“Life of Chuck” is the feel-good movie of the year

Mike Flannigan, the man behind shows like "The Haunting of Hill House" and "Midnight Mass," has become the guy for Stephen King adaptations. He is currently working on a "Carrie" TV series and has been entrusted with an adaptation of "The Dark Tower" series. The latest, "The Life of Chuck," is based on a short story by King and is not the traditional King fare.

I have no idea how to summarize this movie. It is mostly about a character named Chuck (Tom Hiddleston). To reveal anything else would take away from the movie.

The term "life-affirming" has been tossed around in relation to this movie, and I agree. The moments we see in Chuck's life are the important ones that define him as a person. With everything going on in this movie, and there is a lot, it's hard not to leave it feeling uplifted.

There are many spectacular performances in "The Life of Chuck," and I could spend a thousand words mentioning each of them, but the one I was most impressed with was Mark Hamill, who plays Chuck's grandfather, Albie. After Chuck's parents die, he lives with his paternal grandparents. Albie turns to alcohol after his son's death and is a man who doesn't reveal much about himself. I have always liked Hamill; his voice work, in particular, is incredible. There is one scene I keep thinking about that happens late in the movie. Albie is talking to Chuck about the beauty of math. In this scene, we see Albie go from a man beaten down by tragedy to someone excited by something for the first time in the movie.

The following paragraph contains potential spoilers, so now is a good time to leave. I have said all I want to about "The Life of Chuck," and the last paragraph is just my closing. Go see this one. A movie like this deserves to be a box office success.

"The Life of Chuck" is a special movie I will be thinking about for years to come. The movie is about a life and all that encompasses it. For me, the key to understanding the movie comes when young Chuck talks to his teacher about Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself." They discuss the line "I contain multitudes" and what that means. As I thought about the movie, I came back to that scene. You should too.

9/10

Rated R for language

1h 51min

Mini-Reviews: Your Friends and Neighbors and The Accoutant 2

Your Friends and Neighbors' Finale

I finally finished the first season of Your Friends and Neighbors. Overall, I enjoyed the show. It did not follow the path I thought it was going to and ended up being a better overall show than I thought. Season one ends in an interesting place where Coop faces a choice. Does he get back into the life he had or continue to steal from his neighbors?

I wasn't very high on this show initially, and I can still see it going down the predictable route, but it keeps things interesting. Hamm and the rest of the main cast do a great job of making these characters compelling. When I started watching this, I did not care about Coop's kids, but Isabel Gravitt (who plays Tori Cooper) and Donovan Colan (who plays Hunter Cooper) have been given more fleshed-out storylines than a lot of other shows would have given them. The show has been renewed for season two, and odds are I will be watching it when it returns.

The Accountant 2

"The Accountant" is one of those movies that is always on TV. I have seen bits and pieces of it on TNT or some channel like that in the years since it hit cable. I did see it in theaters in 2016 and enjoyed it. Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolfe, an autistic accountant who is also a trained assassin. I enjoyed the first one, and this one was OK.

The action was good in this one, but the best part was the interaction between Christian and his brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal). Braxton doesn't fully get his brother. He is the younger brother, but he must look out for Christian. The two have a great rapport that feels like two brothers. Braxton is always willing to give his brother a hard time, but Christian doesn't always know how to respond. A lot of the movie's fun comes from the interactions between these two. It's not a bad movie to put on when you have a free afternoon.

“Final Reckoning” has great action, not much else

I have seen all of the "Mission Impossible" movies except the 1996 original in the theater. Regardless of their quality, these movies deserve to be seen on the big screen. Few movies do action like they do. Even now, at the supposed last "Mission" for Cruise, those sequences, particularly the plane sequence, are spectacular.

In "The Final Reckoning! Hunt and his team must race across the globe and stop the AI known as The Entity from ending life on Earth.

I have not been a fan of these last two "Mission Impossible" movies because the overarching plot verges more like science fiction, which is not what these are supposed to be. There is always some suspension of disbelief with these movies, but these take it a bit too far. There is a scene where Ethen gets into this machine, which allows him to communicate with The Entity. On the way home, I realized that these past two movies were putting HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey" into 9 "Mission Impossible" movies. That takes away from the spy/action movie these are supposed to be.

The action is incredible and Makes up for the story's shortfalls. As I mentioned above, there is an astonishing sequence with two biplanes. Cruise, famous for doing his own stunts, is on the wing of a plane as it is flying. His training for this scene is insane: read up on it. It is a thrilling sequence and is one of the reasons to see this on the big screen. One of the most tense ones involves Hunt going onto a sunken sub to retrieve the key to destroying the Entity. Very few films are doing action like the "Mission" movies. I will always appreciate how they have raised the bar for action scenes.

