Tag: 10s

Veronica Mars Season 4 Cannot Be Accused of Fan Service

The Review:

For reasons I won’t go into, Rob Thomas cannot be accused of fan service in Veronica Mars Season Four. The eight-episode season is chock full of what made the series so beloved* while ably transporting the formerly-teen characters into full-on adults with complicated lives.** Patton Oswalt and J.K. Simmons (as a pizza delivery man, and ex-con toady to Big Dick Casablancas, respectively) are excellent additions.***

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $11.99/month via Hulu
Where watched: at home with Matt

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Wise-cracking, dark humor, solid dad/daughter relationship, a romance that is complicated, mysteries to solve, bad choices to make, good choices to make, and the wealthy/shady beachfront town of Neptune, California.
**The multitudes of trauma the characters have experienced is being dealt with in ways both healthy and unhealthy. It’s also gently lampooned in two amusing scenes: one with a bunch of true-crime enthusiasts, another with a high school student recapping previous seasons’ plot lines by asking Veronica, “did you know that…?”
***Two questions annoyed me from the first episode. 1) Why does Neptune have a police department when that was an entire subplot of season two? 2)What in the name of all that is holy has become of Logan’s vast fortune? Both of these questions could have been answered with single sentence asides (Ever since incorporation passed in 2015 the police department has taken over in the incompetent realm. And. After the lawsuit with Trina, there wasn’t much left.) Shoddy story crafting there.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In Season 4, the professional NBA player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, is a writer (S4, E6). He’s also the highest-scoring NBA player by total career regular season points scored (38,387).
(Stay focused on the show, IMDB trivia writer. He’s also a producer.)

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is a Punctuated Film Title

The review:

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw* is ably directed by David Leitch and a worthy addition into the Fast & Furious enterprise.** Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham are a great anti-buddy pair while Idris Elba makes a scene chomping (in a good way) villain. The movie does thing thing where the characters travel all over the globe*** in order to boost its international box office draw, and they end up in “Samoa”**** where a bunch of Samoan men somewhat alleviate the lack of Vin Diesel.*****

The verdict: Good

Cost: $8.35
Where watched: Regal City Center Stadium 12, when I should have been doing other things

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*The double ampersand in the title might be some sort of shark jumping indication for this franchise
**Good lord, is there anything in this world so ridiculously entertaining as a Fast & Furious movie (that is not 2 Fast 2 Furious or The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift)?
***They seem to appear in these new locations as if by magic or Star Trek transponder; even air travel is too slow for the Fast & Furious bunch.
****Hawaii gets the role of Samoa in this film.
*****Though I like many things about this installment of the franchise, Mr. Diesel is, and has always been, my reason for watching.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Helen Mirren reprises her role from The Fate of the Furious (2017) as Shaw’s mother. She originally landed the role after she had indicated her desire to be part of the franchise one day, and the producers were happy to accommodate her.

The Farewell is Well Worth Your Time

The review:

Lulu Wang’s The Farewell is a quiet bit of funny and sad as we watch Billi (Awkwafina) come to terms with her Chinese grandmother’s terminal cancer diagnosis.* Shuzhen Zhao (Nai Nai—the grandmother) is a delight, full of vim and opinions and ways to get rid of the negative energy. It’s a movie full of moments that weave together into a loving portrait of a family spread far apart by geography but with a very close bond.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $6.00
Where watched: The Hollywood Theatre, with S. North (who paid, because I forgot my wallet)

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Complicating the diagnosis: in China it’s common to withhold the diagnosis from the patient so everyone must act as if the family is only gathering for a family wedding.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

In addition to writing and directing, Lulu Wang also plays piano on the film’s soundtrack.

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood…is Too Long.

The review:

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is the story of a friendship* between two men that had me shifting in my seat at the 90 minute mark and wondering for the next 71 minutes what all the other people in the theater were interested in. I’m on record of not being a fan of Mr. Tarantino** but man, this movie had too much movie for what it was saying.**** Both Pitt and DiCaprio bring great performances, the period detail was great, and still: No.

