Thursday, July 28, 2022

Don’t Make Me Go plus Short Takes on The Gray Man and some other cinematic topics

Two Traumatic Trips (Teenagers Terrified)

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.


“You see, you can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)


Don’t Make Me Go (Hannah Marks) rated R 109 min.


Opening Chatter (no spoilers): Yep, I’d loved to have made my own trip to a nearby-theater last weekend to see Nope (Jordan Peele), but none of those locations stepped up to offer me a chance to have an auditorium all to myself as I continue to keep cautious about the ongoing impact of the latest COVID variant in my San Francisco area (seems to be getting better, though ... maybe), so I’m still flowing along in streaming land (way down below, Mick LaSalle will tell you that’s to my advantage regarding The Gray Man, although I didn’t take his advice to use the fast forward option).  What I found to be marvelous (even as I disagree with the OCCU) is Don’t Make Me Go, about a father who finds he likely has terminal cancer (even an operation gives him only a 1 in 5 chance of successfully leaving the OR), yet doesn’t choose to share that with his spunky teenage daughter, instead taking her along on a cross-continent-road-trip with the secret intention of reuniting her with the mother she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.  This one’s on Amazon Prime Video, where you could see it on a 30-day-free-trial-option if you like.  Likewise largely dismissed by the OCCU (yet found enjoyable enough by me) is The Gray Man (on Netflix streaming) where a clandestine CIA assassin (Ryan Gosling) finds out damning things about his boss who sends other assassins to kill him, primary a wacko (Chris Evans, light years away from Captain America) determined to succeed no matter what, collateral damage be damned; it’s a catalogue of deaths and spectacular stagings but no more than that.  Also, here are links for the schedule of the cable network, Turner Classic Movies, which gives you a wide selection of older films with no commercial interruptions and the JustWatch site which offers you another wide selection of options for streaming rental or purchase.  If you'd want to see what reigned at our domestic (U.S.-Canada) box-office last weekend, go here.


(I've also made a few permanent additions to these postings: one's a James Taylor song just after the reviews, the others are in the final cluster of songs at the very end of the Related Links listings.)


Here’s the trailer for Don’t Make Me Go:

                   (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 $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy).  To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: 

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.


What Happens: Max Park (John Cho), an insurance salesman (Or an accountant?  My notes are somewhat at odds with a respected critic’s comments.) who gets headaches we soon find out aren’t just related to job stress, lives somewhere in southern CA (looks like the L.A. area to me) with his almost-16-year-old-daughter-Wally (Mia Isaac) as his ex-wife Nicole (Jen Van Epps) left him years ago for their college-buddy, Dale Angelo (Jemaine Clement).  Max and Wally have a decent-enough-relationship, although there are gaps in the connections: her most-insightful-comment to him (at least for me, the lifelong-nonparent) about something specific but seemingly could be applied to anything is “You wouldn’t get it.”  One thing he doesn’t want her to get at this point is becoming much closer to a guy she’s infatuated with, Glenn (Otis Dhanji), even though she claims he’s not her boyfriend but then is constantly waiting for texts from him, yet he’s more dismissive of her than her concerns would suggest (he does, however, get her to sub in for a soccer game, learning to play goalie on the fly, actually winning the game with a solid block).  Dad has his own nebulous-relationship with Annie (Kaya Scodelario), whom he’s willing to have sex with (as long as Wally’s otherwise-occupied) although neither of them is pushing to get too close.  This all comes to conflict one night as Wally claims to be visiting with her friend, Sandra (Stefania LaVie Owen), but actually goes to one of those teenage-parties-while-the-parents-are-out-of-town; there, Glenn pushes Wally for sex, she refuses, calls Sandra’s mom, Tami (Jade Harlow), for a ride home but Tami calls Max (bringing an abrupt halt to his Annie-time that night); Max gets Wally, then grounds her for 3 weeks.  


 Max has more serious concerns, though, as a diagnosis at the hospital reveals he has a tumor near his spinal cord and brain, a situation that will become terminal in about a year if untreated yet the operation to remove the tumor carries an 80% risk of death as well (Annie backs off further when she learns about all of this).  Max decides against the operation to give himself time to reconnect Wally with Nicole (who hasn’t seen her daughter since she was a baby) yet doesn’t tell Wally any of this, instead uses the excuse of wanting to attend his 20-year-college reunion in New Orleans, where he needs to get info from Dale (who’s clearly going to be there according to a Facebook post) about Nicole’s whereabouts even as she’s also divorced Dale, moved on to someone else.  Wally has no interest in the New Orleans trip (hence the film’s title), but agrees when Max offers to finally teach her to drive during the journey.  She’s initially excited to get behind the wheel but nearly causes traffic-havoc first by driving too slow, then closing her eyes at a crucial time, almost crashing, so Max takes over more often than he intended, further frustrated his daughter has no interest in college 2 years from now, preferring to travel abroad a bit rather than playing it safe as she finds Dad to be the epitome of all she’s pushing away from, even though ultimately it’s clear they really love each other.


