"Theater Camp" - Review

Every year, the AdirondACTS theatre camp run by Joan Rubinsky (Amy Sedaris) is home to the outcast, the fabulous and the theatrical kids, underdogs all, who come together to learn about acting, singing, dancing, stage craft and how to put on the best show you've ever seen! This year, there is a documentary crew here to follow Joan and her arts. But when she suffers a seizure, and falls into a coma (the first ever "Bye Bye Birdie" related injury ni the county's history), the documentary makers are forced to move onto new subjects on the first day of shooting. Namely, we follow acting teacher Amos Klobuchar (Ben Platt), and his co-dependent best friend; the new Age past life-healer and musical director Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) as they must contend with the news, putting on a musical in Joan's memory, the new stewardship of the camp under her son Troy (Jimmy Tatro), his attempts to save it from financial ruin, and the new influx of kids this year. Complicating this already huge task is the revelation that a Ms Krauss (Patti Harrison), a representative from a rival camp, is here to buy them out, and the new kids have their own issues they have brought to camp this year...

This movie was absolutely fucking brilliant.
A madcap spiritual successor to "Waiting for Guffman", with rapid fire jokes not seen on a level since "Booksmart" (featuring some of its alumnii, as a matter of fact! But I get ahead of myself...), razor sharp scriptwriting and a runtime which never outstays its welcome come together to make a witty and sweet comedy: the pace is something to behold.
Ben Platt is great in this, and actually won me over after playing Dear Evan Hansen in that bad version of "World's Greatest Dad", here relishing the part.
But I was here for my queen Molly Gordon, frequently the best thing about whatever she is in (a welcome anti-anxiety medication in "Shiva Baby", a hilarious best friend in "Broken Hearts Gallery", the antagonist and zinger-master in "Good Boys" and the one whose simple delivery of "Where the fuck do you live?" in "Booksmart" still has me in stitches to this day) and here finally relishing the chance to play a role she has wanted for her entire career. They carry the production wonderfully, and the supporting characters all get a chance to shine. The pace of jokes never let up, and they land each and every time in their celebration of this mad, "theatre kid energy", and even the age-old reaction shots of people having to put up with this bullshit never gets old. Troy is essentially Tatro's character from "American Vandal" again, and most welcome here, and the performers across the board all get given gems. Not a single scene goes by without somebody getting a great joke in. Noah Galvin from "Booksmart" also shows up, and "Booksmart" cast members are always welcome. From Troy trying to bond with the kids and calling them "Fam", "Squad" and the like, only to be called "Cishet" to mocking laughter; to the efforts of oddly talented yet overlooked theatre kid Glenn (Galvin) trying to keep the place going; to the new teacher Janet (Ayo Edebiri) bluffing her way through every class after lying on her CV; Rebecca-Diane and Amos trying to just make and write a damn musical: it juggles an enormous number of plates in the air, a huge number of funny characters, and has them all pay off in terms of punchlines, big and small, and emotional, satisfying arcs by the end of the story. It includes 2 coming out jokes, bookending the story, and has not a single mean spirited bone in its body.
Come for Molly Gordon and the redemption of Ben Platt, stay for the antics of Troy, the drama of shows, a cocaine-based musical number, a disatissfied Air B'n'B guest, a welcome cameo from Patti Harrison, and the warmth of its heart.
A fantastic debut, and I unironically want a TV show based on this, and a full length musical based on the final number.

"Blue Beetle" Review

Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena) has returned from college to his family, delighted to have him back in Palmera City. Unfortunately they are set to lose their home to the greed of the ever expanding Kord Industries, headed by Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), and Jaime's father Alberto (Damian Alacazar) has just lost his job after a heart attack. On the ropes, broke, but surrounded by love: Reyes is forced to get himself a job to support his family. The kid gets caught up in a hunt for a mysterious artefact, and adventure ensues.

This movie was just fun.
It's a bright, vibrant, 90s as hell poppy explosion of delights, all about family, fun, and the plight of migrant communities doing battle with corporate overlords and laserbeams. IT has a breezy sensibility to it, but doesn't forget the characters along the way: a lovable family surrounding Reyes, who is himself a good wholesome boy. His banter/rapport and growth with the bloodthirsty robot alien parasite Khaji Da (Becky G) is the throughline of the film and where much of the jokes and humour come from, and the payoff is exactly what you want and need and expect from this film, and it works wonderfully. I'm a big Ted Kord fan, so having his robot spout "Kickstart My Heart" is the most Ted Kord thing. That's just a cute side note.
I was told that this movie (with its odd couple boy and his robot, the lovable George Lopez conspiracy theorist uncle, fighting corporations with an old robot taken from the cave of "Batman but with ADHD" which spouts out Motley Crue songs, and its anti corporation message and sweet heart) was something I would write.
I wish I could write something a tenth as good as this.
A breath of fresh air for superhero films.

