MST3K, RiffTrax, and Beyond: Cinema Playground Journal 2024: Week 41 (My Cinema Playground)

Multiplex Madness

The Apprentice

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Drama

Director: Ali Abbasi

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova

The second mainstream biopic of a former President of the United States, though this one is less of a shoddy, dick-riding propaganda piece than the last one. So much so that Donald Trump actually sought to have the film's released blocked. I'm not sure there's anything in the film that will soil his "branding," because everything in the film is what any astute person already knows about Donald Trump, whether they admire him or detest him. It will likely only irritate those under the delusion that Trump is a name of intense moral fiber and devote patriotism, but if you believe that, lol. The Apprentice, not to be confused with the semi-related reality show, is a story of a bad man who learns he can get away with almost anything he wants when he bends the rules to his own will. The Apprentice shows Trump in the 1970's being mentored by seedy lawyer Roy Cohn, who teaches him several ruthless rules that Trump takes to heart as he rises in the business world. Modern day Donald Trump is such a cartoon character of narcissism and bankrupt morality that it's hard to think of him in a grounded way, mostly because its feels like he has always been like this. It's interesting that The Apprentice actually does manage to humanize him while realistically paving a road to the Donald Trump we know today. Sebastian Stan is pitch-perfect casting. His facial expressions and hand gestures are spot-on, and he plays the young and relatively naive Trump and the older and colder Trump with stark effectiveness. The movie itself can't shake several redundancies about it, feeling like a retooling of Wall Street with slight elements of All About Eve peppered in. Excellent performances and a well-created character study help it overcome this, making it one to check out if you want a glimmer of an idea of what makes Donald Trump tick.

Piece by Piece

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Director: Morgan Neville

Starring: Pharrell Williams

Rapper Pharrell Williams puts together a biographical semi-mockumentary based on his life and career...told entirely in Legos. It's a fun idea, one that's rich in novelty, while also tumbling over itself on mixing the straight autobiographical with the abstract. The point is to be exprssionistic with its artistic license, though it's sometimes so far into its own beat that it becomes coasting on vibes. It's an interesting attempt to step outside-of-the-box documentary, one that encourages imagination and individuality. It's a message that would resonate with the youngest of Lego enthusiests, though it's not exactly a movie kids will be interested in. That audience will be more interested in the Legos than the life story, which is probably for the best, seeing how the movie goes through its share of more adult-themed lyrics. However, the movie's existence is purely for the pleasure of those who made it, and even if never gains an audience, it has already pleased the people who wanted to see it.

Saturday Night

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Genre: Comedy

Director: Jason Reitman

Starring: Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O'Brien, Emily Ferin, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, J.K. Simmons

Our third biographical movie in a row, Saturday Night flashes us back to 1975, where young producer Lorne Michaels struggles to put on the premiere of a new live sketch comedy program, which will eventually be known as Saturday Night Live. Onset, he has to control his rowdy cast, duck the censors, structure the show, and convince executives that he's worth putting on instead of reruns of Johnny Carson. Saturday Night is a colorful ode to wrangling up rambunctious comedic chaos. Longtime fans of Saturday Night Live couldn't ask for anything more than that. SNL is pretty much a fifty year dumpster fire of a TV legacy, and rightfully so if half of this is true. I'm sure a lot of it is embellished, because it's a lot of chaos to handle in ninty minutes, but even if it is, it works as a tribute to nature of the series it's inspired by. The cast is excellent, as each member captures the essence of their performer almost as if they are being possessed by their vengeful spirits. Then there is J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle, which is low-key the most brilliant casting I've seen in any movie all year. You don't realize how good he's going to be until he's right in front of you. Those looking for a film that gleefully cherishes the hot mess that inspired it will find a lot to love about Saturday Night. I, for one, had a blast watching it.

Terrifier 3

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Horror

Director: Damien Leone

Starring: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Margaret Anne Florence, Bryce Johnson, Antonella Rose, Samantha Scaffidi

As if one movie about a murder clown wasn't enough for this October, now director Damien Leone is back with his Art the Clown character to make heads go splat. Following where the franchise left off in the second film, Arthur resurrect himself yet again with the help of his crazed mutilated victim from the first film, Victoria. Five years after their last appearance, Art and Victoria stalk the survivor of the previous film during a bloody Christmas season, carving up anybody in their way. It's difficult to not get desensitized to any given horror franchise no matter what it has to offer, especially when all it wants to offer is more of the same. In Terrifier's case, what it's willing to give its audience is even more extreme blood and nastiness. But when you've already started at the ceiling, how high can you go? Shock value is nonexistent. We all know what to expect from Terrifier 3, and if you don't, then you're not seeing Terrifier 3. However, Terrifier 3's strength lies in what made the other films enjoyable for horror enthusiasts: it knows what it is, and it loves itself for it. The original Terrifier is an homage of an underground style of horror film from decades past that few outside the mainstream where most feverish of horror fanatics have gone out of their way to see, such as Blood Feast or Basket Case. The second and third are indulgent exercises in excess, and if you're not in the mood to watch faces getting kicked in, nether-regions getting chainsawed, or axes getting stuck in people's spines, then there is no point in watching any of them. It's another Terrifier movie. Those who seek out any Terrifier movie already know what they want from a Terrifier movie, and they'll get it. Personally, I think I enjoyed the first one the best, due to its crafty homage. This one is a little lesser than the second one, even though I found the Christmas setting fresh (albeit pointless), Lauren LaVera played her PTSD storyline with effectiveness, and the rebranding of Victoria as a sidekick villain was fun. Terrifier 3 also ends with little resolve and a cliffhanger tease, wanting us to be excited for Terrifier 4 instead of giving us a whole movie. It almost feels like John Wick 3, where we got the action we came for and just ends when it should be beefing up. Those who saw a third will definitely see a fourth, though.

Movies Still Playing At My Theater

Alien: Romulus ⭐️⭐️1/2

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Blink ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Deadpool & Wolverine ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Joker: Folie à Deux ⭐️1/2

My Old Ass ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Speak No Evil ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Transformers One ⭐️⭐️

White Bird ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Wild Robot ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2