MST3K, RiffTrax, and Beyond: Cinema Playground Journal 2025: Week 9 (My Cinema Playground)

Multiplex Madness

Ex-Husbands

⭐️⭐️1/2

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Director: Noah Pritzker

Starring: Griffin Dunne, James Norton, Miles Heizer, Richard Benjamin, John Ventimiglia, Rosanna Arquette

Meloncholy dramady sees men mourning the loss of their marriage with that unanswerable question of "How the hell did I get here?" A dentist going through a divorce asks himself that very question while tagging along with his son to a bachelor party in Mexico. The film is about clashing vibes, where a middle-aged man tries to take his mind off of his dead romance with men half his age celebrating a blossoming relationship...at face value. There's an underlining degree of pessimism to the film, as it portrays all romances as a sinking ship just waiting to happen. Those who have felt the particular sting that the film explores will find much to identify in it, though it's presented in a way that feels like reopening old woulds rather than therapeutic. I'm sure the film thinks it is therapeutic in a group session kind of way, but it feels like it's venting its own depression to make itself feel better. I'm glad it got that off its chest. It's important to not keep this stuff pent up. I just have nothing to say in response, so pardon the awkward silence.

Last Breath

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Director: Alex Parkinson

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, Finn Cole, Cliff Curtis

Under the sea, under the sea...darling, it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me! Not for everyone, it seems, because Last Breath is the true story of Chris Lemons, a deep sea maintenence man who becomes trapped at the bottom of the ocean with only ten minutes of air. His crewmates attempt a rescue of him, but one that can only occur well past the ten minute mark. It's a daring case of heroism and hope, similar to a lot of movies of its type, though it does it about as well as you hope it might even if it works some of the trappings that a lesser film might succumb to. Last Breath is a peculiar case where a survival thriller leans into sentimental melodrama while not sacrificing elements that make it investing or exciting. That melodrama ensures that the film's conclusion isn't in doubt, but it's a well-made experience. Of course, an A-plus cast helps, including Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu, and Cliff Curtis, ensuring the film's rougher edges are smoothed out. That being said, there are some rough pacing as the film is pretty tied to the actual events as they unfolded. It doesn't hurt the movie, but it assures that there is a ceiling as to how good it can get.

But, most damning of all, at no point did this movie needledrop the Evanescence song of the same name. Minus fifteen points for missing an easy A. Oh well, maybe the shark movie from last year was on top of it.

My Dead Friend Zoe

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Director: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes

Starring: Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Gloria Reuben, Utkarsh Ambudcar

Walking Dead and Star Trek player Sonequa Martin-Green stars in what is probably the first substantial lead role in a movie that I've seen from her (other than Space Jam 2, but we don't talk about that). Martin-Green plays an army veteran battling PTSD involving her deceased soldier comrade Zoe, whose memory haunts her in a corporeal form that tags along with her wherever she goes. Zoe is a rather on-the-nose metaphor for trauma following someone throughout their life, a burden that needs to be unloaded but never goes away. She constantly comments upon her friend's life events, while also whispering in her ear about everything she's on the edge of opening up about, berating it and telling her not to. It's too obvious to be clever, but it is truthful, which is what counts. The film's honesty is its driving force, working its way to a conclusion that steamrolls with a surprise turn, wanting the audience to ponder the many different types of trauma there are. The movie does fumble at times, often struggling to give Zoe something meaningful to do as she hangs around and says a line for the sake of having a line, but part of the point is that she's always there and she won't leave. And she shouldn't be expected to.

Riff Raff

⭐️⭐️

Genre: Comedy

Director: Dito Montiel

Starring: Ed Harris, Gabrielle Union, Lewis Pullman, Miles J. Harvey, Jennifer Coolidge, Emanuella Postacchini, Bill Murray, Pete Davidson

Former criminal Ed Harris raises a new family with Gabrielle Union when his screw-up son Lewis Pullman knocks on his door on the run from crime boss Bill Murray in this comedy about family bonds. Riff Raff has some promise, and its story about relationships can be surprisingly sweet at the best moments. However, as rapid fire as it is with comedic gags, it's shooting blanks half the time. The movie is amusing while never actually crossing the line into being funny. A lot of the comedy attempts are shots at audacity in a family setting, and the jokes may have been audacious in the 90s, and, even if they were still audacious, they're too dryly delivered to gain more than a shrug. It's like Happy Madison trying to emulate Richard Linklater and Wes Anderson at the same time. A movie with a cast this talented should not waste them, but the film never works up the spirit to generate inspiration within them. We're left with good performers working with okay material saddled with odd comedic timing framed in stilted direction, leaving the audience knowing they're supposed to laugh but not interested in doing so.

Movies Still Playing At My Theater

Captain America: Brave New World ⭐️1/2

Companion ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

A Complete Unknown ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dog Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Heart Eyes ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Love Hurts ⭐️⭐️

The Monkey ⭐️⭐️1/2

Mufasa: The Lion King ⭐️⭐️1/2

Paddington in Peru ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Unbreakable Boy ⭐️⭐️

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