“I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.”
Nahum 3:6 (NIV)
Spectacle is the key word here in Jordan Peele’s latest foray into the horror genre. Nope features a real shift in tone from previous films US (2019) and Get Out (2017), moving from the realms of a shadow state and slavery to more subtle finger pointing at greed and the consequences of taking nature for granted.
I don’t want to spoil anything in this review as this film has the same hallmarks as M. Night Shaymalan’s legendary Signs in that once the antagonist of Nope is revealed, everything makes more sense. The first watch is incredibly powerful to take that revelation in, and you should have the opportunity to experience that first hand.
What I will talk about is how ingenious the premise of this film is on the thematic level. It’s going to take more watches to really tease it all out, as with Peele’s other two films, but what I have after just one viewing has had the wheels in my head spinning and inspired me to pen this review so quickly after the watch. I just can’t stop thinking about Nope. What has really captivated me is the unraveling of what a “miracle” is. Now in the Christian and Jewish faiths, based on events described in the Bible, miracles are almost always thought of and conveyed as positive and powerful manifestations of supernatural power and might. Moses and the burning bush, Jacob’s Ladder, The Walls of Jericho, Jesus and Lazarus, etc. However, miracles can be negative in nature too. They can be a manifestation of supernatural wrath, a rebalancing of nature – the plagues cast upon Egypt, the razing of Sodom and Gomorrah, the serpent in the garden of Eden, the great flood that prompted Noah’s building of the Ark.
What those negative miracles are is spectacle, referenced in that powerful verse of Nahum, an old testament book written by the eponymous minor prophet. It is a largely overlooked section that tells the story of the fall of the great Assyrian empire circa 615 BCE, but Peele has used this deep old testament text to great effect in telling a modern horror parable.
There are three stories that move in different directions – one of the Haywoods, a family of black ranchers and horse trainers known for their legendary work providing animals for Hollywood productions, but with the recent and freak death of patriarch Otis Haywood Sr, son Otis Jr. and Daughter Em are left trying to salvage their family legacy. The second thread involves the traumatic past of child actor and star Ricky “Jupe” Park, who rose to fame in a 90’s kid’s western film and then went on to star in a sitcom that was marred by a traumatic accident involving an on-set chimpanzee cast member. In the modern day, he has capitalized on his child stardom by building a kitschy western theme park on the property adjacent to the Haywood Ranch, and his fixation on burying the past instead of learning from it intertwines the destiny of both his theme park and the Haywood ranch.
I think there will be a lot of nay-saying and punching down on Nope because it is not subtle in many of it’s themes and mechanisms. I think it was an ambitious story that hit a lot of marks and why I thought Nope was such a departure from previous works.
The major commentary on modern Hollywood:
disrespect of live animal welfare and trainers
industry shift to CGI instead of practical effects
pretentious and grizzled art directors
wannabe livestream superstars
Hollywood hustlers
child stars
the paparazzi
In addition to the thorough roasting of Hollywood’s folly, there is an intentional recurrence of visual elements that key on the “spectacle” and focus – framed by spectacular cinematography of day and nighttime vistas. There’s an uneven but unsettling pacing in this film, a quick first and final act with an intentionally slow middle. There’s the actual full reveal of the antagonistic entity after dancing around the issue in the first two acts. As the goals of the Haywoods seem to shift from making money to exacting revenge, it marks an evolution from greed to principle, and their freedom from oppression both seen and unseen. Prophetically and Literally.
One day I will write about the spoiler-y parts. Take this as a down payment and catch Nope for yourself. I’m seeing way too many hot takes about Peele being the next M. Night. An unfair assessment of both director’s careers. I think Peele’s ambitions are still playing out fine on the screen. Shayamalan’s career and box office swoon was more of a product of poor production influence more so that trying to sell movies that no one can understand or wants to. I think he gets a bad rap, sure there are some stinkers but a lot of his ‘real’ work still holds up.
