Weekend Watch - APril 2023 Recap

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week, we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week, we have come to the end of another month of film releases and will be looking back at the films with a potential for greatness that released in April, categorizing them as either long shots, possible things, or sure things. April 2023 has been a fascinating month for film, featuring a little bit of everything – animated family blockbusters, action thrillers, horror hits, romantic comedies, indie darlings – all of which have some representations here. April has nearly doubled the number of films to keep an eye on for the year, even if none of them are solidly sure things yet. Let’s get into it.

Long Shots:

Chevalier: The biopic of French composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, has opened to some fairly mixed reviews, with lots of love for the performances of Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucy Boynton, and Samara Weaving, but not much to say for the story execution. Don’t be surprised if this film gets recognition for its production design later this year, but I would be surprised to see much more love from the awards shows, which it needs to be able to make its way onto the List.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie: The film that “broke critics” continues to press on toward being the first billion-dollar film of 2023, potentially the highest-grossing film of the year despite its mediocre critical reception. It helps that audiences really love this film, as well, appreciating the adaptation of the simple video games and nostalgia that the film incorporates. It’s not unthinkable that it’ll make noise come awards season for animated feature as well (and maybe for Jack Black’s original song “Peaches” too).

Beau Is Afraid: I don’t know what else is left to say about Ari Aster’s psychological horror comedy thriller that hasn’t already been said. It’s well-made but incredibly divisive among audiences and critics, meaning that to make it onto the List it’ll need some love for Phoenix or LuPone or Aster or (best) all three come awards season.

Evil Dead Rise: The return to Sam Raimi’s iconic Evil Dead series by writer/director Lee Cronin has pleased audiences and critics to a high degree – earning some truly rave reviews for the horror soft reboot. Now, its scores won’t be quite enough to get it there on their own, and the genre’s difficulty in earning respect from awards shows keeps it at a long shot, but this would be a refreshing return to greatness for horror if they decide to opt for this one.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always: Look, this film technically fits the requirements for a feature film as laid down by the Academy, and that’s why I’m mentioning it. The nostalgia-infused return of the classic Power Ranger team hits the notes that fans want and has done enough for critics to keeps its Metacritic score green and its Tomatometer in the 80s range. I don’t expect anything else from this, but it’s fun that it has gotten the love that it has.

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant: Guy Ritchie has been really hit and miss with his past few offerings, struggling to reach anything near the cult success of Lock Stock and Snatch or the economic success of Sherlock Holmes. This Afghanistan War film with Jake Gyllenhaal seems to be doing some of that for him, though, with decent critic returns and overwhelmingly positive audience reviews. Gyllenhaal’s star power might even be enough to bring the film to true greatness come the end of the year.

Somewhere in Queens: Ray Romano’s directorial debut in this indie dramedy sounds like a true feel-good R-rated film, in the vein of Jon Favreau’s Chef and the like, capturing Romano’s heart for his script through his direction and performance as well. Critics have been fairly positive in their reception, as have audiences, making the rookie director’s debut a solid first outing with some outside chances at writing awards.

Sisu: The history-bending Finnish answer to John Wick looks to be capitalizing well on the world’s desire for visceral action films where the protagonist can handle just about any kind of injury imaginable. Critics and audiences so far have been pleased with this new take on the genre. John Wick: Chapter 4 seems to be the film from this genre most likely to break onto an awards scene, but the foreign nature of Sisu keeps it as an outside contender.

Possible Things:

Air: Ben Affleck’s first film directing his friend Matt Damon has already started generating awards-buzz. The feel-good Sonny Vaccaro biopic about Nike’s courtship of Michael Jordan seems to have the right combination of solid script work, good acting, and a unique angle on a somewhat familiar story to put it poised to make some awards noise if they play their cards right. I’d personally love to see this film keep its momentum going throughout the year and put itself into a spot among the greats.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline: The TIFF darling finally got a wider release through NEON this month, and it has continued to receive love from the audiences who have seen it. The film’s topical content about climate activism acting against “big oil” also helps its chances to elevate its status from festival darling to truly great film.