 After they check into a New Mexico motel (we don’t see any of Arizona, but then this film’s shot in New Zealand to accommodate Cho’s other commitments which helps explain the presence of low mountains and semi-deserts as they move across east Texas to Louisiana, a geological faux pas), they go to a nearby casino where she loses 4 times at roulette, he wins once ($50).  Next we’re at a motel in Texas where Max finally has to admit to Wally about seeing Annie, then as he wanders off to call her (along the way Wally’s been texting Glenn, he finally responds, doesn’t offer much) so Wally slips out, meets up with Rusty (Mitchell Hope)—the young guy who checked them in—who whisks her off to a hard-drinking-party in the countryside but admits he has a girlfriend in college so he makes no moves on her, they watch a lovely meteor shower, both fall asleep.  When Max wakes up next morning, he’s frantic Wally’s not in her bed, gets some info about the likely party location, finds Wally and Rusty, but nothing more than initial anger seems to come of it.  Then we’re in New Orleans at the reunion where Max locates Dale, admits he cheated on Nicole first, finds out where she is in Florida, but he and Dale fight anyway; Wally caps off this part of the trip by dumping Glenn.


 Soon we’re in FL where Max finds Nicole’s home, knocks unannounced (she’s now married to Tom, has a baby, but they don’t factor into this), talks with her but she refuses to meet Wally so Max consults his GPS to go to a nearby beach (this scene begins the film, Wally in voiceover telling us “You’re not going to like how this story ends”) where Wally’s angry it’s for nudes; Max’s embarrassed but didn’t know the particulars.  Max finally admits about his cancer to Wally which intensifies her anger because she wants him to have the operation so as to hopefully be able to be with him for as long as possible, to which he agrees.  Somewhere on the journey back home they’re at another bar where she pushes him to sing karaoke (apparently he was a decent musician back in college but didn’t pursue it, instead opting for a more stable career and homelife); he’s well-received but then Wally suddenly dies, due to her congenital-enlarged-heart.  Nicole comes to CA for Wally’s funeral (we get some further VO from her); Max has the operation; a year later he’s alive and with Annie.⇐


So What? As you’ll see below in the final portion of this review just about half of the overall-reporting-critical community’s barely in favor of this film, although I think the ones dismissing it just aren’t allowing themselves to be open to a viable tale of flawed, confused characters trying their best to find the stability, even joy, life hasn’t fully offered them so far.  While I have no direct experience (no kids, just cats) to analyze how the normal dynamics of attraction/repulsion between parents and teenage offspring should be treated in a fictional story (except thinking back on my own teenage years where I was trying to establish my identity separate from the people who so diligently brought me up, often frustrating them in the process even as they enjoyed telling me stories of their own adolescences, where my father in west Texas actually hopped freight trains a time or two, being away for a couple of days before returning to ease my grandmother’s concerns, and my mother laughed about the antics of driving slowly behind a watermelon truck so a couple of boys could climb aboard and steal some fruit), I do have relatives who’ve raised teens so I have a little observational sense to go by, incomplete as it may be.  With that in mind, I found this depiction of Max and Wally to be sincere, viable, all too likely as she sees her father as being so rigid and cautious while he’s had to do whatever he could imagine might be the right choices raising Wally on his own, feeling constantly out of step as her natural rebellion increases even though she cares for him more than she actively admits.  Even those who are negative about how this film explores its situations find much to praise in the chemistry between Cho and Isaac, a connection they embrace as well (as you can see directly in the pair of videos of interviews with them in the Related Links section of this posting far below), even though they knew little of each other prior to coming together for the filming.


 There are other nice surprises in the actions/reactions of both these primary characters throughout this nicely-timed-narrative plus some generally-effective-visual-depictions of the Southwest/Southern realms of the U.S. (except that odd terrain in east Texas) despite filming confined to New Zealand, so I think you’d find plenty to appreciate as this story streams along.  If you’d like to get a quick summary of it (3:48) with illustrative visuals, take a look at this video, contaning Spoilers of course.


Bottom Line Final Comments: I’m in a completely different direction from the OOCU regarding Don’t Make Me Go (I’m not close with my response to The Gray Man either as you’ll see in the next review just below, with that gap about as wide as this one; I guess many of these “professionals” just don’t know quality cinema when they see it, but, then again, not everyone has the insightful-understandings of the finer aspects of life that I do) in that the Rotten Tomatoes reviews are only 54% positive while in a rare concurrence the folks at Metacritic have also come up with a 54% average score (although these things do change over time as new reviews are added to these databases so if you want to check back later to see how their responses may have evolved just go to the links for these critics’-accumulation-sites also in the Related Links section of this posting, a feature you’ll always find in our blog, following up on our reviews).  In an attempt to get better insight into the minds of the naysayers I turned to Sarah-Tai Black of the Los Angeles Times who says: There is a line between narrative comfort and lack of imagination and, unfortunately, ‘Don’t Make Me Go’ too frequently occupies the latter space. While every director shouldn’t be tasked with reinventing the cinematic wheel (most every movie has its place and audience), there is something about a movie such as ‘Don’t Make Me Go’ that — even as it pulls on your heartstrings or makes you smile — still leaves you feeling uninspired.”  Nevertheless, I’m still comfortable with the minority of critics, such as The New York Times Amy Nicholson who counters with “The setup is like a hazard sign reading ‘Caution: Treacle Ahead.’ Yet the director Hannah Marks and the screenwriter Vera Herbert veer from predictability. Life is unpredictable, and the film gambles big to make that point. In one jolting scene, they set an emotional showdown on a nude beach — but neither character finds the gratuitous flaccidity funny. (Thankfully, the film’s editor, Paul Frank, does.)”  Nicely stated, I'll say.