Tom Cruise has been playing Ethen Hint in the Mission Impossible movies since 1996—almost 30 years. He will be 63 this year, so I hope this truly is "The Final Reckoning!" Then again, I have been convinced for a long time that he wants to die doing a stunt in one of his movies.

6/10

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and action, bloody images, and some language

2h 49min

“Poker Face” is a highly entertaining throwback

There are not many reasons to have Peacock. Besides Sunday Night Football and the old USA Blue Sky shows, just started my rewatch of Psych, there is nothing noteworthy in their original content library. One of those bits of gold among the muck is "Poker Face."

Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) is a woman who can tell when someone is lying. She spends her days driving across the country, doing odd jobs, and ends up solving crimes.

The show, currently in its second season, was created by Rian Johnson, the man behind "Knives Out" and "Glass Onion." That was enough to get me to watch it, and I loved it. It is highly entertaining and keeps things simple. The show has been compared to "Columbo" because we see the crime beforehand. It is less of a whodunit and more of how it will get solved. Charlie Cale only appears for the show's last half when she somehow gets dragged into the case.

Lyonne is fantastic as Charlie. She is content to get in her car and drive from town to town, finding small jobs to keep gas in her tank and food in her belly. She never wants to get involved in the lives of the people around her, but it keeps happening anyway. She is someone who, when she sees something wrong, feels the need to make it right in some way. I love that the show doesn't need to explain Charlie's ability. It's not made out to be a superpower or anything like that. When someone is talking to her, she literally calls "bullshit" and has to find out the truth.

The other thing about the show is the amazing guest stars. Each season has been stacked with some of the best actors out there. In the season two premiere, Cynthia Erivo plays four different characters. Each episode features someone relatively well-known in a role, usually the killer or victim.

"Poker Face" is great. It is a callback to the "Case of the Week" shows that used to dominate the TV landscape. It's an easy show to watch and watching Charlie solve the case is as much fun as anything else on TV and worth keeping a Peacock subscription, for at least a little while

"Poker Face" airs on Peacock on Thursdays

Mini-Reviews: “Fight or Flight” and “Final Destination: Bloodlines”

"Fight or Flight" is about ex-Secret Service agent tuned mercary Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett) trying to protect an asset on a plane full of killers.

In general, Josh Hartnett is great. He tends to pick interesting projects, but this is not one of those. This was a chance for him to be silly. This movie would be a total waste of time were it not for him. He is clearly having a blast playing Reyes. He is drunk most of the time and wears some of the most ridiculous clothes throughout this movie. He commits to all of it and takes what would have been unwatchable garbage to a fun, bad movie to watch.

The action scenes are pretty fun and make good use of the plane setting. The confined spaces make for interesting fight scenes, and Hartnett is great in them. He gets to play a character who is kind of a buffoon but very good at what he does. Overall, this is a fun but very dumb movie with some decent action scenes.

I will also give the movie credit for pulling a Babe Ruth and calling its shot by immediately setting up a sequel—one I don't think is coming.

The plot has never been the driving force behind the popularity of the "Final Destination" franchise. That comes down to the Rube Goldberg death sequences. In these movies, someone gets a premonition of some massive disaster that kills many people. That person manages to save some and soon finds that death is not done with them. The survivors end up dying in bizarre accidents.

"Bloodlines" takes a slightly different approach. The disaster that opens the movie takes place decades before. The character who survives ends up evading death long enough to start a family, and since they shouldn't exist, death starts coming for them.

I like this series of movies, even if most aren't that good. This one has a good plot and some of the most elaborate deaths in the franchise. I would go as far as to say that it is the best "Final Destination" movie. Not saying you should rush out to see it, but if horror is a genre you enjoy, there are a lot worse movies than "Final Destination: Bloodlines."

“Andor” proves space wizards aren’t what makes “Star Wars” good

I know some of you clicked on this link just because I sent it to you. You don't care about "Star Wars." The terms Jedi, the Force, Sith, or lightsaber do nothing to excite you into watching a movie or TV show. If this is you, I beg you to stick with me here because if "Star Wars" is not really your thing, then I have just the "Star Wars'' show for you.

"Andor" follows Cassian Andon (Diego Luna.) and the birth of the rebellion that would take down the Empire in the original movies.

The things one traditionally associates with "Star Wars" are largely absent from this show. This show is not about the Jedi vs. the Sith. This is a show about how people responded to fascism and oppression. Even though this show was written and filmed a while ago, at times, it has scarcely accurate parallels to 2025. This show should not work. It serves as a prequel to "Rebel One," which is a prequel to "Star Wars: A New Hope." Cassion Andor is not even the main character of "Rebel One," and we know how his story ends.

And yet, it is one of the most engaging and well-crafted pieces of "Star Wars" media ever made.

