Fishes Out of Water, Learning to Live on Land
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.
Fatherhood (Paul Weitz) rated PG-13 110 min.
Opening Chatter (no spoilers): As I continue to stream along these days, waiting to make sure the more-dangerous COVID-19 variant now rising in my area doesn’t lead to another surge impacting maskless people in my local theaters, I’ve come this week to a couple of pleasant-to-watch if not exactly memorable-over-time selections to share with you. The first is Fatherhood where Kevin Hart goes mostly serious for a change, in the movie version based on a true story about a man who loses his wife shortly after childbirth, leaving him with the huge challenge of raising the baby by himself (although "aided" by marginally-useful-advice from a couple of friends, constant assumptions of inability from his mother-in-law [Alfre Woodard]). Once the girl’s old enough to become a major presence in this story it takes on further delightful-dimensions, although you’ll likely not be surprised by much of anything that transpires (free to Netflix streaming subscribers). In the Short Takes section I’ll explore Luca, the latest feature-length-animation from Pixar (available free to Disney + subscribers), about a teenage sea creature (not really a "monster" as the humans call him) living off the coast of Italy, yearning for excitement in his life when a fellow teen shows him the wonders (and dangers) of going onto land where they both appear outwardly human; this isn’t quite in the Pixar-pantheon, but it’s colorful, active, ultimately charming (also, while a few un-translated words or phrases are in Italian, the rest of the dialogue’s in English so you miss virtually nothing if you’re not bilingual [bisexual's a whole other consideration], although it’s a bit odd that any of this would be in English if all of it isn’t, but I guess Pixar’s just trying to give us a taste of Italy [always a good idea; Nina and I ate at an Italian restaurant just before watching this to get properly in the mood—delicious as always] while making it easy for us monolinguists to enjoy the new accomplishment).
Another thing I can’t explain is why I’ve given 3½ stars to the last 8 things I’ve reviewed, quite a rut, but that’s how the I’ve encountered their various impacts so at least I’m trying to be consistent, if predictably-boring at present. Also in Short Takes I’ll offer suggestions for some choices on the Turner Classic Movies channel (but too much extra text for line-justified-layout like you see here [Related Links stuff at each posting’s end is similarly-ragged], at least to be done by this burned-out-BlogSpot-drone—oh, tedious software!) along with that standard dose of industry-related-trivia.
Here’s the trailer for Fatherhood:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate
that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)
If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $. To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid those important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters like this:
⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.
What Happens: The opening scenes of Fatherhood intercut frequently from a funeral to childbirth, but for simplicity’s sake I’ll recount these activities in chronological order: Matthew (Kevin Hart) and Liz Logelin (Deborah Ayorinde) are happily married in Boston, she’s pregnant about to deliver but it needs to be done by C-section after which mother and daughter, Maddy, are fine; yet, suddenly Liz suffers a pulmonary embolism (blood clot blocks a lung artery) and dies, leaving Matt distraught immediately, near-speechless at the funeral where his mother, Anna (Thedra Porter), and mother-in-law, Marion (Alfre Woodard), are overly-ready with advice until, after 6 months, they finally accept he can handle chores with the baby (although he takes forever to figure out how to put the crib together, struggles with installing a car seat) so the relatives return home to Minnesota (even as father-in-law Mike [Frankie Faison] tries his best to keep quiet). One persistent problem is the baby constantly crying, so Matt sort of barges in on a new-mothers-group looking for advice, finally succeeds with a white noise device after some initial aid from a vacuum cleaner. A few years pass as Matt slowly gets the hang of how to raise his daughter, now played by Melody Hurd. (All a little reminiscent of Dustin Hoffman faced with the same dilemma in multi-Oscar-winner Kramer vs. Kramer [Robert Benton, 1979] when wife Meryl Streep leaves him and young son Justin Henry to try to find meaning in her own life, as overwhelmed-Dad must manage chores he’s never attempted while trying to hold down a job—Matt has to take it a step further with Maddy because she’s so young; even though he brings her to the office he’s constantly distracted by rushing to her every-perceived-need, but at least he has a supportive boss, Howard [Paul Reiser] who tries to help while Hoffman’s character loses his lucrative [life-consuming] job,; then there’s the further drama in Kramer … where Streep returns, fights Hoffman for custody of the boy [no such trauma for Matt with Liz long gone, although Marian constantly makes it clear she assumes Maddy'd be better off living with her]).
