The Reel World

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

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.

“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.

“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”

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.

“Hey Abby, are they…”

“Ghosts?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course they’re ghosts, how else could get the bodies to move.”

So, I had no idea what I was walking into with this film. I guess I missed the boat on this franchise. I don’t know where I was, but prior to this film being added to my docket, I hadn’t heard that it was a film adaptation of a video game franchise of some repute. This was clarified for me when I pulled up in the movie theater parking a lot and saw someone donning a mask for one of the game’s prominent characters. After educating myself, I now know that Five Nights at Freddy's (FNaF) is a video game series consisting of nine video games taking place in locations connected to a fictional family pizza restaurant franchise named "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza", after its mascot, the animatronic bear Freddy Fazbear.

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).

Any time a film is released that is directed by Martin Scorsese, it’s something any film fan should get excited about, especially because we just don’t know how many more of these films we’ll have to look forward to. He’s one of the few working directors who you can argue has numerous masterpieces on his resume, films that are classics that have stood the test of time and will continue to do so for decades to come. Its why when I hear people scoff at the 3-hour 30 min running time of Killers of the Flower Moon and complain it’s too long, I feel like they are forgetting who they are talking about.  If anything, when there is a 3-hour film like Oppenheimer that has grossed over $900 million worldwide, it shows that people will flock to the theaters and sit through an epic film if the film is good. Sure, there is already Oscar buzz around Oppenheimer, but in my eyes the film to beat this year is Killers of the Flower Moon, an epic western, crime saga and romance all wrapped up into one film that has me close to calling it a masterpiece, but I need a couple more viewings before I feel comfortable saying that.

When it comes to watching films at the theater, often I will want to see a movie sometimes three, four weeks into their release.  The crowds have quieted down, and I can often focus on the movie rather than the person next to me who might be munching on their popcorn a little too loudly or on their cell phone.  However, with many films not sticking around as they should, it can often be difficult to make that work.  This past Sunday, I was fortunate enough to see A Haunting In Venice, a film that opened in mid-September to honestly rather tepid box office earnings.  I had seen Murder on the Orient Express on 4K disc and Death on the Nile with my wife in theaters, so I certainly wanted to see the third film in the Kenneth Branagh's version of Hercule Poirot.  So quality time aside, was this film actually worth our matinee dollar, or was it better spent at the local sandwich shop?  Let's take a look.