A lot of the credit goes to creator Tony Gilroy. He did some rewrites of the "Rogue One" script and was the second unit director for five weeks of reshoots. His contributions made that movie what it was. With "Andor," he has Disney money and complete creative control. With the help of incredible writers and directors, he tells a compelling story of fascism and the growing rebellion to fight back. Season 2, in particular, has been something special. The episodes were released in four chunks of three episodes a piece, each set one year later than the previous one. The last episode takes us to moments before "Rogue One." It is beautiful.

"But Matt," I hear you saying, "I couldn't care less about Star Wars." Let me reiterate: You don't need to. It helps, but this is the story of many different real-world rebellions. The French resistance in WWII was the model for a group on the planet Ghorman. If the "Star Wars" elements were removed, I believe it would barely change the show. That is how well-crafted it is. It proves that "Star Wars" doesn't have to involve epic space battles or anyone named Skywalker just to be deemed worthwhile. This is gritty, dirty, street-level, and full of small acts for the greater good.

The characters are incredible and have much more depth than most in this universe. Cassian is reluctantly pulled into the burgeoning rebellion and, in this season, wants to get out and just live his life with his partner, Bix (Adria Arjona), but can't. Bix herself gets tortured in season one and almost assaulted in season two but ends up finding strength in fighting back. Luthen (Stellan Skarsgard) is the mind behind the rebellion, but he knows that for it to succeed, he needs to do bad things. In season one, he says that he uses the tools of his enemies against them, and he knows he is dammed for it. This show even manages to give us two compelling Imperial characters. Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) and Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) are steadfast in their belief that the Empire is right and don't see that they are pawns in a larger game.

"Andor" is one of the greatest TV shows of all time. It interweaves so many stories. We see the interworkings of the Empire as well as some of the darker things that needed to be done to combat them. If you enjoy spies, heists, political intrigue, and stories of hope in the face of a powerful enemy, then this is worth your time.

Both seasons of "Andor" are on Disney+

“Thunderbolts*” brings the fun back to the MCU

The MCU has had a rough go of it lately. The movies Marvel has released in the past five years have been mostly critically panned and struggled at the box office. I didn't see "Captain America: Brave New World" because I wanted to; I went because I felt like I had to. With more misses than hits, the MCU was losing its way. With "Thunderbolts*" they seem to find their way back slowly.

A group of Marvel antiheroes must find a way to work together to stop a powerful villain and deal with their past mistakes and failures.

At its core, "Thunderbolts*" is about a group of broken people. Yelena (Florence Pugh) is the heart of this movie. She is a black ops agent who no longer finds her job satisfying. She has done terrible things, which are starting to weigh on her. This is the third time Pugh has played this character (in 2021's "Black Widow" and for a few episodes of the Disney+ "Hawkeye" series), and she continues to bring layers to this character.

What the MCU has been missing as of late is the balance of a serious, compelling story with having fun. Some have been too serious (I'm looking at you "Captain America: Brave New World") or relied on being too silly/weird (:: cough cough:: "Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania"). "Thunderbolts*" beings balance back. The characters deal with heavy things, but that doesn't stop the jokes and lighthearted moments from happening. I take this as a good sign for the MCU going forward.

I do need to address the asterisk in the room. Officially, the movie is titled "Thunderbolts*." That asterisk is part of the title and not a typo on my part. The team in this movie is not officially called anything; the name Thunderbolts is thrown out as a joke, and one character runs with it. The asterisk serves another function too. Once we saw that unusual punctuation mark, it was clear that this team would have a new name when the movie ended, and that is precisely what happened. If you have paid attention to the news in the past week, you will have seen the new name, but I will not spoil it here.

After years of being mostly disappointed by the MCU for the past few years (there have been a few highlights), all I wanted was for "Thunderbolts*" to be fun. It cleared that bar and more. This movie was a blast and had such a great emotional core with a story worth telling. I hope this is a sign of change for the MCU.

8/10

Rated PG-13 for strong violence, language, thematic elements, and some suggestive drug references.

2h. 6m.

Hamm robs his “Friends and Neighbors”

Apple is losing a lot of money on AppleTV+; apparently, it's a billion dollars a year. The truth is, it doesn't matter since they are a technology company more than a streaming company. It's a shame, though, because AppleTV is the most consistent streaming service I subscribe to. Their latest is "Your Friends and Neighbors."

When Andrew Cooper (Jon Hamm) is fired from his hedge fund job, he is desperate to maintain his lifestyle. He starts breaking into his friends' houses to steal things they won't miss and pawns them to make ends meet.