SquidFlicks has been around for 14 years now – and over 250 movies have been reviewed in that span. Of course, our frequency of posting has waned in recent years, but under SPF Entertainment, I am attempting to revitalize the movie reviewing component of the media empire.
Last weekend, I watched Sinister for the first time since Patrick and I initially saw it in theaters and filmed a video review back in 2011. With a fresh viewing and 10 years behind my initial thoughts, I saw an opportunity to create a new category of content for the archives – “Return Reviews” where we revisit past reviewed films and offer an updated opinion. There are lot of movies that we loved or hated over the years that now will be getting another pass in order to see if our reviews were accurate or not. After all, we always intended for SquidFlicks to serve as “Your Guide to Great Movies”, so this is a continuation of our decades long mission. It is a labor of love, SquidFlickians!
I’ll be starting with Sinister, but the list is almost as long as my infamous unfinished review list… make sure you are subscribed to our RSS feed to get the latest posts and reviews as they are published!
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga team up again as the fun and wholesome on-screen version of the legendary (and with recent rumors coming to light, possibly more infamous and insidious) Ed and Lorraine Warren, demonologists and paranormal investigators.
While the real people they portray have a lot of allegations over their careers and work and personal dealings, I think it is important to draw a distinction between reality and fiction. The Conjuring film series has taken some of the most sensational cases of the Warrens and make them into fun, watchable thrillers, regardless of what you actually think was real or hoaxed in our world. I personally feel like there is a lot more gray between the black and white people want to box things like the supernatural and paranormal in. /rant over
Part 3 in the mainline entry starts with the exorcism of a young boy, David Glatzel. The process takes a sinister turn when the boyfriend of David’s older sister begs for the demon to possess him instead of continuing to hurt the boy. All seems well, until a few days later Arne loses control and kills his landlord. The “true story” of this case focuses on the murder trial of Arne Johnson, who famously used demonic possession as a submission of a not guilty plea in the murder of his landlord. The real story and the film version begin to diverge pretty markedly after this part in the film, partly because there was a need to add an underpinning story to drive the narrative. In the film, this became the hunt for some mysterious and powerful user of witchcraft to summon the demon and cause it’s possessed victims to kill.
Ed suffers a massive heart attack during the events of the exorcism and is left with serious mobility issues, having to rely on a cane to hobble around. As a result, Lorraine becomes the lead investigating force and really shines without Ed, to his dismay. That change in the dynamic seemingly strains their relationship but ultimately makes them a stronger on screen couple. Lorraine is able to connect some other mysterious cult activity and triangulates the location of the magic user. The couple is desperately trying to break the tether of control that the witch has on Arne so he won’t die before he is able to make it through the legal process and attempt to clear his name.
In the end, they find the altar of evil from where the curse was created, and cleanse Arne from his control in the nick of time, culminating in his real life court ruling of a lesser manslaughter charge. In the ‘real life’ story, his charge was reduced but the demonic possession plea was determined to be too shaky to hold up in a court of law.
This entry in the now 8-film deep Conjuringverse continues to build on the fantastic on-screen portrayal of the Warrens by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga – there were a lot of heart felt and subtle relationship moments that felt authentic and touching despite the horror of the supernatural threat they were dealing with. Some iconic scenes at a morgue and a haunting water bed also stick with you from the moment you experience them. Unfortunately, the diversion from the real accounts of the story do end up taking away some ‘cool’ from this film in my opinion. It is certainly a worthy entry in the series, but it is not as powerful as the previous two mainline titles.
After the COVID pandemic shuttered theaters and delayed theatrical releases throughout 2020, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2018’s surprise horror/thriller smash hit from John Krasinski landed in May 2021. I marked the celebration of a year of quarantine and boredom by enjoying QP2 in the glorious setting of a theater, the first film I have watched in person since the pandemic. That weird dynamic of a mostly empty theater even after mass vaccinations and the lowering of restrictions only added to the spookiness of the apocalypse in the Quietverse.
