review

#1186 – The Ranown Westerns

/ Chase Clark / Leave a comment

This collection of five films from the Criterion Collection showcases the bulk of collaborations between under-the-radar B-Western director, Budd Boetticher, and longtime Western hero, Randolph Scott. The films included are The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome, and Comanche Station. All five films feature Randolph Scott as the lone wanderer with his own moral code to live by, and relatable villains. We’ll take them one at a time.

The Tall T
This one is based on a story from Elmore Leonard, the writer of many classic Western tales, such as 3:10 to Yuma, Valdez is Coming, and Last Stand at Sable River. Scott plays Pat Brennan, a rancher with a “place of his own” that he hopes to build up into something great. We see him wandering through the opening credits and stopping at a way station to begin our story. The place is operated by a man and his little boy, and Brennan promises to bring the little boy back some candy when he returns from visiting the nearby town. Unfortunately, after leaving the town, Brennan loses his horse and is forced to hop on a stagecoach with the daughter of a rich mining baron and her new husband. The coach stops at the way station where three men, Frank Usher, Billy Jack, and the unfortunately-named, Chink, have taken over and murdered the man and his boy. Richard Boone plays Frank Usher, and while his young henchman are a little too trigger happy, Usher has a code of ethics similar to Brennan, only he’s willing to let innocents die to get what he wants. Through their conversations, they both realize that, in another life, they might have been friends.

Usher is looking for a big payout so he can live the life he wants, and he seems to have stumbled into it when the newlywed husband turns out to be a craven, self-serving piece of trash. He admits his wife’s father is rich and is willing to go and deliver a ransom note to the baron in exchange for his own freedom. Once the plan is set in motion, and the husband is no longer needed, he gets a bullet in the back, courtesy of Frank Usher. The justification being that the husband was no-good for abandoning his wife, and at that point, it’s hard for the audience to disagree.

The film has a tight runtime of 78 minutes, and Burt Kennedy’s script is an economic tension-builder that matches the best of them and shows us what makes the post-World War II Westerns such a joy to watch.

Decision At Sundown
The second film in this set takes the tropes of these Westerns and turns them on their head. Scott, this time, plays Bart Allison, a man who rides into the town of Sundown with one thing on his mind: vengeance. He’s after the man he blames for his wife’s suicide, Tate Kimbrough, and he’s not leaving until he kills him. Lucky for Allison, Kimbrough has the entire town of Sundown in a vice grip, and they aren’t too happy with the way he’s running things.

Once Allison arrives in town, the movie jumps right into the action. Allison stops Kimbrough’s wedding and a shootout ensues. The rest of the movie is a true Western standoff – the town is completely quiet, all doors are shut, and the heroes and villains yell at each other from around the corners of buildings. However, in that time, we learn that Bart Allison is far from the hero we expect from Randolph Scott. He is fueled and blinded by his hatred. He refuses to believe his good friend, Sam, when he is told that his wife was not a good woman to begin with and never loved him. His code of ethics has been swapped for revenge, and revenge alone. And when even the sheriff of Sundown gets in his way, well, that’s just too bad for the sheriff.

Kimbrough is obviously not a good guy, so we’re happy at the thought of him getting his comeuppance, but it doesn’t happen. Kimbrough is allowed to escape as Allison deals with the loss of his friend, Sam, and the realization that what he said about his wife was true. In the end, multiple people are dead, Allison fails in his mission, and the town of Sundown is freed. The town, of course, is happy to celebrate, but for Allison, there is nothing to do but mourn his losses. He leaves Sundown, refusing their thanks, and alone once more.

Buchanan Rides Alone
In this film, Randolph Scott is Tom Buchanan, and you guessed, he rides into town alone. Agry is not a town you want to ride into and stay very long, even the townspeople say so. As soon as Buchanan passes the bridge from Mexico into Agry, he is greeted by a suspicious sheriff who aggressively gets Buchanan off his horse and patted down. Buchanan soon finds that Sheriff Lew Agry isn’t the only unfriendly soul in town, nor is he the only one the town is named after. Lew has two brothers, and while he is sinister, scheming one, his brother, Amos, is too dimwitted to do anything beyond run the hotel, and his other brother, Simon, is the most respected of the brothers and the town judge.

