Disc Reviews

“I like it when people underestimate me. It gives me an edge.”

Much like the current thinking about our universe, it all started with The Big Bang Theory. The breakout character there was Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons. For 279 episodes, television fans just couldn’t get enough. That was until Parsons asked for a huge boatload of cash and the show ended. The character was not finished. A spin-off called Young Sheldon debuted with Ian Armitage starring as a very young Sheldon, as the name implies. It’s pretty much an origin story. Parsons returned, but only to provide the show’s narration in a The Wonder Years kind of presentation.
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“It wasn’t a dream; at least that’s what I believe. The thing is I felt hurt and plenty sad, and there were times when I thought I couldn’t go on. But I know I’m not the only one suffering. I want to protect everyone’s future. I need to keep pushing forward. I feel that more every day.”

Ultraman is a huge part of Japanese culture and pretty much has been since the original live-action show in 1966. Perhaps Godzilla started the ball rolling, but Ultraman brought us these monsters on a regular basis. In Japan, Ultraman is like our Superman. He’s an iconic hero and a huge part of the pop culture. Since the 60’s he has appeared in many forms, most of them animated. But it is this 1966 series that made a ton of us kids fall in love with him and an entire genre. Yes, there were many from the era: Space Giants featured a giant fighting robot who fought monsters and sometimes converted into a spaceship (yes, before transformers were ever thought of)
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“There are no industry secrets. We can always meet our life partner out in the wild or swiping on apps, but the happy ending to a first date is not the second date. It’s changing each other’s diapers and burying each other. You’re looking for a nursing home partner and a grave buddy. Who our partner is, it determines our whole life and how we live not for one, two, ten years, but forever.” 

Celine Song delivers her second feature film from the director’s chair. She returns to basically the same themes of a woman trying to decide her romantic destiny between two men, but this isn’t the same film as Past Lives. Materialists is a much more serious film, while still playing in the same gene pool as the rom-com. I don’t think you’ll find yourself laughing in this one, and it’s a rather clever way of presenting those same themes and ideas. In Materialists, we’re introduced to romance being distilled down to a mathematical equation
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“Since 1970 a rogue group known as UFO Sweden has been investigating unexplained phenomena. This story is inspired by that determination to answer humanity’s ultimate question: Are we alone?” 

Watch The Skies was originally released in Sweden, and it wasn’t in English. The filmmakers discovered there was a process out there that could make their film more globally accessible. Many foreign language films find their way to film critics, and while we might have a better tolerance for subtitles, it can still take away from the experience. While dubbing can also be very much a distraction, I find that if I must read the dialog, I’m not able to notice the subtleties of filmmaking such as cinematography, performances, production design, and other elements that build atmosphere and make many of these films the great gems they might be.
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So, I don’t want to make this film out to be more than it was intended to be, a movie intended to capitalize on the nostalgia of Pitch Perfect fans by bringing together three of its stars (Rebel Wison and Anna Camp of the original trilogy, as well as Gigi Zumbado appeared in Pitch Perfect 2) in what amounted to a lackluster comedy. In addition, the film was to capitalize on residual popularity of Rebel Wilson, who won over so many with her quick wit and unique brand of humor. However, the film came off as more of a mash-up of already-seen Rebel Wilson movies, specifically Bridesmaids and The Hustle. And while I commend Rebel Wilson’s nunchuck skills as well as most of her own stunts in the film and her commitment to filming despite getting injured on the final day of filming, this wasn’t a movie that really did it for me. There wasn’t enough originality to keep my interest. The plot essentially felt like a rehash of another average wedding flick that shotgunned a hostage situation. Even with the addition of Justin Hartley and Stephen Dorff, this film felt like more like a direct-to-streaming movie than a theatrical release.
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This episode collection was all right with me, but in the eyes of my son, it could do no wrong, and as he is the one actually in the age demographic, this will be the one time where I defer to the opinion of a three-year-old. In this ten-episode collection, Marshall takes charge and leads the pups from everything from a blaze at a lemonade stand to saving a lost penguin. This disc marks the first time that my son has willingly sat through the watching of something from start to finish. It’s not all that surprising, as he was a fan of the series before this disc, but I still found it significant, because he does remain selective about which episodes he watches. Fortunately, Marshall is among his favorite of the crew, especially now that Rubble is off doing his own thing. Luckily, Rubble also featured in this episode collection, so my son got the best of both worlds.
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In 1887, readers of the popular periodical Beeton’s Christmas Annual were to receive quite a special treat. There wasn’t much fanfare or hype to the event. Inside the pages of the magazine was a story called A Study In Scarlet. It was a detective story, perhaps like many published before, except for the detective himself, a certain Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Together with his faithful companion and chronicler Dr. Watson, Holmes would win the hearts of those holiday readers. It might have been an ordinary day, but the world was about to change. Sherlock Holmes would become the most famous detective in the world. His stories would remain in print nearly 130 years later. Over 100 films would be made featuring the character. There would be television shows and cartoon spoofs. No other character has appeared in more productions.
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“The following is based on true events. The events depicted were transcribed by Father Joseph Steiger. The story represents the most thoroughly documented case of demonic possession in American history.” 