Matt also gets advice/encouragement from his friend Jordan (Lil Rel Howery) and co-worker Oscar (Anthony Carrigan), even to the point of including Maddy in poker games with them, but they can’t help with the Catholic school where Maddy’s now in kindergarten, being pushed by the nuns to wear the required skirt rather than the jeans she prefers. Oscar and his wife find another route for Matt, though, by casually introducing him to their friend, Lizzie (DeWanda Wise)—an animator for a kids’ TV show—where there’s an initial attraction but hesitation on Matt’s part, softened by Lizzie easily getting along with Maddy (although to avoid confusion/tension with the names of Liz and Lizzie, the latter agrees to be called Swan). Maddy finally wears a skirt to school but when she's climbing in the playground at recess some boys look up, laugh at her male underwear, so she jumps off to fight, falling on the ground instead, getting a nasty gash. Matt was at Swan’s place at the time (finally consummating their attraction while Maddy’s attending school for the morning) so when he learns of the accident he rushes, guilt-ridden, to the hospital (same one where Liz died), gets into a fight with Swan as he endures a rush of negative emotions. ⇒At work, though, circumstances improve as Howard’s retiring, recommends Matt as his replacement with a business trip to Croatia as part of his new duties; Matt reluctantly leaves Maddy with Marian and Mike (Grandma and Granddaughter are happy with the arrangement), heads off on the trip, taking Oscar with him as he knows the language; however, at the last minute Matt leaves Oscar at the airport to retrieve Maddy which finally brings approval from Marian. Back home, Matt and Maddy see Swan for a successful apology, with a final scene in the credits where Matt takes Maddy to school, her in jeans, him wearing a skirt as support for her, where they learn the nuns have relaxed the dress code so her pants are now OK anyway.⇐
So What? Fatherhood’s a docudrama based on Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love by Matthew Logelin (2011) recounting the actual story of his wife, Liz, dying shortly after the birth of their daughter, with the major exception being the Logelins are White so the casting of Hart, other Blacks in primary roles is a Father’s Day weekend tribute to this story's universality (with some Juneteenth* pride too), Logelin totally in support of how this project evolved with commentary on that by Hart in an interview as the second item connected to this movie in the Related Links section below (he also talks about the collaboration in this adaptation with the Higher Ground Productions company headed by Barack and Michelle Obama**). As such, it’s not a foundationally-Black-story, but—as Hart says in his interview—it’s a necessary, useful presentation of a Black man as a loving, devoted father, easily the reality in much of U.S. society, an effective counterbalance (hopefully to be watched by a widely-varied-audience, given the noted-star-power of Hart and Woodard) to countless movies’ frequent-depictions of Black fathers as absent/uninterested/abusive in the lives of their kids.
*If you’re not yet fully clear about the history behind this just-added-federal-holiday, it’s based on when Union soldiers finally made their way to Galveston, TX (my old hometown) on June 19, 1865, bringing the long-delayed-news (not promulgated throughout the Confederacy, I easily assume) of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, freeing all slaves in the rebellious states (although not in the Union-remaining-border states with slaves; that freedom had to wait for the 13th Amendment in December 1865), now the law of the land throughout the South, following the end of the Civil War on April 9, 1865, so this joyous day has long been celebrated by Black communities (and others) as the official end of slavery (certainly not segregation, racism, inequality) in the U.S.A.
**It'll probably be no surprise to regular readers of this blog (there's always time and opportunity to become one) I didn’t read Logelin’s book prior to seeing Fatherhood, but, as an aside marginally referencing Higher Ground Productions, I'm in the midst of reading Michelle Obama’s autobiography, Becoming (2018), at the active-recommendation of my proudly-feminist-wife, Nina Kindblad. Clearly Michelle’s an eloquent author with a richly-varied-life, just as Mr. Logelin seems to be (concerning his life, can’t speak for his authorship although his book, like Obama’s, is a New York Times bestseller).