Hamm is one of those actors who is incredibly watchable on screen. Even when I was getting tired of "Mad Men," his portrayal of Don Draper kept me watching. He is excellent here as well. Coop is so entrenched in the lifestyle of the wealthy. He wants to keep up appearances and refuses to tell anyone what happened. He realizes that the people around him all of this stuff that are nothing more than status symbols. He begins by taking small things, some cash and watches, but if the last episode is any indication, that will change.

And that is where my worries start. The show opens with Coop waking up during one of his robberies next to a dead body. The thing is, I've seen this story a hundred times before. He will take bigger risks, someone is going to find out, or the police might actually start to care, and his life will get more complicated. I'm honestly trying to figure out if Jon Hamm is charming enough to get me through that part of the story.

Despite that above rambling, I am enjoying the show. I like its basic idea and am mostly interested to see where it goes. Overall, the show is easy to watch, which is something I am coming to value more in a show. It's not one of those shows where tons of questions are asked or anything to theorize about. The show is pretty straightforward: Coop needs money, steals from one of his "friends," and pawns the item, and the cycle repeats with slight variations.

I may have qualms about where the story is going, but I do plan to finish this season. There is always a chance that it avoids the well-worn path of similar stories. In the meantime, watching Jon Hamm do his Don Hamm thing is worth investing in "Your Friends and Neighbors."

"Your Friends and Neighbors" is on AppleTV+ every Thursday.

“Sinners” is an early contender for the best of 2025.

I love it when a director has their go-to actor. Think John Ford and John Wayne or Martian Scorsese and Robert DeNiro or Leonardo DiCaprio. One of the more recent ones is Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan, who have made five movies together. Their newest movie, "Sinners," is up there with the best of their collaborations.

In 1932, twins Smoke and Stack (Michael B Jordan) return to their hometown to start over and open a juke joint. On opening night, they are confronted by an evil they are not ready for.

If Jordan is in it, I will watch it, and this movie proves why. Having one actor play two characters is hit or miss. Jordan's portrayal of the twins is incredible. Costuming aside, you know exactly which character he plays based on the subtle differences in how he plays them. Stack is a bit more brash, and Smoke is more level-headed. This is such a nuanced performance that it feels like he is a shoo-in for Best Actor at next year's Oscars.

One of the musicians that the twins get to play is their cousin Sammie (Miles Caton). This is his first movie, but he has lots of musical experience. He has been a background vocalist for major artists and has performed for years. He learned how to play blues guitar in two months for this role. Not only does he have the musical chops for this movie, but his acting is just as good. He shares a lot of scenes with Jordan, and he holds his own. Canton is an actor to keep your eye on.

The trailer reveals this, but it might be a spoiler. If you want to go in completely fresh, skip this paragraph. The evil that comes calling is a group of vampires. The movie goes from the story of these twins with a shady background starting a business to a horror movie. Coogler's take on vampires keeps with the traditional rules (stake to the heart, sunlight) but is presented in an interesting way. They offer (at least our main characters) a chance at power and immortality. It is a way to escape the racism of the time and know that you can get the better of those who hate you because of your skin color. It's a deeper take on a monster that traditionally kills and turns people indiscriminately.

"Sinners" is one of the best movies of the year. It is not for everyone (it is horror, it's very racy at times, and it features brutal violence). The music is incredible, the performances are award-worthy, and this phenomenal one-shot blew my mind. I love that this is doing great at the box office. It shows that there is space for original stories in theaters.

9/10

Rated R for strong bloody violence, sexual content, and language.

2h 17m

“Amateur” wishes it was “John Wick”

One of the cool features of Letterboxd, the social media site for moviephiles, is Lists. Here you can make anything from a top 10 to a list with two movies with weirdly specific connections (these are a lot of fun to read). One list I have made is "You Messed With the Wrong Guy." Think "John Wick" or "Taken." These are the movies where a villain messes with some random person who turns out to be former ex-special forces. These movies tend to be a lot of fun. "The Ametuer" is the newest movie I can add to that list; I wish it was more fun.

When CIA Analyst Heller's (Rami Malak) wife is killed in an attack in London, the CIA seems uninterested in getting justice. They see them as minor players in a larger game. Heller sets out on his own to find the four people responsible for his wife's death.

What sets this apart from the other movies in this genre is that Heller is not some secret badass. He is brilliant but can't fight and has never killed anyone. That is what makes this movie a bit of a drag. His wife is killed, and then it is 45 minutes to an hour before he decides to go after the people responsible on his own.

I wanted this to be more fun. I wanted the kills to be more inventive, most of which are spoiled in the trailer. I did enjoy the movie, and there was some fun to be had, but it took way too many detours to get to the point.

6/10

Rated PG-13 for some strong violence and language

2h 2m

Mid-Century Modern updates the classic sitcom

The multi-cam sitcom used to be the most common type of show on TV. In these shows, multiple cameras covering different angles were used for each take. This made filming go quicker and was easier to edit together. Over the past decade or so, it has fallen out of fashion. Recently, Hulu released a show that is a throwback to old sitcoms.

