Zach’s Zany TV Binge Watchin’ Reviews: STRANGER THINGS SEASON 3 (major spoilers)

It’s my birthday, and lately I’ve been getting a lot of notifications on messenger asking me about my in depth thoughts for STRANGER THINGS SEASON 3 (other than my short little tiny paragraph of my summation earlier this week), so here is an in depth review! A present from me to you…on my own fuckin’ birthday. Jk, jk, I love writing these things. But be warned, I’m just going to start running my mouth, and since a lot of people have finished the entire short 8 episode season by now, there’s no telling what I’ll start spouting out, so major spoiler warning from here on out. The third season of Stranger Things is a vast, vast, vast improvement on the very kind of….I don’t know….just there second season which felt like just a retread of Season 1 (even though I still liked it). It doesn’t however beat the glorious first season, and there are reasons for that, which I’ll get to in a bit. But needless to say, I really really really enjoyed Season 3, I just wished that it didn’t have any minor problems where it could’ve completely blown the first season out of the water.

I loved the whole Starcourt Mall, The Meat Monster, Scoops Ahoy, the Russian Commie Thread, Alexei, Billy being possessed, all the new elements that were brought to the table. When Will started getting goosebumps at the back of his neck again when they snuck into see Day of the Dead I was rolling my eyes, hoping that they weren’t going to do him possessed thing all over again a la season 2. Thankfully he just has a ‘sense’ now since he was in the Upside Down for so long and is not the actual entity. Making Billy that entity (who was already established as an asshole last season) and then having a minor little arc of redemption felt a little refreshing. The whole thing is like a giant 8 hour summer, retro horror/thriller, fun for the whole family movie where the first 2 episodes are all set up and the last 6 are fast paced pay offs. The only problem with this is that the whole thing feels a little rushed (although I’d rather it be rushed than strung out into 13 episodes with a bunch of needless filler) and that character development is sacrificed for plot the majority of the time. Let me explain.

Remember the scene in the last episode where Dustin is trying to get that number from his girlfriend Suzie (the joke is that she might not be real), this mathmatical number that will unlock the place where Hopper and Joyce need to get into to turn those keys and close the gate the Russians kept trying to keep open, probably hoping to weaponize the creatures and attack America? Where Dustin had to prove his loyalty to Suzie before she would give him this number by singing with her the theme song to The NeverEnding Story? Made you get all goosebumpy and all memberberry inside right? THAT SCENE IS A GOD DAMN JOKE AND COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS. It was a waste of time for all characters involved and if she would’ve just given him the number and then they could’ve sang it to each other, the gate could’ve been closed much faster, it could’ve served both story and character development at the same time, and Hopper might not have ‘died.’ I’m putting ‘died’ like that because, like everyone with a brain, I don’t think they would kill off one of their best and complicated characters. David Harbour is a master in the role, and like I always say, “no body, not dead.” Unfortunately I’m afraid they are just going to resolve the situation like they did with Eleven in season 1 and 2 where she ‘died’ but really just ended up back in the Upside Down place.

Other character development problems: Max and Lucas, who got together near the end of season 2, have virtually no character development between the two this season, they are together the whole time, barely an argument. She has a small arc with her brother Billy but it is completely rushed and half-assed. Eleven and Mike break up for the stupidest reasons other than to get some funny scenes between her and Max. All he had to say was, “Hopper told me to spend less time with you,” and everything would’ve been solved. The relationship between Eleven and Hopper, the father/daughter angle, is good in the first two episodes, and then they are separated the rest of the time, everything meaning to tie together in a sappy yet sweet letter at the end. If there was anything that season 2 got completely right, it was the relationship with those two. The Jonathan/Nancy lover thing, that was again, done better in Season Two, is kind of like the Max and Lucas thing here, they have a couple of arguments, but ultimately love each other and everything is okay. Thank goodness the acting all around, especially from Millie Bobby Brown, is top notch, other wise all these problems would’ve bothered me more.

Fortunately, there are some very, very good character moments that about evens everything up developmental wise. Hopper and Joyce’s relationship is the best it has ever been this season and has a pretty solid arc. And remember that last minute Steve and Dustin friendship near the end of season 2? Here, it is full blown brilliant and is even combined with a great arc between Steven and a new character named Robin (played by Maya Hawke, who looks just like her mom, Uma Thurman) that works with him at Scoops Ahoy (I want to work there). Even though they are in the mall (and the secret Russian underground base) basically the entire 8 episodes, every scene with all of them together work perfectly, including when Lucas’ sister joins the fray later in the season. Also that weird conspiracy theorist dude from season 2 that helped Nancy and Jonathan get together gets a cute, little, but strong and effective arc with a Russian turncoat, a scientist nerd by the name of Alexei, who loves Cherry Slurpees and Burger King but is empathetic with the American’s plight. Also, the CGI and special effects this season are amazing. The Meat Monster is the greatest horror to come out of this series, even more enjoyable than the original Demogorgan.

So basically because of some character development problems and that the 8 episodes went by way too fast, it did not beat Season 1 for me, but at times it came incredibly close. Blew Season Two out of the water, but to be fair, I still do like that season, and love this series. With Season 3, The Duffer Brothers have finally found their groove with the series, relying less on just nostalgia references and more on story and group dynamics. And when there are references, it isn’t just to say, “hey look! Remember this!” anymore, but is often introduced to be a foreshadowing plot point or a joke that hits hard and is immersed in the overall story. And it’s just fucking fun as hell. The 8 episodes went by fast because I completely gave myself to that world and everything in it. I would complain about that long wait times between seasons (it was almost two years! Oct 2017 – July 2019) but if that’s how long it takes to tinker it, and give us a great, almost greatest, season like this one, everyone involved can take all the time they need. Now all they need to do is just end it all next season, or at the most, Season 5, so the whole thing doesn’t become stale. *coughlikeHouseOfCardscough*

Zach’s Zany Movie Reviews: YESTERDAY

I saw YESTERDAY about 2 hrs after I had gotten out of the utter filth that was the live action Aladdin remake, so needless to say, you can already tell that I’m probably going to recommend it even if its only a fraction better than the latter. It’s definitely above a fraction better, but it still wasn’t the film it needed to be, because of a few distracting narrative choices the screenplay decided to take, and also by the fact that the whole premise wasn’t as fleshed out as it needed to be either. The movie is definitely a crowd pleaser, as this is the 2nd week it is out and my screening was nearly full on a Sunday afternoon. It just seemed all too…by the books. Not in a terrible way like Aladdin managed to shit out, but in a finished product just to cater to only modern audiences type of way. Which is a little bit disappointing, considering the film was directed by the great Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, the great Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire).