Of course, the exorcism that we’re all talking about is the same event that The Exorcist was based upon. I don’t know what possesses filmmakers to keep chasing that lightning in a bottle, but I doubt it will ever be done. And I think that is something I like about The Ritual, directed by David Midell and starring Al Pacino and Dan Stevens. It’s not trying to be The Exorcist. Instead they are trying to do something more faithful to the original story, and I think that is one of several elements which led me to appreciate this film more than I have much of any horror out in the last handful of years.
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“I am large; I contain multitudes.” 

If The Life of Chuck doesn’t take home an armful of awards this year, it will be a criminal shame. I first read the Stephen King novella when it was released in his collection If It Bleeds (2020), It was a story that you can tell King wrote during the COVID-19 panic. I remember liking the story, but it wasn’t one of my favorites in the collection. What stood out the most was the unique way he wrote the story about the end of the world. It didn’t really surprise me that the story was being adapted into a film considering just how many Stephen King stories are brought to the big screen and streaming every year. It was the fact that Mike Flanagan signed on to write and direct that got me excited about this project. For those who may not know, Mike Flanagan has been making a name for himself in the horror genre. The Haunting on Hill House, Midnight Mass, Hush, Doctor Sleep, The Fall of the House of Usher and Gerald’s Game are all hits in his filmography
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“You’re going to regret that.”

Did you know that those windup monkeys that clash the cymbals are called jolly monkeys? I did not .. .that was until I came across a low-budget slasher film called The Jolly Monkey. It’s the feature film debut of writer/director Ryan Ebert. The film was obviously put together fast to capitalize on Stephen King and Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey, which hit theatres early this year. It doesn’t really share anything other than having a monkey in the title. Put together fast, it was. They shot this film in six days with a budget somewhere just under a hundred grand. I found the film also takes a little bit from last year’s Imaginary by Jeff Ladlow. You really have many of the same story beats but with much less money than either of the other two films. That’s going to be a problem. Let me tell you about it.
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“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests. The son of man hath nowhere to lay his head.” I couldn’t remember if it was from Luke or John, but it looked like I’d just joined a very exclusive club. It was Matthew, and reading the rest of the chapter before I fell asleep helped me get over the feeling I had when I watched almost everything I own go up in smoke. I tried to drown the rest of my thoughts in beer; that never really works. And the alcohol in my blood didn’t make an August night in Boston any cooler. Actually I was being urban-renewed out of my office. I had to move uptown. Of course, uptown for me is still downtown for most people. My new place was at 357 Mass Avenue over a cheap cigar store and a florist specializing in day-old flowers at an office that used to belong to Madam Martino, a psychic.”

If that psychic had still been in business, I wonder if she could have predicted the life of television icon Robert Urich.
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“I’m telling you, it’s empty nest syndrome. First Jess leaves for California. Then Torres volunteers to go deep under cover. And now McGee is applying for the Deputy Director position. Poor Parker. The man is alone.” 