"Mid-Century Modern" follows three gay best friends, Bunny (Nathan Lane), Jerry (Matt Bomer), and Arthur (Nathan Lee Graham), who move into Bunny's Palm Springs home following the death of one of their friends.

While this might be a throwback to the old multi-cam sitcoms, it is very much a modern show. This show is kind of raunchy. There is a lot of cursing and innuendos. If that is not your taste, then skip this one. Separate from the more R-rated material, it is hilarious and has a ton of heart. In one episode, Jerry and a man he meets at a bar are back in his room about to hook up, but they get to talking. The man is Morman and was about to get married, but he left on the day of the wedding. Jerry also used to be Morman; in this scene, he explains what it was like to come out (after he got married) and how it felt to be ostracized by the community.

One more person lives in Bunny's house: his mother, Sybil (Linda Lavin). She is very opinionated, and the three men learn quickly not to leave her out of any decision-making for the house; they hire a sexy maid who doesn't actually clean, and Sybil finds out the man is manipulating the others. Sadly, Lavin passed away during filming. The show was forced to pivot and change the last two episodes. Episode nine, which deals with Sybil's death, is heartbreaking and one of the season's best episodes.

I loved this show. I hope it gets a second season because I want to see where these three go and how they grow. The show is more adult (again, mainly language), but I think that only makes it more unique in the sitcom space in 2025.

All 10 episodes are available on Hulu.

Studios Are Getting Lazier

When I am sick, as I was last weekend, I need mindless entertainment. I will put on a movie I have seen before, lay on my couch, and wallow in misery. After I posted my review last week, that is precisely what I did. I put on 2008's "Wall-E." As fate would have it, earlier in the week, Disney announced they were moving forward with a sequel to one of their original movies, "Coco 2."

Let's just say I have some thoughts.

First of all, "Coco" doesn't need a sequel. The movie ends perfectly. Miguel gets back to his family and is able to restore his great-great-grandfather's legacy. The moment he sings "Remember Me" to Coco, his great-great-grandmother, is one of the most beautiful Pixar ever put on screen. What need would there be for Miguel or anyone to cross over to the land of the dead again?

I know why Disney is doing this. It is seen as a safe bet. "Coco" was a massive success in 2017, so they want to make more money. Just last year, "Moana 2," a movie that was supposed to be a TV series, was a gigantic money maker for the studio. Other films like "Toy Story" have had many successful sequels. Disney is a company and they want to make money. I get it, but they could do better.

"Coco" was an original movie that was made with love. I would love to see Disney return to these types of films, but they have this habit of squeezing as much money out of everything they own. "Toy Story" should have ended after the third one. Was "Toy Story 4" good? Sure, but the end of the third, where Andy gives his toys to Bonnie before leaving for college, was perfect. And they are making a FIFTH!!

Studios can't keep putting out sequel after sequel and expect the original movies to succeed. They use these failures as a reason to keep pumping out sequels (and I say this as someone who sees these sequels). Honestly, I am not your typical moviegoer. I am more likely to see an original movie than a sequel. "Black Bag" was an original movie; I loved it, and it is one of the year's best movies. It made less than $10 million on its opening weekend.

It's not just Disney; all studios make safe choices. They have billions of dollars, but that is not enough. I would love to see at least one of the big studios take big swings (smaller ones are doing it all the time). The movie industry is a better place when it is a place of variety.

“Adolescence” is worth the devastating ride

Netflix is terrible at advertising things. Unless it's Stranger Things," your show/movie is not getting giant billboards. So, when I heard incredible things about "Adolescence," I had to check it out. Everything I saw eluded to something that made this special, and they were not wrong.

I am still going to be mindful of spoilers and will not give too many details, but I do need to reveal basic plot details. Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is a 13-year-old boy accused of killing one of his classmates.

The show has four episodes, each in a single take. I love it when something is done in a single take. It showcases the artistry of the medium. What makes the single take so compelling here is that it doesn't let the viewer take a break. You are forced to feel every second. With the subject matter this show deals with, not getting a break makes it more powerful.

"Adolescence" is not a typical crime drama. The episodes don't follow the well-worn path of other shows like this. Episode one is Jamie's arrest and initial interview, but episode four doesn't take place in a courtroom. We never see his guilt or innocence argued before a judge. Each episode deals with a specific moment in the lives of the people connected to this case.

This is very hard to watch. I had to ensure I was in the right frame of mind to watch it, which was tough because I'd been fighting a cold this week. Episode one is brutal, and episode two is the weakest, but it shines the case in a new light. Episode three is a star-making hour for Cooper, and four is a showcase for Stephen Graham, who plays Jamie's dad, Eddie. These last two episodes are an emotional one-two gut punch. If you can make it through the first episode, you can do the rest. I am glad I watched this, but it is not something I will rewatch.