For those not actually in the know as I am, this is the film that delayed Danny Boyle from directing Bond 25…even though he eventually left the project because of “creative differences.” Which is actually really funny considering that NONE of Danny Boyle’s trademark eye for the camera shots or artistry is even remotely in this movie. ANYONE could’ve directed this, it was literally a point and shoot affair from the first frame to the end credits. This is definitely a movie where I’d like to sit with Danny Boyle for an hour or two and ask him his directorial choices for this and why he even agreed to make this film to begin with. Did the studio own his head in every step of making this movie, perhaps the real catalyst for why he left directing Bond 25? It’d be really interesting to find out.

If you haven’t heard of this movie, the premise is simple, but could’ve been so much more. A failing and struggling musician, with a cute and lovable manager he’s known for 20 years but doesn’t know she’s in love with him (the most unbelievable aspect of this story), gets hit by a bus on his way home from a terrible gig. When he comes to, he finds more missing than just two of his front teeth: that he’s the only one who remember The Beatles and several other things (don’t want to spoil too much of the fun) such as cigarettes and Oasis. He finds this out for when he is given a new guitar after the one he had was damaged permanently by the accident, he plays one of the Beatles greatest songs ‘Yesterday,” and everyone who he plays it for has never heard it and thinks that he came up with it. A short time later, he is remembering all of the Beatles songs, acting like he came up with them and singing them for people, and then bam!…he is an instant sensation.

My main problem with the film is that there should’ve been more conflict. He just becomes and overnight sensation, but there aren’t that many obstacles in his way on his way to fame. I would be spoiling anything by divulging anything more, but I will say that it looks like an obstacle might be thrown in his way really late into the movie, but that obstacle is quickly blown off as something that wasn’t even an obstacle to begin with. The film reveals there is a bunch of other stuff missing from the world, but instead of maybe fleshing some of that out along with The Beatles revelation, they are just made as quick reference ha-ha jokes. And I understand the movie is focusing on a world where The Beatles never existed, but to just play some of these other revelations off seems like a cheap grab at some jokes when they could’ve complimented the film, with some subplots that could’ve made everything tighter. I mean think about it, what if you woke up one day to a world where something you loved and remember fondly, pop culture or something of that nature wise, and you had the chance to give it to the world. Certainly there is more of an interesting take on it in some screenwriters brain than what we got here. The implications didn’t seem all that risky, when they really should have been.

Don’t get me wrong, it is still a good film and I’m still going to recommend it. The film does have some pacing issues, and it is due to the fact that the cute and great Lily James, his manager that is head over heels in love with him even though he can’t see it, doesn’t go with him on his way to fame. She stays home since she is really a school teacher by day, which feels like a cheap screenplay trick for them to just have easy conflict between them because they are miles apart. James’ character should’ve been every step of the way with him, as their chemistry was undeniably good, the scenes of them together being the highlight of the film. In his debut film role, Himesh Patel plays the main protagonist Jack, and he does a really great job singing and acting alongside his peers. I would like to see him in more things in the future. I have a feeling he could absolutely crush it in a very dramatic role. One thing that took me out of the film a little was a small role by Kate McKinnon as his new manager when he starts to get famous. Thankfully she gets a little serious as the film goes along and doesn’t go all weird SNL McKinnon on our asses.

Even though I wasn’t fond of some of the narrative choices, I did like several of them, part of the ending being one. I promise not to give too much away, but I thought the movie was going to do something that most Hollywood films always do, in that everything about this new world where several things don’t exist anymore and his rise to fame was all in his head as I thought it was going to reveal that he was a coma after his accident. Something of that nature. Now while I won’t reveal what actually happens, I’m happy to report that the film doesn’t go that route. While it does combine this good narrative choice with a predictable sappy one, the fact that it didn’t go where I thought it would covers up and makes me forgive some of the faults I thought were present in the screenplay. I do recommend Yesterday though, especially if you are one of those modern audience members reading my reviews and need a quick and cheap romantic pick me up. Just don’t expect anything as grand as Love Actually (both were written by the same screenwriter).

Zach’s Zany Movie Reviews: ALADDIN (2019) (I’m going to spoil the $#!^ out of this piece of $#!^)

I think that other than O Brother Where Art Thou?, this is the latest I’ve ever seen a movie in its first run in theaters. And now I wish I hadn’t gone at all. **opens eyes** Shit, well I must not have a genie if I’m still writing this review. ALADDIN (2019) is the most abysmal live action remake since Mr. Magoo with Leslie Nielsen. It feels like a half-assed Disney Channel adaptation they would’ve made for the station in the late 90s. Except for two people involved in this production, everything about it offends me as a movie lover. It breaks almost every rule of Film Making 101 and everything about it screams lazy three times over. How could Disney have even dared to released such a product? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it. Disney was distracted. You see, it was so preoccupied sucking its dick while counting its cash it didn’t know what giant turd it was releasing upon the world. This is easily one of the worst films of 2019.

Do I ever need to explain the story to you? No. Because if you are reading this, have seen the new Aladdin but never saw the classic cartoon with Robin Williams, I hate to break it to you, but you are a fucking idiot. I’m guessing you are here because you have seen both, maybe wondering and maybe even confused about what exactly you thought you saw when watching this travesty and maybe I can break it down to have a more clear understanding of everything. Well, I guess that is what I’m here for. Here is the main problem with the new Aladdin. This film is 28 minutes longer than the cartoon, and yet all of it feels so rushed. Even the cartoon, with it’s short 90 minute run time, took a minute or two to let the characters just breathe. Here, they abandoned characterization entirely on some minor characters to make way for Will Smith’s ego. Eh, that’s being a little too harsh. I mentioned in the first paragraph there was only two people involved in this production that actually fared well in the movie, and one of them is Will Smith.

Let’s face it, no one will ever ever ever ever ever ever ever come close to even matching the genius of Robin Williams’ Genie. In fact, if they had given Oscar’s out for voice acting back in 1992, he surely would’ve won one. Will Smith at least tries to make Genie is own (even with all the same old songs and shit) and he at least looks like he wants to be there. Iago isn’t a character in this. He says maybe 4 complete sentences, with Alan Tudyk replacing the great Gilbert Gottfried, and is only there to turn into a giant evil parrot at the end to try and make a really out of left field last act magic carpet chase scene work. The fat old chubby but lovable Sultan is replaced by some random guy with a beard that looks like he wants to hang himself from the palace balcony for even agreeing to be in the movie. Even Abu I feel was short changed except for one or two “aw shucks” looks into the camera and don’t even get started on the magic carpet. 5 seconds in the old cartoon gave more characterization to that fabric than this whole film did.

