Cory Michael Smith, Steve Carell, Ramy Youssef, and Jason Schwartzman in MOUNTAINHEAD — PHOTO: HBO / Macall Polay.
Directed by Jesse Armstrong — Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong.
How do you follow up the wild success of audience and critic-favorite Succession, which earned its creator, Jesse Armstrong, four Emmys (one for each season) for writing? Jesse Armstrong opted for an HBO film, Mountainhead, that, although not explicitly connected to the universe of Succession, feels somewhat related to the corporate, capitalist, and inheritance satire that put him on the map globally. However, though it occasionally does capture the right feeling of that show, Mountainhead doesn’t quite manage to say anything new.
Tom Blyth and Viola Davis in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — PHOTO: Lionsgate Films.
Directed by Francis Lawrence — Screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt.
Everything gets a prequel nowadays. There was a time when the word ‘prequel’ when brought up in daily conversation with film fans would usually be followed up by some criticism of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which has since been reclaimed by the community that once turned its nose up at it. Now, however, prequels are to be expected. There is a whole trilogy of so-so-to-disappointing Harry Potter prequel films, the Hobbit trilogy (that often feels like it was explicitly designed to be a prequel to the Lord of the Rings films, instead of letting it be its own standalone thing), and, eventually, this trend would, of course, make its way to popular young adult fiction like Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. The original film adaptations (or at least the first two) are immensely popular as they launched Jennifer Lawrence into stardom while, at the same time, making an American popcorn version of Kinji Fukusaku’s Battle Royale. For what it’s worth, I quite liked both the original Hunger Games adaptation and the first sequel subtitled Catching Fire, but when they then split the trilogy-capper Mockingjay into two parts, I wasn’t as interested. What I will say, though, is that watching the Hunger Games prequel reminded me why I really liked the franchise in the first place.
Awkwafina and Sandra Oh in Jessica Yu’s Quiz Lady — PHOTO: 20th Century Studios.
Directed by Jessica Yu — Screenplay by Jen D’Angelo.
Jessica Yu’s Quiz Lady follows Anne (played by Awkwafina), a young woman with social anxiety and an obsession with a certain game show named ‘Can’t Stop the Quiz.’ One day, she is informed that her mother has fled the home that she was in and left for Macau presumably to gamble and get out of her gambling debt in America. This information also reaches Anne’s older sister Jenny (played by Sandra Oh), who is a decidedly more outgoing party girl, and they reconnect for a few days. On one of those days, Jenny secretly records and uploads a video of Anne watching her favorite game show. It becomes an instant hit online as Anne knows every single answer to every single question.
Jason Schwartzman’s Augie Steenbeck leaning out of a window in Wes Anderson’s ASTEROID CITY — PHOTO: Focus Features / Universal Pictures International.
Directed by Wes Anderson — Screenplay by Wes Anderson — Story by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola.
Everyone who has ever seen one Wes Anderson film knows exactly what a Wes Anderson film looks like. His signature style has made him a lot of fans and admirers over the years, and it has also earned him some notable imitators. Nowadays, with the advent of AI, automatically generated images, and the like, a trend of recreating fake film trailers in the style of Wes Anderson has surfaced. You can now go online and find several videos hyping up fake Wes Anderson-style films with AI-generated images of well-known actors that don’t exactly look right (I even saw one for a fake American adaptation of the iconic Danish Olsen Gang films). With the emergence of such artificiality leading to so many conflicting emotions, might I suggest that you check out the real thing? Asteroid City, Wes Anderson’s eleventh feature-length film, is well worth seeking out. As a matter of fact, I think it might be one of his best.
Miles Morales as Spider-Man (voiced by Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson — Screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham.