 I’ll leave it you to decide which of these opinions (including mine) you more fully agree with which you can do after seeing the film now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.  (If you’re not already a subscriber they’ve got a 30-day-free-introductory-offer if you don’t care to sign up on a permanent basis, but even then the Video portion's only $8.99 monthly rather than $14.99 monthly for the product-purchasing, but I don’t know if that also includes Video because my marvelous capitalist wife [despite socialist political preferences] generously supports Jeff Bezos’ endeavor with a $139 annual fee which definitely includes Video.)  I find this story to be intriguing, touching, funny at times, sorrow-laden at others, but a very effective total presentation.  I’ll wrap up the package with my usual tactic of a Musical Metaphor, easily determined this time by using what Max sang toward the end of this journey, Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger” (from his 1977 Lust for Life album) at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=-fWw7FE9tTo as this tune gets to the heart of what the filmmakers are aiming for in this bumpy-narrative about the difficulties families face, possibly are able to overcome: “Get into the car / We’ll be the passenger / We’ll ride through the city tonight / We’ll see the city’s ripped backsides/ We’ll see the bright and hollow sky / We’ll see the stars that shine so bright / The sky was made for us tonight.  Max and Wally don’t fully overcome the challenges they face (often self-inflicted), but they make a concerted effort in that direction, whether they want to go there or not.

               

SHORT TAKES (spoilers also appear here)

                             

                   The Gray Man (Anthony and Joe Russo)
                                    rated PG-13   129 min.


A convicted killer (Ryan Gosling) is recruited by a clandestine CIA agent to serve as a hidden assassin for the agency which he proves to be very successful at until he learns his handler is corrupt, but the evil guy sends many would-be-terminators including one especially horrid one (Chris Evans) after our hero whose wits, skills, plus help from his few friends miraculously keeps him alive.


Here’s the trailer:


        Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.


 I’ll admit from the start this movie—despite a $200 million production budget, directors with solid (and earnings-heavy) success from their notable Avengers movies, some big names in its cast—is largely dismissed by the OCCU: RT gives it 47% positive reviews, MC’s (again surprisingly) a bit ahead with a 49% average score; yet, I enjoyed it a lot, although the body-count of assassins vs. assassins mounts up quickly, continuing throughout the running-time (some killed within the first 15 min., more meet their end unseen even in the final scene) so if you’re not interested in well-staged hand-to-hand combat or the spectacular situation of one handcuffed man fighting off a small army of would-be-killers in a public plaza followed by an overwhelming chase scene through the streets of Vienna, then you might not want to bother because that’s about all you get, along with corruption in the CIA and rabid-bounty-hunters constantly launching themselves at our imperiled-every-minute-hero.  Speaking of heroes, one of the Russos’ greatest saviors from their Avengers tales, Captain America, as played in so many of those Marvel Cinematic Universe movies by Chris Evans, is a bit difficult to forget as this talented actor becomes one of the screen’s most terrifying villains here, but he does it so effectively (aided by a menacing-mustache) all you can see of him is a man crazed with pulling off an almost-impossible-assignment, no matter how many die in the process.  (If you’d prefer to remember Evans in more positive terms, listen to him as the voice of the title character in the still-playing-theatrical-animated-movie, Lightyear [Angus MacLane; review in our June 30, 2022 posting.)   

 To put this all in perspective, our story’s about Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling), in prison for murdering his father (who abused both his boys, with the water torture of Gosling’s brother as the last straw), visited by CIA official Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) offering freedom if he becomes a “gray man” assassin, taking out targets not traced back to the CIA.  He accepts, becomes known as Sierra Six, works effectively for 18 years, then’s on assignment in Bangkok under the directive of Denny Carmichael (RegĂ©-Jean Page), aided by agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Aramas).  After our homicidal pair kills several bodyguards, Six terminally-wounding his target, he learns this guy is Sierra Four, aware of terrible scandals about Carmichael—thus, being falsely set up for death—then giving Six a mini-drive with damning info about their boss.  Six sends the drive to CIA honcho Margaret Cahill (Alfie Woodard) in Prague while Carmichael recruits ex-CIA sociopath Lloyd Hansen (Evans) to terminate Six, retrieve the drive.  With all of that set in motion efficiently most of the rest of this movie involves Six fighting a seemingly-never-ending-series of men out to kill him, eventually getting help from Miranda as a cargo plane crashes; death comes quickly to all of the underprepared killers; Six when handcuffed by police in Vienna manages to hold off all the goons attempting to shoot him, then he and Miranda go on a wild chase through the city involving cars, motorcycles, and a light-rail-train, even as Hanson takes Fitzroy and teenage daughter Claire (Julia Butters) captive in his Croatia HQ.