But who’s the worst culprit? You thought I was going to say Aladdin didn’t you? But no. While I think Mena Massoud looks the part, and has one or two charming moments, I honestly think he’s rather dull. But that I don’t blame on his acting, I blame on the direction given to him and the hackneyed screenplay he had to read from. No, the worst character in here is Jafar. Jafar in the cartoon was the bad ass of bad assery. He was pure evil and when he walked into the room, everyone knew it. For a drawing, it was one of the most confident villains I have ever seen in any kind of animated film. Here….Jafar who? Like, who was he? If I could describe him best, he felt like a whinier Anakin Skywalker from Attack of the Clones. He got high pitched and just cried and scream to people about power and shit. He wasn’t intimidating at all, and I was wondering why most of the film someone didn’t just walk up to him and kick him straight in the nuts to shut the fuck up. He seemed THAT fragile.

Other than characterization, the screenplay is a giant mess. For some reason they decided to combine Aladdin’s ‘One Jump’ song ALONG with meeting Jasmine. They took two separate character moments that set up who these people were and tried to combine it just to get to the Genie a little bit faster. In all the scenes that everything needed to take a breather, it felt rushed, and all the scenes that needed to be cut for dragging, was dragged out as long as possible. There were two scenes of Jafar and the Sultan where I was looking at my watch, clocking how much longer that scene would go on. It was insulting as a film goer. And the awesome climax in the original cartoon, where the stakes were raised and Jafar turns into a giant bad ass snake? Completely gone. The climax to this feels like the climax to the novel version of Twilight: Breaking Dawn, where opposing characters are just one opposite sides of the room from one another trying to out talk and maneuver the other one.

The only other person that walked away from this garbage that was actually really good and look like she wanted to be there was Naomi Scott as Jasmine. She was the confident, brave, bold, and smart heroine that she needed to be. I never considered in the cartoon her to be a damsel in distress (even though there were a couple of scenes to argue that notion) and in this film, THE ONLY THING IT DOES RIGHT, is too completely strip away that stereotype and make her the bad ass princess that we know and love. Naomi Scott is a good singer, and her voice is lovely to hear on screen, but that new solo song they gave her, ‘Speechless,’ felt wayyyyy out of place and didn’t match the rest of the film, and in fact, slowed it down. In the climax, where things are supposed to amp up, she breaks out to the rest of the song she started earlier in the film, and it just felt sloppy. The whole controversial thing of the film making her Sultan at the end that’s getting a lot of flack for Disney trying to be ‘woke’ or whatever it is called? Probably the LEAST controversial thing about the film, and in fact, was one of the few changes that worked.

Oh, I guess two more points I could say that I liked, but they are just fleeting praises, like finding a tiny speck of gold in a pile of shit. I think the “Whole New World” sequence was done well and I liked that they kind of gave the Genie more of a definitive sweet and sappy ending (although Nasim Pedrad, who was a part of that ending, was wayyy under used). And that’s it. The Cave of Wonders scenes, including the journey to the lamp and trying to escape were rushed, boring, and editing poorly. The CGI in almost every frame looked like shit, including the Blue Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Agrabah just looks like every film that has a old boring palace in the middle of a desert location. I could go on and on, but it’s too tiring too. Director Guy Ritchie should be ashamed of himself. He obviously didn’t have any of his trademark directing in the film, because The Mouse was busy forcing his hand to do its bidding. This film opened up a whole new can of worms to seriously getting me to start hating live action remakes. Disney will never have a friend like me if they continue churning out this assembly lined bantha poo doo.

Zach’s Zany Movie Reviews: MIDSOMMAR (no spoilers, because the Pagan God would kill me)

A lot of people are going to hate MIDSOMMAR. Correction: Modern audiences are probably going to hate Midsommar. They are going to think it’s too weird, too depressing, too unsettling, too gory, not enough jump scares, too weird, not fast paced enough, too long, too weird, not understand what is going on, too weird, too weird, too weird, and too weird. That’s exactly why I kind of loved it though. This is Ari Aster’s second film after the very unsettling and disturbing Hereditary. And while I still prefer that film more right now, the more I think about this film, and the more research I do on ancient Pagan tradition and ways, that could change in the future. Mr. Aster definitely did his God damn homework. There is no denying that the man is talented. For one, he is trying to do something different and more interesting than mainstream horror. Both films he has done look absolutely gorgeous cinematography wise, and he is definitely an actor’s director, getting commanding performances from everyone involved. But the man needs to see a therapist.

Seriously. The opening before the intro starts to roll is very, very, very, very fucked up and deeply unsettling, with disturbing images I haven’t been able to get out of my head and I swear I had nightmares last night about them. The movie then takes a breather, and then becomes a very, very, very, very slow burn, but one that becomes more clastrophobic and more depressing each minute that ticks by. The movie is about a girl named Dani, who after a very recent horrible family tragedy, decides to join her very distant boyfriend and his friends as they travel to Sweden for a festival that occurs every 90 years, unaware they are in the middle of a deeply sadistic Pagan cult. I mention that the boyfriend is very distant for a very specific reason as their relationship is the ultimate catalyst for what happens in the film and the ultimate outcome. See, he was about to break up with her before Dani’s family tragedy occurred, and he feels like he has to stay with her to not look like the asshole.

Where the film goes from there, I dare not reveal, as I feel like the Pagan Gods would set me blaze this very minute revealing anything else, as part of the satisfying and gratifying weirdness is the journey itself. Let’s just say that things get very complicated and more weird than you could possibly imagine. And more gory. If you are not a fan of gory movies, or you are a deeply depressed and unsettling individual, for the love of God DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. It might kick you over the edge. Imagine if Paul Thomas Anderson made a horror movie (while on acid), and you’d get pretty close to the final product of this. Just like Hereditary, the film is a nightmare minute after minute, with all the characters being put into weird Pagan traditions and not being able to do anything but follow along. If you want any last minute clues from me before you decide to take this journey, and not get into spoiler territory, I will just say this: if Midsommar weren’t the title, I have the feeling an alternate could’ve been PAGAN HOSTEL.

The cinematography is spectacular, like I’ve mentioned above. Because of the solstice, it doesn’t get dark much right when they get there, looking like the middle of a normal day when it is really 9 pm at night. The main characters take drugs at certain points in the film, and their good/bad trips light up the screen as if we are on that trip right along with them. The weird cult that they run into do some really weird traditional shit, and it’s lit very well, everything all bright and cheery, but combined with the excellent musical score it is really telling audiences that something truly unsettling lies beneath the surface. The only maybe downside to the movie is that while Hereditary was completely unpredictable (especially what happens right before the second act of that film), this film kind of is predictable a bit. After the beginning credits were done, I guessed what was ultimately going to happen, and I was right on the money. Now the film still gave me plenty of visual surprises and some of the arcs and characters went into different subplots I didn’t see coming, but I guessed the ultimate outcome, which if any other outcome was written, I don’t think it would’ve been as satisfying, so the predictability is completely forgiven.

