The Reel World

“Four years ago, I was basically unemployed, a wanderer with no home. But now I'm a husband, and a father. And I wouldn't have it any other way.”

This film release marks the end of the DCEU as we know it (also known as the Snyder-verse). The DCEU has been an interesting ride to say the least, full of ups and downs. And while it never truly challenged Marvel with their multi-phased gameplan, it did provide unique opportunities that gave some deserving talents a platform to showcase their abilities. Momoa was one of them. For me, his casting was among the most unique and triumphant. When he was first announced, I had to take a hard look at that decision, as it went against the grain as far as traditional casting for Arthur Curry went. However, it is difficult for me to imagine anyone else who could have brought the same kind of life to the character. Momoa gave the character an exotic and wild-man energy that made for a very entertaining interpretation. Granted this at times made the character seem dimwitted, making his path to the throne seem all the more unlikely. On the other hand, the character was intended to struggle and chafe under the pressure of the crown, thus making Momoa’s performance believable.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the Galeries Gourmet, my name is Willy Wonka! I've spent the past seven years travelling the world, perfecting my craft. You see I'm something of a magician, inventor, and chocolate maker. So quiet up and listen down. Nope. Scratch that, reverse it.”

I usually don't go in for musicals. It’s not usually my cup of tea. However, this one took me by surprise. I grew up watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and for me the character of Wonka has always been synonymous with Gene Wilder. But there is something to be said about the showmanship that Timothée Chalamet brought to the role in Wonka. As the titular character, I dare say that he gave Wilder a run for his money as far as showmanship and naïve charm. In this third adaptation based on the 1964 Roald Dahl book, we meet Willy Wonka as a young and naïve man with a pocket full of sovereigns (the film’s currency of choice, though I am unclear as to what one sovereign equates to) and a head full of dreams. Who better to display this charm and innocence than the up-and-coming actor responsible for some of the biggest films in recent years like The King, Dune Part 1, and the upcoming Dune Part 2. He’s also backed up with an excellent cast which includes Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, and Hugh Grant in a role of a character that goes hand-in-hand with the name Willy Wonka.

If you take a look at this films trailer, you can tell this was a film that is desperately trying to court the award-season crowd. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, when I saw that Rustin was directed by George C. Wolfe, who did the fantastic Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the film immediately went on my list as something to look out for. And for full transparency, I had no clue who Bayard Rustin was before I even saw the trailer, and while I feel the film does highlight an important figure in history, this may not be the best execution of the man’s story. This is a film about a man’s grand vision to pull off the impossible, and despite this being a landmark historical event, I feel the delivery missed the mark. While this is a biopic about Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo), it is very much about  only a small portion of the man’s life, basically just the short amount of time he had to put together a march on Washington DC in 1963 that would live on in infamy for the civil rights movement and the famous “I have a dream” speech from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  I feel this is a bit of a disservice to the man who responsible for so much, especially when the film is called Rustin, but there is so much going on in this film that it should have been called something else. But before I get carried away, the biggest strength this film has is the terrific performance by Colman Domingo. He does a fantastic job at showing his passion for his beliefs as he pretty much controls every scene he’s in. There are a lot of speeches over the course of the film, maybe too many, but he delivers each with the conviction and the passion I’d imagine the civil rights leader had.

The great 100,000-man march was a civil rights march for jobs and freedom, and when it was pitched by Rustin, we saw how it was shot down and treated as though it would be an impossible task. Roy Wilkins (Chris Rock) as the head of the NAACP wants nothing to do with Rustin and sees the march could only hurt their cause, and then there is Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (Jeffrey Wright), a politician who Rustin’s opponent who seems to object to Rustin simply because the man is a homosexual. It was nice seeing Chris Rock. This is one of those performances that reminded me just how good he can really be when he’s given the right material … but it is Jeffrey Wright who just shows up and commands every frame that he is on screen. Powell is pretty much the biggest combatant Rustin is up against, and when these two have their moments together the tension just shines, but unfortunately the film doesn’t have enough of those moments.

Every year around this time, it seems studios are attempting to release the next holiday classic, or at least a film that will be revisited by fans. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf, and Die Hard (yes, it is a Christmas movie) are just a few that are in heavy rotation in my household. For those looking for something a little more wholesome and family-friendly, you may be in luck with the release of Dashing Through The Snow, which will be debuting on Disney Plus just in time for the holidays. At first glance I wasn’t so sure about this film, but when I saw that the film was written by Scott Rosenberg, I couldn’t resist. Rosenberg is responsible for writing the screenplays for Beautiful Girls and High Fidelity; both movies are near and dear to my heart, and if you haven’t seen these films, I highly recommend checking them out. More recently he’s been attached to more big-budget popcorn films like Venom and the newer Jumanji films. Then helming the film is director Tim Story, who has an impressive resume as well with The Barbershop and the Ride Along films. So does this film deliver us something nice, or was the viewing experience on par with receiving a massive lump of coal in my stocking?