When Simon’s son, Roy, the town hothead and drunk, is shot and killed by Juan de la Vega, a Mexican who had a personal vendetta against Roy, Tom Buchanan gets roped into the town’s politics, and it’s up to him to get de la Vega out of trouble. The brothers Agry’s war amongst themselves sucks in the entire town, as well as the lives of Buchanan and de la Vega, presenting several twists and turns along the way. It all culminates in a nail-biting shootout involving hostages on both sides of the same bridge Buchanan crossed when he entered the town and a saddlebag with $50,000 smack dab in the middle.

Because of how this movie zig-zags throughout and the intense finale, Buchanan Rides Alone may be my favorite out of the Ranown films I’ve watched so far. This one clocks in at 80 minutes, so again, it’s short and sweet, tightly-paced, with several interesting, flawed characters to keep viewers invested. A great film to show those who are skeptical of the Western genre.

Ride Lonesome
Randolph Scott stars as Ben Brigade, a bounty hunter who is after more than just the money when he tracks down and captures wanted criminal, Billy John. In his attempt to get Billy to Santa Cruz, Brigade runs in with a couple of outlaws with their own motivations and a woman who is all alone in the harsh western country. Together, they have to outrun Indians and a band of outlaws (the leader of which is Billy’s brother, Frank), until Brigade’s true intentions are made known.

The film consists of many twists and turns, and the entire time, it’s hard to keep track of the alliances and loyalties between the characters. The film banks on misdirection. Even one of the outlaws, Sam Boone (Pernell Roberts), at the end of the film, claims to Brigade, “Ain’t it funny how a thing can seem one way and turn out another?” Brigade can’t help but agree. Neither can we. Even as the ending comes, and all loose ends are tied, and all the good guys have gotten what they wanted, the film still plays on this misdirection. It was a comedy in the classic sense, right? The happy ending? And then the final shot of the film happens, and you realize what a truly cold revenge story this was.

Burt Kennedy’s script sense shines once again, as the characters are mostly fleshed out, except for the villain, Frank. Even though he’s played by the great Lee Van Cleef, he remains forgettable. The woman and Native American characters are treated the same, but that’s at least a bit more common of the genre. Ride Lonesome is certainly not the best film in this collection, but it is an entertaining one, and probably carries a lot more rewatch value than some of the others.

Comanche Station
In the final film between Scott and Boetticher, Scott plays Jefferson Cody, another man alone on his own personal mission. He rescues a woman from a tribe of Comanches, and rides off with her only to be waylaid by a trio of outlaws – the evil Ben, the scheming Frank, and the dimwitted Dobie. They all ride together for a time, and during that time, Ben and Frank come up with separate plans for how to make off with the woman and a $5000 reward for her safe return. Dobie, of course, follows along but doesn’t come up with any plans of his own or really approve of Frank or Ben’s methods. Cody, meanwhile, claims to know nothing about the reward; he is rescuing the woman, Nancy Lowe, for his own reasons.

Similar themes run rampant in Comanche Station as does through the others in this collection – loyalty, personal honor, the fine line between hero and villain, and it’s chockfull of a few twists and turns along the way. Why is Cody risking his life for Nancy without a thought of the financial reward? Can Nancy believe him when he claims to have no prior knowledge of the reward? What secret is Nancy hiding herself? Are any of the outlaws to be trusted? The finale is as much shocking as it is endearing.

This film and the previous one, Ride Lonesome, were both filmed in CinemaScope, so you get some beautiful wide landscapes of the open range, as well as that sunburned color look, so they look best in the 4K format on the biggest screen you can handle. Scott is often framed to reflect his larger-than-life hero image. The script is once again precise and tight, even if, at this point, it’s familiar territory.

Looking back on the whole collection, I don’t think I would marathon these films in one or two sittings. They benefit from being allowed to breathe. As I alluded to in the paragraph above, by the end of the series, it begins to feel repetitive. The same basic premises, with just enough of a twist to justify being their own releases, and Randolph Scott basically plays the same character in each one (except for Decision At Sundown).

Having said that, I still recommend this set or at least these movies to anyone who likes Westerns, early Revisionist cinema, or wants something to watch under an hour and a half. They look great, especially in Criterion’s new 4K release, and they’re an excellent cap to Randolph Scott’s impressive career. He retired after Comanche Station, only to come out of retirement for Sam Peckinpah’s Ride the High Country before retiring again, for good, but in my opinion, these films are the better closure for his lifetime of moviemaking.

You can purchase the set here from Amazon.

