Multiplex Madness
Mending the Line
⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Drama
Director: Joshua Caldwell
Starring: Brian Cox, Sinqua Walls, Perry Mattfeld, Wes Studi
Brian Cox plays a veteran who teaches an injured soldier how to fly fish to help cope with his PTSD. Elements of Mending the Line run a little too similar to Causeway, as Sinqua Walls' character essentially echoes Jennifer Lawrence's in that movie. The key difference between the two is that Mending the Line leans more into soapy melodrama than Causeway did. Causeway was directed at cinephiles and is an overall better movie, though Mending the Line might prove to be a more palatable option for veterans who might relate to its subject matter. It's a softer movie with big, sad puppy dog eyes that wants you to hold its hand. It's solid, and both Cox and Walls are good in it, while it's always great to see Wes Studi in things. One's tolerance of it is going to heavily depend on whether they're buying the way this movie serves thick drama on a platter though. Otherwise Causeway is the alternative watch, especially since both movies are just basic "one day at a time" stories of trauma.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
⭐⭐1/2
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Director: Steven Caple Jr.
Starring: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, Pete Davidson, Michelle Yeoh, Peter Dinklage, Liza Koshy, Coleman Domingo
The Transformers series got to the point where its movies have basically become apology runs. I get the "If it makes money, why fix it?" attitude that brought us five movies under Michael Bay that just compounded convolution and incoherency, and I even like a couple of them in spite of their worst tendencies. But I think back to those movies and am reminded of what Lindsey Ellis said about them: "I just want a Transformers movie that was made by someone who doesn't hate Transformers."
Then Bumblebee came out, gave Lindsey what she asked for, and our response was "Wait...these movies could have been good this whole time?" It's hard not to be salty at these goddamn movies.
Rise of the Beasts is in an awkward phase where it's adapting to what Bumblebee did right but also trying to be familiar to those who enjoy the Bay movies. It grows even more awkward with its noncommittal to whether or not this post-Bumblebee iteration of the franchise are supposed to be prequels to the Bay movies or a full reboot. They don't exactly line up with those movies all that well, but the Michael Bay series is so contradictory within itself that they don't exactly make the lore all that much worse if they are connected. So its best to look at Rise of the Beasts solely as a sequel to Bumblebee, which sees Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and several other Autobots looking for an ancient portal key in possession of beast Transformers called Maximals, lead by Optimus Primal, who have been hiding it from the planet-eating Unicron and his minions, Scourge and the Terrorcons. The Beast Wars line of characters is mostly reimagined for this movie, as a group of protector monks who live in solitude and beat up anybody who threatens what they're hiding.
But is it better than the Bay movies? Bay movies have more flourish and style, but I like that I can actually see what the hell is going on in this movie. I also like that the Autobots are actual characters instead of personalities spouting catchphrases. I also like how Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback are easily the most charismatic and non-aggressively obnoxious human characters in this franchise. This movie, however, maybe reminds me a little too much of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which was a movie made by people who had a clear idea of what the ingredients to a good version of this franchise would be but didn't know how to put them together, so they just made a thing and hoped it worked. It's flashy, but since this is the seventh movie, flash isn't enough. We've seen this robot shooting shit before, and it needs to make it more exciting and less vanilla. Bay, for all his flaws, did create excitement at the best of times (the finales of the first and third movies are nothing if not exciting). I just wish I could scrap up this franchise and rebuild it from the best parts to show it what it could be.