Quiet Place 1 did not give us any prologue – we are dropped right into day 472 of some kind of vague global calamity, which is revealed through the story to be some sort of invasion by a blind, highly aggressive and predatorial alien species that hunts by sound and has wiped out a lot of the population (as people are quiet noisy in a modern life). QP2 starts with Day 1, and actually shows the initial destruction of the population from the beasts, which we all know to be sound-based predators, but Day 1 folks find that out the hard way (or not at all). After that intro, we are dropped back to moments immediately after the end of the first film. The cut is seamless, and no doubt was filmed at the same time for continuity. It is an awesome cinematic move and immediately transports you back into the gravity of the situation as you recall what just happened (in 2017) and wonder what will happen next.
QE2 answers that “What will happen next?” question – the family, now one member less strong but now understanding a rudimentary way to defeat the monsters, decides to leave the homestead and search out another group of survivors. What follows is the exploration of a world that is physically larger but still a still feels as claustrophobic and empty as the farm in part 1, rife with new elements like a safe refuge and raider gangs. It is a logical step in the world building of the Quietverse, and there aren’t many missteps.
One qualm you could have would be in the pacing at times – the movie seems to move in uneven intervals but I feel as though that may keep you from expecting the next jump around the corner. Additionally, the monsters didn’t really add any new moves to their repertoire, which means that the methods to deal with them are remarkably simple to a certain degree, taking some of the fear out of facing them. There is an added wrinkle to the water element that was introduced in the first film, but I won’t spoil that detail. Overall though, the lack of change in predation by the stalkers contrasts with the doom and dread you feel in part 1 when they are seemingly invulnerable. We have become ‘used’ to the threat of them, as have the other survivors, and complacency can kill in these situations. To the movie’s credit, some complacent survivors do not make it.
Overall, QP2 is an excellent continuation of the story, and has a satisfactory closing while still potentially allowing for a part 3. I know John Krasinski was hesitant to write part 2, but I feel like as long as he maintains the level of control he has on his IP, this series can continue to make a big impact. Here’s to hoping if there’s a part 3, he’s going to remain at the helm and not farm it out.
Everyone has a holiday tradition they keep alive – personally, one of mine has been to watch an assortment of movies and holiday themed TV shows that make me laugh and forget about all the stupid, stressful parts of the holiday. For a literal nightmare year like 2020, this is especially true.
I know this is a random content drop from SquidFlicks, but if you have been around since 2007 you know this is just how we roll here. Happy Holidays you filthy animals! This is Shelby’s Super Comedy Christmas Playlist ™
Television
There are the classics like the Charlie Brown Christmas and the claymation staples like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, but honestly I am burnt out on the sappy, happy Christmas tale in favor of some darker, more realistic stories. One timeless example: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. It is a timeless story of despair and redemption and I always view it at least once this time of year.
The Office
I’ll start with modern entries from The Office. The Office is a series that many love and some hate. I love it, and I especially appreciate the myriad of holiday episodes it gave viewers in a 9 season run. In chronological order:
Season 2: Christmas Party (2005) Our first experience of the major holiday on the early Office crew – Micheal buys his true love Ryan an iPod Video ($400), blowing way past the $20 limit for secret Santa. He then institutes a dirty santa game to pawn off his less than desirable gift from Phyllis, which goes about as well as expected.
Season 3: A Benihana Christmas (2006) My personal favorite of them all. Michael gets dumped by Carol for creepily photoshopping himself over her ex husband on a family vacation/skiiing photo. He has two tickets to Sandals Jamaica and is now stuck going solo. Andy Jim and Dwight try to cheer him up by going to Benihana for lunch while Dueling Christmas parties erupt at the office between Pam/Karen and Angela. The two part episode culminates in Michael and Andy bringing their hibachi waitresses to the party in a misguided attempt to invite his new ‘girlfriend’ to Jamaica. She declines the invite, so Michael makes one last invite – and Jan accepts. The fallout in the coming episodes is sublime.