 Ultimately our heroes wind up in Prague where Cahill sacrifices herself as more assassins arrive, leading to the drive being taken by Lone Wolf (Dhanush) who eventually gives it back to Miranda, disgusted with internal-CIA-corruption.  Six manages to rescue Claire although Fitzroy sacrificingly-dies in the process.  All of this comes to an end as Six and Hansen fight one-to-one, but Hansen’s shot by Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), Carmichael’s right-hand-woman who wants to take him down with his connections to Hansen, but she arrests Six and Miranda in the process.  Later, Hansen’s crimes are revealed, yet no action’s taken against Miranda or Carmichael.  At this point, Six escapes his confinement (more body count), kills those guarding Claire with the 2 of them long gone, possibly leaving us with the set-up for a sequel (Greaney has several books about various ones of these characters)⇐more on such background for this narrative can be found at this site (9:16 [ad interrupts at 6:18]).  As noted above, many critics aren’t excited about this story (the San Francisco Chronicle’s Mick LaSalle says: [The Russos’] movies are huge on spectacle, and spectacle on that scale deserves the big screen! All that is true. [¶] But in this case, the Netflix experience has one advantage that can’t be topped: Fast forward. Watching ‘The Gray Man,’ you will want to use that button to skip through all the stupid parts. And how will you know which parts are stupid if you’re not actually watching them? Simple. In ‘The Gray Man,’ if people’s lips are moving, that’s a stupid part.”  Nasty notes, Mick, as you’re often able to conjure when disinterested.

  However, I say that if you want some “marvel”ously-choreographed-slam-bang-action (beginning with those Bangkok assassination scenes set against New Year’s Eve fireworks) I think you’d encounter a lot to enjoy here, where you can probably find it on a big screen in larger urban areas (opened on July 15, 2022) or stream it on Netflix (where even the price of a 1-month-signup is about what you’d pay for a theater ticket, plus you get a lot more to watch during that month before cancelling if you choose to do so [as with Amazon Prime Video, no kickbacks to me if you do]).  For my Musical Metaphor I debated on choosing Johnny River’s “Secret Agent Man” (on his 1966 … And I Know You Wanna Dance album) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT5aDFHKaac because I’d just used it in conjunction with The Man from Toronto (Patrick Hughes; review in our July 7, 2022 posting), but the lyrics concerning sudden death, untrustworthiness in the world of secret operations, and the reality for Six about “They’ve given you a number / And taken away your name,” are just too spot-on to ignore in this context.  FYI, a final bit of trivia here is this video just above uses River’s song but illustrates it to some degree with footage seemingly from the 1964-’66 CBS TV show Secret Agent which used a bit of the song under its opening credits before Rivers made it a full-fledged-hit.


 That’s all for my critical commentary this week, but whether you agree or not I’ll offer you one more opportunity to be in unity with an attitude that would benefit all of us, James Taylor’s  "Shower the People" (on his 1976 In the Pocket album), because we should “Shower the people you love with love / Show them the way that you feel / Things are gonna be much better/ If you only will.”  We’re now sailing through divisive times; it could be a smoother ride if we’d only help each other a bit more.


Other Cinema-Related Stuff: Some extra items that you might like: (1) The Gray Man sequel and a spinoff are in process (screw you, OCCU); (2) Disney adds a few R-rated options to Disney+; (3) Top Gun: Maverick becomes #9 All-Time Top-Grosser for domestic releases.

                

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

             

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Here’s more information about Don’t Make Me Go:


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2597804/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKR00fkOI3Y (2:21 interview with actor John Cho and director Hannah Marks) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARyCZEPKlXI (4:58

interview with actors John Cho and Mia Isaac)


https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dont_make_me_go


https://www.metacritic.com/movie/dont-make-me-go


Here’s more information about The Gray Man:


https://www.netflix.com/title/81160697


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z0QjsQgvPY (3:54 interview with directors Anthony and 

Joe Russo, actors Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, RegĂ©-Jean Page, Jessica Henwick, 

Billy Bob Thornton, and Julia Butters)


https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_gray_man_2022


https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-gray-man


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Here's more information about your "Concise? What's that?" Two Guys critic, Ken Burke:


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, but maybe while there you’ll get a chance to meet Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, RIP).  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 (although, as you know, with bar songs there are plenty about people broken down by various tragic circumstances, with maybe the best of the bunch—calls itself “perfect”—being "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" written by Steve Goodman, sung by David Allen Coe).  But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion/lover/

