The Burdens of History
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)
Opening Chatter (no spoilers): I hope you could enjoy at least a bit of the Labor Day holiday, the unofficial end of summer when many vacations end, schools from kindergarten to college are back. It’s a tradition that day for Nina and me to watch Picnic (Joshua Logan, 1955 [adapted from William Inge’s 1953 Pulitzer Prize-winning play; movie won Oscars for Best Art Direction – Color, Best Film Editing plus noms for Best Picture, Director]), a rare cinematic story set on Labor Day (over a roughly 24-hour-period in 1 location; very Aristotelian in terms of Classic drama structure). She loves it largely because of the subtly-erotic-"Moonglow" dance between William Holden and Kim Novak; I initially dismissed it as melodramatic claptrap, but, after having seen it so much, I must admit it's a great (intentional or not) critique of many sexual/gender/class mores of U.S. mid-1950s society, so it’s become a pleasure for me to watch too, hokey as it may be in certain aspects (it also makes for a great drinking game if you have to guzzle every time he calls her “Baby” instead of “Madge,” although you had better not plan on driving anywhere when it’s over).
And, in regard to Labor Day, when I went to pick up take-and-bake-pizzas for supper that night, turned on the radio, there were the Silhouettes with their 1957 hit "Get a Job"! OK, now back to the business at hand. (With hopes my keyboard doesn’t short out from sweat; the SF Bay Area’s [and the rest of CA] endured a rare heat wave this week, temps at my un-air-conditioned-condo around 105o, about 30o higher than normal while the rest of the West is similarly boiling, just as the South and Midwest did earlier, even as the East Coast drowns in rain [also a recent problem in the South/Midwest]—whatever you can do about this climate change wherever you are, I wish you well.)
I’m still avoiding potential COVID encounters (likely more a danger than usual this past Saturday when the nationwide project of thousands of U.S. theaters charging only $3 per showing in an effort to get big crowds back into screening rooms in hopes of a carryover into the fall releases resulted in about 8.1 million patrons—not all in my neighborhood, admittedly) by choosing streaming options, but in this case I’m able to discuss Honk for Jesus …, which just opened in theaters but also’s available on the Peacock platform (nice for me because I get that free as a Comcast customer, as that corporation also owns NBC and Peacock). It’s a bitter satire, hilarious (although those who don’t laugh at the commodification of religion might find it to be insulting), about a former power-couple who’ve had to shut down their huge-congregation-church because of scandals involving this flamboyant preacher so now they’re in the process of reopening on Easter Sunday despite having lost almost all of their parishioners to a similar church, run by a young couple elsewhere in Atlanta.
However, I’m not as enamored with my other streaming choice, Burial ($6.99 rental on Apple TV+), which I saw based on recommendations from a couple of my San Francisco-area-critics who must have found something more engaging about it than I did, despite what I assumed would be a fascinating premise exploring whatever happened to Adolph Hitler’s body after he committed suicide at the near-end of WW II in Europe in 1945. First, what’s depicted here quickly shifts from historical record to complete fiction; second, except for some constructed-tension about what might happen to the Soviet team attempting to transport the corpse to Moscow in a few scenes, I see little point in whatever’s trying to be depicted here, but maybe you’d like it more than I (and the marginally-supportive-CCAL) do. 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 a likewise-wide-array of options for streaming rental or purchase. If you just want to see what reigned at the domestic (U.S.-Canada) box-office last weekend, go here.
Finally, to keep you up on new, ongoing additions to this blog you might skip over once you’ve read the reviews, I’ve added 2 musical tidbits to the previously-inserted-James Taylor song always following the reviews before I move on to the Short Takes lineup. Always feel free to sing along!