The verdict: Skip

Cost: $8.00 (Hollywood Theater Member pricing!)
Where watched: Hollywood Theater with friend Kelly

Consider watching these other movies set in the 60s:

Further sentences:

*I don’t think it can really be called a friendship when one person is paying the other, but we have no word for that. Frempolyment? Employship?
**Good things he does: dialog (though not so much in this movie); music; period detail. Problems I have with him: his movies are too damn slow; the films I’ve seen have the same structure that ends in too much violence; the violence is somewhat cartoonish, which leaves me ill physically and spiritually.***
***In my screening, the violence actions directed at women in the big scene at the end had several audience members expressing bro-like appreciation in a way that would not have been out of place at a gang rape. That made sitting through that gory scene that much worse.
****All of the Sharon Tate scenes could have been cut, and just about every tense scene went on long enough to have the tension transition to irritation.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

As the Tate party enters the El Coyote restaurant for dinner, Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring discuss a movie premiere they can see taking place further down Beverly Blvd. at an erotic movie theater. “They have premieres for dirty movies?” asks Sharon. The theater in question is the Eros, a real adult theater of the time. The building still exists, though it is now a repertory cinema called the New Beverly Cinema, and it is owned by Quentin Tarantino.

Veronica Mars: The Best Movie for Marshmallows

The review:

The inception of Rob Thomas’ Veronica Mars* ranks as one of the few great movie-related surprises of my adult life.** It’s a movie with a lot of fan service, but it also has a credible plot and we get to check in on our favorite characters from the TV show, now firmly in their adult lives. A 100-minute movie can’t be as satisfying as the 64 episodes that came before it, but when you think something’s over and it comes back to life, that’s some kind of magic.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: We have a DVD that may have come from the Kickstarter campaign?
Where watched: at home, with Matt***

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*The movie, not to be confused with the series of the same name.
**The other two: Before Sunset, Before Midnight
***Matt was around as I watched the three seasons this month. He remembered a lot more about each episode than I did. This was the only thing he sat through with me this time around.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Funded in large part by a campaign on Kickstarter.com, breaking all of the site’s records up to April, 2013. Some of the accomplishments were: Fastest project to reach one million dollars. Fastest project to reach two million dollars. All-time highest-funded project in the film category. Third highest-funded project in Kickstarter history. Most project backers of any project in Kickstarter history.

Veronica Mars Season 2: The Best Witty Banter

The review:

Veronica Mars Season 2 doesn’t have the excellent season-long mystery that Season 1 does*; what it excels in is Logan/Veronica banter. It’s also the season where we see the extent of the corruption in her town of Neptune, California. At this point the cast has really gelled and easily absorbs a few new characters.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: Currently streaming on Hulu, also available at your library and in DVD box sets
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Though Season 2’s main plot arc is worthy; it’s just not as nuanced as Season 1

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

The sticker of the black circle with the bananas in the middle on Veronica’s locker is the album cover of The Dandy Warhols. The album features the theme song “We Used to Be Friends”.
(Fun fact: Matt his his own version of this song he sings as the opening credits roll.)

Spider-Man: Far From Home is a Properly Adolescent Superhero Movie

The review:

John Watt’s Spider-Man: Far From Home brims with hard choices for one very reluctant superhero.* Tom Holland continues to prove he’s the best Spider-Man ever as he makes plans to spend a summer getting away from his neighborhood and the big superhero shoes he’s stepped into since the events of Avengers: Endgame.** But that wouldn’t make for a very entertaining movie for us, now would it?***

The Verdict: Recommended

Cost: $10.00
Where watched: Baghdad Theater

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*He is, after all, sixteen.
**He just wants to see Europe with his friends and maybe tell MJ (a delightfully frowny Zendaya) how he feels. The teen romance was totally on point in this film.
***Not to fear. Things go wrong. Spider-Man has to save the day. There are funny and clever parts.