"Adolescence" is streaming on Netflix.

Don’t invite Michael Fassbender to your dinner parties.

When I first saw the trailer for "Black Bag," I thought it looked like a classier version of "Mr. + Mrs. Smith," the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie movie from 2005. In it, the two leads were a married couple who were also spies. The movie is very bad. "Black Bag, on the other hand, is very good.

Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett play George and Kathryn, two intelligence officers. When Kathryn's name appears on a list of possible traitors, George must find out if his wife truly betrayed their country.

This is less of a spy movie and more of a parlor Mistery, ala Agatha Christie. Early in the movie, George invites all the suspects to dinner. George is known for his cooking and his ability to suss out liars. It is one of the greatest dinner scenes in the history of cinema. In fact, this movie is bookended by two scenes that fit that category. These are two of the tensest scenes in a movie full of tense scenes.

Blanchett and Fasbender have incredible chemistry. George and Kathryn may be spies, but they have total devotion to one another. It is a fascinating idea for a spy film; in other movies, these two would have fights, and their jobs would be a source of friction in their marriage. George tells Kathryn she is on this list and tells her to avoid the dish he laced with a truth serum. He still investigates her, but not with the same vigor as the others.

"Black Bag" is a brilliant whodunit with some incredible performances. I had an absolute blast watching it. The twists and turns make it one of the most compelling movies I have seen this year.

9/10

Rated R for language, including some sexual references and some violence

1h 33m

“Suits LA” misunderstands what made the original great

Last week, when I decided to review "Suits LA," I intended to rip it apart. I tend to stay away from negative reviews because this is a hobby. I get to pick and choose what I post, and if I don't like something, I won't waste my time writing about it. With my current dive back into those old USA Network shows, I was so angry at this show that I had to say something.

Ted Black (Stephen Amell) is a partner at a law firm in LA. On the eve of a merger with another firm, this friend/partner, Stuart (Josh McDermitt), cuts him out and leaves Black with almost no staff and a damaged reputation.

I was going to be very negative about this show, but then I watched episode three. My rule is that I give every show five episodes to prove it is worth watching, and while this show has not cleared that bar just yet, it is much closer than I thought it would get.

For me, it all comes down to the characters. This show is full of bad characters. I did not expect them to be carbon copies of the original, but they must be interesting. Stuart is one of the worst. Here is a guy who was vicious enough to cut his "friend" out of the merger, but then he plays it gently when he needs to tell Ted that Ted's recently deceased father made Stuart the arbitrator of his will. Honestly, every character on this show is poorly written and tough to watch.

Calling your show "Suits LA" comes with certain expectations. I have spent the last two weeks talking about the USA Network shows. This show has none of that. The characters are boring or downright terrible, the plot is (again) boring, and all the fun of those "Blue Sky Shows" is missing. The quick, quippy dialogue is almost non-existent, and what little is there is trying too hard. The thing about those old shows was how breezy the lines were delivered, and this show's dialogue feels stilted.

Episode three did start to feel like the show was changing for the better, but it is still miles away from being in the same ballpark as the era it is trying to invoke. The real test will be when Harvey Spector (Gabriel Macht) makes a guest appearance this week. Will this be the version of Harvey from the original show, or will this be a version made to fit into this self-serious show? I will give this show two more episodes, but unless there is a drastic improvement, I am not watching all 13.

"Suits LA" airs on NBC at 9 PM on Sundays.

“White Collar” was “Blue Sky Era’s” best

Last week, I wrote about the "Blue Sky Era" on The USA Network. The impetus for this was starting a rewatch of "White Collar." This was my favorite of those shows, and I am not just saying that because of recency bias.

"White Collar" aired on the USA Network in October 2009 and ran for six seasons. The show follows Neal Caffery (Matt Bomer), a con artist who works with Peter Burke (Tim Mckay) to catch white-collar criminals. Burke was the FBI agent who caught Caffery and gave him a chance to work off his four-year prison sentence.

Each episode is a mini heist, and as we all know, I am a sucker for watching a heist. Someone is committing a crime. Someone from the White Collar division (usually Neal) goes undercover and brings the bad people down. Watching the plan unfold or change and ending with an arrest is fun. It is one of those things that make the show easy to watch.

As I mentioned last week, the characters were the best thing about these shows; this show is awash in incredible characters. Neal and Peter start as reluctant allies; Peter can't really trust Neal because he suspects Neal has ulterior motives. They become friends over the first few seasons, but there is always an element of "Is Neal being truthful?" The evolution of that relationship is incredible to watch, and they both become better people because of it.