When we first meet Eddie Garrick, we are taken 30 years back, as we get to hear why it is that he isn’t a fan of Christmas. It’s a slightly amusing yet tragic story about a mall Santa coming into his home to rob the family, and things end up getting worse for poor Eddie. Modern-day Eddie is played by Chris “Ludacris” Bridges. Eddie has grown up to be a social worker who helps out the Atlanta PD and is also a divorced father. For Christmas Eve, Eddie is spending time with his daughter, Charlotte (Madison Skye Validum), but things are not going to remain peaceful and quiet; in fact, the night is about to turn into an adventure of a lifetime when Eddie comes across Nick (Lil Rel Howery), who claims to be Santa.  Eddie is a good guy and wants to help Nick. It’s Christmas, after all, but Nick aka Santa is being chased by a trio of goons who have been ordered by Conrad Harf (Oscar Nunez), a corrupt congressman, to retrieve a tablet that Santa may have accidently picked up earlier that night.

“Imagine a place where wishes come true. Where your heart's desire can become a reality. What if I told you that place is within reach? All you have to do is give your wish ... to me.”

Disney has been taking us around the world in its efforts to duplicate its achievements with a certain princess that had to let it all go. And while I respect what they are trying to attempt, I doubt they are going to find that kind of lightning-in-a-bottle success that they found with that movie with Wish. That is not to say that Wish was not a enjoyable experience; I just don’t feel that the story came together fully in the manner that would make it iconic. However, I fully appreciate Disney’s efforts with taking us across the globe to foreign lands. And while the lands and areas tend to be fictional, they are always clearly inspired by real-life areas with diverse cultures. It reminds me of EPCOT and feels very inclusive. This time around, we are taken to the fictional land of Rosas, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, where the people are protected by King Magnifico and his wife Queen Amaya. Having studied magic and sorcery, Magnifico has become a powerful practitioner and gained the ability to grant the wishes of his subjects. When each resident of Rosas turns 18, a ceremony is held where they give up their wish to Magnifico, who keeps them sealed in his observatory. Once a month, Magnifico selects one of the residents' wishes to be granted before the city.

“Higher, Further, Faster.”

While The Marvels is more entertaining than Quantumania, it is far from the best sequel that the MCU has ever created, despite this film in a sense serving as a three-way sequel for three separate MCU characters. Picking up after the events of Captain Marvel, WandaVision, and directly after Ms. Marvel, The Marvels brings together Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, Teyonah Paris’ Monica Rambeau, and Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan into one movie to thwart an intergalactic threat. Fair warning: there are prerequisites for watching this movie in order to ensure that you can keep track with the continuity. Obviously, you will need to have seen the first film, which followed Carol Danvers, but if you have not also watched any of the miniseries featuring the backstories for the other characters, you will find yourself struggling to keep up. As I said, this film can be considered a three-way sequel rolled into one film. Encompassing all of this for three characters was a big task, that the film clearly struggles to accomplish at times, but for the most part, I would categorize this film as an enjoyable experience, albeit one that I don’t see myself ever feeling the need to repeat.

When watching Quiz Lady, the first thing that came to me was this strange wave of 90s nostalgia. It was like I was watching the early films of Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Farley, and Will Ferrell, only this time it had Awkwafina and Sandra Oh in the starring roles. This isn’t a slight against the film, but instead I found it a bit refreshing, despite being a familiar formula. While this time of year a lot of us are used to seeing films that are heavy on the drama and are fighting for awards contention, this is a film that is instead a fun comedy that definitely doesn’t take itself seriously. Anne (Awkwafina), is a boring young woman who is single and lives on her own, well, at least with the exception of her adorable pug, Linguini. The only thing that seems to bring any excitement (I’m being generous here) is that every evening at 7 o-clock she watches her favorite game show, “Can’t Stop The Quiz”. The game show is a lot like Jeopardy and has Will Ferrell playing the mild-mannered host who Anne has a bit of an obsession with. While Anne may be content with her boring life along with having to deal with her curmudgeon of a neighbor, Francine (Holland Taylor), her life is about to get thrown for a loop when she finds out her mom has escaped the nursing home. It turns out Anne’s mom has fled the country to run away from some gambling debts ($80 thousand worth, to be exact), and this is when her sister, Jenny (Sandra Oh) enters the picture looking for a place to stay. Of course, in this scenario Jenny is the total opposite of Anne; she’s fun, charming, aloof, and completely irresponsible, so we all know this Odd Couple situation is just a recipe for disaster. That disaster turns out to be a gangster kidnapping Linguini as way to get Anne to pay off her mother’s debts. If this sounds silly and ridiculous, I can assure you it is even more absurd than it sounds, but that’s OK; Awkwafina and Sandra Oh make this work.

Just how do these oddball siblings get out of this mess, you may ask? Jenny has decided to become a life coach and wants to make Anne her first project. Jenny has seen that her sister is pretty much Rain Man when it comes to her quiz show, and she plans to make Anne a contestant on the show and win it to get the money and pay off the gangster and get her adorable pug back … I did say this got more absurd, right? As the film progresses, there are several entertaining characters, and one little surprise appearance along the way that I couldn’t help but smile about. I feel like when you see it, you’ll know what I mean. Will Ferrell does great here. It’s hard not to think about his portrayal of Alex Trebek on SNL, but he injects a bit more charm in this role; and then there is Jason Schwartzman, who seems to be having fun playing a smarmy returning game show champion.