#490 – Wings of Desire

/ Chase Clark / Leave a comment

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:11

God is not directly mentioned in Wim Wenders’ film, Wings of Desire. Neither is the specific passage from the Bible I’ve quoted above. However, both permeate the film as our main character, an angel named Damiel (Bruno Ganz), spends his time staring down at humanity from the top of the Berlin cityscape, contemplating what it means to be human. A poem that he frequently quotes, called “Song of Childhood”, sticks in his mind while he passes through the mortal world, unnoticed…except, of course, by children. Children can see angels, even if they don’t fully comprehend what they’re seeing. Even a girl with glasses – a girl who cannot see on her own – is able to see Damiel as he stands in her house, watching her family live.

Angels are voyeurs in Wenders’ film. They can watch you without you noticing them, and they can hear your thoughts and prayers. Angels know everything about you, and yet, they can do nothing. As Cassiel, another angel that Damiel frequently poses his psychospiritual questions to, basically says, their job isn’t to live or help humans live. Their only responsibility is to observe. Because of this, the life of an angel is very fact-oriented. It’s very black-and-white. Literally. The only time Damiel can see color is when he gets too close to humanity. He goes beyond his responsibility and helps humans feel and change emotionally, and because he has crossed a line, he now is gifted with the knowledge of human limitations.

The movie touches on several themes throughout the film, but one it continually refers back to is this: the untethered freedom the angels have is, ironically, confining. There is joy and pleasure in being limited beings because there is then a mystery to what is beyond those limits. Because their mind, bodies and souls are limited, humans have capacity to experience. Angels are not so lucky. They are distant, as we can see from their point-of-view throughout the film.

Damiel is content to think and ask questions until he sees the trapeze artist, Marion. Once he has seen true beauty as only a human can contain, his black-and-white world is shattered. There is no merely observing any longer. It’s live or die, despite his immortality. Luckily, he also has a brush with the actor, Peter Falk (yes, Peter Falk plays Peter Falk in this movie), who turns out to be a former angel who grew tired of immortality and decided to leave it for the human experience, like a selfish Jesus Christ. Damiel follows in Peter Falk’s footsteps, and abandons his angelic responsibility and immortality to become a human, waking up to a now-colorful Berlin. He meets Marion at a Nick Cave concert, and finally has a knowledge and understanding that no angel ever could.

Wings of Desire is a beautifully shot and thought-provoking film; a staple of the New German Cinema. Wenders manages to dive deep into spiritual questions and somehow, like an angel, keep it at an arm’s length for better examination. The poem, “Song of Childhood”, says, “When the child was a child, it didn’t know it was a child.” Wenders pulls back that curtain, and allows us to see that we are just children, and considering how children are portrayed in the film, isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

For anyone considering watching this movie, I would to emphasize that the film is unapologetically artistic in its expression – it’s meditative – and so it has a rather slow pace. Since the pace is intentional, I can’t really call it a flaw, but slow-burners aren’t for everyone. If you find yourself getting bored with slower films, would rather “turn your brain off and enjoy” a movie (a concept I disagree with entirely, but now’s not the time for that discussion), or you can’t handle subtitles, then you may want to skip this one. And I don’t say that to be pompous or snobby. I just think many people miss out on great cinema because they aren’t willing to challenge themselves. With that said, I encourage any and all who are willing to watch this deeply personal and moving film, whether you are religious, or not, or some ecclesiastical wanderer in the middle.

You can purchase this film <a href="http://<a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Wings-Desire-Criterion-Collection-UHD/dp/B0BVXXD9Y2/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=wings+of+desire&qid=1692304127&sprefix=wings+of+des%252Caps%252C211&sr=8-3&_encoding=UTF8&tag=destinedforme-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=30b1f3000f5407d550fac3bd6b94c874&camp=1789&creative=9325">Wings of Desire 4khere from Amazon.

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

/ Chase Clark / Leave a comment

It feels weird, reviewing a movie that’s been with you since your childhood, and there’s a certain fear that comes with that: Is the movie as good as you remember it? More often than not, you go back to a movie from your past and you stare at the screen in horror over the idea that you ever enjoyed such a thing. And what’s worse, you told people recently that you liked that movie, before you sat yourself down to rewatch it. You have to hang your head in shame, now, around some of your friends because you spent several hours heatedly defending Space Jam. Life, as you knew it, is now over.

But there are other instances, where you return to a film through the eyes of your adult self, and it’s just as good as you remember it. Sometimes better. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure is one of those movies. With the recent passing of Paul Reubens, a rewatch of the 1985 classic felt necessary. And I am thrilled to say that this film remains one of the best cinematic tales of young love, between a boy and his bike.