Suzume: Makoto Shinkai’s latest release follows in the footsteps of its predecessors Weathering with You and Your Name., achieving success at the box office, with audiences, and with critics in such a way that he might even give Miyazaki’s upcoming How Do You Live? a run for its money in terms of best Japanese animated films this year. With plenty of buzz around the filmmaker’s latest film, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to keep hearing about the multidimensional adventure film well beyond this year.

Polite Society: The sister-focused action comedy that had Sundance buzzing this year has now released in theaters and is continuing its run of pleased critics and audiences. The film’s unique niche in the action-comedy genre and its representation of South Asian culture in a more mainstream film could help its chances to leave its mark of greatness on film history.

Judy Blume Forever: In addition to the horror successes that we saw this month, we have also entered into some sort of Judy Blume fever. The Amazon documentary about the author and her impact on culture and celebrities has released with stellar reviews. Its proximity to the success of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. could spell the potential for continued love for both films as more audiences go to see them.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.: The adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic novel from The Edge of Seventeen filmmaker Kelly Fremon Craig has opened to mass critical acclaim and solid audience reviews. With the attached names of Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates boosting the performance of Ant-Man alum Abby Ryder Fortson, it’s easily imaginable that this film will still be making waves come awards season.

Weekend Watch - November 2022 Recap

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review and recommendation. This week, we have come to the end of November, with plenty of new potential films for the list having come out. We’ll take a look at the best ones from the past month, look at why they could make the list and what people are saying about them. Like always, the films have been categorized into three groups: Long Shots, which probably won’t make their way onto the list, but that have been getting enough buzz to warrant mentioning; Possible Things, which could potentially make the list if they make enough at the box office and/or get enough love from awards season; and Sure Things, which are almost certainly going to get full on reviews on the blog, and find their place onto our countdown. This past month saw the continuation of awards season rollouts combined with the big hitters of the Thanksgiving weekend, giving us a few films that might be all-timers, a few surprise flops, and plenty of films in-between. Let’s get into it.

Long Shots:

Armageddon Time: One of a couple of semi-autobiographical films released this past month, James Gray’s contribution is well-acted but hasn’t wowed audiences to the extent that it probably needs to if it wants to earn a spot on “the list”. The story about airing out racist family history, while impactful, seems to be too heavy-handed to be truly impactful rather than preachy, but Jeremy Strong and Anthony Hopkins bring some solid performances to keep it afloat.

My Father’s Dragon: From the production company that brought us hits like Wolfwalkers and The Breadwinner, this animated film has again come to Netflix with plenty of heart and culturally relevant messaging. Unfortunately, critics and fans alike haven’t been nearly as high on this one as with its predecessors, and Netflix’s push for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio as its primary animated film in awards season is inevitably going to leave this one out of the spotlight. It’s certainly worth considering though.

The Wonder: Sebastián Lelio’s adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s novel seems to be true to the book and decently acted, though Florence Pugh’s aggressive frowning has begun to wear on some reviewers that I’ve seen talking about this one. For this particular film, its niche subject matter and release on Netflix will probably leave it out of any major conversations and understandably so.

Causeway: A24’s and Apple TV+’s character study of a struggling Afghanistan veteran and her relationship with a pool cleaner after she returns home has received rave reviews for both Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry. However, their acting hasn’t been enough to salvage its apparently disjointed and less-than-relatable story, keeping it fairly far away from becoming an instant classic.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: Daniel Radcliffe’s exaggerated Weird Al biopic has been one of the pleasant surprises of the month, leaving everyone who’s seen it with a sense of surprised enjoyment. It’s nothing incredibly groundbreaking, just well-made and true to its subject matter. More people should see this one, even if it doesn’t break any kind of records. This one has the potential to make cult classic status sooner rather than later.

