Some Dude Reviews Movies

I'm a Rian Johnson fan. I have been since his noir pastiche,  Brick (2005). I've seen all of his films, and I've enjoyed every single one of them. So it stands to reason that, as soon as a new Rian Johnson joint drops in theaters, that I'd be there, soda and popcorn in hand. But to be gifted a star-studded whodunnit romp over the Thanksgiving holiday? That's an embarrassment of riches. I. What Is It? This is the story of Thrombey clan, and their dead patriarch, and his unassuming nurse. And the last of the gentlemen detectives. And a possible conspiracy. II. Subversion and Celebration Rian Johnson clearly loves the whodunnit genre of mystery. He is very clearly a fan of Agatha Christie and the grand tradition of a consulting detective. With Knives Out (2019), Johnson both sends up the elements of those stories and celebrates them. We have a deep-fried southern detective in Benoit Blanc (replete with a silly, alliterative name); we h...

I have long been a fan of the blaxploitation film Shaft (2000) remake (the first one, I guess) in theaters. And subsequently ran to Blockbuster to rent all of the originals. I grew up on I'm Gonna Get You Sucka (1988). Black Dynamite (2009) blew my mind. genre. I remember seeing the Just after college I found a film called Dolemite  (1975). I used to talk blaxploitation with a coworker, and he had suggested the film. His descriptions of it were out of this world, and I rushed out to find a copy of it. And I did, at long last, in the bargain bin, as a multi-film compilation, at Wal Mart. And what a film it was. It was gloriously low-budget, and terribly acted, but it was possessed of the kind of spirit and earnestness that all so-bad-they're-good movies have. So when the trailer for Netflix's latest, Dolemite is My Name (2019), dropped earlier this year, my attention was immediately piqued. When I realized that it was the story of how Dolemite  was c...

Isn't sad that we live in a world where we need a movie to remind us that Nazis are the bad guys? That empathy is more powerful than hate? I. What Is It? This is the story of Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) and his mother (Scarlett Johansson). Jojo is a young recruit in the Hitler Youth. But when he discovers a Jew (Thomasin McKenzie) hidden in his attic, his whole world view will be called into question. II. Timely and Timeless Waititi's film offers us a reminder of the necessity and power of empathy. Jojo is nearly lost to the absurd hate of Nazism, but empathy brings him back from the brink. His mother's loving example and the humanizing effect of actually meeting a Jew spark kindness and understanding in Jojo that is sharply at odds with the propaganda he's been ingesting in the Hitler Youth, undergirded by the presence of Jojo's imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler. Love really is the only thing that can defeat such hate, and Waititi has crafted a ...

Mike Flanagan is one of my favorite filmmakers working today. Stephen King has long been one of my favorite authors. One adapting the work of the other? I was always going to be in. Flanagan adapting the sequel to King's towering horror achievement, The Shining  (1977), and marrying it to Stanley Kubrick's seminal genre film, The Shining  (1980), was a gamble that I couldn't wait to see play out. You see, King, famously, hates Kubrick's adaptation. In many ways, Doctor Sleep (2013) was a way for King to take back ownership of his own work. To have the last say on the characters. To reinforce his own vision, and version, of events. So Mike Flanagan was always going to be in a tough spot. How'd he do? I. What Is It? This is the story of Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor), a man with a special gift and a traumatic past. It's the story of Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), a young girl with the same gift, who needs guidance. And it's the story of ...

Capitalism kills creativity.  Let's say you have a passing-clever independent horror film that proves to be profitable and critically lauded. What's to do? Fast track a sequel and squeeze that cash cow for everything it's worth until no more dollars can be be squeezed, of course! There will be no time for clever writing; there will only be time to retread elements from the first film. There will be no character depth; there will only be cardboard standees where characters used to be. We don't have time for nuance, the sequel needs to be out next year! Anyway, I saw Happy Death Day 2 U (2019).  I. What Is It? Did you see the first one? It's like that, but with a time machine. Yes. A time machine. II. Much Ado You wouldn't think a movie would need to try this hard to justify its own existence, but here we are. The first film, Happy Death Day (2017), was a unique spin on the horror-comedy, subverting elements of the slasher sub-ge...

Hulu decided to get into the Anthology Show craze in an interesting way. They partnered with Blumhouse to create Into the Dark , a series of mini horror features themed around holidays. I was interested, but never enough to really give it a shot. And then October rolled around and I needed to fill a slot on my Spooky Movie Month playlist. So, after perusing the selection of episodes, there are currently 12, I decided on "Culture Shock." I. What Is It? This is the story of Marisol Ramirez (Martha Higareda) and her attempt to cross the American border. This is the story of people looking for the American Dream. It's also the story of those trying to keep others from finding it. II. Horror is Political The best horror is horror with an agenda. It's horror with something to say. Blood and guts are dressing: real horror comes from reflecting our anxieties and fears back to us. "Culture Shock" is about the border. It uses a bit of ...

Jack Nicholson's Joker was iconic. Mark Hamill's Joker haunted my childhood. I was in college when Heath Ledger played the part and changed the standard we have for performances in comic book movies. I remember the hubbub when he was cast, and I remember warming to the development with curiosity. And being blown away in the theater when I finally saw the finished product. We don't talk about Jared Leto. When WB announced they'd be making a Joker origin story movie, a lot of people groaned. But I was quietly hopeful. Hopeful that they'd allow it to go as deep and dark as some of Snyder and Azzarello and Moore's writing has gone in the comics. Then they cast Joaquin Phoenix, and the hype was palpable. And then came the controversy about incels and violence and mental health. I tried to stay away from those discussions and approach the film with a blank slate. With zero expectations. So, here we go.  I. What Is It? This is ...