Pee-Wee Herman is your normal, everyday acid-trip-induced man-child version of Mister Rogers. He lives in a house with his dog, Speck, covered in gadgets and knick-knacks that overcomplicate the simplest tasks. His entire kitchen is rigged to where you can light a candle and your breakfast is made while you’re off doing something else. As a boy, I always wished for something similar in my future, but the logistics of having such a house seem insurmountable. But above everything else he owns, there is his most cherished possession: a red bicycle with a tiger’s head on the front. And there ain’t no one gonna come between him and that bike.

Paul Reubens saw Tim Burton’s original short, Frankenweenie, and personally requested that he direct this film. His fingerprints are all over the film, too. There are multiple dream sequences, some involving claymation, with black and white, German Expressionism-style set design. There’s a beautiful sunrise seen through the open jaws of a large T-Rex sideshow attraction, complete with jagged teeth framing it. There’s a fun, bouncing score from Danny Elfman, his first music-related project post-Oingo Boingo and his first collaboration of many with Burton. Burton’s style and attitude toward filmmaking are a perfect match for the character of Pee-Wee Herman.

The plot of the movie is hard to describe without sounding absolutely ridiculous, so I might as well just lean into it. All is wonderful in Pee-Wee’s world until he runs into the rich “kid” down the street, Francis Buxton. Buxton wants Pee-Wee’s bike more than anything at the moment and, to get it, he hires a greaser to steal it while Pee-Wee’s out doing a little bit of shopping. Pee-Wee soon realizes that no one is going to help him find his bike (after all, it’s “just a bike”) – not the police, not his friends – so he is on his own. With nowhere else to turn, he meets a fortune teller who tells him his bike is in the basement of the Alamo.

Pee-Wee hitchhikes to Texas with the help of a convict on the run for tearing the tags off mattresses, and a woman truckdriver named Large Marge. Although, this Large Marge lady may not be all that she seems to be. He gets dropped off at an unnamed diner in an unnamed part of the world, and he meets a friendly waitress named Simone. Simone encourages Pee-Wee to keep searching for his bike, and he encourages her to follow her dream of traveling to Paris. Simone’s boyfriend Andy is less understanding of her friendship with Pee-Wee, especially after he overhears them talking about her big “but”. He chases Pee-Wee with a dinosaur bone through a cornfield, forcing Pee-Wee to escape by jumping onto a moving train. He sings old songs with a hobo until he reaches his destination, San Antonio.

Pee-Wee is rightfully disappointed to find out that the Alamo doesn’t even have a basement, and so he’s back to the drawing board. While in San Antonio, he sets a national record in bull-riding. He also suffers from brief amnesia after being thrown from the bull. But don’t you worry, my dear Texans. Pee-Wee may not be able to remember his name, but he remembers the Alamo.

From there, he realizes he needs to get to a phone and call home, so he visits a bar that’s the local hangout of the biker gang, “Satan’s Helpers”. After he knocks over their bikes just outside the bar (which happens in any self-respecting road trip movie), Satan’s Helpers hold him down and debate how they’re going to kill him. He asks for a last request, and is granted it, so he borrows a busboy’s platform shoes and dances on top of the bar to “Tequila” by The Champs. As is expected, this wins over Satan’s Helpers and they offer him one of their bikes so he can travel home. He makes it to the edge of the parking lot before driving into the bar’s streetside signage.

Pee-Wee gets rushed to the hospital and sees a news report on TV that indicates his bike is in Hollywood on a film set. He makes his way to Hollywood, takes back his bike, and flees the Warner Bros. studio lot while being pursued by the entirety of the Warner Bros. security team. He travels through a beach movie, a Christmas movie, a Godzilla movie, a Tarzan movie, and a Twisted Sister music video before successfully escaping with his bike. Unfortunately, his freedom is short-lived. He stops to save all the animals inside a burning pet store, and it is there that he is caught and brought before Warner Bros. execs. Lucky for Pee-Wee, his story is interesting enough to where Warner Bros. wants to make a movie out of it! The film ends at the local drive-in, where all of Pee-Wee’s new friends show up to witness the premiere of this autobiographical movie.