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me: This documentary about Selena Gomez’s rise to stardom and her struggles with mental health in the process has been a pleasant surprise for Apple TV+. Her current popularity in Hollywood and the relevant messaging about mental health will keep it in contention, but the critics don’t necessarily love it like that, so don’t expect to hear too much else about it.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Marvel’s bookend to Phase 4 is undoubtedly their best outing of 2022, but even the well-crafted tribute to Chadwick Boseman hasn’t been fully able to overcome its excessive storylines or the general sense of superhero burnout in the culture right now. Its four straight (barring a crazy upset by Violent Night this weekend) number one box office run haven’t gotten it up to its predecessor’s $1 billion gross, but potential awards season love keep this one higher up in the running than some of the others in this section.

The Menu: Mark Mylod’s satirical thriller is phenomenal but not overly groundbreaking. Again, this is a better film than many of the other long shots this month, but I just don’t see this one making a big enough splash at either the box office or the major film awards to make its way among the ranks of the classics on “the list”.

Strange World: Disney animation’s latest release has been a bit of a surprise flop, projected to lose millions of dollars at the box office and struggling with review bombing from certain “fans” upset over the gay teen character. Unfortunately, its marketing strategy seems to have kept people from seeing this one in droves, and it looks to become more of a nostalgic classic like Treasure Planet, Atlantis, or Lilo and Stitch than an all-time great like Frozen, Big Hero 6, or Zootopia.

Devotion: This war plane movie featuring Glen Powell has not received the love that Top Gun: Maverick did. Its story and Jonathan Majors’s performance sound like the right pieces to build a great film around. Critics and fans seem to be indicating that this one is just okay, carried very much so by Majors, so don’t expect this one to dethrone Tom Cruise any time soon.

Mickey: The Story of a Mouse: Disney’s documentary about the impact and development of Mickey Mouse throughout history has received decently positive reviews and is readily available on Disney+. With all the other great documentaries releasing this year, I don’t see the Mickey Mouse one rising to the top though.

The Swimmers: Netflix’s biopic about the incredible story of Olympic swimmers Sara and Yusra Mardini and their journey from Syria to the Olympics has all the makings of a heartwarming sports movie. That’s not necessarily the makings of one of the Greatest Films of All Time, but the film’s commitment to representation and telling a new story is certainly worth checking out.

Possible Things:

Good Night Oppy: Amazon Prime’s documentary about the fifteen-year work of Mars rover Oppy has stormed onto the scene with a surprisingly heartfelt story about the work of NASA and this little rover on Mars. It currently sits as one of the favorites to win best documentary at awards shows this year, which might be enough to classify it as one of the classic documentaries and best ever made.

Is That Black Enough for You?!?: Elvis Mitchell’s documentary about the history of black cinema, centered on its evolution in the 1970s, has received rave reviews since its release on Netflix. I don’t know that it’ll make a big enough splash to achieve that classic documentary status, but it’s certainly a solid watch for fans of film history.

She Said: The film about the two reporters who finally broke the Harvey Weinstein story hasn’t necessarily been a huge box office hit, but people who have seen it have been pleasantly surprised with its tactful handling of its subject matter and with Carey Mulligan’s performance as Megan Twohey. She alone keeps this as a possible thing, as the Supporting Actress category feels relatively wide open still since Michelle Williams has moved her hat to the Lead Actress ring.

The Inspection: Elegance Bratton’s film about a gay, black marine has been slowly rising in hype since its festival run earlier this year. In particular, the story’s marked relevance in the current environment and Jeremy Pope’s moving performance seem to be edging this film toward a dark-horse awards run. I’m excited to see how it does as more and more people get to see it.

Bones and All: A cannibal romantic drama shouldn’t work, but for whatever reason, Luca Guadagnino’s newest film is defying all odds. Its visceral nature has kept plenty of moviegoers away, but those who have seen it praise Chalamet’s performance and the undeniable chemistry between him and Taylor Russell. If you can get past some squeamishness, this’ll probably be worth a watch.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: The sequel to Rian Johnson’s wildly successful whodunnit received a fairly wide limited release this past month. In the process, fans and critics alike seem to be agreeing that this film is even better than the first, which received multiple awards nominations in its run. Janelle Monáe is this film’s scene-stealer, and when it releases on Netflix this month, expect to hear even more about it.