Well, it is officially that time of the year when studios start cranking out the films they hope will receive some awards attention. Netflix has a stable of strong contenders this year, and Nyad is the first to be released. This is a film that is mostly flying under the radar despite starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster. I really didn’t expect much out of this film, and I think because there were no expectations, no real buzz behind this film, that I was surprised how caught up in the story I found myself. If you are a fan of underdog stories, this is definitely for you, but the true spotlight belongs to Foster and Bening, who are here to show us all that they not only still have what it takes to carry a film, but they also deliver some of their best performances in ages. In 1979, when Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) turned 30, she made her first attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida. That’s basically 110 miles of water she attempted to cross.  It was meant to be the feat that she would retire her long distance swimming career on, but unfortunately she never made it to Florida. We see this through old news footage before it cuts to thirty years later, just before she’s about to turn 60. She’s an angry older woman who is obsessed with her former glory and decides that she wants to see if she can do the impossible, to complete that epic 110-mile swim.  This time she’ll have her best friend, Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster) as her coach and #1 cheerleader. Immediately this feels like a movie-of-the-week kind of story. We’ve all seen this before, where someone wants to attempt something difficult or impossible, and over the course of the film they are confronted with challenges, but they persevere, and in the end they are a success. We know these underdog stories, and for some reason we still love them. I’ll admit they are a guilty pleasure despite how formulaic they can be. But rarely do these films have the caliber of actors like Bening and Foster, and honestly this film is 100% driven by these women and their fantastic performances.

It’s when this film gets to Nyad’s first (well, second) attempt to make her epic swim that I feel this film really elevates itself on a technical level. The way the open water swim is filmed really helps capture just how small we are in such a large and hostile body of water. The film does a great job at showing us just how dangerous this lofty goal is as she has to contend with weather, sharks, and jellyfish on top of the physically grueling 50-plus hours the swim is expected to take. The makeup on this film does an impressive job as we see  the toll the salt water can take on the body. We also see Diana fail and try again, and again, and again. While it’s easy to respect her determination, Diana is a really difficult person to like, and at times you’d expect her team to walk out on her because of how egocentric she can be, and then there is Bonnie, who puts up with the borderline abuse from her friend. The filmmakers kind of cheat to earn some sympathy from the viewers as we get flashbacks to Diana’s childhood and the sexual abuse she encountered from her swimming coach she was enamored with. These flashbacks can be unsettling for some, and in a way it distracts from the main story, but I get why it’s included. It’s simply a personal hurdle she was forced to overcome, and if she can overcome that, what’s 110 miles of water by comparison?

“Hey Abby, are they…”

“Ghosts?”

Just to be out in the open, I’m a bit of a fanboy when it comes to David Fincher. He’s one of those directors that when he does a film, I don’t care what the plot is; I’m going to watch it. It’s not so much that I think he’s the best director (though he’s one of my favorites), but I simply just love his style. He’s one of the few filmmakers working where  you can watch a couple seconds of his work and instantly know you are watching a David Fincher film, and for me, I find his work to be what cinema is all about. It’s always a work of art, and sometimes the plot can have a habit of ruining things. Alien 3, for example: not a great movie, but it looks great … Fight Club, Seven, Zodiac, those are his masterpieces  and they look fantastic. Even Mank: sure, it is a divisive film, but still looks great. Despite how busy David Fincher is with projects, his shows on Netflix and music videos, it’s his movies I really crave, and when you realize the last thriller he had out in theaters was 2014 with Gone Girl, I was more than a little excited by the announcement of him filming The Killer, from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker (who wrote the brilliant Seven). There was no way I was going to miss this film, but for this one I knew I had to rein in my emotions and proceed with caution … So with the cinematic shots fired on the screen, how did I feel about the new Michael Fassbender assassin film?

After the stylish opening credits, you’d expect this to be a fast-paced thriller, but immediately this film subverts your expectations as it takes you into the mind of the assassin credited as The Killer (Michael Fassbender). We’re introduced to this life of a killer, not with excitement, but with the tedium of waiting for the one perfect moment to take that shot and eliminate the target. This first act really sets the tone for the rest of the film. If you are gripped by the tension that builds with him finally getting his moment and taking his shot, then I feel you’ll have fun with the rest of the film.  As for those who may find the tedium a bit too much and may nod off, well, this film may be something you should pass on. Despite this being a quasi-revenge film, it is definitely a slow burn with an ending that definitely will subvert your expectations of the genre. The thing is, that’s what I feel this film is all about … It brings us into what is most likely the real life of a killer for hire. It’s not a life of gunfights and car chases, but instead a lot of waiting in empty rooms, being lonely, and having serious trust issues towards everyone around you.