The key relationships are Neal, Mozzie (Willie Garrison), Peter, and his wife Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen). Mozzie is Neal's friend and another criminal. He is a conspiracy theorist who is distrustful of institutions, but he has a good heart. He tends to want to see Neal return to his conman ways, but as the show progresses, he begins to warm to Peter and Neal's desire to be better.

Elizabeth and Peter are the best onscreen married couple. I will die on that hill. They have been married for ten years but are still very much in love. You see this in every interaction, every look, every kiss. They have disagreements but not fights. Elle thinks, rightfully so, that Peter needs to have more faith in Neal, but she also understands why he doesn't. Elle is not just a supportive wife; she has her own life and business outside her husband. Her job as an event planner has even helped on a few cases by using her access to get the FBI into an event so they can take down the criminals.

There are a bunch of other characters I could talk about, but this post would go on forever if I did. Of all the shows that USA Network was airing at that time, this is the easiest to recommend. As popular as "Suits" has gotten, its not nearly as much fun as "White Collar." Don't get me wrong, it is still a great show, and if I continue to rewatch the "Blue Sky" shows, I will get to it (after "Burn Notice" and "Psych"). "White Collar" has the best characters, the most fun storylines and the easiest for me to rewatch.

"White Collar" is available on Netflix.

Random Rambling # 59: We Need More “Blue Sky” Shows

About two weeks ago, I started rewatching "White Collar." I was in the mood for a show I could put on while I wrote or pop on when I came home from work that a brain that spent 7 hours working with kids could follow without turning to mush. "White Collar" was the perfect show for that. I mean that as a very high compliment.

"White Collar" was a part of the "blue sky era" on the USA Network. This era lasted from 2005 to 2016 when the network used the "Characters Welcome" slogan. During this time, the network was cranking out these. Shows: "Psych," "Burn Notice," "Royal Pains, "In Plain Sight," "Covert Affairs," "Monk," and "Suits," to name a few. These shows all shared a few elements: light, quippy, and episodic, with bits of a season-long story sprinkled into each episode. The most important thing each show had was a strong focus on the characters. When I look back on the shows that I watched, what I remember most are those characters and their relationships with one another; Sean and Gus from "Psych" bickering like brothers, Harvey and Mike from "Suits" solving tough cases, Neal and Peter's relationship going from con and fed to actual friends in "White Collar."

As great as we have it now, I long for shows like these. They were easy to watch, but that doesn't mean they were simple shows. The cases in shows like "Suits" or "Psych" could get complicated, and it was never sure that the results would go our hero's way. Many shows today are serious and make little time for humor. The "Blue Sky Era" show could be hilarious, even if they dealt with something dramatic. In "Psych," many cases in which fake psychic detective Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) was called on to help were murder cases. That did not stop him and Gus (Dulé Hill) from having some gut-bustlingly funny moments in the episode. The characters came first, and the stories were made to fit the characters, not vice versa.

Too many shows today are focused on overly complicated stories to keep viewers coming back week to week. They think that is more important than interesting characters that viewers can actually care about. As I have been watching "White Collar," I have found that the moments I engage most with showcase the relationship between Peter and Neil. I am still rooting for Neil to not slide back into his con man ways and force Peter to arrest him again. I love watching Mozie (Willie Garrison) reluctantly work with the FBI to help Neil or Elizabeth (Tiffini Theason) and Peter as the best on-screen couple in history. I am getting ahead of myself; I'll discuss this show next week. The cases are fun and engaging, and watching a heist/con get pulled off is endlessly entertaining. Despite all that, the characters have stuck with me.

"Suits" found a new audience during lockdown when it was on Netflix, which led to "Suits LA," which started airing on NBC this past week (it's not nearly as good as the original). There are also talks of a "White Collar" continuation. There have been three movies with the characters from "Psych" and one that continued the story of "Monk." The love for these shows is still strong, proven by the fact that they are scattered over different streaming platforms and making new fans. I think many people yearn for shows like these, where you aren't trying to unravel a mystery but hanging out with these great characters.

“Brave New World” is none of those things.

In the years since "Avengers: Endgame," The Marvel Cinematic Universe has struggled. None of the movies have reached the highs, and some have been the worst of the MCU. After taking a year off, the MCU is back, and we are getting a proper look at the new Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie).

When Issian Bradley (Carl Lumbly) takes a shot at President Ross (Harrison Ford), Sam must uncover what really happened to save his friend and stop a war from starting.

My biggest issue is that "Captain America: Brave New World" doesn't do anything interesting. The movie plays it safe with every decision it makes. That leads to this movie leading nowhere and not advancing any story. All it manages to do a speed run of the other "Captain America" movies, making the movie feel disjointed.