Season 5: Moroccan Christmas (2008) Phyllis gets the reins after blackmailing Angela about her infidelity and so she makes the celebration more adult and worldly. The rest of the office is excited for the change in pace, but after Meredith gets plastered and sets herself on fire, the party turns into an HR headache and an impromptu intervention. As a sideplot, Dwight continues his capitalist vice-grip on holidays by cornering the resale market on the season’s hottest toy, Princess Unicorn
Season 6: Secret Santa (2009) Micheal gets really pissed when Jim (the new party planning committee) grants Phyllis the powers of Santa for the first time. Micheal reacts as expected, first trying to compete as a second Santa and then pivoting to become the Prince of Peace himself, Jesus Christ. Looming news of the failing Dunder Mifflin getting bought out sours the mood, but Oscar finds a new crush in the warehouse and things end up working out when the entire office gets through to David Wallace for clarification.
Season 7: Classy Christmas (2010) The last Michael Scott Christmas brings us a reunion with Holly Flax, although she is still in a strained relationship with AJ. Toby has to take leave to work as a juror on the Scranton Strangler case, prompting Holly to return as a temporary replacement. Michael moves the holiday party to coincide as her welcome party, forcing Pam to plan a second party altogether when he tosses all the existing decor and food out. Jim gets caught in a no-win snowball war with Dwight, a rare instance when Dwight bests the Prank King of the Office.
Season 8: Christmas Wishes (2011) Robert California, fresh off his divorce, brings his depressed ass to the party and heals by drinking heavily with Erin, who is also despondent after meeting Andy’s girlfriend Jessica. She gets absolutely wasted and wishes for Jessica to die, and other coworkers help Erin in sabotaging Andy’s relationship. Robert offers to take her home and Andy thinks it’s a ploy to bed her down. He tails Robert’s car after the party in Meredith’s van to find out the truth.
Season 9: Dwight Christmas (2012) Everyone forgets about planning the party, but Phyllis reveals she didn’t forget. Since she has been slighted by the party planning committee countless times by this point in the show, she decided to let the whole office suffer. Dwight saves the day by bringing his distinct Pennsylvania Dutch flavor to the season, but things get off the rails when Oscar digs into the tradition and discovers the existence of Black Peter, a racist caricature of the celebration. Andy is still gone from his sailboat selling/sailing sojourn, so Erin medicates by letting intern Pete entertain her with Die Hard. Jim has to leave early for his sports marketing job in Philly, and Dwight takes his emotions out on him, while Darryl is worried that Jim has forgotten to bring him along on the new venture.
Seinfeld
Next up, the classic series Seinfeld. I think everyone is familiar with the episode that introduces a new holiday into our celebration lineup, Frank Costanza’s Festivus, but there are actually a few episodes that are set in the Christmas season
Season 3: The Red Dot (1991) A classic George disaster ensues when he buys a damaged, non-returnable cashmere sweater as a gift for Elaine. Elaine is dating a coworker, Dick, who is or is not an alcoholic, a subject of debate among the group. Jerry accidentally serves him alcohol and messes him up. They try to use Kramer as a test for Dick, but it fails and Kramer becomes obsessed with the scotch they were using. The episode culminates in George having sex with the office cleaning woman and then passing off the damaged sweater to her. Enraged by cashmere, the cleaning woman reports him and he is fired.
Season 4: The Pick (1992) A holiday staple, the Christmas card, becomes a nightmare after a photo of Elaine is found to be more revealing than expected. Kramer of course was the photographer and did not catch that Elaine had a wardrobe malfunction, with a nipple being the focal point of the card. Elaine has to deal with the fallout from all the recipients of her pornographic holiday greeting, while George is upset he was slighted and left off the mailing list. While attending therapy, he gets unglued about a stuck jacket zipper and makes the therapist upset too. Jerry ends up getting dumped by his model girlfriend Tia when she thinks she sees him picking his nose in traffice. Kramer, upset that Calvin Klein has stolen his perfume idea “The Ocean” goes to complain and ends up being cast in an underwear shoot, where he also suffers a wardrobe malfunction.