And the acting definitely takes this film to another level. You get the comic relief in Will Poulter, for some reason you get the actual Chidi from The Good Place looking like he’s visiting the actual Good Place, Jack Reynor as the distant but commanding presence boyfriend, and the fantastic Florence Pugh as Dani. She’s been having quite a year, with this and her praised performance in Fighting With My Family. In here, she basically has to portray different instances of grief the entire 2 hour and 30 minute run time. I believed every second of it. Like Toni Collette in Hereditary, if the Academy actually recognized horror films, she would get an Academy Award nomination at the end of the year. But alas, I don’t think the Academy would touch this film with a ten thousand foot long pole. The long run time will drag for many butts in their seats, but it flew by for me because I was so caught up in what was going on.

If you are a individual that hated Hereditary, or just didn’t get it, and like more modern horror films but not the cheap shit, you might want to just stick to Jordan Peele type things and stay far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far away from this. But if you are looking to experiment and want something different than your cheap jump scare “unsettling” cliched bullshit horror, I can’t recommend this film enough. This is a break up horror in the daylight comedy. There are no cheap jump scares at all if that is what you are looking for. If Jordan Peele is calculus, then Ari Aster is Advanced Calculus taken in a abandoned warehouse’s basement. I mean seriously, I’m worried about the guy, does he dream of this shit up every night in his sleep? I do applaud him for doing something different and just hope he has all of these emotions in check and is just really, really good at giving audiences something different to be scared of on the big screen. Right now I really like the film (the other two people I saw this with didn’t care for it all that much). Someday I might think it is a masterpiece, if I can only have the courage to actually watch it again.

Zach’s Zany Movie Reviews: SPIDER-MAN FAR FROM HOME (minor spoiler paragraph on Mysterio)

SPIDER-MAN FAR FROM HOME is the great, fantastic, fun refreshing breather of a Phase 3 epilogue we needed after that really long emotional climax that was Endgame. We are now also 6 for 8 on pretty decent Spider-Man films, 5 of them even being great. This movie was basically a super hero road trip rom-com, and it worked every step of the way. The film does have just a couple of pacing issues at the beginning, but once you hit the mid way point (and you will definitely know when the mid way point hits), it all leads to a fantastic conclusion, one of the most memorable of all the Spider-Man films. Tom Holland is easily the best Peter Parker AND Spider-Man and I hope he keeps the role for years and years to come. I mean, he looks like one of those baby faces like Leo that won’t really show it until he’s in his 40s, am I right? By the way, the minor spoiler paragraph on Mysterio that I mentioned in the title, I will warn you so you can skip that paragraph to be completely spoiler free.

And if you scroll down and look at all my Spider-Man rankings, you might be surprised to see that Spider-Man 2 still ranks at the very top of my list, even though I just said that Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man. He very much is, but Spider-Man 2 is the best and spider-ery(?) Spider-Man film. See, until Tom Holland came along, none of the Spider-Man iterations really got ALL of Spider-Man right. Tobey Maguire I thought was a great Peter Parker, but a very mediocre Spider-Man when the mask was on. Flip that for Andrew Garfield, while he was a great Spider-Man, he wasn’t really that great of a Peter Parker. Tom Holland has both perfectly. He portray’s Peter Parker’s persona and innocence down to a science, and his quips behind the mask are laughter belly ache inducing. I knew it from the moment he showed up in Civil War that his Spider-Man was going to be one for the ages. I just hope that in his third solo outing, they don’t try a pull a Raimi 3.

Because that is what I respect the most out of these new MCU Spider-Man films. Is that they are trying to do something different. We don’t see Peter’s origin story here, MJ is not Mary Jane but an entirely new interesting character who just happens to be named Michelle Johnson. We haven’t had any repeat villains from the old films yet, we are getting brand new ones with more depth than any of Raimi or Webb villains, each having their own little arcs that make the story more well rounded. And a lot of the setting are pretty different. Even though Spider-Man is from Queens/New York, most of the first film takes place more around it than actually in it, not to mention the in the air plane finale. This film takes place is multiple other side of the world locations, hence the Far From Home title. I would like to see a third film where the plot actually stays between the sky scrapers of New York, as seeing him swinging through the buildings were part of the Sam Raimi films’ charm. (you do get to see a very small amount of skyscraper slinging though in this, just not enough for my taste).

Uh, should I even talk about story? It’s kind of hard to seeing as though I have to mention spoilers from Endgame, but you know what? Fuck you if you haven’t seen Endgame and are reading this review. You’ve had plenty of time to see it. Sorry, but in this day and age, it is either release date way or the highway. Anyway, this takes place a very small amount of time after Endgame and Tony Stark’s funeral. Everyone is dealing with the aftermath of everyone on Earth just instantly showing back up again 5 years after they were snapped (although this film has a new term for it, ‘blipped’) out of existence. Those that were part of the blip, even though it is five years later, are still the same age. The filmmakers explain adjusting to the cataclysmic re appearance quite fast, with both sorrow and humor. Just like the beginning of Homecoming, which kind of retold the events of Civil War through Spidey’s eyes/homemade video, we get kind of a recap/update with another video that is both touching and at the same time provides a few laughs.

Anyway, still dealing with losing Tony Stark, he and his classmates go on a school summer vacation through Europe, when Nick Fury hijacks it. Turns out, there are several dangerous Elemental threats to the Earth, with a mysterious new hero named…well, Mysterio (Quentin Beck, played by Jake Gyllenhaul), and they need Spidey to step up and help since a lot of the other Avengers are currently unavailable. Mysterio reveals that he and the big destructive Elementals are from a different dimension, and that there is a multi-verse now because of Hulk’s snap bringing everyone back in Endgame. Peter Parker not only has to deal with this, but he wants to tell MJ that he really likes her and wants to date her on this trip, while also grasping with the fact that the world is kind of looking up to him to possibly be the new leader (new Iron Man per say) of the Avengers.

