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)
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?).
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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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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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