Posts by Jeremy Butler

When the MCU announced their intention to move forward with this sequel despite the tragic demise of Chadwick Boseman, I voiced my displeasure loudly. As far as I was concern, there could be no Black Panther without Chadwick Boseman. Additionally, it just seemed unnecessary. The first film was masterful and complete. It didn’t require a sequel. We could have just preserved the integrity of the first film by letting it stay untouched. However, that is not how the business works. If there is a dollar to be made, there isn’t anything that won’t be diluted down for that sake. I realize that sounds harsh, but if I’m being honest, that is what Wakanda Forever felt like to me. This not to say that there weren’t some good, genuine moments that brought me back to my feelings that I had while watching the first one. It is also worth mentioning that I found the film to have paid Boseman the proper respect that I believe he deserved, both with a powerful moment of silence at the beginning of the film, as well as a funeral processional for his character that was fit for a king that he was in film and in real life. It just still wasn’t enough. The elements to make it great were there, but the story leaves a lot of things incomplete and unresolved despite having a runtime of nearly three hours.

I will caveat this review by acknowledging my clear bias. I am a big Chadwick Boseman fan. I believe that we lost an all-time great. While his career may not have been long, it certainly was illustrious. He was without question the go-to actor for autographical films featuring historical black figures, having played Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Thurgood Marshall. I also believe that he was deserving of that Academy Award he was nominated for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. I’m not bashing Anthony Hopkins, just saying that Boseman was deserving as well. I won’t go on and on; I am merely trying to say how sad I am for the loss of a true talent and an even better gentleman.

So whenever I am reviewing a movie, I try to identify positive things about the film. Even if I end up not liking the movie overall, I at least try to make sure to point out aspects that I think the film did well, a performance that was particularly strong, or a piece of dialog that resonated with me. It’s part of my process to ensure that I am delivering a balanced review. Even if the film isn’t my favorite, it still has the potential to provide some positive ray of light into my experience.  However, I’m not so sure that I will be able to do that this time around, as Guardians of Time was a film that I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. Now in the interest of fairness, it is abundantly clear that I am not the target audience for this film; that demographic appears to be steered towards the early elementary school crowd. I’d say no higher than second or third grade. Any higher and the production quality is not likely to hold up with them. Then again with this generation, given the technology that they have at their fingertips, it may not hold up with them now.

From the cover art, I’d initially hoped for a high fantasy film that I could share with my family on our next family night. Unfortunately, my daughter, who is the closest in age to the intended audience, barely made it thirty minutes in before she asked to be excused. Now this kind of request is not without precedent, as my daughter claims to have a very high standard in the things that she watches. However, any time I observe her viewing pleasures, they normally consist of her YouTube videos of other people eating. Back on point, normally when my daughter makes this request, I tell her to give the film a little more time and see if she starts to like it. This time around, I couldn’t bring myself to compel her to keep watching. Needless to say, the film clearly did not get the Nalyce stamp of approval.

I must confess that I missed the boat on the original film, so going into this film I had reservations regarding my ability to properly review this film given that I haven’t seen the original. These concerns were made irrelevant by the revelation that this film, Orphan: First Kill, is actual a prequel to the first film. In this film, we get to see the events that led Leena Klammer to become what several people in the film call her: a monster. In 2007, Klammer is a 31-year-old psychiatric patient with a rare hormonal disorder called hypopituitarism that gives her the appearance of a 10-year-old child. After orchestrating an escape from the Saarne Instituute in which she manages to kill at least two people, Leena researches missing American girls and finds that she bears a resemblance to a girl named Esther Albright, and hatches a diabolic plan. However, it is not long before she realizes that in this seeming ordinary role that she has managed to slither into that she is not the only one with blood on her hands.

The predator becoming a prey was the thing that I most enjoyed about this film. Based on what I put together about the previous installment, Isabelle Fuhrman’s Leena Klammer was the thing that went bump in the night. Granted, she is still not to be underestimated here, especially given the things that she does in order to keep her cover. She even goes as far as to destroy an object of affection in order to keep her secret. That being said, she is hardly the worst person in the film in my opinion, as there is another killer willing to go to any lengths to ensure that their secret does not come out. To that end, I was treated to a cat-and-mouse game between these two, as they both attempt to gain the upper hand and rid themselves of the other without exposing their own dark secrets. This was mutually assured destruction personified.

So this is not a movie that I would say aged well with time. However, if you could put yourself in the mindset of the time period of its release (1987), I could see the appeal. Lori Singer of Footloose fame and Anthony Edwards of ER fame star as married couple Roxy and Aaron Walston, whose life and relationship becomes strained in rural North Carolina in the post-depression late 1930s, when a young drifter named Jack Ruffin (Bruce Abbott, Re-Animator) comes to their tobacco farm to be a farmhand. Roxy, a shelter girl who married young and had a child is unable to resist the temptation that is Jack Ruffin. As expected, things do not end well. Based on a 1984 novel, Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail, the film shows the tragic results of the affair, which in this modern setting may appear cliché, but during that time likely would be engaging.

Singer narrates sections of the film, which I found to be a great addition and to provide context that would have been lost otherwise. Additionally, it strengthened its connection to the source material, as the novel from my understanding is from the perspective of Roxy. During these narrations, she speaks to her feelings about her life and towards Jack Ruffin. Their initial encounter is quite abrasive, as Roxy, who is very young and impressionable, seems intimidated by Ruffin, while he comes off as somewhat brash. In their first meeting, he just appears and offers her a drag on his cigarette while she is hanging clothes in the yard. Roxy visibly displays her discomfort regarding his presence by attempting to put space in between them. Despite this, Ruffin doesn’t hesitate to reach in and snatch a clothespin from off her robe to help her hang something on the clothesline. This set a good stage for what was to come, as it showed that for much of what would occur between them, Ruffin would be leading the charge.

Not crazy about the title. Personally, I think that the title of the novel on which this film is based  would have been better suited given the film’s plot. Based on a 1989 Sara Bird novel by the name of The Boyfriend School, this 1990 comedy tells to story of Gus Kubicek, a depressed and overweight cartoonist who is in love with a woman that won’t seem to give him the time of day. I’ve heard some excuses for getting out of having to go out with someone, but lying and saying you have to have dental surgery; that’s pretty low. Despite seeing numerous movies that utilize the “judging a book by its cover” trope, I still was able to see the appeal of the film, as soon as I was able to put myself into the mindset of the film’s time period. By doing this, I was able to avoid perceptions of it being cliché. This was a necessary measure to take, especially if you would like to be able to enjoy the film in 2022. Even so, I’m still not a big fan of the title.

Steve Guttenburg stars as Gus, who spends his days longing for Jami Gertz’s Emily Pear, a beautiful yet shallow young woman, who in no way sees him as a possible romantic partner. Gus’s caring and nosy sister, Lizzie (played by Shelley Long) endeavors to transform him into someone who would capture Emily’s attention. Using her knowledge as a romance novelist, Lizzie gives Gus a full education in qualities that attract women (i.e. The Boyfriend School). And thus, Lobo Marunga, a leather-clad biker from New Zealand, is born.