Far From Home is light, entertaining, and filled with a lot of great humor, so if you are going into this expecting another epic drama like Infinity War or Endgame, you’ve definitely come to the wrong show. This is the dessert after having time to digest all the shit you ate during Endgame, and it’s exactly how it is supposed (and needs) to be. Tom Holland is of course the perfect Spider-Man, Jon Favereau gets the most screen time he’s ever gotten in an MCU film, and Zendaya has a lot more to do as MJ this time around, and her and Tom Holland have fantastic on screen chemistry. Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders reprise Nick Fury and Maria Hill as well, but if you think something might be off about their performances, just wait until the entire thing is finished before you start going off on how they don’t seem like their characters. Now, coming up really quick is the quick spoiler paragraph on Mysterio, because I want to talk about Jake Gyllenhaul’s excellent performance.:

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It seems kind of odd to me that the movie relies on most of its audience not knowing who Mysterio is in the Spider-Man world. Everyone that even half way decently knows Spider-Man and his comic book world should know that Mysterio is one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes. So the marketing to me, trying to portray him as a hero, didn’t elicit too much excitement, because I knew what was probably going on months before release day. So reveal of him being the main bad guy in the film is meant to be a shocking and huge revelation, but since I knew it was coming, you would think the reveal would invoke some boredom out of me, right? Far from it. And it is because of Jake Gyllenhaul’s performance. Before the reveal that not everything is as it seems, his performance was teetering on “phoning it in” for me, but once everything comes to light, it turns out that decision was more of a blessing in disguise. One it is revealed that Mysterio is the main villain, Jake Gyllenhaul goes full Jake Gyllenhaul, and delivers one of the best villain performances in the MCU outside of Thanos, Killmonger, Loki, and Vulture. He absolutely crushed it.

******************end spoiler paragraph*****************************************

Wow, this review has gone on long enough, so let me wrap it up. Aside from a couple of 1st act pacing issues, and the action not being all that memorable (along with the musical score) except for the climax, Far From Home is another home run for not just the MCU, but the Spider-Man films in general. And for most of the action scenes not being that memorable, I don’t blame director Jon Watts, because he proved with the first film he knows how to develop and stage an action scene, might’ve just been script or location issues. But all of that is forgiven because the rest of the film is excellent and hugely entertaining. I definitely laughed every other minute, it was a very funny film. Oh and uh….STAY THRU ALL OF THE CREDITS. Both of Far From Home’s after credits scenes are extremely important, probably the most important after credit scenes we have gotten from the MCU in quite a long time. The mid credit scene, good God I wish I could just spoil and talk about it. But for long time Spider-Man fans, the mid credit scenes will make prematurely shoot a bunch of webs out of your web shooter. It is THAT GREAT.

My Ranking of all the Spider-Man films (you will disagree, to each his own):

Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man Homecoming
Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse
Spider-Man Far From Home
Spider-Man
Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man 3
Amazing Spider-Man 2

Zach’s Zany Movie Reviews: ANNABELLE COMES HOME (no spoilers)

So ANNABELLE COMES HOME is the 7th film in The Conjuring Universe if you count The Curse Of La Llorona, right? Which I do, and if you don’t, and haven’t seen it yet, I suggest that you do as there is hard evidence of why it is considered part of this film series. And La Llorona, while not being that terrible, was still a big disappointment, trying too hard with cheap cliched jump scares that didn’t have any context or set up. Thankfully, the third Annabelle more than makes up for that stumble in the franchise road. Not only are the scares and frights earned, and not only are they all foreshadowed and set up meticulously, but all of the scares subvert your expectations. You think the spookiness is about to go down….here it comes….but then it doesn’t……but then much later it gets you when you least expect it! And the film is entertaining as hell too, a little fun house of horrors movie that is much better than they ones we’ve received over the past decade. And mark this down as the best Annabelle film so far too. So with the Conjuring Universe we are 4 for 7, and that ain’t bad.

But is this a perfect reverse trilogy you may ask? No, unfortunately it just misses that mark due to the first Annabelle film being the worst film of not only the three just pertaining to that doll, but the worst one of the whole Conjuring Universe. A perfect reverse trilogy is where all three films are somehow excellent and each one is better than the last. In this case it is just a reverse trilogy. The set up for this film is simple, at the beginning we finally get to see the Warren’s take custody of the doll from the two teenagers we were introduced to in the first Conjuring movie. One year later, they get a baby sitter (Madison Iseman) to look after their daughter (McKenna Grace) one night as they go to investigate another case. The baby sitters friend comes over (Katie Sarife) with secret intentions of her own and winds up in the Warren’s room filled with evil and haunted artifacts, and of course, let’s Annabelle out of her case. Let the fun begin!

And the movie is a boatload of fun. As you may now no Annabelle isn’t like Chucky or any of the little bastards from the Puppet Master franchise. She doesn’t talk, say one liners, or come after people with a knife (no matter how much I wanted her to). She is a conduit for other spirits, ghosts, demons, and evil entities to come out to try and get your soul. She does move around, but is more whisked to where she wants to go by unseen entities. So what is so cool about this movie is that it is less about her going around and killing people and collecting souls and more about her bringing other tales and folklore to life to do the bidding for her. I don’t want to spoil any of what those evil entities are, but I will say that after the movie was over, I was clamoring for a Conjuring Universe Hellhound movie. God I hope they end up making one.

And while the set up is simple, the writing here is definitely not lazy. While the Warrens are more of an extended cameo type appearance and just book end the film, it’s the three female protagonists that have to carry the movie. Each of them has their own arc to flesh them all out, the best one being the friend that comes over played by Katie Sarife. If the movie was just them running around the now haunted home and doll, while it would’ve probably still been fun, the movie definitely wouldn’t have been as effective narrative wise without the arcs. And the acting is top notch too. McKenna Grace, while still very young, proves she needs to be in more things to stretch her talent. Madison Iseman shows another side of her than just the bratty teenager in her brief appearance in Jumanji 2. But the stand out is Katie Sarife as the friend. The film mainly focuses on her and her story, and she acts the hell out of the situations she is put into. Very much looking forward to her acting career in the near future.

If you are a Conjuring Universe Aficionado, this is absolutely a must watch, as it is definitely the most entertaining and fun entry of the entire film franchise. The other universe films are, while still being somewhat entertaining and watchable, are more filled with darkness, dread, and despair, and not being what you’d call ‘fun.’ Emotionally draining is the correct term. Writer Gary Dauberman, this being his directorial debut as well, wrote all of the Annabelle films, and I can confidently say that he learned his lesson from the terrible first film, and is honing his craft. And it makes me look forward to IT Chapter 2, which he also wrote that comes out in just a few months. Annabelle Comes Home was a fantastic fun house of horrors film. Very solid, and one of the Conjuring Universe films I will probably end up revisiting over and over again.