Bonkers, right? Absolutely crazy, but it’s so much fun. The script is tight and throwaway lines earlier on make an appearance again later on. Pee-Wee’s retort to Francis (“I know you are, but what am I?”) is quoted by the film-version of Pee-Wee at the end. When making a police report, Pee-Wee is convinced that “the Soviets” are responsible for his missing bike, and in the fake film, Soviet ninjas are the main villains. It’s smart for knowing that it’s dumb and playing it up. Some scenes are terrifying, or at least were to the younger me – Large Marge, the dream sequences, one involving a T-Rex eating his bike, and another one involving three of a child’s biggest fears: clowns, doctors, and Satan. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure is a joy to watch. It’s funny, quotable, feverishly ridiculous, and according to my wife, a little creepy, and we have Paul Reubens to thank for all of that.

Verdict: There’s no way I’m getting rid of this movie. Not only am I nostalgic for it, but it really is a great film. Everyone should own a copy.

And you can grab a copy <a href="http://<a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Pee-wees-Big-Adventure-Blu-ray/dp/B00596L2UM/ref=tmm_blu_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1692304215&sr=8-2&_encoding=UTF8&tag=destinedforme-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=36788ec4db0fad9a75dc366251d25abf&camp=1789&creative=9325">pee wee blu rayhere from Amazon (providing it’s in stock).

Barbie

/ Chase Clark / Leave a comment

Barbie has all the subtlety of an atomic bomb, but maybe that’s a good thing. It wants to make a statement on so many things – identity and humanity, womanhood in a patriarchal society, manhood in a matriarchal society, corporate branding and influence, superficiality versus substance, and quite a bit more – and for the most part, it does well, relying on its intelligence to circumvent its need for eloquence.

This is a movie for modern times. It’s feminist, it’s self-referential and breaks the fourth wall frequently, and it overuses or misuses words like “patriarchy” and “fascist”. Despite your personal views on some those things, Barbie is a lot of fun. It’s beautiful to look at, vibrant and very pink. Think of Set Design and Cinematography come Oscar season. The introduction to Barbie Land, complete with an opening song from Lizzo (because, duh) that describes the jokes we’re seeing onscreen, is so cute and bubblegum-pop, it might make you nauseous, like the kid who eats all their candy and then gets on the loopiest of rollercoasters. But, hey, wasn’t that cotton candy delicious?

The very beginning of the film includes a parody of the opening scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey, replacing the apes for little girls with baby dolls, and the obelisk with a giant Margot Robbie that is sure to give the film’s detractors some very weird fantasies. From that introduction, we’re introduced to our lead character, Barbie, or “Stereotypical Barbie”, as she is sometimes referred to. Her life is perfect. Everyday, she gets up, and goes to the beach with the other Barbies and all of the Kens, and then every night is Girl’s Night. Though, maybe all is not as it seems, because in the middle of a nationwide dance party, Barbie asks the question, “Do any of you ever think about dying?”

From here, the movie becomes a blend of The Lego Movie (Will Ferrell even plays another CEO of Business-type), A Matter of Life and Death, and Wings of Desire (the Wim Wenders film about an angel who just wants to be human – if you haven’t seen this one, you may have seen the John Travolta-led, romcom remake, Michael). Barbie must find out why she’s having this existential crisis by traveling to the Real World and confronting the girl who is playing with her. Ken, whose entire existence is made on acknowledgement from Barbie and whose occupation is simply “Beach”, sneaks into her car and joins her on her venture of self-discovery.

Ryan Gosling as Ken is the highlight of this film. He’s so funny and charming, even when he’s tiptoeing towards misogynistic or incel behavior. In the Real World, he discovers that a world dominated by men can be fun and exciting, and you can’t help but love him, even as he gleefully returns to Barbie Land and transforms it into Kendom, or explains the necessity of referring to his takeover of Barbie’s Dreamhome into his “Mojo Dojo Casa House”.

Meanwhile, Stereotypical Barbie has to get back to Barbie Land and fix what Ken is doing with the help of a mother-daughter duo that have their own problems to work out. The director, Greta Gerwig, whose other films include Lady Bird and the most recent remake of Little Women, usually shines with the mother-daughter dynamic, but in Barbie, it gets lost amid the jokes and winks to the audience. They really don’t bring much to the table until the mother, Gloria (played by America Ferrera), has an epiphany and monologues all the well-trodden issues that women face in a male-dominated society, thus breaking all the other Barbies out of their patriarchy-induced trance. This is where the lack of subtlety actually works in the movie’s favor. In another movie, this speech would have completely stopped the film. The things Gloria says are true, but they are delivered in the most awkward, parent-scolding-their-child-way possible.