Faviorte IMDB trivia item:

In the film, Spider-Man mentions Captain Marvel, which marks the first time a MCU character referred to Carol Danvers by that name.

When in Rome: Is It a Good Movie?

The review:

Mark Steven Johnson’s When in Rome* is a perfectly competent entry into the second-tier rom-com cannon. It leans heavily on the comedy part of the equation—Dax Shepard, Jon Heder, Will Arnett and Danny DeVito all play enchanted suitors—and the comedy would perhaps be enhanced by having drunk a few adult beverages before watching. This is a movie that isn’t bad, but also is barely holding on to its Good rating.**

The verdict: Good

Cost: $3.99 via Google Play
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*True story: I was jonesing for some Kristen Bell—I had just read a Vanity Fair article with interviews with the cast of Veronica Mars—and remembered that this movie was the genesis of the Kristen Bell/Dax Shepard relationship. Then, I mistakenly assumed that he was the lead and was initially confused as to why Josh Duhamel was taking up so much screen time.
**Perhaps due to the above confusion, I wasn’t fully rooting for the couple. But Kristen Bell’s friends are fun, it’s an interesting premise, and Rome looks good.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

After her return from Rome, Beth receives a phone call from Joan informing her that she is front page news due to her climbing into the Fountain of Love. A cutaway shows a newspaper with the headline “Stupidissima.” This translates not simply as “stupid,” but rather as “the pinnacle of stupidity.”

I no longer remember the context of this line, but I think it’s good advice, no?

Late Night: A Grown-up Comedy I Heartily Recommend

The review:

Nisha Ganatra gives us a rare object in Late Night: the grown up comedy. Aside from a great cast* it’s also an interesting look at how those past-your-bedtime** comedy shows get created. It’s got some laugh-out-loud moments, and many chuckles and I found myself thoroughly charmed.

The verdict: Recommended

Cost: $6.00
Where watched: the Laurelhurst Theater

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Emma Thompson of course, and Mindy Kaling. And all those writers in the writers room were fun to watch and I enjoyed seeing Paul Walter Hauser, who was so good as the not-so-smart buddy Shawn in I, Tonya
**It occurs to me that probably no one thinks of these shows this way any longer. I’m asleep by 10, but still see bits from late-night comedy shows because they are available on YouTube

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

A poster for director Nisha Ganatra’s first feature, Chutney Popcorn, can be seen on the wall of Molly’s room.

The Rewrite: Not a Film for the Current Decade

The review:

Marc Lawrence’s The Rewrite is a movie that seems to have time traveled from the 90s, landing squarely in 2014 and carrying on as if nothing has changed. Hugh Grant is a screenwriter who has slid so far in Hollywood he takes a job teaching screenwriting at a college in upstate New York* where he chooses his students by checking online to see what they look like** and then tries his best to avoid teaching them anything.*** Allison Janney is a frigid Jane Austin scholar who thwarts him at every turn**** until he has a realization and everything comes up roses for him.*****

The verdict: Skip

Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home, (and I now pledge to look up some reviews before putting a five-year-old movie I’ve never heard of into my DVD player)

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*It happens to be the same college one of my former roommates attended.
**He ends up with eight very attractive young women and two very nerdy guys. Marisa Tomei argues her way into class, and I found myself wishing we could shuffle Hugh Grant off camera and just have a movie about her character.
***Except for one person. And, to no one’s surprise, that person is not one of the nine attractive women. Grant decides that one of the nerdy guys has a brilliant script and mentors him into a movie deal. Those ladies, though, they are still window dressing. No reason to see if they can write. No reason to mentor them.
****Strangely, we are supposed to see her as the villain here, rather than as a person making some good points.
*****At that point I was hoping for more of a Leaving Las Vegas-style ending.

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Portions of the film were shot in and around Binghamton, NY and the nearby Binghamton University. This is because director Marc Lawrence is a graduate of the university, and has expressed a great love for the school and his experience there.