Robs takes on Media and Entertainment

A Southern Gothic tale - with all the symbolism you care to find from that genre. What does it mean to belong? How does a community treat its undesirables? What role does religion play in defining good and clean? What do you have to give up to be part of the clan? This movie probes some very deep stuff.  If you just want the top-level show without all the questions this flick evokes - you get gangsters, vampires, and blues music. It is all the magic I found in a Pizza Hut Supreme when I was a kid. Wonderfully grotesque metaphors. Moving scores. Impact through sound design, camera focus, tracking, color palette and lighting. This movie is brilliantly made.  I am trying to put my finger on a performance that is stand out, but I can't really. It is quite an ensemble. I think if there is one series I loved it is when Stack goes to get supplies for the party: that negotiation with the girl by the truck, the greeting at the 'black' grocery, the shooting, the '1-shot' wher...

"Aniara" (2018) is ostensibly a scifi film about a passenger ship en route to Mars that goes off course. Think "Avenue 5" (2020) but with less Hugh Laurie wit, Josh Gad mania and no comedic electricity from Jessica St Clair or Zach Woods. "Aniara" is based on an epic poem - and it explores how humanity, set adrift in the cosmos, struggles to find a path to purpose.  The narrative is centered on a woman who operates an AI Virtual Reality machine which provides an immersion therapy for people who are trapped on the ship - it fills them with a sense of paradise that they ultimately have to be unplugged from to face the existential dread reality of the sarcophagus they are on. The woman, Mimarobe, is earnest trying to make the best of what she is given. She is flawed - she is treated unfairly - she finds love - she faces grievous loss. All the while, she perseveres. I see her as a Job like character. Not exactly: she never gets angry at God and she doesn't...

Roman Holiday: Never have the stakes been so low. And seldom has the romp been so much fun. This movie is effervescent. The sensibility of it fantastic. There is even a character arc for all the mains if that is what you want - Peck falls in love. Hepburn grows up and realizes she is a woman on a mission in control of her agenda. Albert even has his heart show up at the end - really all of them go through something in a very naturalistic way that I feel is unusual for film (certainly for 1950's US films). I do think that Eddie Albert deserves special mention - he is severely handsome and hilarious.  It may be mostly the beard, but he reminded me of Rob Cook. His character keeps getting dumped on his backside and getting his pants wet. He tries to 'help' and ends up in some slapstick shenanigans more than not. I don't know about the time around the release, but his performance is undermentioned in comparison to the other two these days. The closing scene where she knows ...

(This is based on a clip from YouTube) So much grunting. Way more snake that you would have su-sssss-pected. The recent release of "Nosferatu" clearly skipped over the vulnerability to being taken down by a cane pole. The script is top notch - it is a new take on this well-worn ancient blood feud. Considering the dubious camera work, I like how the director & script supervisor made sure you knew what was going to hit werewolf in the face next. Sound effects were pretty good (not counting the airliner that interrupted the shoot). I think if two grown men on their way home from Spirit Halloween put together 140 seconds of thematic brilliance, you at least should stop and watch.

What do you do if you have 6th, 7th, and 12th place finishers in the 'Michael Stivic look-a-like contest - and a product placement deal with Budweiser?  You get Rick Baker's neighbor (other side of the street, a few doors down) to make you a creature costume. Then you go get the writer who did a day's work punching up one poker scene for an episode of MASH but got fired for refusing footwear on the set. In 1973, you could get a Thompson machine gun and grenades practically everywhere - so that is no problem. Then you grab you 8mm camera and put it to work on your singular masterpiece.  Really - this is fun. I could not put a name to who Fernman reminded me of, but I did think the art director did a fantastic job capturing his je ne sais quoi with the skull. Soundtrack is great. Last thing (if you were wondering): YES, this is in the same cinematic universe as "Drop Dead Fred" - this is the Fred who was hanging out with Phoebe Cates.