Season 9: The Strike (1997) One of the most iconic episodes of television. After attending the newly converted (just for the jokes) Tim Whatley’s Hanukkah party, Jerry meets Gwen and George is upset to learn that his gift is a donation to the “Children’s Foundation”, and feels that is not a fair exchange for the Yankees tickets he gave Whatley. The group learns about Festivus when George opens a card from his father referencing the holiday he invented and George has sought to repress. Elaine accidentally gave her fake number to a denim vest guy at Whatley’s party on the back of her nearly completed sub club card, and has to track it down by tracing the number to a off-track betting parlor, and then routes it to H&H Bagels, where Kramer has returned to work after a 12 year strike in demand of a higher wage (which by 1997 has become the new minimum wage). Kramer rekindles Frank’s interest in Festivus, and they plan a celebration. George gives out fake gifts ala Whatley with donations to “The Human Fund’ whose slogan is “Money for People”. Kruger tries to donate $20k to the charity only to find out it is fake, so George is forced to assume his Festivus roots in a bid to save his job. The disaster culminates with Jerry breaking up with Gwen because she looks pretty or ugly based on the lighting and she assumes he is cheating with the other ‘ugly’ girl which is Elaine, who was stuck in a steamy bagel shop (thanks to Kramer sabotaging the pipes) waiting on denim vest guy to call. Frank Costanza loses his edge when the Annual Airing of the Grievances starts, Kramer bails because he thinks the holiday is “kooky”. He leaves when summoned to wrestle Frank in the “Feats of Strength”, leaving George to assume his spot and relive his childhood trauma.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The third series I celebrate Christmas with is none other than It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which has some iconic holiday celebrations.
A Very Sunny Christmas (2009) An absolute gem, and a double length episode. The Gang is as awful as always, and Christmas in particular is proof that their depravity knows no bounds. We are introduced to the traumatic past that Frank inflicted on Dee and Dennis with years of bait and switch gifts – this time, a designer handbag and Lamborghini are the carrots on the stick. Charlie and Mac, both products of severely dysfunctional homes, embark on a recollection tour that reveals Charlie’s mom was a prostitute and Mac’s father had them break into homes and steal presents from other kids. They refuse to make amends by returning a gift stolen from a childhood friend, but attempt to replace it with an alternate item. Charlie melts down and assaults a mall Santa. Dee and Dennis attempt to force Frank into a Christmas Carol type redemption when they employ Frank’s long-slighted business partner in some Dickensonian revenge. The plot of course backfires with a twist only karmically fitting for the gang. The episode culminates in drunken caroling on a rough Philly street, and throwing rocks at trains just like the old days.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
An irreverent holiday is not complete without the ATHF gang and Carl
Season 1: Mail Order Bride (2002) The episode that spawns my favorite line of all time “It don’t matter, none of this matters.” Shake and Carl split the cost on a mail order bride from Chechnya while Meatwad and Frylock try to celebrate Christmas. Carl gets locked out of his house when Svetlana arrives by mail and realizes her husbands to be are depraved monsters. Carl attempts to enter his house by climbing across a makeshift bridge on the rooftops and Shake fails to hold it steady, leading to Carl breaking his neck. The wedding ceremony occurs with Svetlana barricaded in the house and Carl in a neck brace. Absolute gem.
Season 1: Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future (2002) Carl is haunted by his past as a robot claiming to be the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future assaults the group with a rambling story of an apocalypse that is nigh. Carl decides it is time to finally move when his pool mysteriously fills with blood. The Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future explains that it is the blood of ancient elves and that it is a very long story, which upsets Meatwad. Carl is offered a deal of a lifetime when Glen Danzig offers to pay well over market for the house on account of the ‘endless’ blood supply. When he runs out of blood, he comes searching for the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, who tries to hide with the Aqua Teens in their house.
