Wednesday Season 1 (01.27.23)

You know the song and you know the schtick, even if you’re like me and haven’t actually seen them in anything before now. The Addams Family, iconic devotees of the macabre and morbid, have been staples of American pop culture for a shocking eighty-five years, inspiring generations of goths and many a zany fictional family in their ghastly wake. After being together for so long it is only natural for one to step away from their creepy clan now and then, which is what Wednesday Addams reluctantly does when she is forced to attend Nevermore Academy in the aptly titled Wednesday. As I said, I am no afficionado of the menacing ménage, but I am pretty certain that the quality and, more importantly, the tone of Netflix’s new show is more than worthy of its hellish heritage.

Jenna Ortega steps into the pigtails of Wednesday, and her performance is simply dreadful. I mean this, of course, in the way that Wednesday would use the word: To describe something exceptional and wonderful. She is fun to watch in a way that very few characters and actors are in any type of medium, consistently outshining (far from literally, of course) everyone and everything in her orbit (with the possible exception of Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, who is not in the show much, but is equally as fantastic in every scene she is in). And who better to direct proceedings than Tim Burton, a man who has consistently proven to be the closest thing we have to an actual member of the Addams Family in this realm? Burton’s dour demeanor fits the world of Wednesday like a snug noose on a witch’s neck, and his deft directing elevates the tale beyond what it would have been otherwise. As equally as important to the show’s success is Danny Elfman, Burton’s joined-at-the-hip blood brother, who provides a predictably delicious soundtrack.

Incredible performances of the Addamses aside, the story of Wednesday isn’t really all that special. Without its leads, director and soundtrack the show would feel more akin to one of those dime-a-dozen made-for-teens dramas that the CW airs, albeit one of the better ones. The supporting characters are fine and the actors who portray them are good, but I couldn’t care less about any of them when they were doing things independently of Wednesday, and my mind would consistently wander whenever the show got into love-triangle territory. I could also never figure out just what the actual world of Wednesday was supposed to be; at first I thought the Addams Family was truly an anomaly in a relatively normal version of reality, but then some people appear claiming to be werewolves. Later I realize they really are werewolves, but they exist under the radar of regular humans. Oh wait, nope, regular humans are fully aware of them and distrust them. Trying to figure out the basic setting of Wednesday was really quite distracting.

But these things don’t matter much to me whenever Ortega as Wednesday was on screen. Everything else about the show could have been complete trash and I would still come back to watch her for another season. The Addams Family is in good hands, if Thing will forgive the turn of phrase.  

Wednesday season 1 is now available on Netflix.

This review was first published in The Keizertimes on January 27^th, 2023. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/

 

Wildcat (01.13.23)

 

This Christmas my nephews bought me Minecraft so I could play it with them, and one of the first things I did in it was create my own ocelot. I’ve always wanted one, but unfortunately they are wild animals and are thus inadvisable to keep as pets (unless you are Salvador Dali—look up Babou if you don’t know Babou). Minecraft, zoos and documentaries such as Wildcat will have to suffice for my ocelot fix, as I am not a famous surrealist artist, but Amazon Prime’s Wildcat is much more than an excuse to watch a big cat do little cat things: Capable of switching from heartbreaking to uplifting on a dime, the story of Harry, Sam and Keanu is a worthy emotional ordeal that is beautifully done despite a couple of moments that seem a little performative as well as exploitative.

Harry is a twenty-something veteran of the war in Afghanistan who suffers from acute depression and PTSD. Looking for purpose, he finds himself in the Amazon, and there meets a conservationist named Sam. From there the couple takes it upon themselves to raise an abandoned ocelot kitten named Keanu with the end goal of eventually reintroducing him into the wild. Triumphant moments and heartbreak ensue because, as it turns out, raising an ocelot can be tough, especially when one of the adopted parents in question is often suicidal and almost always deeply depressed.

