Some Dude Reviews Movies

I'm always on the look out for new filmmakers. For new visionaries. There is nothing quite like watching a new director (new to you, anyway) swing for the fences in a first film. There's something fun in watching a freshman effort and trying to figure out what kind of calling card it will be for the director's future work. And there's always the satisfaction of saying, years later, that, yeah, I was a fan from the beginning. I think Andrew Patterson is a voice to watch. And his feature, The Vast of Night  (2019) is a compelling calling card indeed. I. What Is It? This is the story of Fay (Sierra McCormack) and Everett (Jake Horowitz), two teens in a quiet 1950s New Mexico town. One night, while everyone else in town is at the highschool basketball game, the kids hear a mysterious sound come through the airwaves, and they decide to investigate. II. Gorgeously Realized This film is beautifully shot, and wonderfully designed. There are...

This year saw the home release of Celine Sciamma's masterwork, Portrait of a Lady on Fire  (2019). It was a film that floored me with its beauty and power. I had found a new filmmaker to revel in. I wanted to find her catalog and watch more. And The Criterion Channel obliged by releasing a trio of Sciamma's early works. I sat down to watch one of those: 2011's  Tomboy . It had an engaging premise and a compellingly brief runtime at 82 minutes. I was interested to see the evolution of a master filmmaker. I wanted to know if the spark was always there, or if Portrait  came out of nowhere. I. What Is It? This is the story of Laure, and their family, and how they moved into a new apartment one summer. It's the story of how Laure became Mikael and constructed a life among the apartment block's children. Before it comes crashing down. II. A Story of Moments Sciamma's greatest strength as a filmmaker, she writes as well as directs, i...

I am a fan of action movies. I am a fan of Chris Hemsworth. I am a fan of the Russo Brothers. Netflix told me there was a new action movie starring Chris Hemsworth developed by the Russo Brothers. And ya know? Since I am stuck at home, I gave it a whirl. And, oh, I am glad I did. I. What Is It? This is the story of the kidnapped son of a drug lord. And the mercenary tasked with extracting him from a rival drug lord's possession. Things get a bit complicated when that rival drug lord locks down the entire city and press-gangs the military into his service. What started as a simple smash and grab evolves into a city-wide fight for survival. It is a beautifully simple action movie concept: perhaps one of the best go-to action premises. II. Breathtaking Action This movie is brutal. Between head shots, brutal knife fights (and rake fights), and kids being thrown off of buildings by drug lords, this movie gives no shits about sentimentality. It's a...

I saw the trailer for Netflix's zany comedy, Coffee & Kareem  (2020), and I thought: "that looks like it could go either way." You know the kind: a movie that is either going to be brilliant, or an absolute piece of garbage? So, one night, with nothing else to do, we tuned it up to find out which way the wind was gonna blow. I. What Is It? This is the story of a kid and a cop on a wild ride through Detroit's seedy underbelly. And that description is actually more nuanced than this entire movie. II. Just Because None of the "characters" in this movie make realistic choices. They make choices just because. Why is a white cop dating a single black mother? Well, just because it would be kinda funny, ya know? Why doesn't a grade school teacher expell a student for sexually harassing her? Well, because. Why does a criminal in possession of video evidence of a murder he helped commit not immediately delete that video? Well,...

Malcolm X is a complicated figure. Or maybe history has just made him one. Or maybe white people are just uncomfortable with his legacy. He has long been a favorite of mine, though. Whenever I teach juniors rhetoric, I pull out "The Ballot or the Bullet" and take great pleasure in contrasting this man's vision with the standard MLK stuff that most kids are already familiar with. But even I don't fully understand Malcolm's arc. That he was more than just the violent yin to MLK's peaceful yang. Malcolm's vision and politics grew as he did, and evolved right up until his violent assassination. I was incredibly pleased, then, when after cruising through a few Spike Lee Joints, I found that Malcolm X (1992) was streaming on Netflix. THIS was a movie for me. So I settled in and prepared for an epic journey. I. What Is It? This is the story of a man and his evolution into one of the greatest civil rights leaders of our time. It...

There are very few films that I, when recommending them, insist that people know as little as possible going into a first viewing. There are movies that simply need to be experienced. They need to exist on their own merits without context or prior exposure. Bong Joon-ho's 2019 opus, Parasite , is one such film. *   *   * It is my intention not to spoil any of this movie's surprises: to that end, pardon a review that seems to give short-shrift to a truly masterful movie *   *   * I. What Is It? This is the story of a family that will do anything to survive. Saying anything more would border on spoilers. II. Three Movies in One The first act of this movie is a quirky family comedy. The second act of this movie depicts a con worthy of The Sting (1973). The third act is a horror film. That Bong Joon-ho slips from genre to genre so effortlessly and effectively is a marvel. With each new pivot, he left this view...

I've always kept Spike Lee at a distance. When I was younger, I was always a little intimidated by his politics. Or, rather, what I saw (at the time) as radical racial politics. I've come a long way since then. I've learned a lot since I was young. And I have just recently begun going back to Lee's seminal early works to see what "the big deal was all about." It turns out that I was very foolish. That I had kept from myself the work of one of America's auteur filmmakers. Give me a slice of humble pie. I'll have it a la mode . 1989's Do the Right Thing  is often heralded as Lee's greatest work. So I watched it. I. What Is It? This is the story of the hottest day of the summer in the Bedford-Stuyevsant neighborhood of New York. As the temperature rises, resentments fly, and hidden tensions in the neighborhood reach a boiling point. II. Art This is a piece of art, through and through. Spike Lee's dialogu...