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 venue) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes/wanes over the months/years to come. But, just as we can be 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 get tired of listening to it, then and now (one of my idle dreams is to play guitar even half this well). But, while I’m at it, I’ll also include another of my top favorites, from the night before at Desert Trip, the Rolling Stones’ "Gimme Shelter" (Wow!), a song “just a shot away” in my memory (along with my memory of their great drummer, Charlie Watts, RIP).  To finish this cluster of all-time-great-songs I’d like to have played at my wake (as far away from now as possible) here’s one Dylan didn’t play at Desert Trip but it’s great, much beloved by me and Nina: "Visions of Johanna."  However, if the day does come when Nina has to recall these above thoughts (beginning with “If we did talk”) and this music after my demise I might as well make this into an arbitrary Top 10 of songs that mattered to me by adding The Beatles’ "A Day in the Life," 

because that chaotic-orchestral-finale sounds like what the death experience may be like, and the Beach Boys’ "Fun Fun Fun," because these memories may have gotten morbid so I’d like to sign off with something more upbeat to remember me, the old Galveston non-surfer-boy.  


 However, before I go (whether it’s just until next week or more permanently), let’s round these songs out to an even dozen with 2 more dedicated to Nina, the most wonderful woman ever for me.  I’ll start with Dylan’s "Lay, Lady, Lay" (maybe a bit personal, but we had a strong connection right from the start) and finish with the most appropriate of all, The Beatles again, "In My Life," because whatever I encountered in my time on Earth, “I love you more.” 

              

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Thursday, July 21, 2022

Spiderhead plus Short Takes on Craig Quits His Day Job and some other cinematic topics

Sabotage and Semi-Independence

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.


“You see, you can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)


   Spiderhead (Joseph Kosinski)   rated R   107 min.


Opening Chatter (no spoilers): In my previous posting I noted I’d be taking a short break but would be back soon with comments on Thor: Love and Thunder (Taika Waititi); well, I’m back, but Thor … will have to wait because the latest COVID variant’s really raging in my San Francisco area (even worse in Southern CA) so I’m keeping my 74-year-old-body out of theaters again, hoping you'll join me in a focus on what I’ve found on streaming for awhile, even though the current cultural focus is on the latest big-splash-summer-releases (I’d like to think I’ll finally see Thor … on the big screen before it comes to Disney+, but I’ll just have to wait and see how that goes even as it keeps rolling in the heavy dough [$233.9 million in the northern North America market, $499.9 worldwide]; I must admit I’m also intrigued by Where the Crawdads Sing [Olivia Newman], yet given its dismissal by the OCCU—Rotten Tomatoes says 36% positive reviews, Metacritic’s a bit better for a change but only with a 44% average score—I might be able to easily wait on that one as well; on the other hand, Nope [Jordan Peale] opens this coming weekend—already supported by considerably-better-reviews—which is one I really want to see whenever/however I can).  The OCCU isn’t kind to my choice of Spiderhead either (more in the review below), but I was intrigued by the concept while rationalizing that if I couldn’t discuss the latest adventures of the Thunder God with you I could at least pick another Chris Hemsworth movie, which is what I did with sci-fi Spiderhead, where he’s in charge of a high-tech-penitentiary that tests cutting-edge-drugs on volunteer inmates supposedly for the benefit of society-at-large but with more-nefarious-intentions (of course) as the true purpose of the experiments (it's available for no extra charge for Netflix streaming subscribers).


 Then, in the Short Takes section I'll begin with the occasional fine opportunity Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark is blessed with, a request from an independent filmmaker to explore his work, this time Pittsburgh, PA director/screenwriter/actor Eric Chapman’s Craig Quits His Day Job, even though to discuss it we have to reach back to 2016 when it was released (you can now find it for cheap rentals on a few platforms including Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+) to explore this comedy about a guy who wants new directions in his life even though various circumstances aren’t helping him get there very easily.  Also, here are links for the schedule of the cable network, Turner Classic Movies, which gives you a wide selection of older films with no commercial interruptions along with the JustWatch site offering a wide selection of options for streaming rental or purchase. Curious about what reigned at the domestic (U.S.-Canada) box-office last weekend?  Then go here.


Here’s the trailer for Spiderhead:

                   (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 $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy).  To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: 

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.


What Happens: Spiderhead's a sophisticated penitentiary on an island somewhere off the coast of the U.S. (seems to be the Pacific Northwest, although this movie was shot in Queensland, Australia), run by Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth), assisted by Mark Verlain (Mark Paguio).  The surroundings are quite high-tech (giving the sense of this being somewhat of a futuristic sci-fi story), the prisoners have great freedom of movement within the facility, but they also are willing subjects for the experimental drugs injected into their spinal cords by Steve (little tubes of each one are in a smartphone-sized-device attached to their lower backs; Steve also has one of these as he tests the substances on himself in low doses) who claims he’s trying to perfect various emotion-enhancers for the greater benefit of people in all societies.  There’s lot of underlying trauma in our main characters, though, as Steve as a young boy was abandoned by his father into foster care which left him with a lot of need to prove his self-worth and intellectual abilities; then we have this story's primary prisoner, Jeff (Miles Teller), consistently remorseful because he went on a drug-induced-driving-spree with a good friend and Jeff’s girlfriend, Emma (BeBe Bettencourt), killing them both when he rammed his car into a tree, flinging him free but killing the friend in the front seat, not allowing him to get the woman out of the backseat before the car exploded into flames; finally, there’s Jeff’s new romantic interest, LIzzy (Jurnee Smollett), whom he’s cautious not to get too close to (even as they seem to be living together, trying to keep it platonic) while she’s got her own constant trauma over accidently killing her baby when she left the child in a hot car for 3 hours while Lizzy worked her Wal-Mart shift.