It’s a frighteningly candid look at mental illness, and one that can be quite uncomfortable at times, but it’s also one that is important to understand and impossible not to be sympathetic towards. In Keanu Harry finds redemption and purpose, but the road getting there is as bumpy as life can make it. I greatly enjoyed the real-life story of Wildcat, but there were also points where it seemed as if the camera people should have just put their stuff down and helped rather than letting Harry have largely unedited and unfiltered mental breakdowns for our “entertainment,” for lack of a better word. The film then goes on to suggest that our melancholy protagonist will be all right solely because of his experiences in the Amazon when years of therapy are undoubtedly still ahead of him. Harry and Sam are also either much more eloquent than I am or a couple of the things they said were previously written (or at least very well thought out) long beforehand, as a line or two can come off as slightly manufactured and rehearsed. But the vast majority of Wildcat is boldly genuine and heartfelt, and you will feel every moment of it.

A word to the wise—Wildcat is not an easy journey, nor is this R-rated film one that you should watch with kids or people sensitive to thematic elements. Self-harm and suicide is often discussed in frank terms, and let’s just say that Keanu was not the first baby ocelot that Harry tried to raise. A fun time solely devoted to feline shenanigans this is not, although the heavy moments are wonderfully balanced out by refreshingly joyful ones as well.

Wildcat is now available on Amazon Prime.

This review was first published in The Keizertimes on January 13^th, 2023. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/

Roald Dahl's Matilda: The Musical (01.06.23)

If Pink Floyd’s The Wall taught me anything, it’s that British children do not take kindly to disrespect from their educators. Perhaps I learned this lesson earlier from Roald Dahl’s Matilda, but if I did I don’t remember it. I was pretty sure the story had something to do with a hammer-tossed girl and maybe some psychic abilities, but other than that I went into Roald Dahl’s Matilda: The Musical simply knowing that it was a story kids appreciated, and now I can see why: Justice against bullies, even if they are exaggerated and cartoonish bullies, is timeless and satisfying. Matilda: The Musical is certainly the latter and might just prove to be the former as well.

            As the 30-year-olds who routinely star in high school-set movies and television shows can tell you, centering a production on children characters played by actual children can be quite a challenge. There’s a big difference between appreciating your niece or nephew awkwardly stumbling through their two lines as a tree in the local elementary school’s Thanksgiving play and watching kids try and fail to be anything other than annoying on the screen, but I can happily say that is not the case with Matilda: The Musical. The kids in the cast do all the heavy lifting, and there is nary a weak link to be found. Especially impressive is Alisha Weir, Matilda herself, who shines with an adorable energy that is hard not to smile at. The adult cast is equally exceptional, particularly Emma Thompson as the horrible and hateful Miss Trunchbull, who is hard to look at and even harder to not wish immediate and painful death for.

            The musical aspects of the film translate surprisingly well from the show’s West End origins, and though there is really only one song that stuck with me (and stick with me it will for the rest of my life, if my mental soundtrack of the last few days is any indication), all of the musical numbers are a joy to behold in the moment. The lyrics are clever and never shy away from the exaggeratedly dour tone that the book is famous for, and the dance choreography is as brilliant as it is inventive. Not every musical can comfortably make the leap from the stage to the screen, but Roald Dahl’s Matilda: The Musical does so with aplomb.

            As is the case with the original story, Matilda: The Musical could be a bit much for me at certain points, simply because how over-the-top the frank child abuse could be. Yes, the bullying is satirical and even Dickensian in its nature, but there’s no denying that Matilda mostly feels like the depressing beginning parts of Harry Potter without the magical school to escape to. But who am I to argue with the success of a classic? Matilda: The Musical successfully maintains the spirit of Roald Dahl’s novel, and if you liked the original you will love this one. Teachers, leave them kids alone.

            Roald Dahl’s Matilda: The Musical is now available on Netflix.

 

This review was first published in The Keizertimes on January 6^th, 2023. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (12.30.22)

 

              Rian Johnson is a guy who is on record as saying he loves to subvert expectations.

This filmmaking quirk resulted in mixed reactions when it came to his Star Wars outing, The Last Jedi, but when this same tactic was used in his original murder mystery Knives Out, the result was universally beloved. Turns out that people still love a good old-fashioned whodunit, and subverting basic story expectations is a great way to keep them fresh in our modern world. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is another wickedly good time that may be a tiny bit more straightforward than its predecessor but still manages to keep us guessing nearly every minute of its runtime.