My ranking of Conjuring Universe Films

The Conjuring
The Conjuring 2
Annabelle Comes Home
Annabelle Creation
The Curse Of La Llorona
The Nun
Annabelle

Zach’s Zany Movie Reviews: TOY STORY 4 (no spoilers)

TOY STORY 4 or what I am calling it, Woody’s Epilogue, is actually a pretty great…well..epilogue. Let’s face it, we all know that Toy Story 3 provided mostly all of the toys we’ve come to grow up with a satisfying conclusion to the “Andy Saga.” However, in the third movie, Bo Peep was no where to be found with one line of dialogue and one frowny face basically explaining that she was just gone, and not with them anymore. Well, this 4th movie is basically a Bo Peep RetCon. And it’s really, really good. I think I even enjoyed it more than the 3rd one. I’m going to be the controversial one by saying that I didn’t find Toy Story 3 all that memorable other than them about to be fried in that furnace and then the tear jerking ending of Andy giving his toys to a new little girl, Bonnie. And I’ll even double down on the shock value and tell you that #2 blew me away when I saw it in theaters and is still my favorite of the franchise to this day. Now is the time though, when all childish things must come to an end, and hopefully, even though this was great, it is definitely the last film.

And yes, I know that they introduce a new character named Forky (voice by the great Tony Hale), and I know that he’s getting his own Disney + series (hard pass), I’m meaning as far as theatrical films go, I hope this is the last one. And yes, I will even admit to you that this movie was unnecessary. But look at Pixar and their cash cow. They made three completely unnecessary films about Cars that were either too boring or too wacky. It was even revealed in a recent article that they started planning and writing Toy Story 4 before 3 even hit theaters, and that was 9 God damn years ago. But given that the recent article said that Pixar will be focusing on original films going forward and there won’t be many sequels anymore, and the Forky series, I have a feeling that this will be the last one. Because after the mid credits scene roles, there is literally no more story left to tell, even with Bonnie, because it was just be recycling Andy growing up all over again. You’ve had the toys almost get lost and die a thousand times, you’ve gotten the story line of what if some of the toys were collector’s items, and you’ve all had one dimensional villains that either want to destroy everything or keep the depressing status quo.

Which is why I liked this film quite a bit, because of Gabby Gabby, the first true villain of the franchise that actually had an arc (Sid, the Prospector, and the Giant Purple Bear weren’t all that interesting to be honest). They took her to a place I didn’t think they would go, and was very grateful to get something different. And the reason why I’m really calling this film “Woody (and Bo’s) Epilogue” is because, other than those two and a few new characters, all of the other ones get the shaft. And I get it, Toy Story 3 was their ending, and this is Woody and Bo’s, but this film has Buzz Lightyear featured the very least in any of the film in the franchise. Other than one ‘inner voice’ joke, that was actually hilarious and a lot of fun, I’d say Buzz is in the movie for less than 20 minutes, with that joke being the brunt of it. I guess I could forgive it, seeing that the film opens 9 years prior to show how Bo really went away and Woody seemingly giving her one last goodbye, but there had to have been some way to feature Buzz more in this film. Consider that my biggest criticism of the film.

The rest is fantastic though. I loved that the film took place mainly in an RV, at a fair, and one of my favorite locales in the whole franchise, an antique shop. I loved Gabby Gabby’s really creepy ventriloquist henchmen (provided some weird dark comedy). I loved the new characters, like Forky mentioned earlier, a pair of duck and bunny stuff prize dolls voiced by Key and Peele, and especially Duke Caboom voice by none other than, the celebrity getting the most love he’s ever gotten in his career this year, Keanu Reeves. He completely steals the show, and the film even (stay thru the mid credits!) gets Reeves to do his one signature line we’ve made fun of him for, but also praised him for, and have been doing homages ever since. I found myself laughing out loud in the theater quite a bit too, which just gives the movie even more brownie points. If you are a kid film made for kids, but you get adults to laugh out loud and smile along, you know you are a special film.

And obviously, since we’ve had this franchise since the mid 90s, this is the most visually striking of all the films. They manage look crisper and more detailed every outing, and that is very much appreciated (although for the love of God don’t run out of ideas and then George Lucas everything by remastering the first three films with better digital effects). The voice acting is all there, with Hanks and Potts almost making me cry with their interactions. It’s a very, very solid Pixar movie in general. And was so, so, so, so much better than the kind of okay sequel we got last year with Incredibles 2. I’m very, very happy and excited for the future of Disney/Pixar after this film, and the fact that they said they are going to focus on original tales from now on. But this needs to be the last Toy Story theatrical film. There is no where left to go. And I swear to God, someone needs to hand me a poison vial or shoot me in the face if they ever announce a Cars 4.

My Rank Of Toy Story Films:

Toy Story 2
Toy Story
Toy Story 4
Toy Story 3

Zach’s Zany Movie Reviews: CHILD’S PLAY (2019) (no spoilers)

It’s a miracle beyond modern Hollywood science that CHILD’S PLAY (2019) doesn’t suck major doll ass. In fact it is pretty entertaining, with some gruesome cool kills and Mark Hamill’s wonderful, wonderful voice work for the new Chucky. The movie is flawed to be sure, and doesn’t even come close to any kind of ballpark when talking about the brilliant original film, but when recent remakes/reboots have been complete and utter dog shit (looking at you Pet Sematary), anything half way decent is a warm welcome. The key to the whole thing: other than the character’s names and one kinda/sorta borrowed climax piece of dialogue, the story is completely different. The problem with the new Pet Sematary is that it tried to tell the same story as the book and the original film, but majorly changed a couple of key things where it ultimately tripped on itself and fell hard. The new Child’s Play takes the notion of a killer ginger doll named Chucky, and pushes itself off into its own unknown.

For the rest of this review, I thought I’d take a cue from Comingsoon.net and do a different kind of review, basically just listing What Worked and What Didn’t with no spoilers and then my concluding thoughts, so let’s try this out:

WHAT WORKED

Mark Hamill’s Voice

Honestly if it wasn’t for Mark Hamill’s fantastic voice work here, this movie probably would have been a disaster. The few clips and audio sound bytes had me worried that he’d sound too much like the Joker, but other than the laugh, this is a new original Hamill take on Chucky. Instead of being a soul of a psychopathic serial killer, the doll is just a AI learning robot that runs AMOK when he realizes he can’t play with Andy and be his best buddy all the time, and Hamill’s voice makes an entirely new character that separates itself completely from the genius of Brad Dourif’s original work.

2. The Completely Different Story

I sort of liked that the filmmakers made Chucky just a little sympathetic this time around (think of a doll version of The Cable Guy). And yeah, yeah I know it takes away from the menacing mean no holds barred factor of Dourif’s work, but the filmmakers wanted to separate themselves and do something new and “with the times”, and go the route of AI technology going haywire. It seemed like the most obvious and best way to go, and I’ll have to agree. Andy is also older in this, so the real question I had going into it was: why the hell would this 13-14 year old boy want a doll like this? Well, the movie plays on the kids loneliness after just moving, the advanced technology angle (this doll can do a shit load of stuff because it is tied with Kaslan products ((Think Alexa and Amazon.com)), and other inner turmoils fortunately make his initial attachment to the doll believable. The kills are different, there are actual other kids that befriend Andy in this film, and the climax does things that none of the other Chucky films have done thus far.

