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Reviews
The Marvels (2023)
Marvel's Villain Problem Continues
Spoilers ahoy!
Saw this opening night and took a few days to think about it. Here are some thoughts:
The Good
The cast is great. Brie Larson is her usual cool self as Carol Danvers; Teyonah Parris continues to impress as Monica Rambeau; and Iman Vellani basically walks off with the movie as Kamala Khan. I will confess I didn't watch the Ms. Marvel TV show, but I will now. Seriously, if Marvel does move ahead with a Young Avengers project (and a delightful mid-credits sequence suggests they are) it couldn't be in better hands than Ms. Marvel's.
The runtime is under three hours, making this a great option for kids and families. It almost feels *too* short, and when was the last time you said that about a major release?
The set design and costuming is wacky in the best way. Lots of eye candy and there some genuinely laugh out loud sequences which, again, will please kids and families.
The other end credits sequence got me really excited. I would watch happily watch Hank McCoy/Beast eat a sandwich, so I'm really excited for how Monica Rambeau may turn out to be the bridge between the XMen universe and the MCU. Don't fumble that ball, Marvel!
The Meh
Coming off the back of the disappointing Secret Invasion, not really sure why Sam Jackson's Nick Fury needs to be here. Sam looks like he's having a blast doing broad comedy instead of grim-dark, but it does seem like a bit of a waste of a talented actor.
The tone occasionally veers into outright goofy (looking at you, Thor: Love and Thunder) which undermines what are supposed to be life and death stakes. Trauma (Carol's, Monica's, the Kree's, etc) gets glossed over and then resolved too quickly.
The Bad
I'm not the first person to say it, but, yes, Marvel has a villain problem and it's getting more noticeable with each film. Zawe Ashton is a talented actress, but the script gives her barely any back story and very little to do but wave her arms about and try to look threatening. Which she just...doesn't. I walked out of the theater still not entirely sure what that character's name was. And I couldn't for the life of me even remember what had happened to Ronan the Accuser, and how many movies ago was his arc?!? I get why they rolled out Marvel's biggest bads in Phase 1, and I also get this is all supposed to set up Kang. But I'm not feeling it. If you have superheroes you have to have bad guys and gals that can match them, and Danvers alone (forget all three of the Marvels!) is too powerful to make anyone seem like a real threat.
The Conclusion
Go to have a good time and with moderate expectations and you'll enjoy it. But if you're a comics buff or a serious cinephile, you may walk away unsatisfied.
Totally Killer (2023)
A fun 1980s time travel and slasher homage
Possible spoilers below!
A not-very gory good time with a few decent kills thrown in! The time travel element is certainly not new (in fact, both "Back to the Future" and "Avengers: Endgame" are explicitly mentioned by the heroine) but still well worth a watch. Although superficially similar to "The Final Girls" (2015), the two plots are dissimilar enough that I didn't feel like I was watching a rip-off. This film is also more explicitly comedic than "The Final Girls" (although, yes, that one has its moments, too). In fact, toneally this really reminded me of the underrated "Freaky" (2020). That film screened back to back with this one would be one hell of a double feature for ages 14 and up, actually.
Actors are all solid, particularly the young women playing the 1987 versions of the characters.
Kills are very '80s slasher style: brutal but not particularly explicit. Not a lot of suspense otherwise. I honestly think the filmmakers were consciously choosing the comedic beats over thrilling ones.
Costume and set design were stellar!!! As someone who was indeed in high school in the year in which this film is set, trust me, nothing about the 1980s gets made fun of here that doesn't well deserve being made fun of, or that we Gen Xers don't already make fun of, like, all the time.
There were even a few good plot twists I didn't see coming.
And, hey, is it me, or is the killer's mask a loose rendition of "David," the vampire character played by Keifer Sutherland in 1987's "The Lost Boys"? The moulded hair and earring would seem to suggest it: would be awesome if true!
The Curse of the Highgate Vampire (2021)
Disappointing and rather tedious
Could have been a really interesting examination of the modern mythology (it goes only back to the 1970s) of the so-called "Highgate Vampire" and the somewhat troubled individual who first reported it and then sank so deeply into the world of paranormal investigation and the occult it broke up his young family. Instead, we get lots of Travel Channel-level footage of people running around in the cemetery at night (illegal at Highgate, btw) claiming to capture glimpses of the entity and to hear it "speak" via static-y EVPs. So-called "illustrative" historical footage is heavy used, which is just a nice way to say "completely unrelated footage but we needed to show you *something* or we wouldn't have a film." Everybody interviewed has a claim about the vampire/ghost/demon/whatever but like all such docs, the ultimate findings are, no surprise, inconclusive.
Restored (2017)
Great for history buffs with big budgets!
I really enjoy this show and was relieved it survived the transition from the DIY Network to Magnolia.
It's great to see a show that focuses on restoring historic homes, not tearing everything out, filling a dumpster with perfectly good materials, and putting in shiplap and grey and cream walls that will look horribly out of date in 10 years. Brett Waterman seems to genuinely love what he does, and if his performance seems hoky at times (and it does: oy, that hat!) you forgive it for his passion. Guaranteed he will discover some important piece of the house's history during demo (which for some reason the homeowner never found because...?); expensive original materials will be sourced; talented craftspeople will do their thing; homeowners will cry at the end, etc. It's also nice that most of the houses are in Southern California's Inland Empire (Redland, Riverside, etc.), an area who's historical richness gets little love these days.