"Talk to Me" - Review

Best friends Mia (Sophia Wilde) and Jade (Alexandra Jensen) are going through some tough times at the moment: the former lost her mother a few years ago and is still reeling from it, and the latter is trying to help her through it. When they learn about an online trend involving taking an embalmed hand of a psychic, saying "Talk to me" and messing around with spirits: for a bit of fun they decide to fuck around and find out...

Directors Danny and Michael Phillipou have made a movie geared towards the urban legends "3AM Challenge" crowd, but with a little more going on beneath the surface and a little weird to boot due to its age rating and themes of trauma. It has excellent practical effects, 2 excellent supporting performances from Zoe Terakes and Chris Alosio as the dickhead friends, a good possession performance, and some good gore. There are some details I enjoy, such as how Mia's father is always shot out of focus and off screen because she's distant from him, and the particularly good shot of what happens to a character when their soul is not here... It's fun.
However, I never was as scared as I wanted to be. Maybe I'm just sick of possession movies, but the scares were never quite there for me, as well made as it was.

"Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1" - Review

Finally under the stable leadership of a 2nd term head in Eugene Kitteridge (Henry Czerny), the "Impossible Mission Force" is once again called into action when the intelligence community scrabbles to find the key to an artificial intelligence known as "The Entity". Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is on the case, backed by his black hacker Luther (Ving Rhames) and white hacker Benji (Simon Pegg), charting the globe in a race to find the key, and uncovering a myriad of twisting loyalties and plots along the way. He shall encounter his old British agent friend Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), the arms dealer "White Widow" (Vanessa Kirby) and a supposedly old foe from his past named "Gabriel" (Esai Morales), as Ethan crosses paths with enemies from all sides seeking this key, and a pickpocket named Grace (Hayley Atwell) who is caught in the middle...

A strange duck in the series, encompassing many of my personal problems with it, addressing some of them, and carrying on some of the major strengths but never quite following through with them in a way which soars like greater entries in the series. Cards on the table: I was never really a fan of "Fallout", which received a disproportionate amount of acclaim, and think this is an improvement in many regards, as well as a step back. The main strengths of the series have been the much-publicised large scale stunts and big "Ethan Hunt jumps off a thing" moments: here the undeniable high point (well, putting aside its story of the making of it...) is a Buster Keaton falling train sequence, dodging pianos and chairs and exploding carriages, all mayhem and much welcome. But the film is 2 and 1/2 hours long, and that comes right at the end. The car chase in Venice (side note: both it and "Fast X" have car chases in Venice, a bland lead, a poe-faced tone despite the wackiness and a sprawling cast of characters brought back solely to show off that they still exist, and it does make one wonder...) has some good humour to it with a tiny yellow car and a handcuffed Ethan and Grace bimbling about trying to avoid everybody in tanks and jeeps and gunfights (though I feel the joke could have been a bit funnier if Grace didn't know how to drive, full stop) with one driving and the other yelling directions. Yet it doesn't quite pop in the other action sequences the way it wants to, it doesn't feel as gritty or gnarly as McQuarrie's early "Way of the Gun" (side note: watch "Way of the Gun" if you want a dose of 90s unpleasantness, I quite like it and find it my favourite of his works) and lacks the choreography of a "John Wick" or madness of "Hobbs and Shaw", the latter of which would match the Looney Tunes vibe they are seeking in their physical stuntwork. But the dialogue and plotting around it?
That brings us to the weakness of the films, here both on stark display and somewhat addressed, in a study in contrasts.
The "Mission Impossible" movies have struggled with characters and personality. I struggle to describe Ethan Hunt. The best parts of "Rogue Nation" were the banter and bickering between Luther and Brandt (oh Jeremy Renner), and the attempts to investigate the team and make Benji crack, and finding where Isla's loyalties lie. The highlight of the series ("Ghost Protocol") was a quartet of characters on the run, trying to clear their names and their issues (a quest for venegance, a quest for redemption, their first time in the field, and Ethan) on the run from my favourite character in the series: a cop just doing his job. Here, we have a brief exchange of banter between Luther and Benji, then that's it. The characters are described as being a thing, then we have their dialogue be either directions towards a key, or the word "key" (seriously, there's a bit on the train where Grace and Ethan say the word "key" about 8 or 9 times in the space of a single sentence), and talk gravely about the dangers posed by the world incredibly poe-faced. But it never really feels like it earns it. Some of it is fun (Henry Czerny hisses and growls all of his dialogue, in a way which is clearly the filmmakers trying to have you believe he is the villain, despite them trying this trick in the first film and it coming off the back of Cary Elwes being introduced as a character named "Denlinger" and looking shady as fuck. I like Henry Czerny and am happy he is getting more work, even if he is going to be the patriarch of the Le Domas Clan in my mind forever), but the key flaw in this respect is the villain. Esai Morales tries with what he is given in terms of the material, and almost threatens to be good and threatening, but is introduced 7 movies in as the "ultimate villain who ruined Ethan Hunt's life by killing the love of his life" (not his wife Julia from movie 3, or his apprentice/friend Agent Farris in the same movie, and not Nyah from "2", but instead some girl who is introduced in a blink and you'll miss it flashback), and basically gets to growl and scowl and say prophetic cryptic things of evil AI. Yes, a character dies halfway through the film, but it is oddly telegraphed (they give it to one of the better, more subtle performers, who is re-introduced as competent 40 minutes in, and then loses that competence solely for the purposes of needing somebody to die...) and it just made me go:
"Oh. Okay..."
Yet, they also address the supporting cast, new characters all, by giving them moments of personality. Pom Klementieff (whom I want in all movies, usually in a buddy cop adventure with either Jessica Rothe or Daniela Melchior) makes something of an impact as a blood crazy assassin dressed as "Black Parade" era MCR (even if making her the "mute Asian" is... come on man.) and Grace and Vanessa Kirby's "White Widow" have their moments, but the highlight for me was Shea Whigham turning up as "Detective Shea Whigham", having genuinely funny contrasting buddy cop adventures with his buddy (Greg "Tarzan" Davies) who prefers a more nuanced approach. He had something of an arc over the course of the film too.
The screenplay is cluttered yet sparse in equal measure, and whilst it has some spark in its supporting parts, Ethan and Gabriel are too underwritten as characters to be interesting, and thus the tension suffers. I still kind of recommend it if you like the series.