Here’s the trailer for Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.:
(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: We open on an image of a statue of Jesus as a Black man, followed by shots of a huge-but-empty-church save for former first lady Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall), talking directly to the camera of documentary filmmaker Anita (voice of Andrea Laing; we don’t see her on our screen) about how she and former pastor-husband Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) are preparing to reopen their massive (used to get about 26,000 attendees on Sundays) Wander to Great Paths, a Southern Baptist church in Atlanta. Much—but not all—here seems to be ongoing-footage of the Childs' activities leading up to that soon-to-be-reopening, on the symbolic resurrection date of Easter Sunday, with this doc intended to be quickly wrapped up, shown as further incentive for the former attendees to return to the Childs’ leadership, although we get a little snippet of what seems to be the finished product in the overall-movie we’re watching, noting the church had to be shut down a year ago in response to charges of inappropriate behavior by Lee-Curtis. (Little detail on what he was accused of [Trinitie initially filed for divorce, then reconsidered], but enough is clarified as this narrative goes on to understand it was sexual allegations from various men who are in the process of agreeing to settlement offers to just drop all charges, while Lee-Curtis is in preparation of a compelling sermon on Satan’s insidious powers of temptation coupled with a plea for forgiveness, a focus on the future rather than the past [which, ironically, included denunciations of homosexuality in his sermons]—although a later scene shows him trying to get friendly with a young soundman in the documentary film crew, but to no avail [this scene’s just for us, not captured by the doc filmmakers]).
Interspersed with these current scenes are other flashbacks of Lee-Curtis preaching to his regular Sunday crowd, claiming that material possessions (their huge home, closets full of expensive clothes [Prada and other prestigious labels], substantial cars—there’s even reference to a helicopter) are simply God’s acknowledgements of the fine work being done at this particular megachurch (though there’s mention of many humanitarian projects they’re involved in, so this place they're running isn’t a complete scam, but its 2 leaders certainly feel confident they deserve all of their indulgences—he likes to compare himself to the protagonist of Rocky [John G. Avildsen, 1976], even when he has to remind her this famed boxer won his match in Rocky II [Sylvester Stallone, 1979], even though he lost in the original; they also clash over proper pronunciation of “ay-men” or “ah-men”; further, we see hints of marriage difficulties as a sex night turns into a “needed” oral job on him, nothing for her).
Despite the Childs’ forced-optimism—they always break into (phony) smiles for the doc camera—they’re quite concerned a preacher couple, the Sumpters, Keon (Conphidance) and Shakura (Nicole Beharie), former members of the Childs’ congregation but now ready to open up a larger version of their Heaven’s Home church (with many of the Childs’ former-congregation—such as Sister Denetta [Olivia D. Dawson], who happens upon Trinitie at a shopping mall, each dropping some barely-sugar-coated-insults), also on Easter Sunday, so they appeal to this younger couple to change their date but with no agreement. Lee-Curtis decides to rush their opening to Palm Sunday (the week before Easter, although they never note that specific name in this movie; I guess it’s more focused on in the Catholicism I’m familiar with than in Evangelical Protestantism [do correct me if I’m wrong]).
As an effort to gain public awareness of their reopening, Lee-Curtis with a bullhorn joins Triniitie on the sidewalk in front of their building, having her wave a “Honk for Jesus” sign, then when the honking begins to recede he first brings out that Black Jesus statue to back them up, then tells her to put on mime makeup (which, of course, looks like whiteface on a Black woman so you can draw your own conclusions as to what that implies) and do “praise miming” to music (looks like booty-shaking-dancing); during these scenes she’s harassed by a woman passing by for her husband’s scandals, he’s harassed by Khalil (Austin Crute), one of the young men with allegations against Lee-Curtis. ⇒When Trinitie's fed up, she goes back into the church, followed by Anita’s camera. Inside, Anita suggests Trinitie should leave Lee-Curtis which summons up a powerful diatribe by Trinitie against all those who’ve turned against the Childs (sort of echoing the advice of her mother, Sabina [Avis Barnes], to stay with her husband through his trials) as well as Anita whom Trinitie says is just trying to get useful footage to take her down as well. When Palm Sunday arrives only a very faithful few show up (and someone in a Mustang doing noisy donuts in their parking lot) while over at Heaven’s Home a large, raucous crowd’s enjoying the new directions of their "sacred" Sunday investments.⇐
So What? If you’re convinced that anyone who claims to be preaching the word of God should be believed and honored, then you might find this movie to be offensive; otherwise, if you find some of these so-called “evangelists” are hoodwinking-swindlers out to make a cushy material life for themselves, even if they’ve been promoting their hypocrisy for so long they’ve come to believe it, you might see they’ve seemingly, comfortably forgotten Jesus’ strong admonition (depending on which translation from the ancient text you prefer): "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (I don’t wish to get into any theological arguments about text interpretation honoring material acquisitions with any of you, but this statement seems pretty straightforward in its warning about the easy corruption of Earthly-abundance unless a lot of spiritual enlightenment helps you find ways of using those resources for the good of a community, not buying lavish dwellings, wardrobes, and transportation vehicles for yourself [certainly not the case for the 4 top church leaders focused on in this story, in my opinion].)