Stutz: This documentary, chronicling conversations between Jonah Hill and his therapist Phil Stutz, looks to be one of the most poignant conversations on mental health in the world of Hollywood in recent history, featuring Hill at his most raw, diving into what makes the movie industry tick. It’ll be interesting to see how the awards shows respond, but their love for things about movies and moviemaking lends itself to this film’s potential for success.

EO: Poland’s submission for the Best International Feature Film this year follows a donkey as he experiences many different situations around Europe – good, bad, and indifferent – without ever really changing expressions. Its an experimental film, reminiscent of Au Hasard Balthazar, that could easily become an all-time classic with the right run and more views.

Sure Things:

The Fabelmans: Still this year’s best picture frontrunner, Spielberg’s heartfelt homage to his family and his love for filmmaking looks to be yet another instant classic from the prolific director. Its reviews from both audiences and critics remain overwhelmingly positive, and I highly recommend giving this one a watch, as I said in last week’s Weekend Watch.

Weekend Watch - Werewolf by Night

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s subject, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Marvel’s first “Special Presentation” Werewolf by Night. The hour-long special features performances from Gael Garcia Bernal, Laura Donnelly, Harriet Sansom Harris, and Kirk R. Thatcher in what amounts to an MCU Halloween Special that draws heavily on 1930s and ‘40s monster movie influences. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B+, heavy on style and content, but slightly lower on substance, this is one of Marvel’s most successfully unique offerings in a while

Should you Watch This Television Special? If you already have a Disney+ subscription, then yes. It’s imperfect but thoroughly entertaining for a quick spooky season evening watch.

Why?

                Werewolf by Night relies heavily on its stylistic flair to entertain with a fairly basic story and characters that may or may not interest you, depending on your sensibilities. The use of black and white film, a plethora of practical effects, limited CGI, intensely violent sequences, and simple sets allows the special to be a thoroughly original homage to the monster flicks of the 1930s and ‘40s that happens to also be set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (implicitly). The cinematography, fight choreography, and production design for this special are remarkably well-executed, immersing the audience well in the world and mood that the filmmakers wanted to create – particularly in the moment when the werewolf is finally revealed. Michael Giacchino’s direction and musical score come through beautifully, blending a few superhero tropes (generic armed guards, a crystal that’ll solve most of the problems, and a will-they/won’t-they relationship between the two leads) with a predominantly original concept, introducing Marvel fans to a part of the universe that had only been hinted at up to this point. With an entirely new cast of characters, most of which are throwaways, Werewolf by Night still manages to achieve buy-in thanks to its production value – something shows like Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel have struggled with to some extent. The characters that make it out of the special are certainly worth exploring further, and the performances across the board, while basic, were solid. Gael García Bernal shines as Jack Russell, bringing his own take to the character, hinting at his tortured soul while also delivering some of Marvel’s textbook wittiness. Laura Donnelly’s Elsa Bloodborne works well in the combination role of femme fatale and damsel in distress, succeeding at being both action star and potential love interest, it’ll be fun to see whether her character is revisited in the future or not. Finally, Harriet Sansom Harris fully commits to the role of Verussa Bloodborne, the host of the evening and seemingly sinister cult leader as well. I say that their performances are solid but basic because these actors are not given much to work with in terms of story, which is the special’s biggest weakness. Because they were shooting for that hour-long runtime, the story beats come quite quickly, and a lot of character development has to be told rather than shown to keep the action moving along. The story is not a total failure, however, because it does give the audience enough to care about the characters and showcases their roles in the universe well enough that by the end of its time, you do want to see more of them. Overall, Werewolf by Night is a successful introduction to this new style of production from Marvel thanks to its good casting choices and unique production design that pays homage to classic monster flicks. I’m excited to see where they continue to take these particular characters and to see what they do in the future with this particular mode of production. Check it out, now streaming on Disney+.