MST3K, RiffTrax, and Beyond: Cinema Playground Journal 2024: Week 2 (My Cinema Playground)

Multiplex Madness

We had a fun snowstorm this weekend, so instead of taking in The Beekeeper, The Book of Clarence, and Mean Girls, I had to bunker down and keep out of the weather. I did manage to fit some streaming releases in and hit the theater for one movie. I'll make up for the rest next week.

American Fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Director: Cord Jefferson

Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown

This offering for awards season sees Jeffrey Wright playing a well-educated and literate author who struggles at selling books, likely because he is a Black man who's writing isn't "Black enough." As a goof created from frustration, he writes a book about violent street toughs that he considers a replica of best-selling trash that white people buy to "understand the real Black experience," but is blindsided when it actually becomes a universally acclaimed bestseller. It's not exactly a new type of story, it's kinda sorta The Producers, but American Fiction looks through its subject through so many different lenses in an empathetic light that it feels like an all-encompassing look at art creation and consumption. It's primarily a story told from the point-of-view of a struggling artist, who's outlook roasts the publishing industry and the audience it panders to, and how art can be compromised for the sake of making money. At the same time, we also glimpse at his personal life struggles, and how making that money can actually help, even if it doesn't ease his frustrations. Surprisingly, the movie doesn't stop there, also criticizing those that critique by turning the spotlight on Wright's own judgments, showcasing that even if a work can be scrutinized for being for mass consumption, there are also layers and effort to a work that those who dismiss it opt to not see. It's a very thorough exploration of outlooks on the creative process, from those who partake it, judge it, and leech off of it, while also offering an underlining theme of race and stereotype being used for marketability. American Fiction can at times dip heavy into the drama of its personal life only to snap back into the wit of its parody, and the tonal shift can be jarring, but that's my one quibble for a movie as sharp as this.

Netflix & Chill

Destroy All Neighbors

⭐️⭐️

Streaming On: Shudder

Genre: Comedy, Horror

Director: Josh Forbes

Starring: Jonah Ray Rodrigues, Alex Winter, Kiran Deol

Mystery Science Theater host Jonah Ray stars in this comedic horror flick about a man who tries to get his neighbor (played by Alex Winter under a lot of heavy make-up) to turn down his music, only to accidentally murder him in the process. While trying to cover up what he did, he finds his killing spree unexpectedly continuing. Anybody who has lived in an apartment building can relate, am I right? It's a funny idea, and Destroy All Neighbors deserves kudos for pushing its off-the-wall, splatstick mayhem, though it is often so manic that it's running in twelve directions in any given moment. It's unclear whether or not most of the movie is entirely in Jonah Ray's head or if it's some strange supernatural element, because the movie is inconsistent in getting its story across. Because of that, I found myself more disconnected from the movie than I felt I should be, given how much I love movies like this. Saving graces include Jonah Ray himself, who is consistently funny throughout, and interesting theme resonance of artistic creation and frustration. The movie also has some neat little references to Jonah's MST connection, including a girlfriend named Emily (I'm not convinced this is necessarily an MST reference, but it's kind of a funny coincidence if it isn't), and the mantra that MST has lived by since day one: "Not everyone will get it, but the right ones will."

Role Play

⭐️

Streaming On: Prime

Genre: Comedy, Action

Director: Thomas Vincent

Starring: Kaley Cuoco, David Oyelowo, Rudi Dharmalingam, Connie Nielson, Bill Nighy

Lackluster combination of True Lies and Date Night sees Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco as an assassin who lives a mundane family life when she's not working. Hoping to spice things up with her husband, they decide to meet up at a hotel bar as "total strangers" and get a hotel room for the night, only to be marked by fellow assassins during their liaison. Secret action badass spouses is not a new genre by any stretch of the imagination, True Lies being the tip of the iceberg (and also arguably the peak), but it can be quite exceptional if done well, like a Taken or a Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Or you can just goof it up and go flat like last year's Ghosted. Role Play feels like it was written by someone who wanted to make John Wick with marital issues, but in translating it to the screen, something just collapsed underneath it. It's hard to pinpoint whether this is a problem with the script, the direction, or the performances because there is a disconnect between all three of them. The script seems light on ideas to keep the story rolling, the direction lacks any enhancement of comedy or action to make the movie come alive, and the actors feel like they're giving the minimum of what's required of them but resigned from the entire thing (except Bill Nighy, who is barely in the movie but owns it like a boss). The result is a limp and lifeless action/comedy that is neither exciting nor funny, and given the subject matter also involves a married couple trying to stimulate each other, it's also lacking in saucy sex appeal. It takes way more effort to pay attention to than its worth, but if you need noise while you play Candy Crush on your phone, it should deliver that adequately.

Movies Still Playing At My Theater

Anyone But You ⭐️1/2

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom ⭐️⭐️

The Beekeeper (N/A)

The Book of Clerence (N/A)

The Boy and the Heron ⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Boys in the Boat ⭐⭐⭐

Ferarri ⭐⭐⭐

Godzilla Minus One ⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (no)

The Iron Claw ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mean Girls (N/A)