Lee-Curtis claims he’s not distracted by the wealth he’d formerly accumulated yet he’s determined to regain that sense of power over a huge congregation again rather than redirect himself to a small storefront mission for people who need ongoing help rather than thousands who come each Sunday to show off their fine clothes, brag about their “God-given” business opportunities; Trinitie (clever spelling of her name), in her spontaneous speech to the unseen documentarian, Anita, claims to have done everything she has only for the benefit of her congregation yet she admits she wants Lee-Curtis to be embraced as a beloved preacher again so she can sit up on the stage behind him, beaming in her own glory and expensive outfits. Keon and Shakura put on a good “holier than thou” front to the documentarians about how they didn’t know the Childs were reopening a week before Easter so they graciously chose that same date to allow their rivals a big focus on a huge Holy Day; yet, they could have consulted with them rather than quietly making the day-change-decisions, plus they had to have known that if they went first they’d lock in the huge throngs they’d acquired since the closing of the Childs’ church, so their “generosity” seems mockingly-insincere as I interpret them.
Further, I'll say all any of them want is fame and fortune, to be in the limelight of “religious” success (just as the Childs’ former-supporter, Sister Denetta, has changed alliances to the Sumpters, won’t accept Trinitie’s invitation to return to the “reawakened” Wander to Great Paths). While this movie’s about a certain brand of Southern Baptist Protestants, my yes-to-spirituality/no-to-religion wife, Nina, sees plenty of similarities to the double-speak-hypocrisy she broke away from having been raised in the Roman Catholic Church. (As was I, although she soon blew it off not long after high school while I went from marginal participation at Sunday masses during high school after switching from Catholic to public education [at the insistence of my mother, a Baptist converted to Catholicism to suit the requirements of my father’s family—I later was pleasantly-surprised to find out he didn’t really believe much of it either, just went along to keep my grandmother and aunt pacified] to attempt truly understanding the faith when I got into college, but the more I read, attended other denomination’s services, looked into religions beyond Christianity, the less I could sincerely say the Apostles’ Creed every Sunday, drifted into agnosticism while seeing plenty of value in Nina’s comfort with a non-theistic-spirituality; we haven’t gone to any church—except for weddings and funerals—for decades.)
Therefore, Nina sees a lot to laud in this movie, says she’d give it 4½ stars, worked for her much better as a satire than what we saw in what became last week’s review of Official Competition, which I guess is more about my unofficial-religion of following the cinema industry, leading me to easily praise it with 4 stars, just as I have ultimately decided to do with this current feature. However, I must admit my initial reaction to Honk … was a bit like hers to …Competition in that I wanted it to be more like something I’d try to rewrite, attempting to keep the laughs coming fully to the end rather than taking the more serious turn in the last quarter of the story as Trinitie begins to crumble under the pressure of not only the failing revival of her church but also the eroding faith she’s had in the stability of her marriage (just as I bumped Not Okay down to 3½ stars a couple of weeks ago because I didn’t fully care for how a marvelous satire about social-media-obsession/manipulation turned so serious toward the end—I’ve come to realize that for me when something starts out in satire-mode, such as Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb [Stanley Kubrick, 1964] or Blazing Saddles [Mel Brooks,1974], I want it to be bitterly-funny right up to the end without just shifting into the [admittedly-true] heartbreak as a revelation by a main character).