 We see how easily the drugs take effect when administered by means of a little remote-control-device as Jeff and Heather (Tess Haubrich), who have no interest in each other, are stimulated with N-40 (Luvacin) which enhances their mutual attraction to the point of immediate, passionate sex.  Later, Jeff goes through the same process with Sarah (Angie Milliken), then at another time he’s told to choose which of these previous sex-partners to be dosed with the deadly I-16 (Darkenfloxx) that brings on intense negative feelings; Jeff declines because he doesn’t care about either woman, has no interest in protecting or traumatizing them, indicating no residual effect of those N-40 encounters.


 Later still, after Steve and Jeff have bonded a bit using a laughing drug where even the most serious revelations are treated as jokes, Steve tells Jeff the “higher ups” have insisted Heather must be shot up with I-16 so he agrees (in all cases of these experiments inmates must accept the procedures), but in her frantic sorrow/pain she damages the MobiPak on her back allowing a larger dose of Darkenfloxx, resulting in her suicide.  As Mark and Steve rush into the lab room, trying to save Heather, Steve drops his keys allowing Jeff to open a drawer, see some notes showing Steve’s fully in charge of this operation with the drugs being named from squares on a bingo card from his childhood.  Through all of this, Jeff and Lizzy get closer, Mark starts doubting Steve’s intentions.  Next, Steve wants Jeff to approve a shot of Darkenfloxx to Lizzy, but Jeff gets control of Steve’s remote, forces him to admit his command of these experiments along with the revelation that the true tests have been on the B-6 drug, O-B-D-X, which causes obedience in the subject, Steve’s attempt to rid humanity of all negative situations, including child abuse and war; he also admits Jeff was cleared for release 7 months ago, while Lizzy’s appeal was approved last week.  ⇒Steve manages to regain control, hits LIzzy with a huge dose resulting in her trying to choke herself with her belt while Steve and Jeff fight, Steve’s MobiPak damaged in the process.  Jeff removes the I-16 vials from Lizzy’s back device, gets her into consciousness, they rush to escape while Steve uses the P.A. system to command the other inmates to stop them.  By now, Mark is coming with police to the island, but Steve escapes in a small airplane yet is overpowered by a flow of N-40 which causes him to admire a nearby mountain enough to crash into it while Jeff and Lizzy escape on a motorboat.⇐


So What? If you think this director’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s also the helmsman for this summer’s biggest blockbuster so far, Top Gun: Maverick ($618.2 million domestically, $1.239 billion worldwide; review in our June 9, 2022 posting) where you also get Teller as one of the primary characters, as well as tying this current-Kosinski-offering at 3½ stars from me with … Maverick coming up somewhat short because it goes to such conscious lengths to connect to plot points of the 1986 original (Tony Scott) while Spiderhead has quite an intriguing premise but then turns what could be a usefully-meditative-exploration about scientists playing God, trying to manipulate human emotions by control of our actions (however, with more humane-intentions here on Steve’s part than the Big Brother thought-control-actions of 1984 [chilling novel by George Orwell, 1949], equally-horrifying film [Michael Radford, 1984] but still with no sense of who would be making the decisions to bring about obedience of all humans under the control of the B-6 drug) into an action-movie-thriller in its concluding scenes with overtones of a James Bond finale.  (At least the lab wasn’t blown up in a huge conflagration, killing all of the other inmates, of which there are quite a few so Steve was doing a lot more experimentation than we see here as dramatic necessity [and movie running time], once again are overwhelming more-intriguing-conceptions of how this narrative might evolve.)


 Still, intensifying-drama’s conveyed in an overall-successful manner; destructive traumas that haunt Steve, Jeff, and LIzzy are brought out slowly, carefully so we can better appreciate the nuances of the ongoing-pain they carry; and that shifted-tone-ending functions well enough in slam-bang-action terms even if it does resolve itself a bit quickly.  However, if you’d care to recap this movie with useful accompanying visuals, see this video (11:36) which summarizes the plot, explores the implications of the ending, but, of course, has Spoilers (as well as an ad interrupting at 5:10).  One item not noted in this video, though is the use of lots of music throughout (just as background, not integrated into the plot except as commentary on the events for our benefit) that seems to be from Steve’s collection of favorites, which overlaps with some of my all-time-tops (that I’ve wanted an excuse to use more in these reviews) including snippets of Michael McDonald (with Kenny Logins)/Doobie Brothers’ "What a Fool Believes" as drunken Jeff creates a tragedy for 2 people very close to him plus Daryl Hall & John Oates"You Make My Dreams" as it all comes together for Jeff and LIzzy at the frantic end.  There’s another one as well, but that will segue us into the last portion of this review.


