Hot Takes On Film

MA (2019 US) Octavio Spencer stars as a middle aged woman trying to relive her troubled youth by letting local teens party in her basement. Things go wrong. This has been labeled horror and there are certainly elements of that but I would call it more thriller than horror. Rotten Tomatoes has this at 55% and I do think that’s a bit unfair. It has an element of being uncomfortable as Spencer takes the audience on a journey through her baggage. You, as the audience, know its clearly a bad idea to allow these parties but also just wrong and you can’t look away from the coming train wreck. The film has been criticized for not being provacative enough especially with regard to race. Yeah it could have been trippy AF but director Tate Taylor is not required to make it so. It’s up to the director and that’s the story Taylor wanted to tell. For every person who says it should have been more provacative there are just as many who say otherwise. So what does a director do? Tell the story you wan

Chip 'N Dale Rescue Ranger (2022 US) Disney Reboots the Rescue Rangers to rescue Monterey Jack from bootleggers. 90's kids will love this film. It is just chocked full of cartoon and pop culture references and jokes. Some are Disney owned but many are not including the Coke Bear (not Cocaine Bear). You know the cuddly polar bear wearing a Christmas sweater encouraging viewers to buy Coca-Cola for the holidays. One of my favorites is E.T vs Batman. I feel like I'm in the "I can see it" camp. I think this is one of the most self aware films I've ever seen and I'm here for it. Historically Disney has had Zero (with a capital Z) sense of humor when it comes to their intellectual properties. So, I am happy to see them taking a jab at themselves a bit. I'm also happy to see the company let go of their script structure model that's worked well for them fore a century. It's kind of getting old. I don't think they got rights from Nickelodeon to show

 Jojo Rabbit (2019 US) a lonely boy in WWII Germany discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in the attic. Oh and his imaginary friend is Hitler. Written and directed by Taiki Waititi, this dark and biting satire goes there. Waititi refers to it as an anti-hate satire. As I have discussed before, Hollywood is having a hard time putting up new and unique stories. Well if you are like me and would totally be OK with not having another remake or sequel in your lifetime, well here 'ya go. It’s weird and it's different. You get used to it then it gets weirder. Seriously though, the kids imaginary friend is Hitler. What do you expect? The theme is mainly blind allegiance. This poor boy has a lot rattling around in his head that he needs to come to terms with including Hitler. Waititi won the Oscar for the screenplay and now he makes Marvel sequels. Yay for the Oscars. Find it on Hulu or for rent in most streaming.  

 1917 (2019 US) A man must deliver an important message in WWI. I’m usually not a fan of war films unless it has something to say and not just gratuitous violence. I call it war porn. But this one does have something to say. It is the usual “the futility of war”. I mean, that’s a solid something to say but it does get said a lot. This one was a little different though. It’s simple in its message. I’m liking the trend lately of simpler plots. Less is more. Your man has a mission and he intends to deliver that message, at all costs. Boom! Mic drop! There is a Ulyssian vibe in that he has a journey and neither the audience nor the protagonist knows what comes next and sometimes when it does show up you’re not sure what “it” is. Now here’s the biggie for this film, the cinematography. The camera goes on the journey and takes you along with it. Sometimes the camera is just as dumbfounded as you as the protagonist. But here’s the thing: It looks simple but it is not in any way simple. It too

 Oscars 95. Well now that its over lets check in with how it went. I know I have been critical of the Academy but that's only because I love it. Tough Love.  My issue with them is they have tended to play to a very narrow subset of population making them feel obsolete.  They have made a lot of changes in the recent years so lets see how they did. First I want to congratulate the producers for having a smooth show and nobody got b*tch slapped or any other unexpected weird thing. In a way I'm kinda disappointed. It did make it interesting. Congrats on the appearance of Cocaine Bear BTW.  Lets dig into who won.  Sound. Sound is very hard and tends to be an afterthought of filmmakers who like to focus exclusively on visuals. Top Gun Maverick won. something about the jet sounds. I haven't seen it so I cant comment. But that sounds about right.  Production Design. All Quiet on the Western Front won that. Yeah that probably was very difficult to pull off. Can you imagine being a s

Cocaine Bear (2023 US) ok before I go any further check out the trailer  YouTube Cocaine Bear | Official Trailer [HD] Read the article on YouTube » This film directed by Elizabeth Banks is pretty clearly labeled. What you see in the trailer is what you are going to get. Hell it’s even in the name. You either like it or you don’t. A friend of mine told me about the true story, thanks Josh, and I remember thinking that should be a movie. Voila! For $hits and giggles I took a look at the critic and user reviews. Critics were like me, it’s clearly labeled. Users either loved it or thought it was the worst movie ever. Have I mentioned it’s clearly labeled. One guy complained that only white peoples were made fun of. Umm dude wtf? There was only one person spared of jokes and that was the mom. It’s a comedy horror and can be quite gruesome but it’s funny. Banks played a judge in the Pitch Perfect series and she displayed a particular brand of humor. Cocaine Bear had that same timing and styl