3. Andy and Other Killer Tidbits

As I said above, Andy in this is older, and the actor that plays him, Gabriel Bateman, makes this character more interesting than he was in the original movies. Andy here has more to do, so it isn’t just a little 6 or 7 year old whining how “Chucky did it!” and just screaming for his mommy the whole time (I’ll admit, the original Andy gets much, much better in Child’s Play 2). Gabriel Bateman is a fantastic edition, and if there happens to be sequels, would love to see him come back. Other little tidbits: I liked how Chucky’s Vietnam origins. The kills are nice and gory, with the first major human death by Chucky being a gift that kept on giving (literally). And the end credits was a precious gift as well: it features Mark Hamill singing the new Buddi Doll song with sadistic hilarity. Make sure to stay to the very end (no extra scenes, but the end of the great song). As one other movie critic said, “the funniest end credits song since Clint Eastwood sang one for Gran Torino.”

What Didn’t Work

The Climax

Without getting into spoilers, the climax has a bunch of people running amok and getting killed, but it ultimately felt very rushed and needed a few moments to take a breather. I didn’t think the movie used the fact that Chucky could use his hilarious E.T. like finger and control other Kaslan products to their full killing potential. Especially in the location of the climax where it was full of other electronic goodies. The climax felt rushed because the editing also felt a bit choppy. The movie was doing so well by that point that with really strong scenes coming before it, it was a little bit anti-climatic and sort of a let down. It really should’ve been expanded about 10 minutes with some more cool kills and small rewarding character moments. But that’s just me.

2. Aubrey Plaza And Wasting Brian Tyree Henry

Aubrey Plaza isn’t very good in this. She seems to be a different version of April from Parks & Recreation in every other project that she does, and here is no different. They have a one line thing explaining how she’s still a very hot looking mom, but she was completely unbelievable as a mother. Makes me pine for Catherine Hick’s performance in the original. And while Brian Tyree Henry (he has been excellent in whatever he does) does what he can as the cop that just “happens” to be living with his elderly mom as Andy’s neighbors, his role is ultimately wasted, and make it seem like they could’ve completely written his character out and had background minor speaking cop roles and it could’ve all worked out the same.

3. Other Little Plot Contrivances and Conveniences

Also what didn’t work was some of the usual flawed script problems with little plot contrivances and conveniences every now and then. Smart characters do dumb and stupid things that are out of character. I mentioned above that the one main cop happens to live next door to Andy and is called upon to investigate strange deaths. I would’ve liked to see the screenplay have a more natural way where Tyree cops character comes into the fold. Chucky is also constantly in the right place at the right time now matter how far away he originally was. I could go on and on but its just the stupid little horror cliches that end up getting on my nerves, and into my reviews, no matter what new suspense film come out.

4. The Look Of The Doll

I hope that whoever designed Chucky in the 80’s with those wonderful practical doll effects is a multi-millionaire, because the look of the doll here is really lacking. And yes, I do realize that in the original films it was a soul of a human in the doll, and the doll was slowly getting human blood, organs, and other anatomy because of magic voodoo shit as time went by, yadda, yadda, yadda. But why was the look here so ‘meh’? And while the doll looks a little creepy here, it feels as though a lot more effort should’ve been put into maybe making Chucky look cute and innocent at first and then really maniacal once shit went down. But instead, the doll just looks fake and creepy at, and then its eyes just glow red and eyebrows furrow a little bit when Chucky is upset. Yes, it was supposed to look more mechanical due to the fact that it was just AI running amok, but in no way, shape, or form could I see people actually wanting this product for their kids even though it could do a whole bunch techno shit. Surely a company out there would design and sell better. Wasn’t buying the hype displayed here for the product. Minor nitpick about the doll: some of the one liners made me laugh out loud, but basically most of the time the doll was just a parrot, telling victims things it was taught earlier in the film. But since hearing Hamill actually say them made me laugh, and the fact it was supposed to be a AI doll learning from its environment, that nitpick is totally forgivable.

So overall the new Child’s Play was good not great, but we have to consider that a miracle. Everything was pointing at it to be awful. Everything. The fact that the review embargo didn’t lift until less than 24 hrs from hitting theaters. The fact that it barely showed Chucky in the promotional materials and you hardly heard Mark Hamill say a thing (how the marketing didn’t focus on Hamill and his brilliant voice performance is quite odd, I guess they wanted everything to be a surprise, but unfortunately you can’t really do that anymore this day and age unless you are of Avengers Endgame type quality). That fact that I’m so in love with the original Chucky and think that the 80’s Child’s Play is one of the best horror films of all time. My expectations were low as they could ever be. But then reviews saying it was “flawed but fun” gave me a little hope and I tried to go in with more of an open mind. It would be nice if this new Child’s Play should set the standard with remakes/reboots being half way decent going forward. Then Hollywood would have no choice but to improve, improve, and improve upon that standard. But who am I kidding? That’s not how the studios play, and it will never be their game of choice let alone even an idea that is kept pent up in their very small scope toy box.

My Rank of Chucky Films:

Child’s Play
Child’s Play 2
Cult Of Chucky
Curse of Chucky
Child’s Play (2019)
Bride of Chucky
Seed of Chucky
Child’s Play 3

Zach’s Zany Movie Reviews: I AM MOTHER (Netflix) (No Spoilers)

Holy shit, a Netflix original film that is actually pretty great! What is the ratio now, 15 to 1? Give it the benefit of the doubt with 10 to 1? Either way, it’s rare. And I don’t mean good film, I mean great. The good film ratio is probably more 7 to 1 or 5 to 1. But sometimes it is tough to weed through all the shit on the streaming platform before getting a gem like this one. I AM MOTHER is a little post-apocalyptic scenario film combining the plots of several films along the way but providing enough little twists to make it effectively unique. It’s all the end of the world films you’ve seen combined with the tight space enclosure that was Ex Machina. It’s just an impressive movie I think if possibly they got some up and comers and cast someone other than Hilary Swank (who used to be a Oscar champion but has since relegated herself to small independent projects), it could’ve been a huge hit at the theater. In one of those rare moments, I’m actually thanking Netflix for picking up and streaming this film to begin with. And no, this isn’t a sequel to I Am Legend, although at some part of the film I was convinced it was going to tie itself into another well known franchise (it obviously doesn’t but you can completely guess which franchise I’m thinking of halfway thru).

