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Shouts Out while Staying In

by D. on 1 April, 2020 at 02:43

The news of the day aside, we were happy to see Tidewater Comicon feature us in their exhibitor highlight this week. While that show has been postponed for one year, rest assured that we intend to use our table when it returns in 2021.

The main purpose of this post is to let you know we are still alive and continuing to suck at social media.

For those fans who are readers, an eBook distributor we know is having a sale lasting through most of this month (that link will probably break on 21 April 2020).

If you were hoping for an inspiring of thought provoking essay on the subject, just pretend we said something profound here.

If you were looking for juvenile antics to distract you, please enjoy the comics and stories we have up.

Throw the Heil Out Zere (Jojo Rabbit)

by D. on 12 November, 2019 at 04:00

Seemingly stuck in limited release, we’ve been trying to find this one in a moderately convenient theater. As it turns out, Jojo Rabbit was not quite the movie we expected, but it was worth the wait and worth seeing in the theater. The critic taglines about the film all remark on its humor and brilliance as a satire. It earns these accolades, but it also deals somewhat seriously with the darker subjects of Germany’s last days in the Second World War.

Jojo Rabbit is not a spoof or parody – it is a satire. The film is a look at the war in Germany through the eyes of a 10 year old boy, a wannabe fanatical member of the Hitlerjugen whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler (played by the director Taika Waititi).

The casting is excellent. Eleven-year-old Roman Griffin Davis as the titular character did a fantastic job in a brilliant script. Scarlett Johanson as his mother and Sam Rockwell as his disgraced “scout” leader are both strong and portray a hidden plot of anti-Nazi sentiment that is subtly implied yet critical to the story. Rebel Wilson is hilarious in her disturbing role as the girl “scouts” leader. Thomasin McKenzie rounds out the cast as the Jewish girl Jojo’s mother is hiding, and she delivers a believable – if comedy-leaned – performance.

The subject matter has raised some controversy. I had some history with this when I worked on the editorial staff of a book that received similar ire – for similar reasons. As usual the angriest are people who haven’t deigned to view the actual content. “How can you make fun of Hitler?”  Jojo Rabbit answers: “How can you not?”

Locked into Jojo’s point of view, our understanding of the events expands as he gains a better understanding of the world – the real world – around him. Jojo’s fanaticism would be frightening in an adult, but Jojo is a child who just wants to be part of the club. Even his imaginary friend takes on proportions and mannerisms that are more like how a 10 year old would imagine his supreme leader rather than being historically accurate. Hitler was famously a religious, non-smoking, vegetarian teetotaler. Jojo’s friend routinely offers him cigarettes to calm down and holds personal banquets where he dines on Unicorn. (Jojo never partakes of the cigarettes. Eventually getting annoyed at the offering, he screams, “Stop offering me cigarettes. I’m ten!”)

The dialog is terrific; the film is packed with lines that had us chuckling later. The heavier moments, though, are delivered in near silence, letting the visuals do the talking, and it bears mentioning that the screen work is at the same level as the other aspects – excellent. Being PG-13 it has the traditional single F-Bomb, which it uses in probably the most appropriate way ever.

I cannot say enough about this masterful piece of cinema. At the same time I need only say that you should see it. Jojo Rabbit deserves to be enjoyed in the theater.

tschüß.

└ Tags: Movies, Reviews

Postmodern Electric Dreams (Jexi)

by D. on 12 October, 2019 at 13:54

Jexi is a lonely guy expands his life romantic comedy. It’s not terribly groundbreaking in terms of story or devices, but what it lacks in innovation it makes up for in being genuinely funny. I found myself laughing from start to finish.

The titular character is an “intelligent assistant” software installed on some unnamed brand of smartphone. Voiced by Rose Byrne, she promises to make Phil’s (Adam Devine) life better. Brash and foul mouthed – Jexi is rated R for language – she berates him into asking out the girl from the bike shop (Alexandra Shipp). Things go awry because Jexi’s 200,000 software anomalies cause her to develop emotions for Phil.

It would be easy to discuss this film as a cautionary tale about over indulgence in social media, lack of privacy, and reliance on “smart” devices. While there is a sort of “look what can happen to you” implication, the film is really just having a good time with the material and striking chords at the heart of the human condition enmired by the Internet Of Things.

As a character, Phil is the essence of this condition. Despite having a degree in journalism, his job is to write lists for a click-bait encouraging news site. His boss (played by the ever brilliant Michael Pena) demands that one of their lists goes viral every day. Naturally, Phil is completely tethered to his phone. He can’t even navigate his way to his home or office without Google maps.

