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Mike Schulz discusses with Dave Levora and Darren Pitra the films that he brought for them from the sea. The haul this week was considerably more plentiful than the one film Schulz saw (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes). Such privations forced them to talk about TV shows. They appear to be stuck in that mindset, as they find other stuff to discuss other than film. Like their childhoods, and whether or not they had imaginary friends.
The films Schulz reviewed:
- IF, directed by John Krasinski and starring Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, Fiona Shaw, Alan Kim, and Liza Colón-Zayas, and featuring the voices of Krasinski, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr, and Steve Carell. Not as bad as Schulz expected, owing largely to the caliber of the vocal talent, but the story on the whole fails to rise up to it. Actually, it’s kind of stupid.
- Back to Black, the Amy Winehouse biopic directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and starring Marisa Abela, Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, and Lesley Manville. Abela is great, and even sounds like Winehouse, which is incredible, as it’s the first time she’s ever sung on film. Everything else about it feels weird and uncomfortable, given the participation of Blake Fielder-Civil, the boyfriend who reportedly got her heavily into drugs, and father Mitchell, whose role in his daughter’s career was more outsized than the film would have one believe.
- The Strangers: Chapter 1, a three-part horror series, directed by Renny Harlin and starring Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez. Schulz was willing to give it a shot, but, dammit, Levora was right: It was a bloody reboot, not an origin story. No reason, either, to reboot the franchise.
- I Saw the TV Glow, directed by Jane Schoenbrun and starring Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine, with Ian Foreman, Helena Howard, Fred Durst, and Danielle Deadwyler. This is Schulz’s Best Film of the year so far, beating out Snack Shack. “Very Buffy-y, very Twin Peaks-y, very X-Files-y” is his description. Schulz felt inadequate trying to discuss it
Previews:
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, directed by George Miller and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Alyla Browne, Chris Hemsworth, and Tom Burke. No good can come from hanging out with people with names like “DeMentis.” It’s a prequel to the events of Fury Road, and doesn’t have Max in it.
- The Garfield Movie, an animated adventure-comedy film based on the comic strip created by Jim Davis, directed by Mark Dindal and featuring the voice-work of Chris Pratt, Samuel L Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillén, Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang, and Snoop Dogg. Will it be ninety minutes of Garfield sitting in front of a TV show? Given the character’s major characteristic is his laziness, it would be a funnier outing if that turned out to be the case. But no, there’s a story attached to the cat with the decades-long strip that launched a thousand memes. Feels like Russian roulette, this one. . .
“IF,” “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” “Back to Black,” and “I Saw the TV Glow”