Movies
Some comedic classics that deserve viewing:
Christmas Vacation (1989) The ultimate family Christmas tale – proving that our memories of holidays spent with family are WAY more fun that when we actually suffered through them in reality. Family Man Clark Griswold is taken to the edge of sanity, the threshold of Hell, when all family decides to come in for the holiday season (and they arrive on Dec 14th!!!) Decorating disasters, property damage, budgets blown, pet fatalities, and more occur in this absolute seasonal shit show. I watch this at least 4-5 times a year, if not more. This and Elf are two of my top 25 movies of all time honestly. A favorite pastime in my family was to watch this on VHS and just quote it endlessly. I will always cherish the memory, and introduce this one to anybody who somehow has not had the chance to enjoy it.
Elf (2003) A modern classic, Elf chronicles the story of an orphaned boy who sneaks into Santa’s bag and becomes Buddy, the adopted elf. Once his human form impedes with elf life, he embarks on a journey to find his biological father, a ruthless Children’s book publisher that has been “On the Naughty List” for decades. Buddy finds the human world to be markedly different from his elf upbringing in harsh New York City, but he manages to help save the season and bring everyone together when Christmas Eve and Santa need saving.
Christmas With The Kranks (2004) A classic tale of two empty nesters planning on eschewing the holiday and instead spending the savings on a vacation is upended when their adult daughter announces she is arriving. Having to rekindle the spirits of neighbors that they have maligned with their Scroogy ways, the entire neighborhood comes together to throw the biggest party the Kranks have ever hosted.
Four Christmases (2008) A newer, and now very relatable holiday film that chronicles the travails of a yuppie couple who eschew family traditions and travel most years, but are caught in a lie and have to make the grand tour to visit four separate holiday celebrations due to having divorced and remarried parents on both sides. I love it.
Honorable Mentions Home Alone (1990) Home Alone 2 (1992) The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) Scrooged (1988) Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) The Santa Clause (1994) Jingle All The Way (1996) Bad Santa (2003)
Hot Take: I don’t care for A Christmas Story. It just isn’t my cup of tea. Lots of people rave over it, but I think Christmas Vacation is far superior.
Rutger Hauer, acclaimed actor whose most notable role was playing fugitive replicant Roy Beatty in Ridley Scott’s cult sci-fi opus Blade Runner has died at 75, a statement from his agent confirmed.
Rutger performed a variety of roles in American films and TV shows, but began his acting career in his native Netherlands.
Other notable roles included Cardinal Roark in Sin City, and Earle, the corporate villain who Bruce Wayne discovers is running the Wayne Corp. in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.
For many, this scene, and really his entire performance in 1982’s Blade Runner is his finest role:
The latest cinematic entry in the extensive Dragon Ball universe revamps the origin story of the isolated and tremendously powerful Saiyan Broly, and it does not disappoint.
This was a huge coup for domestic cinematic releases of anime franchises – the last Dragon Ball film, Resurrection F (2015), was a financial and critical success. Dragon Ball Super: Broly broke even more records, landing to a top 5 box office debut with a fraction of the screens other movies like Glass and Aqua Man had. This has pushed Toei animation and distributor Funimation to continue to invest in English dubs and domestic releases of Dragon Ball (and by extension, more ambitious ports of other massively popular foreign stories and franchises). In short, this is only the beginning of what seems to be a culture shift in the acceptance and prevalence of Japanese animation in American culture.
The movie itself is a blast. It was a non-stop, action-packed Dragon Ball episode that lasted 101 minutes. You can come into this movie blind, with no knowledge of the franchise, story, or characters, and come out a new fan of the franchise. Of course, it is much more rewarding for those life-long fans who have been following Goku’s journey from Dragon Ball, to Dragon Ball Z, and most recently the revival of the serial animated franchise in Dragon Ball Super. Remember, Dragon Ball GT is non-canon and does not exist. Don’t @ me. Forget anything you know of it.