Adam Devine is an excellent brunt for the film’s jokes and pratfall-esque humor. Jexi’s absence of filter – and Phil’s acceptance of user agreement without reading it – gives her free reign to play havoc with Phil and consumer technology humor.

Jexi is a fun film that lives up to the trailer, which didn’t give away all the jokes.

└ Tags: Movies, Reviews

You can’t spell slaughter without laughter (Joker)

by D. on 7 October, 2019 at 13:26

We braved the news reports of “non-specific threats” to see Joker on opening day. First, it was a spectacularly well done movie. As “Batman canon,” it’s sort of Cesar Romero doing a Heath Ledger impersonation in Taxi Driver. As its own film, it is an excellent portrayal of a man driven mad by a society unforgiving of his mental illness.

Joaquin Phoenix does an excellent job portraying this descent from illness into madness. The film focuses so much on him that it doesn’t leave much room for the other actors, though the casting is on point. Robert De Niro as a sort of gruff “Late Night” host is good, of course, and fits in well as a sort of background to Joker’s developing mania – better than if he were brought more central or used for his “star power.”

The film is not as overtly violent as other DC films of late. In fact, Joker is made as though it were in its own DC cinematic universe. The Wayne family factors in, of course – it is set in Gotham City, after all. But, there is no hint that this is a world with meta-humans and alien invasions. This film is more human. The (much touted) violence of the film is also that — personal and human. The violence is at first against the main character, then around him, and ultimately by him.

There are a lot of ways this film could have gone very very wrong. It seems to flirt with some of those ideas. Thankfully, the film makers abandoned the worst impulses of telling an origin story in Gotham City. The result is almost “hanging a lantern” on the awful tropes it did not use, and the complete plot of the film could be recounted without giving away a meaningful spoiler. Even the use of flashback within the narrative advances the story instead of reminding us that some part was important.

The point of the film isn’t any of its moments. Joker is about the story building to that moment when he takes that final step, donning the titular mantle. Even that “moment” is a metamorphosis over the three final scenes.

I’ve long said that Batman is a study in psychology. Stories set in Gotham are essays on the subject. Joker is no exception. While no one condones his actions, nor excuses them, the film explores the systemic failures that resulted in the Clown-Prince of Crime. It does so without apology and with a realism that is almost a cautionary tale about the state of mental healthcare.

Go see Joker if you are a fan of the character and want to see a plausible origin story. Go see Joker if you don’t really know anything about Batman but enjoy tales of un-redeemed protagonists. Don’t see Joker if you are the sort of DCU fan who develops theories about the scribbling on the corner of a page that you have to pause the movie to see – Joker is clear enough as is.

└ Tags: Movies, Reviews

This Is Your Huckleberry (The Peanut Butter Falcon)

by D. on 3 September, 2019 at 00:34

We have a tendency to enjoy small and independent films. It’s not that we don’t like big action blockbusters with special effects budgets that rival the GDP of small nations, but films that we have to go to an “art house theatre” to see only get made when they have an actual story to deliver. The Peanut Butter Falcon is such a film.

A young man with Down syndrome, Zak (played by Zack Gottsagen) escapes the nursing home where he lives to pursue his dream to go to a professional wrestling school taught by his idol – The Salt Water Redneck (played by Thomas Haden Church). Along the way he teams up with a grifter, Tyler (played by Shia LaBeouf), and the two embark on a “road” movie along the Outer Banks of North Carolina (played by the State of Georgia). They are each pursued by those who would drag them back – notably Dakota Johnson as a volunteer at the nursing home. They bond over being men “on the run” and become friends.

There is a school of writing that remarks against the cliché of “sick kids” in movies. It asks the questions, “Does the story need a child? Does that child need to have an ailment?” It ascribes the terribleness of story to films answering “yes” when it is truly “no.”  The Peanut Butter Falcon requires Zak be Zak. They do say Zak is 22 – not really “a kid” – but his child-like approach to the world is endearing and brings heart to the other characters.

The film is not explicitly about Down syndrome, but it is important to the heart of the piece. The realistic portrayal of – frankly everything – in the film shines through. The actors’ performances are believable as though they are actually living the story presented. The film evokes many smiles and real feelings toward the characters. Everyone grows as a result of their time knowing Zak, and it feels like the audience does, too. This isn’t to say that Zak is somehow a pure force that demands sympathy and kindness from everyone he meets. He, too, changes through his adventure and not just in the “oh he learns to swim – yay” kind of way.

Overall, The Peanut Butter Falcon is a delightful, heartfelt film that deserves the attention of seeing it in the theatre – as well as the attention that full price ticket sales bring to films that aren’t franchised explosion-fests.

└ Tags: Movies, Reviews
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