Mark Harmon as Gibbs was the soul of the NCIS franchise. When he finally called it quits after nearly 20 years, I have to admit I wasn’t sure how much longer the show could go on. I mean, there has to be a reason for this kind of longevity. All of the spin-offs have now come and gone. NCIS: Hawaii has now ended.  NCIS: New Orleans shuttered its doors three years ago now after a mere seven years. The longest-running of the spin-offs was L.A., but even they have gone now after only 10 years.
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“I read somewhere, thou shalt not steal. I think it was in the Bible, “Thou shalt not steal.” That’s not complicated, is it? But, if you do have a problem with that, you can always take it up with God, or Karl Marx, or the Kardashians, or anyone.”

Unfortunately, even Anthony Hopkins wasn’t enough to elevate this film beyond just an OK watching experience. A remake of a remake, Locked stars Hopkins as well as Bill Skarsgard, who I am convinced struggles with picking good movies to become attached to. Not saying that this is a shining example of those difficulties, but I doubt it will do anything to further his reputation in the industry. The film is a remake of the Argentine film 4×4 (2019), which was previously remade in Brazil as A Jaula (2022). Despite not being in the same room for the bulk of the film, I will say that the two played off one another quite well, which I attributed to both actors having significant stage presence. That aside, the film drew too many parallels to another psychological thriller franchise starring an enigmatic actor whose character had penchant for entrapping individuals who needed to learn a lesson.
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“My dad used to say, wherever you go, there you are. I guess he was right. No matter how hard you try, or in my case, how far you go, you can’t leave it all behind. There is no such thing as a clean slate. They’re always there. They’re always with you, the stories you’ve told. Hell, even worse, the ones you never could. This is a story I never tell.”

Mark Harmon as Gibbs was the soul of the NCIS franchise. When he finally called it quits after nearly 20 years, I have to admit I wasn’t sure how much longer the show could go on. I mean, there has to be a reason for this kind of longevity. All of the spin-offs have now come and gone. NCIS: Hawaii has now ended.  NCIS: New Orleans shuttered its doors years ago after a mere seven years. The longest-running of the spin-offs was L.A., but even they have gone now after only 10 years. I say only 10 years. For most shows a 10-year run is rarefied air.
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“I can see the future. It’s full of pals helping pals, and being a boss. I’m on the edge of life, and the view is gorgeous.” 

Andrew DeYoung has actually been around for quite a little while. He’s been directing television episodes a short features since around 2008. And so into every working director a feature film must eventually fall. For Andrew DeYoung it turns out to be the self-written feature film for A24, Friendship. He took a pretty safe route, choosing to work with an actor who has shown a pretty similar shade of dark comedy as Tim Robinson, who plays the lead and very tragic figure. If you’ve seen episodes of The Office, there’s a lot of that kind of humor here. Of course it goes off the rails quite beyond anything you might have seen from the show or Tim Robinson.
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Ultraman is a huge part of Japanese culture and pretty much has been since the original live-action show in 1966. Perhaps Godzilla started the ball rolling, but Ultraman brought us these monsters on a regular basis. In Japan, Ultraman is like our Superman. He’s an iconic hero and a huge part of the pop culture. Since the 60’s he has appeared in many forms, most of them animated. But it is this 1966 series that made a ton of us kids fall in love with him and an entire genre. Yes, there were many from the era: Space Giants featured a giant fighting robot who fought monsters and sometimes converted into a spaceship (yes, before transformers were ever thought of); Johnny Socko had his giant robot; and the list goes on. But it was Ultraman who started it. Eiji Tsuburaya, who created the original Godzilla, formed a new company outside of Toho Pictures. Ultraman was pretty much the first thing out of the new shop.
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“We have sold the last of our herd, keeping only four bulls and 100 heifers. The seeds with which you must rebuild the ranch that trickery and laws drafted by loan sharks have stripped from us. The road to Bozeman is snowed over now, passable only on horseback. Our movement is restricted to the lodge and the pastures around the barn until spring. We dare not kill a beef, so the men hunt. Gone are the great feasts of summer. It is stews and stale bread and bland fuel of substance. Like the bear, we hibernate, impatiently awaiting spring.” 

It is the second and likely final season for the Yellowstone prequel 1923. I have heard whispers that there will be more, and we might see Harrison Ford and Helen Miren again in a series likely to take place a little later, hence a new name, and focused more on Brandon Sklenar’s character Spencer who will, no doubt, be raising the grandfather of Kevin Costner’s patriarch character in Yellowstone.
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