High praise indeed, but as was often the case the first time I watched the original Knives Out, Glass Onion also occasionally bored and frustrated me when it was unclear what exactly the movie was supposed to be. This cinematic duo might just be the only two murder mysteries in existence that are more enjoyable on repeat viewings when you already know what is going on, but that’s not to say that Glass Onion still wasn’t mostly highly entertaining at first watch. It’s one of those movies that requires your full attention, especially when Daniel Craig is babbling away in that Foghorn Leghorn accent of his (I still can’t tell if his accent is bad or if it's just weird to hear it coming out of James Bond’s mouth). Save for Craig, the ensemble cast is all new and includes such talents as Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista, and once again the collection of interesting and dryly humorous characters that Johnson has whipped up is what keeps the Knives Out sequel engaging. Are they likeable? Mostly no, as was the case in the original, but you’ll have fun watching them.

If I have any complaints other than the few moments between twists that left the purpose of the movie in question, it would be that the ending was not at all satisfying. It left me feeling a bit depressed, despite the fact that it was clearly supposed to feel emotionally triumphant. In addition to this, there were some bizarre red herrings that went completely unexplained; misdirects are fine and expected in tales such as these, but I don’t like it when they don’t make sense in their own way or fit into the overall narrative. Also, did we need all the pandemic/lockdown stuff? It was a key part of our reality, sure, but it didn’t have any purpose in Glass Onion’s story and just left me feeling bummed out that such things weren’t even escapable in fiction. And why tie the narrative to such a specific time period when the story could have taken place any time in the early twenty-first century?

But these things pale in comparison to Glass Onion’s sharp writing, character work, and overall interesting plot. In this way Rian Johnson did not subvert expectations at all... he gave me exactly what I wanted. 

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now available on Netflix.

 

This review was first published in The Keizertimes on December 30^th, 2022. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/

Avatar: The Way of Water (12.23.22)

 

The year was 2009, Avatar was a massive hit, and I had no idea why. How was this good-but-not-great Pocahontas riff doing so well, breaking box office records left and right? I didn’t have to ask this question too many times before I realized my mistake—I had seen James Cameron's sci-fi epic in 2D, when the spectacle of the 3D was half the experience. I didn’t love the story, but the story was not the point. This is a sentiment that also perfectly encapsulates the long-awaited sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, which has a serviceable enough plot that is greatly overshadowed by its technical achievements, stunning 3D, and gorgeous visuals.

Having learned my lesson, I coughed up the extra few dollars to see Way of Water in 3D, and I am very glad I did. The world of Pandora is stunning and vibrant, and this time we even get to go along with James Cameron to his happy place—the ocean. A lot of the self-indulgent “look how cool we can make stuff look!” moments could have been cut, true, and Way of Water might have had better pacing and a more reasonable run time because of it, but things just looked so cool that I really didn’t mind.

The story and characters themselves are by no means bad in and of themselves, of course. There is as nice message about family at the core of the proceedings, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t completely invested in Jake Sully and his blue kitty cat family by the time the exciting climax (which features the most badass space whale of all time) came along. The other messages are more of the same—humans are terrible to nature, nature always wins in the end, etc.—but that's fine. Once again, it is not the point. I’m just glad that Way of Water not once mentioned “Unobtanium,” because it turns out I can take the world of Pandora much more seriously without that silly word floating around in the back of my head.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also give a shout out to the excellent acting, particularly by Zoe Saldana and her ever-haunting and sorrowful wails and Sigourney Weaver, who plays a teenage Smurf so convincingly that I had no idea it was her until the end credits. The entire cast, both returning and new, help bring Pandora to life just as much as the special effects. I’m looking at you, badass space whale.

Avatar: The Way of Water is not so much a film as it is an experience. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you saw it in theaters in 2D, a disservice only dwarfed by waiting to see it on the small screen. If the inevitable third movie finally hits that sweet spot of having a plot equal to the visual feast, the Avatar franchise might just become unstoppable.

Avatar: The Way of Water is now available in theaters. 

 

This review was first published in The Keizertimes on December 23^rd, 2022. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/

On the Count of Three (12.16.22)

 

Black comedies can be quite difficult to do well when they’re about a subject that is normally off limits where joking is concerned. You make things too funny and things can be disrespectful; you make things too heavy and, well… that’s not a black comedy, that’s just a tragedy with an ice breaker here and there. There have been a few films that I have seen over the years that I was not even aware were considered black comedies until I looked them up on Wikipedia long after the fact, and I am never sure if this is because the ratio was off or if I just wasn’t dialed into the humor for whatever reason. On the Count of Three has a good deal of this unevenness, but it has even more moments where the balance is pretty darn good.  