Art Attack
The Starling Girl
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Genre: Drama
Director: Laurel Parmet
Starring: Eliza Scanlen, Lewis Pullman, Jimmi Simpsons, Wrenn Schmidt, Austin Abrams, Kyle Secor
The Starling Girl is about a 17-year-old girl who is raised in a devout Christian family who has an affair with a married youth pastor, as well as makes other choices that will make the audience wince, tense up, and go "Oh, honey, no." That is a phrase you'll be saying a lot during the two hour duration of this movie, and what makes it worse is that we understand why she takes the actions that she does. Not just because she's young and stupid, which we all were at 17, but the movie gives a great sense of her environment, living in a strict Christian family (that is falling apart slightly out of her gaze, but that's something else entirely). She finds herself in restriction as she yearns to explore love and sexuality, which includes a boyfriend that was personally selected by her parents which resembles that of an arranged marriage that she can't say no to. Being a teenager is rough, as you discover who you are through turmoil and tenacity, and doing that in a place that won't allow you to find yourself is almost devastating. And the thing is, her religion is not her enemy. She loves her religion. Her issue is those who use it to shackle her and take advantage of her trust and naiveté, instead of guiding her in the way she needs. Most might say faith has all the answers, but this film sheds light on the personal questions that are still being asked and the frustration it causes when there is no answer.
Mistakes were made. Mistakes will continue to be made. Meaning of life.
Netflix & Chill
Brooklyn 45
⭐⭐1/2
Streaming On: Shudder
Genre: Drama, Horror
Director: Ted Geoghegan
Starring: Anne Ramsay, Larry Fessenden, Jeremy Holmes, Kristina Klebe, Ezra Buzzington, Ron E. Rains, Lucy Carapetyan
I suspect that Brooklyn 45 might have been better served as a stage production, as it's primarily a film about a group of people in a single room arguing. That's what plays do best. Instead it chose film and it feels off-balance. The film centers on a group of military vets who served in World War II, who hold a seance to reach a friend who recently committed suicide. Shit happens, they find themselves haunted by their past, their fear, their bigotry, and, of course, spooks. The tone of this movie is strange, because while the acting is overall good enough to push the drama, it seems to take precedence over finding the right "feel" of the picture. A part of me assumes that they're aiming to replicate a 40's film, which just makes it jarring when it gets more modern (the cinematographer bookends the film with a classical 1.33:1 aspect ratio while playing out the rest of the film in a modern 2.4:1, which is very curious). But even if the film is trying to feel like a golden oldie, even chillers back then were atmospheric. The filmmaking here is a bit too bright and flippant to the darkness of its story. But the movie will surprise you with moments of effectiveness, including a thematically resonant conclusion that's based in uncertainty of the actions of our characters. The fact that we don't know if everything played out the right way as the characters ponder this themselves proves there is at least a core to this movie that works.
Flamin' Hot
⭐⭐1/2
Streaming On: Hulu
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Director: Eva Longoria
Starring: Jesse Garcia, Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert, Tony Shaloub
Our nostalgia phase of entertainment seems to have entered a point where we're now making movies about our nostalgia for commercialization, how our favorite corporate products came to our shelves during and post-Regan era. It's weird to think we got to this point, but maybe the targets of nostalgia IP sales have reached the age where they're branching off of just seeing a movie based on their favorite childhood cartoon and are venturing off into other interests. This year alone has given us Air, BlackBerry, and Tetris, and it's only halfway over. Flamin' Hot is about the invention of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, which tells the story of Richard Montañez, the janitor who came up with the brand and became an executive of the Frito Lay company because of it. His claims are disputed and the factual basis behind any of this is something I can't speak on, but the movie does come off as an earnest sales pitch of hot air. I want to believe this movie happened. It's a cute little feel-good underdog story. Its head is also in the clouds, leaning into tropes and cliches while also working a Hispanic flavor of quirkiness into itself. That's the impression I get, that the film is more about Mexican pride and accomplishment in the face of adversity than the product itself. That aspect of the film is lovely, directed with flavor by Eva Longoria (?!) like one long Luis rant from Ant-Man in narrative form. It's probably worth a watch based on that alone, even if I'm not sure I'm buying what it's selling.
Movies Still Playing At My Theater
The Little Mermaid ⭐⭐1/2
The Machine ⭐⭐
New To Digital
Fast X ⭐⭐1/2
New To Physical
Mafia Mamma ⭐⭐1/2
Renfield ⭐⭐⭐
Coming Soon!
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