Beyond the basic structure of Mom dying soon after childbirth, Dad learning to raise a daughter on his own, father-daughter bonding becoming very strong as the years progress, I have no idea how accurate any of the other aspects of Fatherhood are to the actual Matt Logelin’s life nor what’s fictional for cinematic-storytelling-purposes, but, no matter, as what’s on-screen works quite well as a heartwarming (yet ultimately very predictable) story of rebuilding a family after an unexpected, tragic loss where ultimately-manageable-domestic-crises will occur from easily-assumed-fish-out-of-water-circumstances, tensions are mostly mild as a woman desperately wants her grandchild to be raised properly not because she has any lingering resentment about Liz being so devoted to Matt but just because she wants a healthy, happy life for the little girl. Knowing this is all essentially true (likely enhanced by probable-fictional-additions Jordan and Oscar to allow Hart some scenes where a bit of humor arises so his comic-comfortable-fans get a little of what they want even with Hart in a mostly serious role—where’s he’s quite effective, noting in that aforementioned video how his own reality as a father of 4 helped him better understand how to approach this infrequent-dramatic-turn) raises it up a bit from rote-melodrama to something that’s a pleasure to watch, a sweet story about a man trying to figure out how to do his best for the child he adores while still looking for his own personal fulfillment in work and love. There’s nothing sensational here, just a warm, reaffirming story that was a perfect release to accompany Father’s Day, showcasing Hart’s abilities as a serious actor to go along with his already-successful-career as a loud-mouthed-comedian. Overall, an engaging choice.
Bottom Line Final Comments: CCAL response to Fatherhood is mildly positive but veering near to OCCU status as Rotten Tomatoes provides us with group of 66% positive reviews while the more-restrained-bunch at Metacritic are playing hardball with a 53% average score. To give you a sense of the positive and negative I’ll start with NBC News’ Aramide A. Tinubu: “While some portions of ‘Fatherhood’ are cheesier than others, it is a mostly solid film about the reality of connection between a father and his child — one that exists for many, if not most, fathers — especially today. Perhaps as a society, we haven't always universally demanded or expected that men will parent their children in the same nurturing way we assume women will and are able to do. As a result, a good number of men have acted accordingly, becoming part-time fathers whether they are in the home or not. [¶] As ‘Fatherhood’ suggests, men are capable of and often want more, and it's about time we not only expect better but provide resources to any parent — man, woman, nonbinary person and otherwise — who might be feeling in need of more than they have.” In contrast, A.O. Scott of the New York Times isn’t even close to that impressed: “Contrary to what screenwriting manuals will tell you, absence of dramatic conflict is not necessarily a flaw. But there has to be something else for the viewer to sink into, whether it’s the flow and frenzy of everyday life or the psychological contours of individuals and relationships. Despite Weitz’s sensitive direction and a superb cast — including Frankie R. Faison as Marian’s patient husband, DeWanda Wise as Matt’s patient love interest and Paul Reiser as his patient boss — ‘Fatherhood’ can’t quite deliver.” I’m a bit more in the supportive camp than either of those critics-accumulation-site-averages but will agree individual scenes are more robust than this movie as a whole, despite its uplifting, reaffirming intentions and reasonable degree of delivery (as well as Matt always helping Maddy keep a connection with lost-Liz in that anytime he kisses her it’s always twice, once from him, once indirectly from Mom). It awaits for free for Netflix subscribers, so, if I’ve piqued your interest, just stream away.
Before (or maybe instead of) viewing, though, I’ll leave you with my usual-closure-tactic of a Musical Metaphor, this time being John Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” (from the Double Fantasy double album, with Yoko Ono; this single and album were released not long before Lennon was murdered in December 1980) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZCxyOcvp5A (lyrics below the YouTube screen if you want to sing along). While the song’s about a guy rediscovering the joy of loving bliss with his longtime companion I think lines such as these—“Our life together is so precious together We have grown - we have grown […] It’s time to spread our wings and fly Don’t let another day go by my love It’ll be just like starting over”—could easily apply also to Matt’s situation with Liz up to the point of their tragedy, then could be revived as you hope his situation with Lizzie (Swan) will also settle into long-term-lives of devotion, further enhanced by a sweetheart-girl they’ll continue to share.
(somewhat) SHORT TAKES (which have taken on a life of their own)
(spoilers also appear here)
Luca (Enrico Casarosa) rated PG 100 min.
The latest animated feature from Pixar/Disney, this one is set in an Italian seaside town and its neighboring ocean where sea creatures live, constantly avoiding human contact for self-preservation. The teenage son of a water-dwelling-family meets another teen who shows him they can become human if they come onto land, after which their many frantic adventures will ensue.
Here’s the trailer:
Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.