In the end, Barbie is nothing like its critics have described it. It is not antithetical to its feminist grounding, but it is also not man-hating “woke” garbage. The film is smart enough to be critical and understanding of both sides – maybe too understanding at times to be overly critical (Stereotypical Barbie apologizes to Ken for not giving him enough attention at one point). Legally Blonde maybe did it better, but that doesn’t diminish the enjoyment of this movie. It has a little something for everybody. It’s cool, it’s fun, it’s hilarious. It’s cotton candy. Closer, it is, to “fine” than “great”, but that still means it’s “good”, and sometimes, that’s Kenough.

Rating: 6/10

Oppenheimer

/ Chase Clark / Leave a comment

“Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.” This quote, surrounded by the flames produced by an atomic bomb, begin a three-hour analysis of the complicated scientist, J. Robert Oppenheimer. The movie, inspired by the biography on Oppenheimer, American Prometheus, will never let you forget that comparison. Thankfully, it’s the only clue the film presents on where its opinion of its subject lies.

Instead of taking a stance on the long-running debate over whether Oppenheimer was a good or bad person, the film smartly keeps its namesake at an arm’s length. Christopher Nolan does this with most of his movies, with varying degrees of success, but with this one, it works. Film, like any art form, can show skill, produce emotion, and change perception, and you can see it within the work and style of any auteur. Nolan, however, sees himself less as an artist, and more as a scientist. In this regard, Nolan’s films are more like textbooks. They are a cold and distant presentation of facts, events and theories. Sure, there is art there, but it comes in the form of figures and illustrations of those theories. You can see this in the slight-of-camera work in The Prestige, or the three-tiered dreaming climax of Inception, or how The Protagonist is just as confused about the plot of Tenet as the audience is. In Oppenheimer, images of light, stars, blackholes, and apocalyptic pillars of fire engulf the screen, showcasing their vastness by covering every inch of the IMAX filmstock on which it was produced. See Figure 1.

Speaking of which, Oppenheimer is the first film ever to require black and white IMAX filmstock, which brings me back to the movie itself. From the beginning, we are presented with two timelines, Fission and Fusion. For those, like myself, who need a refresher on high school science, Fission splits a larger atom into smaller pieces to create energy. Fusion joins smaller atoms into a larger one to create even more energy. The Fission timeline is in color, following Oppenheimer’s rise to prominence, while the Fusion timeline is the breakdown of his power and influence, and is in black and white. A contradiction to add to the list. Oppenheimer: the man who can both agree and disagree with his country, bringer of fire and destroyer of worlds, punished by the gods and a god, himself.

Running these two timelines simultaneously, we know from the start that not all ends well for Oppie (as he is referred to by his colleagues) – perhaps a pro to covering a historical figure with whom so much is already written about – and with that information out of the way, Nolan is free to explore that contradictory nature. And in here lies what makes the film great. The moment the bomb drops, and you think, “this is what it was all leading up to”, you realize you still have an hour left of this movie, and there are still many twists and turns in the road ahead.

The cinematography is gorgeous. Again, “vast” is the word. Los Alamos is a beautiful desert setting surrounded by mountains as far as the eye can see. The colors are vibrant. After the bomb is dropped, and Oppenheimer realizes the gravity of what he’s created, the background behind him shakes violently. A bomb is going off in his mind. A vision of the crowd of scientists applauding his leadership and work ignites into pure desolation – an image of the carnage the atom bomb will inflict. Those cheers, a cacophony of sound, rise in their intensity until that mental bomb drops and it all dissolves into the scream of a single woman. My words can’t do it justice. This sequence is the best in the entire movie.

Cillian Murphy does well as J. Robert Oppenheimer. He has always been good at playing subdued or distracted characters, and he gets to lean into that here. But for me, the great standout is Robert Downey Jr., who shines as Lewis Strauss. To avoid spoilers, I won’t say too much here, but I will concede that he outperforms anyone he shares screentime with. He should have won an Oscar for Chaplin, but the least the Academy could do is give him one now. Together, Murphy and Downey Jr. are like two scorpions in a bottle.

Ultimately, there is little to complain about with Oppenheimer. Nolan treats the Father of the Atomic Bomb with the respect the title deserves – not worthy of sympathy, reverence or disdain; simultaneously incredible and horrible, much like the fire he brought down to the world.

