Jessie Pinnick’s Lizzy to the apartment for beers) that neither of these two had a perfect adolescence. They were bullied teens with bad skin and/or racist classmates, but they’ve come out the other end. That success has made Ben vindictive in a desire to flaunt it with those he hasn’t been able to leave behind and Tessa above it in a way that has her erasing it from existence.
This dynamic, despite similar endgames, drives a wedge between them with Ben thinking Tessa sees him as being immature and Tessa thinking that Ben sees her as being too good for the “little people” from her past. It has him wanting to flirt with Lizzy now that he has the confidence to do so and her wanting to be mean to Lizzy now that she possesses the same. And caught in the middle of this continual quest for power lies Adam’s introverted host/prisoner-in-his-own-home so as not to disturb his paying guests. They pity him one second and laugh at him the next. He becomes a mirror onto Ben’s youth to despise (like he despised himself) and one for Tessa to want to embrace (because no one did so for her).
Neither reaction is healthy. But neither is Ben and Tessa’s relationship once pettiness and frustrations rear their head to allow the truth a chance to reveal how much they dislike each other—not that they’re strong enough or secure enough to admit it. The film becomes an unintentional pissing contest between the two to see how far they can go in hurting the other without actually suffering any consequences. I say “unintentional” from their perspective—not the film’s—since they’re both too selfish to ever consider the other’s pain above their own pleasure. That pleasure simply always has the side effect of increasing that pain. And the only thing they can both agree on? How much better they are than Adam.
It’s a lo-fi indie with a DIY, single-setting aesthetic that allows the conversations and interactions to shine above everything else. Add the thin walls forcing Adam to always endure Ben and Tessa’s wrath and pleasure while also showcasing the couple’s hypocrisy when their host dares to turn the tables and Zauhar really plays up the “game” aspect of finding and, subsequently, crossing every line possible. The result won’t be for everyone and it might not prove to be as deep as the subject matter demands (or the film believes it reached), but there’s still a lot to like in this journey of two horrible people reminding a third that, despite his insecurities making him believe he’s destined for loneliness, at least he isn’t as desperate to trick himself into thinking the opposite as them.
- 6/10
Cinematic F-Bombs:
I’m up to 282 titles with their webpages updated to the new layout and videos added to YouTube. And since a new PG-13 film in Netflix’s ATLAS started streaming with a couple of f-bombs, I decided to add them to the mix too.
Jennifer Lopez dropping an f-bomb in ATLAS.
New Releases This Week:
(Review links where applicable)
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 6/7/24 -
BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE at Dipson Amherst, McKinley, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
EVIL DOES NOT EXIST at North Park Theatre (select times)
“The narrative concerns itself with its characters more than plot. [Hamaguchi] presents them as opposing forces with the potential for common ground against a wholly different entity: Mother Nature.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
LOVE MOULI at Regal Elmwood
MANAMEY at Regal Elmwood
MUNJYA at Regal Elmwood
NOWHERE SPECIAL at North Park Theatre (select times)
“Norton is wonderful in the role, lending it a vulnerability that shines through the stoic nature of a man doing his best to show no fear.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
SATYABHAMA at Regal Elmwood
SCHOOL OF MAGICAL ANIMALS 2 at Dipson Capitol; Regal Transit & Quaker
THE WATCHERS at Dipson Amherst, McKinley, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
Streaming from 6/7/24 -
BIG CITY GREENS THE MOVIE: SPACECATION – Disney+ on 6/7
HIT MAN – Netflix on 6/7
HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS – Peacock on 6/7
“A real slice of life drama, HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS proves a steady stream of unfortunate events caused by an escalating sense of being trapped despite their "prison" being the one place that actually gives them freedom.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
PROTECTING PARADISE: THE STORY OF NIUE – Disney+ on 6/8
HOW MUSIC GOT FREE – Paramount+ on 6/11
MYSTERIES OF THE TERRACOTTA WARRIORS – Netflix on 6/12
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
GODZILLA MINUS ONE (6/1)
BACK TO BLACK (6/4)
EXHUMA (6/4)
LOST SOULZ (6/4)
NOWHERE SPECIAL (6/4)
“Norton is wonderful in the role, lending it a vulnerability that shines through the stoic nature of a man doing his best to show no fear.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
THE OLD OAK (6/4)
RE: UNITING (6/4)
KILL YOUR LOVERS (6/7)
LATE BLOOMERS (6/7)
THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 (6/7)
TRIM SEASON (6/7)