Bottom Line Final Comments: Before I get to that last song, though, I must admit that my somewhat-restrained-support for this movie is considerably more positive than what you’ll find from the OCCU where the Rotten Tomatoes critics can scare up no more than 40% positive reviews even as those at Metacritic are notably higher for once but still only with a 54% average score, while my 3½ stars gets us into the realm of 70% acceptance if for nothing else to admire the solid acting throughout: Hemsworth’s a blast as Thor but proves here he can do restrained drama as well as his earlier success in pompous bravado and clever comedy; Teller has previously shown solid dramatic chops as a jet pilot in Top Gun: Maverick and as a drummer in Whiplash (Damien Chazelle, 2014), then he continues such impact here; Smollett (effective interactions with Teller) and Haubrich are truly scary (making us scared for them) under the horrid effects of Darkenfloxx.  So, despite what the many naysayers in the critical community have to say about Spiderhead, I found it enjoyable enough to recommend, although you’ll have to be a subscriber to Netflix streaming to see it (which you can get for $9.99 a month, about what you’d probably pay for a single screening of something else in a theater, plus a vast collection of others you could explore within that 30-day-window if you really want to get your money’s worth; your choice on that, no kickbacks to me if you choose to subscribe).


 As for that other song I noted above, it will be the one I’m using here for my usual end-of-review-tactic of a Musical Metaphor, one that helps me out by coming early on in this movie’s soundtrack with clear implications of how we should come to sympathize with Jeff despite his homicidal accident that sent him to prison in the first place, Supertramp’s “The Logical Song” (on their 1979 Breakfast in America album) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT9WUWTPQrs (part of a live show in Paris, 1979) because this story’s ultimately about us finding empathy with Jeff, despite his terrible act of hubris prior to prison, as he’s trying to redeem himself as a worthy “simple man”: “There are times when all the world’s asleep / The questions run so deep / For such a simple man / Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned? / I know it sounds absurd / Please tell me who I am.”  We see he has the capacity for that in not wanting to harm Heather, Sarah, or LIzzy, even as he blindly (with the likely help of B-6 in his system) agrees to deliver a dose of Darkenfloxx to 2 of them, but then proves he has the capacity to override the obedience-drug Steve's injected into everyone as he rushes to save Lizzy from Steve’s I-16 overdose.  Given what’s he been a part of (as well as his new lover’s past actions), he’ll never fully be the “simple man” of the song, but at least he’s making every effort, unlike Steve who just wants to erase the sorrow of his past by taking control of everyone else’s lives.

           

SHORT TAKES (spoilers also appear here)

              

 Craig Quits His Day Job (Eric Paul Chapman, 2016)
                                  Not Rated   86 min.


In this independent comedy a guy with no particular plan for what to do next decides to quit his job, drawing anger from his boss, mild sympathy from a few people in his neighborhood, and a lot of negativity from various other neighbors, although he’s determined to present an opportunity for self-satisfaction through quitting for others, no matter not much really works out in the manner intended.


Here’s the trailer:


       Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.


 As the title tells you, Craig (Garrett Titlebaum) feels his job’s going nowhere so he quits, much to the angry response from boss AnnaMaria (Cindy Fernandez-Nixon) who considered him a “lifer” but now tells him never to try to come back.  As he wanders home he encounters a weird guy in the park (played by director Chapman), then his resentful neighbor Mrs. Santangelo (Kris Smith); later that day when he prints up fliers for a group he wants to form, Quitters Unite, Craig gets more grief from his strange across-the-street-neighbor Bing (Chace Beck)—if that’s his real name—then shows attraction toward cute-upstairs-neighbor Grace (Jordan Alexandra) but is humiliated by her gruff boyfriend, Klaus (Michael Sullivan), then passes on an invitation to join other neighbors at a Satanist church.  As time goes on Craig realizes he has little to do except work on a 1,000-piece-puzzle and wait for his new group meeting to start, although only 3 show up: Jerry (Jerry Pietrala), Nadia (Marie-Lou Nahhas), and Winston (Terry McNavage), yet the latter 2 leave but do return later.  Other events include Bing recruiting Craig to help him steal a lounge chair from a furniture store (they’re chased away); Grace tries to make up for the previous encounter with Klaus, yet that just results in the angry guy punching a hole in Craig’s front door; Jerry hangs around running through the hallway with a knife because Mom told him not to run with scissors; Grace gets hired as AnnaMaria’s new personal assistant; Bing wants Craig to watch his house (through a back window) for some vague reason resulting in Craig getting briefly arrested before Bing returns; Craig hangs around with Grace; Klaus suddenly gets friendly with Craig, goes with him to get his old job back, but AnnaMaria wants Craig to beg, which he resists until Grace gets angry with the whole situation, quits and leaves with Craig.