Luca Paguro (voice of Jacob Tremblay) is a teenage sea creature (humans call him a “sea monster” yet neither he nor any of his family/acquaintances have done any harm to the nearby-townspeople; in kind, these denizens of the deep refer to us as “land monsters,” which is more appropriate because we’re scared of them, try to kill them with harpoons, drag their fellow fish out of the ocean by the ton, so I’m going to avoid the “sea monster” moniker in my comments despite its constant presence in Luca) residing in the waters off of the (fictional) city of Portorosso on the Italian Riviera. Luca lives with his parents, Daniela (Maya Rudolph) and Lorenzo (Jim Gaffigan)—as well as his Grandmother (Sandy Martin)—working his job of herding the family flock of goatfish while following his parents’ admonition to never go to the sea-surface, lest he be seen and hunted (the local humans react frantically to these creatures, are constantly hoping to kill one, but it seems to me to be more irrational fear than any sense of retaliation for unexplained past injuries), although staying down below has become extremely boring for Luca, desperately hoping for something more interesting in his life. That wish is quickly fulfilled when he comes across another teen, Alberto Scorfano (Jack Dylan Grazer), who eagerly breaches the surface, goes to an island to live in an dilapidated tower where he’s resided since been abandoned years ago by his father (he collects all sorts of human artifacts, some junked, some he silently steals from fishing boats) with the magical situation these creatures become human themselves when out of the water. Overcoming his hesitations, Luca goes with Alberto to his tower where they both dream of riding on a Vespa motor-scooter, leading to several attempts to construct one from Alberto’s disparate-junkpile followed by rickety-rides down a hillside into the ocean at which point the faux-Vespas fall apart, all the while Luca’s parents getting suspicious about these long absences from home (Granny helps him make semi-plausible-excuses).
When the parents bring in Lorenzo’s brother, Uncle Ugo (Sacha Baron Cohen), to take the kid into the deep for his own protection, he runs away to the mainland with Alberto where they learn about the city’s annual Portorosso Cup Race with winnings that could lead to at least a used Vespa, but they’re soon confronted by a previous-5-time-winner, snotty Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), who starts to bully them until interrupted by a defiant girl, Giulia Marcovaldo (Emma Berman), with her own plan to win the Cup by triumphing in the triathlon of swimming, biking, and eating pasta. Then she decides to make a team with these boys as she’ll teach Luca how to ride a bike while she does the swimming (preventing our sea guys from returning to their original forms anytime they get wet) as Alberto’s already shown great gusto in food consumption. Giulia introduces the boys to her father, Massimo (Marco Barricelli)—a massive one-armed man (he was born that way) who relishes catching, cooking fish. Giulia also talks of living here only during the summer, spending the rest of the year with her aunt in Genoa where she goes to school; Luca’s interested in learning, Alberto starts getting jealous of Giulia, meanwhile Luca’s parents have come on land, looking for their son. ⇒Ultimately, Alberto breaks off from Luca in a huff leading to Giulia learning of their true sea-nature; Luca decides to enter the contest on his own in order to buy a Vespa; he and Giulia are close after the first 2 challenges (Luca uses a diver’s suit for the swimming race) but as they zip through the streets on their bikes rain arrives so Luca takes shelter trying to avoid getting wet even as Alberto reappears with an umbrella. Ercole tries to foil them, eventually leading to both wet boys now seen as sea creatures—the crowd ready to attack—but when Massimo defends them, the townspeople become accepting of these creatures (Luca’s family included); Luca and Alberto are declared the winners of the race so Alberto buys an old Vespa. As Giulia prepares to go back to school, Luca wants to join her but can’t afford the train ticket until presented with one by Alberto who sold the Vespa (he’s going to stay with Massimo, learn some trades) as a new level of embracing the once-despised takes root in Portorosso (except for Ercole, as his minions are no longer afraid of him).⇐
The CCAL’s quite supportive of Luca, with RT reviews at 89% positive, MC with a 71% average score (reasonably invested for these folks), but as some of them note (I agree) there’s more surface (marvelous images, colorful locations, an active story that never drags) than substance here, so it’s fun to watch but not a true Pixar masterpiece in league with such successes as WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008), Up (Pete Doctor, 2009), Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010), Coco (Unkrich, 2017; review in our November 29, 2017 posting), Soul (Doctor & Kemp Powers, 2020; review in our December 31, 2020 posting)—all of which won the Animated Feature Oscar (as did 6 other Pixars, along with 4 other nominations in this category plus many other noms—but considering several of the other 23 features they’ve released since 1995 wouldn’t be considered top-cinema either it’s no shame Luca [a pet project of Casarosa, inspired by events of his own childhood] isn’t as fabulous as the greatest Pixar successes); yet, it’s still well worth seeing, as long as you have a subscription to Disney + (although no hefty extra charge, as with Cruella [Craig Gillespie], but that one’s in 3,110 domestic [U.S.