"Barbie" - Review

In a world of unyielding horror, divorced from emotion and human experience, purged of identity and soul and meaning: stumbles Barbie (Margot Robbie), a doll who has left her own world in search of the girl who plays with her (Ariana Greenblatt). Accompanying her across this post apocalyptic hellscape comes Ken (Ryan Gosling, we shall get to him), who sees himself as her boyfriend, on a quest for answers to his own identity and place in the world alongside his true love Barbie, who defines him. As Barbie spirals downwards, succumbing to depression, and Ken discovers the darkest impulses of man, a journey of self-discovery, self-actualisation, and the existential horror of our depressive lives ensues...

(Art by Joana Fraga)
You knew it was coming, the memes have been best described as "torrential" and the hype train has had no brakes on it. So here it is.
"Barbie" has lived up to it.
Greta Gerwig (this is the first thing I have seen of hers) has concocted a myriad of pastel coloured wonders, with a rapid fire joke rate subverting its plastic source material, and giving a different gag for every palette. There are surprise musical numbers, breaking the fourth wall, easy-but-still-funny swings for the fences of how Barbie as a concept has aged with girls in a more enlightened world, simple one-liners, a Michael Cera fight sequence and even an extended plot point about Nickelback (a personal favourite was a joke at the expense of "Zach Snyder's Justice League" of all things). A highlight for myself is (apart from the musical numbers, dance number reminiscent of old-school musicals and a shirt which reads "I am Kenough") a Scooby-Doo esque chase in an office cubicle which makes me want Greta Gerwig to make a "Looney Tunes" movie. It's fun, it's pastel coloured, it's a neon carnival of chaos and carnage:

And then, comes the candy-coated poison. I am A SUCKER for a movie with a sickly sweet exterior, hiding a dark centre, and "Barbie" has it in spades: it's about losing your mind, suffering from existential dread, desperately flailing in a downward spiral after perfection slips from your grasp and you begin to believe that you will never achieve anything. It focuses on existential dread, depression and then, in the second act, toxic masculinity stemming from a feeling of mediocrity and a lack of an identity or purpose in your own life, in a mirror to Barbie's own journey.
All this from a fucking "Barbie" movie, I swear to Christ...
Robbie is excellent, and the writing and characters pop, its style is fun without being obnoxious or overbearing. America Ferrera bears the emotional soul of the film, and bears it well, and there is a lovely emotional payoff with Rhea Pearlman (HELL YES) towards the end. It feels a bit crowded when Will Ferrell and his Mattel Goons show up in a throwback to "The LEGO Movie", but it works for the most part, and theire gags still land, only with a bit less bite (bar one about profits at the end). Kate McKinnon, unfortunately, shows up with what can only be described as "Miranda Hart on SNL in the 90s" energy, but is thankfully kept to a minimum here.

The highlight, as many could have predicted, is Ryan Gosling. Just... yes. Everything about Ken in this is letting him embrace his comedic chops, and showcasing the performance of his career.
A triumph.