The film mostly takes place in this bunker like facility. At the beginning of the film, the audience is let known that an extinction level event has just taken place (it doesn’t show it, one of the films many strengths). All we heard is a bunch of nuclear like explosions going on outside and rattling said bunker. A life sized robot named Mother awakens, and takes a human embryo out in this facility because it has the capability to quickly make a little human being (24 hrs or your money back! jk, jk). Some years later, that child has grown up into a teenage girl (doesn’t say her age), which Mother cares for, feeds, teaches school and life lessons, etc. Really only one main rule, never go outside the bunker and anything that happens to maybe come in, needs to be incinerated immediately for safety’s sake of the nuclear fallout. Mother ‘sleeps’ at night and recharges her batteries. One night the girl hears some sounds coming from the front entry lock of the facility, and it is an older adult woman, played by Hilary Swank (none of these characters that we actually see have names and the ones we do hear of but never see have biblical ones). The older woman is shot and in desperate need of help. And all I’ll say next is, when these three unite, nothing is as it seems.

And that’s literally all I can say about the plot. The whole thing has little twists and turns every couple of minutes where eventually I didn’t know who to really trust until the end credits, and even after that I was questioning myself. I Am Mother also has one of the best looking robots in recent cinematic memory and also praise it for using practical means to make it come alive (male in a very elaborate suit) and only noticing a tiny amount of CGI when Mother was running ((and even that I’m not positive was CGI)). The mother is voiced by the wonderful Rose Byrne. And I understand why it was an American accent, but with this and now Modern Family, I just wish some movies would let her go back to letting her use her wonderful Aussie one. We all know Hilary Swank can act, she’s won two Oscars for God’s sake, but how does she fare here? Well, she has a lot more screen time than I thought she would, given that she is the ‘And’ celebrity on the poster and other promotional materials. There is a mystery about her character and she plays off of that very well without being too mysterious…if what I just said makes any fucking sense. She’s good is what I’m trying to say. Swank usually doesn’t phone shit in and here is no different.

The teenage girl, played by Clara Rugaard, really 21 in real life, does a great job too. The whole film is on her shoulders and she pulls off every emotion that she needs to give off in every pain staking situation she is pulled into. If her performance failed, the whole movie would’ve, but she’s tremendous here. And I won’t say whether or not you ever see outside the bunker, but I just wanted to commend the great CGI work here. It isn’t the best CGI in the world that I’ve seen, but they managed to have pretty great visuals for a film I’m assuming that was on a small budget. And I think that practical robot effects for Mother was what would make or break the film for anyone. If it was a CGI creation, I don’t know if I could’ve gotten into the film as much as I did. It makes me wonder if ‘practical effects on Mother only’ was written into the script.

I’ve never heard of the director, Grant Sputore, so I’m assuming this might be his first movie. I haven’t heard of the screenplay writer, Michael Lloyd Green, either. But what a tremendous debut if this was their first big gig and I look forward to more projects from them in the future, I just hope it is something I can watch on a big screen. Anyway, I just went into this film without seeing a trailer, because the description intrigued me, and I still haven’t watched the trailer. I suggest you do the same. I’m afraid to watch it still because I have a feeling that it will give away some of the neat little reveals in the film, I hope it doesn’t. But if the premise intrigues you, I encourage you to check it out whenever you can on Netflix. This is one of their great original films that shouldn’t be missed, especially with all the other bullshit more than half of you watch on their and consider it ‘good entertainment.’ That thought frightens me.

Zach’s Zany Movie Reviews: LATE NIGHT (no spoilers)

FYI, I can’t stand Mindy Kaling as an actress. It’s not that I think she’s ugly or anything, I just can’t stand her high pitched whiny voice, her personality and demeanor, and that she plays basically the same character no matter which program she is on. That being said, I think she’s an incredible writer. She’s written some of the best episodes of the office, the best episodes of The Mindy Project, and LATE NIGHT is her first screenplay for a feature film, and I kind of loved it. It makes me look forward to her future projects for the big screen, and I will actively seek them out, unless she keeps acting in her writing projects. Unless she can change her acting style, I really would prefer that she took more of a role behind the scenes and less in front of the camera. Maybe even try her hand at directing, but definitely not direct herself.

Not only does her dialogue, story, and some unconventional little twists to her story make Late Night a nice bright spot in this June gloom summer month, but once again, Emma Thompson completely steals the show as late night host Katherine Newbury, who is about to lose her show even though she’s been on the air since forever, because the past decade her material and jokes have been stale and on auto pilot. No ‘umph’ whatsoever. To change this, she fires a male writer and asks that the show hire a female writer to spice things up. Kaling’s character, even though she works at a chemical factory plant, is the only woman that applies for the job so she just gets it. But with Katherine’s very uptight personality, things of course get off to a rocky start before they get better, and Kaling has a hard time adjusting to a writer’s room where she is the only woman, but once the two set aside their differences and work together, they just might be able to save the show.

Other than the acting from Thompson and the cute quippy dialogue, I actually liked the overall main story, even though in some parts I knew where it was going to go. However, Mindy Kaling threw me a couple of curve balls in several of the subplots that I didn’t see coming. There is one subplot with Katherine’s husband played by John Lithgow that I didn’t see coming, and he had one of the best speeches in the movie. And there is another minor subplot of Kaling getting a love interest in the movie whose conclusion I didn’t see coming as well. It’s the little unique changes in narratives in screenplays that I don’t see coming that I love coming out of movies. Mostly you get them in the big epic tent pole films, but these days, you kind of expect that. When they come out of these little workplace comedies, you end up appreciating them a lot more when they suddenly just show their faces every now and then. Next time though I would suggest to Mindy Kaling to not act in her own screenplays. They could’ve hired someone like Tessa Thompson (who stole the show in Men In Black International even though it sucked), or maybe even a complete no-name to fill in her role. If someone else had played Kaling’s part, I think the movie could’ve even been better than it was.

This review is going to be one of my shorter ones and end with this paragraph, because anything else I say would probably spoil the journey of the movie. What I really liked about the film is that it felt like everyone was working for and on a real late night talk show. There are a lot of movies that, with smaller budgets like these, make everything feel too fictional and visually under-bearing. When watching this film, I felt like ‘Tonight With Katherine Newbury’ had been on for years and I just couldn’t bring myself to ever sit down and watch another episode. And while the film was mostly a point and shoot affair, director Nisha Ganatra did a tremendous job with the performances and slight unique touches with framing at those big pivotal emotional scenes, that I would love to see more projects from her in the future. And Emma Thompson, I’m glad when I looked her up she’s won not only a Oscar for acting but for writing. She is one of the best actresses of this generation. Late Night is just a good time at the movies. And in the summer month of June Gloom, it is nice to have a little savior film to get you out of inevitable doom.