Rating: 8/10

No Hard Feelings

/ Chase Clark / Leave a comment

No Hard Feelings is a Raunch Com starring Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman. Lawrence plays Maddie Barker, a 32-year-old who makes her money bartending and driving an Uber, who loses her car over unpaid property tax. Desperate for transportation (you can’t Uber on rollerskates very well), she responds to an ad on Craigslist that conveniently offers a car to any young woman who is willing to date their son and give him some good “life experience” before he goes off to college. Helicopter parents who want their son to get laid before he leaves the house. That makes sense.

Maddie has a tough road ahead, however, because Feldman’s Percy Becker is antisocial, a stickler for the rules, and afraid of the beach because of what might be in the water. She’s going to have to use more than just her body to seduce Percy. She’s going to have to actually get to know the man inside the awkward boy. Lucky for her, he’s irresistibly charming once you get past the shy, nerdy exterior and you also randomly open up about your daddy issues. The movie speedruns the falling-in-love portion of the movie, moving at a breakneck pace, only to come to a halt and give the audience severe whiplash in the transition to the third act.

Beneath the surface of this superficial comedy, there is a tender, beating heart. The cliches haven’t changed. You still shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and get to know and love someone for who they are instead of what you can get out of the deal. Sweet sentiments, if all too familiar.

I’m noticing a trend in Hollywood lately. There are a lot of movies coming out that are “Based on a True Story” (or, in this film’s case, almost Based on a True Story), that are not really worth having made. Just this year alone, we have Cocaine Bear, Tetris, Flamin’ Hot (a movie about the creation of Hot Cheetos), and The Beanie Bubble. It’s a dark time we live in when the people behind Beanie Babies get their own movie. If you like stuff like that, or are really into sex comedies, No Hard Feelings might be for you. The one thing it did for me was reminding me that there is nothing funnier than awkward humor for its own sake…except for any other type of humor.

Rating: 2/10

The Courier

/ Chase Clark / Leave a comment

The Courier is a based-on-a-true-story, Cold War-era, spy drama. Bet you’ve never seen one of those before. This well-tread, trope-riddled film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the true-life electrical equipment salesman, Greville Wynne, who is recruited by MI6 to act as a courier (hence the clever film title) between England and Russia, carrying secret documents back and forth between the countries in an attempt to prevent nuclear war. His Russian contact is Oleg Penkovsky, a high-ranking GRU officer, brilliantly played by Merab Ninidze who also played an interrogator in the similar Spielberg film, Bridge of Spies. And it wouldn’t be a war film without the U.S. getting involved, so Rachel Brosnahan fills out the cast as the fictitious CIA agent, Emily Donovan.

Many comparisons to other Cold War spy films, especially Bridge of Spies, are easy to make, but where this one sets itself apart from the rest of the pack is that The Courier is not boring. Of course there’s still plenty of roundtable dialogue in this movie, and intrigue disguising itself as decent plot, but it’s a tightly-edited feature (running at under 2 hours, unlike the majority of others in its subgenre) that only drags a little in the third act.

Greville is constantly looking over his shoulder for any Russian bogeymen out to get him after he agrees to be a courier, and his paranoia keeps him from being able to relax, even when he returns home to London throughout the picture. Oleg fairs little better, but feigns confidence in their secrecy for Greville’s sake. The bond between these two men carry the film, as there is plenty of time spent on them getting to know one another, experiencing what their respective countries have to offer, and spending time with each other’s families. Even small things like Greville’s emotional reaction to a Russian ballet would make you roll your eyes in a lesser movie, but here it’s given just the right amount of weight to avoid tipping over into shmaltzy.

And in this lies what makes the movie truly enjoyable to watch: while other spy films have played the “there’s good and bad on both sides” angle ad nauseum, The Courier doesn’t overdo it. It lets scenes play and allows the audience to collect what it wants to as it builds toward its melancholic climax. I won’t spoil it here, but suffice to say, “War is Hell.”

The Courier is not without it’s problems. While the script is decent, the dialogue is a little on the nose at times. One early scene is Oleg bringing the CIA and MI6 initial information regarding Premier Nikita Khruschev’s nuclear plans, and Emily Donovan comforts him with a speech about how scared he must be to betray his country, and Oleg nods and says, “Khruschev frightens me. He is impulsive, chaotic – a man like that not have nuclear commands.” Perhaps a true statement, but it sounds like something a 16-year-old Twitter user would say about a certain former American President. A small stumbling block in an otherwise enjoyable historical spy thriller.