My one gripe (as the owner of an old home myself) is that the budgets are always huge, which can make taking care of a historic home look out of reach to most people. These homeowners usually have renovation budgets of $100,000 and up (just watched an ep where the reno budget for a just-purchased home was $230,000, which given housing prices in SoCal boggles my mind.) It would be great if occasionally they did projects with a lower budget, or even mixed in subplots where they also deal with more homeowner-friendly historically-sensitive projects, like restoring one room or saving a wood floor, etc. But in the meantime, I will still happily watch historic preservation porn and daydream of what I could do with $200k.
No One Dies in Lily Dale (2011)
Fascinating. No answers provided, and that's ok
If you watch this expecting answers to whether medium-ship and spiritualism are real or not, you're watching the wrong film. That was clearly never the intent of the filmmakers, and they don't even try.
Instead, this doc is an exploration of the town of Lilydale, NY, and the deep ties between it and the American spiritualist movement that runs deep into the 19th Century. It's also a meditation on grief, as we follow several visitors who come to Lilydale hoping to contact lost loved ones and gain closure or, in the case of one evangelical Christian visitor, to confirm that her deceased son *can't* communicate with her (honestly she's a bit of a puzzle, as that's a long way to travel just to have your own beliefs upheld, but whatever).
Except for her, we mostly see visitors struggle with bad readings but also be blown away by accurate ones. It's clearly an experience in which the visitor will decide what (if anything) it all means. We also get to meet several of the mediums who live and work in Lilydale, all of whom seem like regular friendly, if eccentric, small-town Americans. As one might expect, it's a town that values open-mindedness in all things. But it also considers spiritualism as one facet of a larger Christian belief system in several on-site Spiritualist churches. (Their idea that Spiritualism and Christianity can peacefully coexist is thrown into sharp relief when angry, Westboro-esque protestors show up at the gates and start screaming at the mediums and their visitors. Ugh.)
It's a gentle, quirky, often sad film, but one well worth a watch for anyone interested in the history of American spiritualism and spirituality.
The Lost Kitchen (2021)
If LLBean Made Porn It Would Be This Show
Watch the first half of each episode for spectacular Maine scenery and hyperlocal, seasonal ingredients. Oh, rutabaga is the only vegetable in season this week? Onto the menu it goes! Not really a cooking show (no recipes, and no real details of how Erin French is making what she's making, except it will probably involve lots of butter) but not really a travelog either. But very, very pretty in that "soft focus, tinkly music" Magnolia Network style. French's solid support for local farmers and producers, particularly female-owned, is nice to see. 9/10
Then come back to hate-watch the second half where largely insufferable, overwhelmingly white diners who entered a lottery to get a seat (yes really) rave about *everything.* About Erin French, the food, the experience, the ambience, Maine: everything. Thrill while they eat and declare everything sublime, wonderful, best thing ever eaten, etc. The Lost Kitchen is only open a few months of the year and only serves a multicourse dinner treated like a dinner party, including French's making a toast every night while her diners, paying roughly $200 a pop without alcohol, gaze at her starry-eyed like she's their best friend and mom rolled into one. It's almost painful to watch. Oh, and it's only French's fixed menu. No choices, no requests, no accommodations. Their website is very clear on this. The food looks very nice, but the whole dining experience seems so very "Stepford Wives"-esque it must be seen to be believed. 4/10
Conclusion: 7/10.
The Munsters (2022)
Kids will dig it. Adults...meh.
Silly and definitely aimed at a tween demographic, not necessarily at those of us who grew up watching reruns of the original. Story is a prequel, explaining how Lily and Herman met, married etc. As usual, director Zombie cranks it way up: in this case with super bright colors, cartoony sound effects, and jokes that haven't been funny since Eisenhower was in office. It's all clearly intentional, though, so just go with it. There are a few jokes and references or adults scattered throughout that will go over the kiddies heads.
Let's be honest: if faithfulness to the original was what was wanted, they should have hired a different director. So think homage, not reboot.
Casting is hit or miss, and Sylvester McCoy in particular is kind of wasted in a small part as Igor, but the actors playing Herman and Lily do capture those characters' goofy charm.
Production design and costumes are little like the subdued palette of the TV show: you really do see the budget here, and there's lots of Gothic-meets-Beetlejuice-meets Corpse Bride eye candy to check out.
I suspect this will have a long afterlife as a family-friendly seasonal watch ala "Halloweentown" and/or a maze at Universal Studios. And at least it's better than the last reboot they tried. Oy.
No Demo Reno (2021)
Fine, but lots of demo! Needs a new name.
Pretty much standard HGTV fair these days: big budget renovations that actually do involve a lot of demo. Designs are nice but very standard, same thing you see on other shows. Entertaining to watch in the moment but largely forgetable. Based on the name I was really hoping for some budget friendly renovation ideas that don't involve smashing through walls and rerouting plumbing for $40k-$80k. Sigh.