The film is well laid out and carries a quicker pace than traditionally the serial installments of the show have had. There is a generous prologue segment that covers massive origin stories of major characters in the long-running series: The exile of Broly, a Saiyan with massive ‘latent ability’, the decision to send young Goku away from planet Vegeta before its impending destruction at the hands of the sinister mega-villain Freiza, and the adventures of young prince Vegeta and Goku’s older brother Raditz. In summary, and what is already known to any Dragon Ball fan is that the Saiyans, a race of powerful ape-like warriors, have their planet wiped out by an evil alien emperor who ruled over and despised them. Not all Saiyans were caught in the ambush, as many were off planet and continue to serve as a foil to Freiza and his schemes in the ensuing years.
After the prologue, the film focuses on titular heroes and often time rivals, Goku and Vegeta. The film occurs immediately after the conclusion of the Tournament of Destroyers in the Dragon Ball Super TV series, the highest-stakes conflict the Z fighters had ever faced and resulted in a narrow win for the Universe 7 team (the obliteration of their reality if they lost the tournament).
Everyone is content to train and enjoy a period of peace and quiet in the universe, but that doesn’t last long when the great conqueror Frieza announces his intent to gather the Dragon Balls and make a wish – one many presume to be to make himself immortal and no longer be susceptible to defeat from Goku, who has his number. The Dragon Balls become a macguffin for two opposing sides – Bulma, who wants to look five years younger, and Freiza, who wants to look five centimeters taller. Broly becomes a welcome distraction for the ever-scheming Frieza, who stirs the pot in classic fashion and sets off a fight unlike any Goku and Vegeta have faced before.
The film has a lot of classic comedic relief in the Dragon Ball vein, and does a pretty awesome job of re-telling the story of Broly and painting him in a better light, as he is not just a mindless war machine. Goku of course, to a fault, wants to assume the best out of every foe he ever faces, and in this film, Broly will now get a second chance to learn how to control himself thanks to the quick thinking and help from some unlikely allies. Classic enemy Freiza himself returns to his normal, pretty scummy form after his conciliatory tone set when teaming up with the Z fighters to save their own universe 7 in the Tournament of Destroyers. There’s a canon appearance of one of the greatest fusion fighters ever (I won’t spoil it). Really, its got a little bit of everything, and that’s what makes it so fun.
Go see this movie. Definitely if you are a Dragon Ball fan and moreso if you’ve been enjoying the revitalized Super series.
Official Trailer for Broly
This movie is featured in Episode 3 of the Reel Talk Podcast!
John Krasinski (venerable character Jim Halpert from The Office) makes his screenwriting and directorial debut with a sound-based thriller. The year is 2020, and for the past 472 days, the planet has been terrorized by fearsome monsters that hunt completely by sound. The survival of one family, the Abbotts, is linked completely to their ability to adapt to this terrible new reality – staying as quiet as possible, using sign language and non-verbal cues to communicate, and creating silent walking paths through the use of sand and paint (to avoid creaky spots in wooden floors). The clever ‘solutions’ to a normally noisy human world are inventive and make you realize how much the family has changed to survive – they are no strangers to the brutal nature of this harsh new world, having already lost a young child to the ravenous predators that stalk them.