One thing I liked was Harrison Ford's portrayal of Thaddeus Ross. This is a role that was played by William Hurt until his death in 2022. Ford is a great replacement. As an Army General, this is a Ross who is so used to being the blunt instrument. As President, he needs to use diplomacy to get things done. Ford is able to show this struggle that Ross goes through. Sometimes, he wants to use threats and brute force but has to tread lightly to ensure the treaty goes through.

I wanted this to be a return to form for the MCU. The story of Sam taking on the mantle of Captain America is interesting in the comics. As a Black man, Sam is not as easily accepted as Steve Rogers was. The story deals with racism and how he deals with it. The frustrating "Falcon and the Winter Soldier " Disney+ series briefly and poorly covered this. This movie could have done that, but it chose to be a sequel to the 2008 "The Incredible Hulk" instead.

5/10

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action and some strong language

1h 58m

“The Wild Robot” is as brutal as it is moving

Last Sunday, in lieu of watching Kermit the Frog play football, I watched "The Wild Robot" instead. Now while watching that Muppet get trounced and play what is arguably the worst game of his career, I stand by my decision. Seeing that team get systematically dismantled would have brought me great joy, "The Wild Robot" was still the better choice because it is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Roz (Lupita Nyong'o) is a robot stranded on an island, teaming with wildlife. After a terrible accident, she ends up with a gosling who she needs to take care of.

When I started this movie, the one word I would use to describe it was "brutal." As Roz figured out where she was, she picked up a crab that a bird quickly ate. When she finally makes it to land, the island's animals attack her. Raccoons try to take her parts, and all sorts of animals chase her. At one point, she is mauled by a bear, which leads to her crushing a mother goose and her nest. I was a little taken aback by this, but it sets up the world of the movie. It is life and death for these animals every day. They go after Ros because she is seen as a threat. Ros landed in an unforgiving place where weakness gets you killed.

That brings us to the gosling she cares for, Brightbill (Kit Conner). He is a runt and is not suited to last in this environment. Ros is programmed to help, so she sees Brightbill as a job to accomplish. She needs to feed him and teach him to swim and fly so he can go South for the winter. That is where the movie changed from to something else. Watching the relationship between Ros, Brightbill, and Fink the Fox (Pedro Pascal) grow is heartwarming. These three are outcasts on this island and form one of the most incredible found families ever put on screen. I was in tears multiple times during this movie. Watching these three grow and change made me fall in love with this movie.

I had heard that this movie was incredible when it was in theaters last year, and I am disappointed I never had the time to see it. This would have easily been on my top 10 list, probably near the top. This is easily one of the best animated movies of the last decade.

9/10

Rated PG for action/peril and thematic elements.

1h 42m

Random Rambling #58: Independent Movie Theaters Have More to Offer

Last week, I went to see "Blue Velvet." My favorite theater in Buffalo, North Park, has been showing David Lynch movies. This got me thinking about how important these small, local theaters are. These are the theaters that are the go-to for older movies.

The big chains, Regal and AMC, have occasional special showings, but these are usually special events run by other companies. They typically cost a lot more than a regular ticket. To be honest, they feel corporatized. It is an attempt to cash in on film nostalgia or an anniversary.

When North Park shows an older movie, 90 percent of the time, it is just because they want to. Last year, they showed "Back to the Future" and "Jurassic Park" for no other reason than that they are incredible movies (and yes, I saw them both). With these special screenings, there is usually a poster from a local artist. They are able to show David Lynch movies because they don't answer to a corporate overlord. Lynch's films have a passionate fan base and these showings give them a chance to appreciate the man. North Park makes money, and fans get to see one of their favorites on the big screen.

This past summer, when I went to see "Jurassic Park," many parents/grandparents brought their kids/grandkids to see it. I love that this movie, which, as you know, is my favorite movie, is being seen by a new generation on the big screen. It was not an anniversary or some other milestone; it was just a chance to show this masterpiece on the big screen. Every year, North Park does Ghibli Chalk Fest. For one weekend in the summer, they show a handful of Studio Ghibli movies and have people color Ghibli characters and scenes in chalk in front of the theater. I make sure to walk Rory down there the morning after just to see the art. Last summer, during the Barbenheimer phenomenon, there was a very cool poster; if you showed them your ticket to "Barbie," you got a free soda when you came to see "Oppenheimer." The big chains don't do stuff like this.

Theaters like North Park also show movies you might not see anywhere else. "Sing Sing" only played at North Park in Buffalo. I would have never seen the delightful "Thelma" without the North Park Theater. They pick what they want to show, not based on anything the theater is told, but a combination of what will make them money (they are a business after all) and something worth showing.

If you have a local theater in your city, I highly recommend checking it out and seeing what it offers (The Little in Rochester, for example). We need these types of theaters.