-Canada] theaters [doing well: $64.5 million in northern North America, $159.6 million worldwide so far] so you have other options, unlike with Luca). For my Musical Metaphor I’m going with David Bowie’s “Changes” (from his 1971 Hunky Dory album) at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=IJSv6JXKS_I (live in Paris [as close as I could get to Italy], 2002) because lyrics such as “Strange fascination, fascinating me Ah, changes are the pace I’m going through […] turn and face the strange […] pretty soon now you’re gonna get older Time may change me But I can’t trace time” feel appropriate to me regarding Luca’s main characters, all of whom eventually face the challenges of growth-inducing-transformations in their previously-settled-lives (again, except for Ercole, but even he’s changed by what happens around him). You’re not missing anything unique if you pass on Luca, but, even more so than Fatherhood, it’s cute, sweet, a nice escape from the mundane world most of us find we occupy. (Unless you’re already in an Italian seaside location [like the charming one Nina and I visited once for a few days, Nervi, just outside of Genoa]—if so, “Bravissimo!” to you.)
Suggestions for TCM cablecasts
At least until the pandemic subsides Two Guys also want to encourage you to consider movies you might be interested in that don’t require subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, similar Internet platforms (we may well be stuck inside for longer than those 30-day-free-initial-offers), or premium-tier-cable-TV-fees. While there are a good number of video networks offering movies of various sorts (mostly broken up by commercials), one dependable source of fine cinematic programming is Turner Classic Movies (available in lots of basic-cable-packages) so I’ll be offering suggestions of possible choices for you running from Thursday afternoon of the current week (I usually get this blog posted by early Thursday mornings) on through Thursday morning of the following week. All times are for U.S. Pacific zone so if you see something of interest please verify actual show time in your area for the day listed. These recommendations are my particular favorites (no matter when they’re on, although some of those early-day-ones might need to be recorded, watched later), but there’s considerably more to pick from you might like even better; feel free to explore their entire schedule here. You can also click the down arrow at the right of each listing for additional, useful info.
I’ll bet if you checked that entire schedule link just above you’d find other options of interest, but these are the only ones grabbing my attention at present. Please dig in further for other possibilities.
Thursday June 24, 2021
6:45 PM Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) Iconic James Dean role, a strong contender for best of his 3 powerful cinematic appearances (before his untimely death), as he plays a troubled teen whose independent streak just brings more difficulties from adults (including his parents) and a local gang, even as he tries to distance himself from his problems, escape from all of this hostility into a new life with his new friends (Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo), but further crises swirl around them
Saturday June 26, 2021
12:15 PM North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959) One of Hitchcock’s top successes (that’s saying a lot) about a case of mistaken-identity gone terribly wrong as smug ad executive Roger Thornhill (Gary Grant) is thought to be a U.S. spy, hunted by thugs working for an evil foreign
agent (James Mason). A marvelous collage of great scenes including the crop-duster-in-the-cornfield attack; also stars Eve Marie Saint, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau, providing a great
overall combination of tension and laughs. This is part of a huge Hitchcock marathon beginning with Sabotage (1936) at 3:00 AM, continuing through Strangers on a Train (1951) at 11:30 PM,
then into Sunday June 17, 2021 with Family Plot (1976) at 1:30 AM, The Man Who Knew Too
Much (1934) at 11:15 PM, concluding on Monday June 28, 2021 with Frenzy (1972) at 12:45 AM.
Monday June 28, 2021
3:00 AM Giant (George Stevens, 1956) An epic story of the West (3 hrs. 21 min.) but presented in a contemporary plot where the owner of a huge west Texas ranch (Rock Hudson) goes East to buy a horse, ends up also with a wife (Elizabeth Taylor) who has more supportive attitudes toward their Mexican workers. His older sister Luz (Mercedes McCambridge) dies, leaves a small plot to a local rounder (James Dean) who finds oil on his land, gets quickly rich, continues over the years to bedevil the main family. Oscar for Best Director (plus 9 more nominations), Dean’s last role before his car-crash death. For the time and location, a surprising ongoing theme of emerging social tolerance.