First premiering at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and finally hitting Hulu in 2022 as a “Hulu Original,” On the Count of Three is a story of two very depressed friends who decide to commit suicide together, but not until after they have one last day unfettered by the promise of consequences to come. The directorial debut of comedian Jerrod Carmichael (who also stars as Val), On the Count of Three starts out grim. Going into this movie blind as I did, I had no idea that it was intended to be a black comedy for the first thirty minutes or so as Val and his best friend Kevin (played by Christopher Abbott) discuss very heavy subjects like suicidal depression, bullying, and broken homes, and any dark humor that was attempted had a tendency to make things more sad than anything else. I could see that this little indie film was going to be one of those rough but hopefully worth-it stories, but just when I thought I had figured out what On the Count of Three was, a scene came along that was genuinely funny in that dark kind of way. From then until the penultimate scene, the drama (which is very well done, by the way) hits that nice balance with the chuckles. Usually black comedy/drama films shoo out the clowns at the end of the film, but On the Count of Three makes the additional weird choice of not inviting the clowns in until we are halfway done already.  

Despite this unevenness of tone between halves, On the Count of Three works pretty well, mostly because it never treats mental illness, the idea of suicide, or the characters themselves as a joke. The acting is exceptional (especially in the case of the two leads), the direction and cinematography are very well done, and the soundtrack hits that sweet spot that only indie films are usually capable of hitting. On the Count of Three is a tragedy about what life and mental illness can do to people, but it also has a deeper message of friendship and putting others first that I greatly appreciated.  

On the Count of Three is now available on Hulu. 

 

This review was first published in The Keizertimes on December 16^th, 2022. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/

Disenchanted (12.09.22)

 

               Disney+ may have been operating for a few years now, but I must admit that I’m still not entirely sold on the overall value of the platform. With the exception of The Mandalorian and maybe a Marvel show or two, I still can’t shake the feeling that the service is just a place for Disney to dump the content deemed unworthy of a big screen release so they don’t have to write those productions off completely. Despite this suspicion, I still decided to give Disenchanted a shot because of how wonderful I found its precursor to be. I gotta say, if nothing else they nailed the title, because disenchanted is exactly how I feel after watching this drab and ennui-inducing sequel.

One thing I do appreciate about Disenchanted is that it at least tries to do something different rather than simply rehashing the story of Enchanted with slight variations. It does not attempt to do the fish-out-of-water thing that the first film did, but the charm of this idea was a big part of why Enchanted was such a success. Disenchanted doesn’t have anything in it that comes even close to replacing that charm. Amy Adams, who is back as the doe-eyed Giselle, gets to show a different side of her character that is fun to watch, and James Marsden is just as goofy and charming as he was in the first film in the (regrettably) few scenes that he is in, but any uniqueness and cleverness that was present in Enchanted is missing here and what we’re left with is a cliché-storm that, unlike Enchanted, is played straight without any irony, whether they’re fairytale cliches or bratty teenagers growing up cliches. The script is flat and the story is as thin as my patience to get to the end of this movie, but somehow it keeps dragging on and on regardless.

One of the biggest factors contributing to the excessive length is the sheer amount of musical numbers that Disenchanted has, none of which are memorable or enjoyable (well, the villain vs. villain song isn’t all bad). This is, frankly, shocking, as the legendary Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz are behind the soundtrack in what is undeniably their most lackluster effort to date. Instead of having three or four great songs like Enchanted did, Disenchanted just throws a whole bunch of trash at your ears hoping that something will stick, and not even the great Idina Menzel is spared from the bad songwriting (but at least she does get to sing... It’s still baffling to me that the people who created Enchanted somehow thought it was a good idea to cast her and then cut all of her songs). If you were to fast forward through all of the musical numbers you would not miss a thing, and what you’d be left with is a boring forty-odd minute story that would feel more at home on the Disney Channel than on a serious streaming service.

Skip Disenchanted and rewatch Enchanted instead. There’s no magic to be found here.

Disenchanted is now available on Disney+.

 

This review was first published in The Keizertimes on December 9^th, 2022. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/