So, I was at first a bit less enthusiastic than Nina in my intended-rating of Honk for Jesus …, but then I got to thinking about my review of Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen, 2013) long ago, where I wasn’t fully convinced about the overall quality of the film but was so impressed by the superb acting of Cate Blanchett—who won the Best Actress Oscar for her leading role—I bumped my rating up to 4 stars as I felt she carried the whole film so well; well, that’s the case with Honk … as Regina Hall's so fabulous here, especially in that diatribe he unleashes on Anita (but also just in the way she constantly breaks into a fake smile when she’s being shot by Anita’s camera, even when she’s just experienced a miserable-event). I can only hope Hall’s remembered for Oscar consideration when nominations come out months from now as she’s earned it with this performance. Another intriguing aspect of how this movie’s put together is the shifting around between footage obviously being shot for the doc (that we’re allowed to see as it happens) and scenes where the documentary crew’s not around at all, so we know these are the private events in the life of the Childs couple which then shift back into doc footage (where we even see some of the crew in the background at times) so we get some sense of what will end up in the final (likely damning, just as Trinitie predicts) edit of the documentary, just as we know even more about the private lives of these protagonists from the additional scenes we’ve been privy to. All in all, it’s a marvelous experience to watch (again, if you’re not put off by it), one I think that's notably better than what the CCAL's willing to acknowledge.
Bottom Line Final Comments: Specifically, the CCAL’s noticeably behind me with Rotten Tomatoes giving Honk for Jesus … 72% positive reviews as Metacritic drops even lower (as usual) with a 63% average score. To offer a couple of quick ideas about what the supporters and decliners experienced we’ll start with a “yes” from Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly (just a website now after the print version first went monthly, then disappeared completely; I’m now getting People in its place, rejected the offer of extending the subscription) who gives a grade of B+, says: “Honk for Jesus shares a lot of Tammy Faye's (The Eyes of Tammy Faye [Michael Showalter, 2021; review in our January 13, 2022 posting—won the Best Actress Oscar for Jessica Chastain; we’ll see if Regina Hall can at least score a nomination]) small-screen feel and sense for wink episodic comedy; like that movie too, it's held together by the tensile strength of the petite, bedazzled female at its center. Awards-season gold probably won't strike twice in a row for pastor's wives, but Hall deserves some kind of prize for the soul she pours into this part.” In a more-negative-direction is Ty Burr of Ty Burr’s Watch List, 2 of 4 stars: “The two leads go at their roles with gusto, and I’m happy to watch Hall in anything, but unless you’re truly surprised by the idea that there’s corruption and hypocrisy in organized religion, this is a case of shooting Jesus fish in a barrel.” However, if you want full negativity cruise across the Atlantic to U.K.’s The Guardian where Andrew Lawrence is almost at the level of total-dismissal, 1 star of 5: “Ebo tries to garner sympathy for Trinitie, leaving her around boys her husband either had seduced or would have if he got the chance. But you never really get the sense their marriage was more than community theater. You don’t feel for them. [¶] Black church is all about feeling – the building, the people, and the message. But Honk has none of that soul. At best, the film is an abstract commentary on a culture it doesn’t fully understand; at worst, it’s half-hearted creative license. And at this late stage, sadly, not even Jevus [you’ll likely have to read the full review to follow this reference] could save it.” Obviously, he finds little to save.
I found considerably more to like about Honk for Jesus ... than such naysayers did—and will cite my local San Francisco Chronicle critic Mick LaSalle in even more laudatory-long-form-praise (rather than chastising him, as I often do): “The funniest comedy of the season is also the most interesting drama. ‘Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.’ is a tonally brilliant achievement that swings effortlessly from uncomfortable humor to moments of blazing emotion. […] this is not a movie about a gravy train coming to an end, but about a couple whose self-conception and reason for being are under threat. What we see as comedy is catastrophe for them, and then, as Ebo draws us close to the characters, we start to see through their eyes.”—yet, domestic audiences haven’t been all that supportive with a Labor Day weekend-debut-take of merely $1.7 million, from 1,880 domestic theaters, but a crucial factor in that result is the simultaneous release on Peacock streaming which is virtually guaranteed to keep many interested viewers away from the moviehouses, even for that tempting-$3-admission.