The story is told over three days, all happening after the initial appearance of the ‘attackers’, whose origins are never expanded upon. The film opens on Day 72, highlighting the Abbott family’s search for medicine and supplies in an abandoned pharmacy. All appears to be going smoothly – the scene impresses the viewer that something is not quite right with the world, and the Abbotts take all precautions to avoid making noise. This strategy falters when the youngest Abbott son finds a toy space ship and proceeds to play with it, sound blaring – thus introducing us to the monster they were all trying so hard to avoid. The final two acts of the film occur over two subsequent days, 472 and 473. It has obviously been a painful year since the attack on Day 72, but life finds a way to soldier on. Evelyn (Emily Blunt) is pregnant and expecting soon, while Lee (John Krasinski) spends his time researching how to fight the monsters and reach out to other survivors. He also tries to impress the urgency of survival on the two older children – oldest daughter Ragen and younger son Marcus – but tends to favor Marcus, which strains Ragen’s relationship with her father. When the time comes for Evelyn to deliver her new child, no one is around to assist, and the noise she accidentally makes attracts the wrong kind of attention. The rest of the day is spent trying to survive and protect all that the Abbott family has left – each other.
Sound (or more aptly, the lack of) plays a huge role in the film. The oldest daughter is deaf, and has a non-functioning cochlear implant, something that her father has been laboriously trying to repair with no success. There is a strong feeling of survivor’s guilt that is shared by all living members of the Abbott family, and since there is never really a ‘safe’ time to talk about it, they all assume each other is bearing the burden alone, leading to a strained dynamic. It is a silent, painful agony – a problem you know can be solved if you could just have a good cry, a deep conversation – but the danger of making any sound and the consequences for doing so are too great. The minimal score by Marco Beltrami (Hellboy, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark) and sound design paint a nerve wracking and unsettling world.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I’m not sure how ‘rewatchable’ it is, but the first run through is absolutely terrifying. One of the strongest points of this film was the subtlety and nuance needed to communicate in a silent world. The decision by Krasinski to cast a deaf actress in Millicent Simmonds as daughter Regan made her role and the interactions in sign language between the family seem genuine, which was critical to make the viewer feel connected and invested in seeing the Abbotts survive. The monsters – creepy, scary, and you don’t get a good look until they are far to close for comfort. The set design was creative, the world that the Abbott family surviving in is interesting but sparse on details or explanation. The only background about the monsters that you get is from newspapers and magazine articles that Lee has tacked on a corkboard in his basement command center, along with security cameras and a shortwave radio setup from which he has been searching for survivors across the world to no avail. The plot suffers from a some of weak spots, but this isn’t a film focused on the details – it is the story of a family trying to survive against all odds, and finding strength from what many would consider a weakness. Regan Abbott, the deaf girl in a world where unintentional sound can get you killed, becomes the humanity’s greatest hope. If that isn’t a moment of triumph, I’m not sure what is.
This was a great work from Krasinski and I look forward to his next project – and I will be ever more vigilant about keeping the nails on my stairs flush and free from the foot stabbing anarchy they caused in this film. The whispers are indicating there could be more films set in this quiet universe, possibly including a prequel that could shed more on the attackers. Count me in!
From the dystopian source novel by Ernest Cline and the 80s pop culture master director Steven Speilberg, Ready Player One is a futuristic dash through all things nerd, set in an encompassing virtual world known as the Oasis. When James Halliday, the ‘Willy Wonka’/Creator of the Oasis passes away, a scavenger hunt to locate three keys and the chance to control all of the virtual worlds. Will Parzival, the avatar of Wade Watts, be the rightful heir to the Oasis – or will the corrupt practices of competing company IOI ruin virtual reality for everyone?
The visionary Paul Inglis has been selected as the art director for the upcoming finale in the Star Wars Skywalker saga, the as-of-yet unnamed Episode 9. He was the art director for Blade Runner 2049, Skyfall, Game of Thrones, and Prometheus – all gorgeous works in their own right. As art director, Inglis is responsible for setting the creative theme of the movie, a visual framework and asthetic that the rest of the movie (cinematography, costume, set design, directing) will follow to create a cohesive and moving story.
Based on his incredible portfolio, I can’t think of a better send-up for the Star Wars finale. JJ Abrams will be directing and other details on the film are scarce at this moment – but this will be one of the most highly anticipated movies of all time.