 Craig’s small group holds a rally in the park with signs made incorrectly (“Quilters Unite”), but no matter because only 1 other person chooses to listen to them.  ⇒As it all wraps up, Craig’s together with Grace, Klaus become a roommate with ranting Old Man Dan (Benjamin Sheeler), Craig invites Bing over to work on the puzzle with him and Grace.⇐  You won’t find much about Craig Quits … in the standard spots (nothing in RT or MC), although at the IMDb site there are 19 User Reviews, 18 of them in 7-9 of 10 realm (although “ass-kissmy” claims this support is from “cast, crew or their families” [I find no verification of such, however]), then of the 4 External Reviews (prior to mine being added) 2 are listed but aren’t found now, 1 needs a subscription to read it, and 1's ultimately positive.


 I have some positive responses to this now-6-year-old-movie as well, although as I note in the Summary of Reviews below, for me 2½ stars means “really good efforts here and some successes but getting borderline in quality” (though that doesn’t mean I’m fierce on all independent films, just ones that don’t fully work for me; same criteria for mainline cinema: I gave 2 stars to Steven Spielberg’s War Horse [2011; review in our January 10, 2012 posting {apologies for lousy layout back in this blog’s initial month}]).  Chapman’s (also screenwriter) got some good lines in here while Titlebaum carries the lead quite effectively, it’s just that the concept rambles quite a bit in trying to fill even this pleasantly-short-running time once the initial premise is established, along with character motivations that keep shifting (except for sympathetic Grace, gruff Dan) as the story moves through 5 days of an eventful week.  I don’t think you’d ever find Craig … to be boring, plus it’s cheap to rent (Amazon Prime Video $2.99, Apple TV+ $3.99).  I'll sign off these comments with a Musical Metaphor of The Beatles’ “Think for Yourself” (on their 1965 Rubber Soul album) at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=vtx5NTxebJk, giving a touch more seriousness to Craig’s situation with George Harrison’s lyrics of “The future still looks good / And you’ve got time to rectify / All the things that you should / Do what you want to do / And go where you’re going to / Think for yourself / ‘Cause I won’t be there with you.”  Craig’s found the people he wants to be with although I hope he can find somebody to pay him for putting puzzles together because that’s about all of the (limited) skills he’s showing here no matter what he was doing for AnnaMaria during all of those 8 prior lifer-level-years.


 That’s all for my critical commentary this week, but whether you agree or not I’ll offer you one more opportunity to be in unity with an attitude that would benefit all of us, James Taylor’s "Shower the People" (on his 1976 In the Pocket album), because we should “Shower the people you love with love / Show them the way that you feel / Things are gonna be much better/ If you only will.”  We’re now sailing through divisive times; it could be a smoother ride if we’d only help each other a bit more.


Other Cinema-Related Stuff: (1) Attempts to get audiences back into theaters (but not me yet); (2) Thor: Love and Thunder hits big (don't rub it in), but what's next?; (3) Netflix lost 970,000 subscribers in 2022's second quarter (I'm still here, so how's about a discount?).

             

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

            

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*Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that all postings since July 11, 2013 now have the proper functioning link.


Here’s more information about Spiderhead:


https://www.netflix.com/title/80210767


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3QB-Rdr078 (9:00, Easter Eggs you missed in the movie)


https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spiderhead


https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spiderhead


Here’s more information about Craig Quits His Day Job:


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4613780/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNcSAhlX_o4


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with us at that site in order to do it (most FB procedures are still a bit of a mystery to us old farts).


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, but maybe while there you’ll get a chance to meet Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, RIP).  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 (although, as you know, with bar songs there are plenty about people broken down by various tragic circumstances, with maybe the best of the bunch—calls itself “perfect”—being "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" written by Steve Goodman, sung by David Allen Coe).  But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion/lover/

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 venue) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes/wanes over the months/years to come. But, just as we can be 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 get tired of listening to it, then and now (one of my idle dreams is to play guitar even half this well). But, while I’m at it, I’ll also include another of my top favorites, from the night before at Desert Trip, the Rolling Stones’ "Gimme Shelter" (Wow!), a song “just a shot away” in my memory (along with my memory of their great drummer, Charlie Watts, RIP).  To finish this cluster of all-time-great-songs I’d like to have played at my wake (as far away from now as possible) here’s one Dylan didn’t play at Desert Trip but it’s great, much beloved by me and Nina: "Visions of Johanna."  However, if the day does come when Nina has to present these above thoughts (beginning with “If we did talk”) and this music after my demise I might as well make this into a somewhat-Top 10 of songs that mattered to me by adding The Beatles’ "A Day in the Life," 

because that chaotic-orchestral-finale sounds like what the death experience may be like, and the Beach Boys’ "Fun Fun Fun," because this gathering may have gotten morbid so I’d like to sign off with something much more upbeat to remember me (the Galveston non-surfer) by.

       

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