Verdict: I think I’m going to keep this one. It may not be one I return to very frequently, but I believe it deserves a spot on any movie collector’s shelf.

And you can add it to your shelf with a copy <a href="http://<a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Courier-Blu-ray-Benedict-Cumberbatch/dp/B0914QSRGC/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=the+courier+blu+ray&qid=1692304432&sprefix=the+courier%252Caps%252C230&sr=8-7&_encoding=UTF8&tag=destinedforme-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=f93270044fe798e782abf4bb29115d4f&camp=1789&creative=9325">the courier blu rayfrom Amazon.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

/ Chase Clark / Leave a comment

Ant-Man’s back, baby! Or at least that’s what he tells himself in his internal monologue as the theme song to Welcome Back, Kotter plays in the background. The film really wants you to believe that Ant-Man is really and truly “back”. Unfortunately, Quantumania is as much an Ant-Man movie as Civil War is a Captain America movie with it’s need to bridge the gap between the other, bigger events in the MCU, and it causes Scott Lang/Ant-Man to shrink down to microscopic levels in his own title in order to make room for one very interesting villain and two very uninteresting side characters.

Let’s start with the good: Jonathan Majors – a still-on-the-rise star who is talented enough to fill the Thanos-shaped hole in Marvel’s overarching villain department as Kang the Conqueror. Kang is menacing and seemingly powerful until he gets trapped in a Marvel third act, where he is devolved into a hard-hitting boxer that has difficulty getting his opponent to stay down (maybe this was preparation for his upcoming role in Creed III). I realize the reason Kang is so terrifying is because there’s an infinite number of him, all more evil than the last, but it’s difficult to see him as such a threat when he’s been defeated rather easily twice now (If you missed Loki, or any other Disney+ MCU content, I can hardly blame you). Majors does a remarkable job with what he’s given, as does the ever-charismatic Paul Rudd, but to the film’s detriment, they are both given very little.

On to the bad: Besides trying to setup the next two phases of the MCU, Quantumania has to try and give us a reason for it’s own existence. To do this, they give the majority of the screentime to Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne (not a problem under different circumstances) and Kathryn Newton’s Cassie Lang. Janet gets to spend the majority of the film in fear of the inevitable third act and talking incessantly about how there’s no time to talk. I guess explanations of her time in the Quantum Realm would make several of the movie’s events unnecessary and would shave off significant runtime – an alternative I would have greatly appreciated. The greater offense, however, belongs to the new Cassie. She’s a rebellious, teenage ne’er-do-well who has to be bailed out of prison for…helping homeless people. Her only real crime is caring too much and spouting off self-righteous and clunky dialogue (“Just because it’s not happening to you doesn’t mean it’s not happening”). She also gets to wash her hands of her own actions because her dad wasn’t around for the five-year “Blip”. Just because it’s eye-rolling in order to set up a mediocre father-daughter reconciliation doesn’t mean it’s not eye-rolling.

Now, for the ugly: I realize there’s a lot of talk lately about the working conditions of visual effects artists, especially ones working on Disney content, but the CGI in Quantumania is absolutely horrendous and cannot be left unmentioned. The Quantum Realm backdrop is incredibly dark and looks like a Jackson Pollock made with only the dullest of browns, violets and reds, but the real offender here is our live-action M.O.D.O.K. Corey Stoll returns after nearly seven years since the first Ant-Man to play the now-deformed Darren Cross, who has been reconstructed by Kang into a pathetic and goofy metal Igor that looks eerily similar to George Lopez’s Mr. Electric in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D. It’s a pointless addition to an unnecessarily jam-packed movie, and the laughs M.O.D.O.K. brings aren’t the laughs the creators are going for. The ones they are going for fall flat, like an attempt to redeem him at the last minute (“I got to be an Avenger”).

The bottom line is that Ant-Man has come a long way from the exciting fight aboard a toy Thomas the Tank-Engine, but unfortunately, it’s in the wrong direction. Long gone are the contained adventures of the littlest Avenger and his quirky sidekicks (the absence of Luis is particularly felt), and here to stay are high-stakes battles for all humanity and lifeless characters here to punch their way into your hearts. Those who still go to the first showing for each formulaic Marvel showstopper off the production line will enjoy this one and what it sets up for the future, but for the rest of us, even a Bill Murray cameo can’t salvage this one.

Rating: 3/10