"Joy Ride" - Review

Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lolo (Sherry Cola) grew up as best friends: largely because they were the only Asian kids in their tiny town, and because the fiery, punchy Lolo protected Audrey on the playground from a racist. Now, the high-flying overachieving lawyer Audrey is about to embark on a business trip for her firm to meet a client in China; and the artistic, foul-mouthed, free spirited Lolo (voted "Most Likely to Get Arrested") comes along not just as her best friend, but her translator! After all, ever since they were kids, Audrey has wanted to find her birth mother in China, and Lolo decides that this is the chance to do it. However, the latter also neglected to mention that her awkward K-Pop loving cousin "Deadeye" (Sabrina Wu) will be joining them... Whilst she's in the neighbourhood, Audrey also decides to catch up with her old college room mate Kat (Stephanie Hsu), a wild child sex machine now working as golden girl leading lady in a prestigious TV show called "The Emperor's Daughter" and engaged to her hot, chaste Christian leading man Clarence. The quartet begin a road trip which devolves into shenanigans and evolves into friendship and struggles with identity.

We saw this at a "Screen Unseen" preview a month or so before it comes out, and had 2 walkouts in the first 5 minutes. I'm glad that they left then, because this movie is fucking filthy.
It's also hilarious.
A depraved, wildfire, highly energetic road trip movie with 4 excellent comedic actors (Sherry Cola is an immediate standout and rightly so as the raunchy, borderline degenerate maniac and supportive best friend Lolo; but Stephanie Hsu had me pissing myself, and Sabrina Wu is one hell of a find); all 4 of the cast feel like rounded characters to boot. The lazy review is to say "Asian Bridesmaids", and whilst Stephanie Hsu (can we have a Stephanie Hsu movie every year please?) plays it with madcap Rose Byrne energy, and some will compare Lolo to Melissa McCarthy's star-making performance (and there is even a cameo from Annie Mumolo, writer of "Bridesmaids" as Audrey's mother), the movie evolves into its own hedonistic thing, with an effervescent and horny energy of its own. A sequence involving drugs on a train has some choice lines and had my partner and I crying with laughter, only to be followed up with a 6-way sex sequence/dance-off a few minutes later, where Stephanie Hsu is attempting to hide how horny she is, and it killed me- and yet still it had the sheer nerve to also feature character growth and development in its double-cunnilingus concussion basketball masturbation extravaganza.
In between rapid fire delivery, a breakneck pace and a rendition of "W.A.P" which goes beyond what is shown in the trailer (I will not say more), there comes the movie's real strength of balancing these pussy-tattoo shenanigans and foul mouthed gags about anal sex with its resonant emotional core - a woman's search for her identity when she doesn't feel quite at home in this world anymore, and maybe won't even find it here... Daniel "Turbo Chad" Dae Kim has an incredibly sweet cameo, but the emotional core and heart of the film lies comfortably with Park (whom you can tell is a theatre actor, not just from her EXCELLENT vocals on "W.A.P". Fun fact: she played the part of Gretchen in the "Mean Girls" musical and I can 100% see it) and her journey, as well as some tender moments with friends both new and old... Lolo and Kat have an excellent catty dynamic, but it doesn't drag too long. Deadeye is charming and funny without being annoying (looking at you, Kate McKinnon) and it is just such a damn good time. I applaud Adele Lim for her triumphant debut, and am keen on all of these guys going far.

"No Hard Feelings" - Review

Uber driver Maddie (Jennifer Lawrence) is living her... best (?) life: a commitment-phobic, free-wheeling maneater; when her Uber is repossessed, and she falls behind repayments on the lean on her deceased mother's house. In desperate need of cash (especially since the Summer is coming up, and tourists will be flooding to the tiny town she lives in...), she answers an ad placed online: date the shy, introverted Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) so that he can gain some confidence before going to Princeton, and in return his incredibly wealthy helicopter parents (Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) will give her a car. Seeing some easy cash, Maddie turns on the charm and her feral, sexual energy and gets to work. But this job may be harder than it seems, and the student may end up becoming the master...

I'm all aboard the band wagon of actors getting their Oscars and critical acclaim early, and then just going nuts. Jennifer Lawrence is great in this, and clearly relishing the chance to get off the leash. In between her vicious barbs and put downs, there is some depth to a character who grew up in a small town and sees big money flooding through and treating it and its people like a playground, and resenting that. A particular highlight comes from a beach scene.
Andrew Barth Feldman is one hell of a find, and plays Percy as more than a charicature.
The plot addresses its unappealing plot, and never really feels exploitative, the two characters learn from each other. Its 3rd act loses some momentum after frequent comedy beats by veering more into character piece, but the film is amiable enough to survive it and get by.
Natalie Morales steals the show, and Zahn McLarnon has a cameo!