With 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a vast team of storytellers caught lightning in a bottle, as they managed to make a film that not only captured what makes superhero and Spider-man films so electric and fun to watch, but they had also made an animated film with a groundbreaking animation style. At the same time, they managed to introduce the world to Miles Morales — a once lesser-known Spider-Man — in a way that made him an instant fan favorite. Into the Spider-Verse is one of the best animated films of the 2010s and arguably the century at the time of writing. Since then, a lot has happened. The idea of a multiverse film has become so mainstream that the Academy Awards has even given Best Picture to a multiverse-focused film. To add to that, we even got a live-action Spider-Man multiverse film with Spider-Man: No Way Home. It would be totally understandable to think that the idea of multiverse storytelling is played out and that no one is clamoring for more Spider-People. Thus, recapturing that same lightning in a bottle was not anywhere close to being simple. And yet, that is exactly what has happened with Across the Spider-Verse, the direct sequel to the 2018 animated hit. Across the Spider-Verse is not just more of the same.
The following is a review of Klaus — Directed by Sergio Pablos.
This year it almost seems like Netflix is plotting to take over the entirety of the Academy Awards. In a couple of months, Netflix hopes to have films like The Irishman, Marriage Story, and Dolemite Is My Name earn nominations and possibly wins at the prestigious awards show. At the same time, Netflix has distributed some of the year’s most talked-about documentaries, so they should earn a nomination in that category as well. Netflix has plenty of frontrunners this year’s film awards season. If Sergio Pablos’ film has anything to say about it, Netflix might also earn a nomination in the animated feature film category for the very first time. Pablos’ Klaus isn’t just Netflix’s first true attempt to earn such a nomination, Klaus is also quite good. Continue reading “REVIEW: Klaus (2019)”→
The following is a review of The Polka King – Directed by Maya Forbes.
The Polka King is a comedic biopic that tells the true story about Jan Lewan (played by Jack Black), a Polish polka band leader and con artist, who became a convicted criminal while exploring the depths of the American Dream. The film is far more interested in his successes and deceptions than in his time in prison, however, and that gives us plenty of time to see surprisingly strong supporting cast of actors like Jenny Slate — playing his wife, Marla Lewan; Jacki Weaver — his mother-in-law, Barb; and Jason Schwartzman — his good friend and one of the band members in his polka band. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Polka King (2018)”→
The following is a review of the second season of Amazon Studio’s Mozart in the Jungle, available on Amazon Video, and on Viaplay in Denmark.
When Mozart in the Jungle won the Golden Globe for ‘Best Series – Musical or Comedy’ in 2016, I have to admit that I was a bit stunned. I had never heard of the show, but I was intrigued by it when I saw Gael García Bernal grab his award for ‘Best Actor – Musical or Comedy’. Bernal was the guy I chose to binge-watch both seasons in three days for, and season two of Mozart in the Jungle really relies heavily on his performance and character. Mozart in the Jungle: Season Two is really, really good. Continue reading “REVIEW: Mozart in the Jungle – Season Two (2015)”→
The following is a review of the first season of Amazon Studio’s Mozart in the Jungle, available on Amazon Video, and on Viaplay in Denmark.
Based on the memoir of Blair Tindall, Mozart in the Jungle is a ‘dramedy’ featuring beautiful classical music. Set in New York City, the show follows Hailey Rutledge (Lola Kirke), a young and talented oboist, who is suddenly given an opportunity to shine on one of the grandest stages of them all. Meanwhile, it is a time of massive change as a legendary conductor (Malcolm McDowell) makes way for a new, far more eccentric, edition (Gael García Bernal) at the Avery Fisher Hall. Continue reading “REVIEW: Mozart in the Jungle – Season One (2014)”→
“Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” is available on Netflix and functions as a prequel to the 2001 comedy “Wet Hot American Summer”
Let me preface this by saying that I didn’t watch the original film when it was first released. Somehow I had never heard of the film until a few years ago. Before watching the film I considered it a potential hidden gem featuring some of my favorite actors. Then I watched it, and I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked the film – but I never loved it. Somehow this prequel show made me a believer. Continue reading “REVIEW: Wet Hot American Summer – First Day of Camp (2015)”→
I'm Jeffrey Rex 