6:30 PM The Celluloid Closet (Robert Epstein and Jeffery Friedman, 1995) Powerful documentary about the presentations of gay men, lesbian women, bisexuals and transgenders in American movies since almost the beginning of the industry until the time of this film’s production with a
vast amount of clips enhanced with a wide range of relevant testimony, based on Vito Russo’s 1981 book of the same name. Informative in a factual manner about the wide range of negative depictions.
Tuesday June 29, 2021
7:15 PM East of Eden (Elia Kazan, 1955) James Dean’s screen debut as Cal Trask, a WW I-era young man living near Monterey, CA trying to win the love of his stern father, Adam (Raymond Massey), who gives more support to other son Aron (Richard Davalos), adapted from the stunning John Steinbeck novel (with its intended Biblical overtones). Even when Cal makes a fortune for
Dad he’s rejected so he shames Aron by revealing Mom (Jo Van Fleet) isn’t dead after all but lives nearby, running a brothel. Won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (Van Fleet); Dean (already dead by the time of the awards) was nominated for Best Actor (as he was for his last, Giant [1956]).
9:30 PM The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940) A screwball romantic comedy standard (adapted from a popular play that starred Katharine Hepburn, as does this movie) with Cary Grant as Hepburn’s ex-husband; she’s set to remarry when her ex shows up along with pulp-journalist James Stewart. Potential bride is re-attracted to Grant, intrigued by Stewart as the triangle (plus the would-be groom) continues right to the end. Oscars for Best Actor (Stewart), Best Adapted Screenplay.
If you’d like your own PDF of ratings/summaries of this week's reviews, suggestions for TCM cablecasts, links to Two Guys info click this link to access then save, print, or whatever you need.
Other Cinema-Related Stuff: (1) In reference to aspects of my review of In the Heights (June 17, 2021), Rita Moreno apologizes for her comments about colorism in that movie; (2) More on problems with In the Heights' colorism (3) Godzilla vs. Kong rises to $100 million domestically ($442.5 million worldwide). I’ll close out this section with Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi" (from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album)—because “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”—and a reminder that you can search streaming/rental/purchase movie options at JustWatch.
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
We encourage you to visit the Summary of Two Guys Reviews for our past posts.* Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our Two Guys in the Dark homepage. If you’d like to Like us on Facebook please visit our Facebook page. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it!
Here’s more information about Fatherhood:
https://www.netflix.com/title/81435227
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wErFzjJlUYY (17:57 interview with actor Kevin Hart about this movie and working with the Obamas, after discussing an upcoming sci-fi project with Cate Blanchet and Jamie Lee Curtis [interrupted by ads at about 9:45, 13:35])
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fatherhood_2021
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/fatherhood
Here’s more information about Luca:
https://movies.disney.com/luca and especially https://www.pixar.com/luca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkX7-L6kjgI (10:05 behind the scenes clips [ad interrupts at about 5:21])
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/luca_2021
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/luca
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If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work. (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews-academic-articles about various cinematic topics at my website, https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)
If we did talk, though, you’d easily see how my early-70s-age informs my references, Musical Metaphors, etc. in these reviews because I’m clearly a guy of the later 20th century, not so much the contemporary world. I’ve come to accept my ongoing situation, though, realizing we all (if fate allows) keep getting older, we just have to embrace it, as Joni Mitchell did so well in "The Circle Game," offering sage advice even when she was quite young herself.
By the way, if you’re ever at The Hotel California knock on my door—but you know what the check-out policy is so be prepared to stay for awhile (quite an eternal while, in fact). Ken
P.S. Just to show that I haven’t fully flushed Texas out of my system here’s an alternative destination for you, Home in a Texas Bar, with Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker. But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion, lover, and wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"
—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest,
a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes and wanes over the months/years to come. But, just as we can raunchy at times (in private of course) Neil and his backing band, Promise of the Real, on that same night also did a lengthy, fantastic version of "Cowgirl in the Sand"
(19:06) which I’d also like to commit to this blog’s always-ending-tunes; I never tire of listening to it, then and now (one of my idle dreams is to play guitar even half this good).
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