If, after reading all this, you find yourself interested enough to seek out Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. it’s likely you’d find it on a big screen in more-urban-areas, but for sure it’s right there on Peacock. OK, enough from me so let’s wrap up with my usual tactic of a Musical Metaphor; after putting considerable thought into what might be appropriate with this movie I settled on “King Herod’s Song” (from the 1970 record album [music Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics Tim Rice]/1971 Broadway play [director, Tom O’Horgan]/1973 film [Norman Jewison—no puns about his name in this context, OK?]) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEmScsUkbo4, which might seem equally blasphemous if you don’t “witness” Honk … as a satire, but that whole Webber/Rice concept (whose songs provide the foundation for all of the later adaptations, including many stage revivals and a TV/video movie [Gale Edwards and Nick Morris, 2000/2001]) is intended to present Jesus clearly as an impactful man or maybe a lot more, yet still an open question given there’s no reference to a resurrection after his death. However, this song highlights the ridicule some in ancient Jerusalem showed to him just prior to his crucifixion, their own form of satire about his/His ministry, as Herod here demands material/supernatural proof of Jesus’ special-status as the only way he’ll believe all of the wondrous-rumors circulating about this desert-country-celebrity (“Prove to me that you’re divine – change my water into wine“). It’s a brash presentation (although informed by Biblical accounts of how Jesus was treated/rejected by the authorities of his time), for me rightfully in keeping with the tone of Honk … as it tears into clergy who prop themselves up as necessary leaders of their congregations, materially “blessed” by God for their upstanding “holiness.” Just as with … Superstar and “King Herod’s Song,” Honk … gets quite serious after the goofy attempt of Lee-Curtis and Trinitie out on the street trying to drum up business for their upcoming church-reopening, but even there in this current movie the satire continues (at a less-obvious-level) as the Sumpters try to convince the documentarians their decision to also open up a week early was a chance decision even as it had a powerful negative impact on that intended “resurrection” of Wander to Great Paths.
SHORT TAKES (spoilers also appear here)
Burial (Ben Parker) rated R 95 min.
This is a highly-reimagined-version of what happened to Adolph Hitler’s body after he committed suicide just before the end of WW II in Europe, with the general truth of a Soviet Union squad ordered to bring the corpse to Moscow so Joseph Stalin could gloat over his death, but then they’re attacked (fictionally) by German “werewolves” determined to retrieve this prized "loot."
Here’s the trailer:
Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.
Adolph Hitler, Nazi Germany’s dictator since 1933, faced inevitable defeat toward the end of WW II as Soviet troops were advancing on Berlin so he (along with wife of 1 day, Eva Braun) committed suicide on April 30, 1945 (he shot himself; she took cyanide), with instructions their bodies were to be burned beyond recognition, which was done as noted in the 2 short videos attached to this movie in this posting’s Related Links section a bit farther below. However, Burial takes what was partly historical about this event—Soviet Union dictator Joseph Stalin wanted the body brought back to Moscow to prove to the world Hitler died as a coward—then spins it in a different direction for the story we see on screen, beginning in 1991 in England as Jewish Anna Marshall (Harriet Walter) watches a TV news story about the collapse of the USSR, then becomes aware of a man about to break into her home. She’s ready, overpowers him with a Taser, handcuffs him to her radiator, finds out he’s a neo-Nazi who wants to know about the mission she was part of to retrieve Hitler’s body. Most of the rest of this story is in flashback; Anna—now going by her original name of Brana Vasilyeva (Charlotte Vega)—is with an elite group of Russian soldiers charged with hauling Hitler’s corpse back to Moscow by wagon (or even worse, by hand) because their intended flight was no longer possible. As they pass through Poland they learn of a ragtag-group of Nazi mercenaries who dress in wolf skins, call themselves “werewolves” (or “wehrwolfs”), worry Brana her squad might be overcome by these killers so they bury the coffin each night to hide it from retrieval by their pursuers.
Along the way Brana meets a local man, Lukasz (Tom Felton)—a Pole of German heritage forced by the Nazis to aid them, now terrified of being killed by Germans or Russians—who helps her fight off an attack from the vicious werewolves, ⇒brings her to the home of an elderly couple until the werewolves attack again, taking the coffin with them to a church the Nazis use as a headquarters where they plan to make a film claiming this (unburned) body, which we’ve finally been allowed to see, isn’t Hitler. What’s left of Brana’s team arrives, there’s lots of gunfire, then an inferno burns down the church, along with Hitler’s corpse we'll assume, with only Lucasz and Brana surviving.⇐
We return to 1991 where “Anna” is angry with her intruder for killing Lucasz a few days earlier so she poisons him after telling him she was imprisoned in Russia (seemingly for failure to deliver the corpse to Stalin) for a few years, then eventually made her way to England (after some time In Poland) to live concealed until found by this neo-Nazi. While the premise of this movie is interesting enough on its own, it becomes quite problematic when compared to what we do more-or-less-know about the aftermath of Hitler’s suicide, especially as this movie devolves into a routine-action-adventure-story as these small bands of Germans and Russians continue to kill each other on their long-ago-trek across Poland. I’d previously heard nothing about Burial, would not have been inclined to follow up given the CCAL’s tepid response (RT 67% positive, MC’s 57% average score) had it not been for the enthusiastic support of a couple of local critics (they shall remain nameless) who, supposedly, have more credibility than me. If you feel like paying $6.99 to rent this on Apple TV+, be my guest (at least if you’re adverse to subtitles you’ll find all these Russians and Germans are speaking English [for our benefit, obviously], so you won’t have to read any annoying subtitles).
In my opinion, though, you’d be better off exploring what’s factually understood/surmised about the actual aftermath of Hitler's death (this citation’s extremely-well-documented) and listening to my Musical Metaphor, which has nothing directly to do with this narrative but does consistently condemn the kind of atrocities demanded by such tyrants as Hitler and Stalin, which continued to manifest themselves when Bob Dylan wrote “Masters of War” (on his The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan 1963 album), at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEmI_FT4YHU (critiquing the U.S. "military-industrial complex" and its Cold War with the U.S.S.R.), and are still viciously undermining world stability today as evidenced by many ongoing hostilities around our globe, most notably the horrid invasion of Ukraine by Russia’s current inheritor of Stalin’s ghastly tactics, Vladimir Putin, about whom I can only hope someday soon those with better understandings of international diplomacy can assure the rest of us, “I’ll stand over your grave / ‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead.” Maybe Stalin just wanted to make sure Hitler was dead, too, but given his track record while in power I think he had more nefarious intentions also, especially with his policy of spreading false rumors of Hitler still being alive somewhere as a means of stoking fears in the West to allow the Soviet Union any advantage it could gain from such misinformation, that is until Stalin's (well-deserved) death in 1953.
That’s all for my critical commentary this week (which usually reminds me of some parting lyrics from Pink Floyd’s "Time": “The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say,” or maybe R.E.M. knows me even better (from "Losing My Religion"]: “Oh no, I’ve said too much / I haven’t said enough”), but whether you agree with any of that stuff 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: Extra items: (1) What's new on Netflix in September 2022; (2) What's new on Amazon Prime Video in September 2022; (3) What's new on Hulu in September 2022; (4) What's new on Disney+ in September 2022; (5) What's new on HBO/HBO Max in September 2022; (6) Regal Cinemas file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; (7) Top Gun: Maverick becomes 5th highest-grossing domestic movie (12th globally), passes Black Panther.
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
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Here’s more information about Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.:
https://www.focusfeatures.com/honk-for-jesus-save-your-soul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDKg2vqItts (8:12 interview with twins Adamma Ebo [writer-director] and Adanne Ebo [producer]; [ad interrupts at about 5:10, then Regina Hall pops in quickly at about 6:00])
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/honk_for_jesus_save_your_soul
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/honk-for-jesus-save-your-soul
Here’s more information about Burial:
https://www.burial.movie (click the 3 little bars in the upper left for more info)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHl1DRRE44I (short [3:55] video about what happened to Hitler’s body after his suicide) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzAzytHg5Yk (12:48 video about the aftermath of his death and many other Germans to avoid capture [ad interrupts at 5:00])
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/burial
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/burial
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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 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 tune of all, The Beatles again, "In My Life," because whatever I might encounter in my Earth-time, “I love you more.”
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