Rambling Film

Synopsis:  A young Iranian woman Elham (Taraneh Alidoosti)  having reached the lowest point in her life, fights back against an abusive spouse and religious and governmental obstacles to set the Guinness world record in endurance swimming. No, I'm not talking about the campy 70's killer whale movie. This Orca is inspired by the true story of Elham Asghari, an Iranian woman whose country refuses to recognize her accomplishments because they do not recognize swimming as a woman's sport. This film is equal parts frustrating and inspiring. It's frustrating because the goalposts are constantly being moved for Elham. First by the time she can swim, then what she wears TO swim. The extra layers for "modesty" are a potential death trap of getting tangled. Then, even with this suit, the way it clings to her body when she exits the water works against her. And it's not just men that are her enemy here. It's the woman (played by Mahtab Nasirpour) in charge of sp...

  Synopsis: Helene (Patricia Owens) admits to her husband's (David Hedison) murder after a disastrous mistake happens in his lab. The Fly is a film I was always familiar with by its VHS cover. I used to walk up and down the horror section at my local video store as a kid, and this was one that always stuck out. Because of the film's artwork, image my surprise when this wasn't a campy story about a dude accidentally turning himself into a fly. I haven't seen the Cronenberg remake of this either, but I'll likely start it after I post this review. I was really expecting this to be more of a creature feature than a mystery and I'm not mad at what I got. At a quick 90 minutes, I was completely engaged with watching this mystery unravel. Owens has to do a lot of the heavy lifting acting wise. Unfortunately the supporting cast can be a bit rough, but she was delightful.  Walter White's obsession with a fly contaminating his lab in an episode of Breaking Bad is now...

  This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is technically Cults/Secrets Societies but I accidentally skipped a week while I was out of the country so I'm doubling up. This week I'm talking about horror films in the work place and cults! All the fun stuff. Here's what I came up with. WORKPLACE 1) The Belko Experiement - All three of my picks in this category walk the line between fun and gory well. In this case, employees are trapped inside their work building as they find themselves part of a twisted social experiment.  2) Mayhem - Another case of employees trapped inside their office building, but in this case it's due to a virus spreading making them act strangely. The delightful Steven Yeun leads this one.  3) Koferensen - I stumbled upon this Swedish slasher film on Netflix the other day, and it was wild. Employees at a work retreat find themselves hunted by a serial killer.  CULTS/SECRET SOCIETIES 1) Martyrs - I cannot in good faith recomme...

This documentary takes a deep dive into the history of freestyle hip hop. Did you know that "freestyle" was we know it today - coming up with a rhyme off the top of your head is not how it originally started? Some took it to mean a rap you just hadn't heard before. I didn't know that, but thankfully director Frank Meyer is hear to educate me. I love hip hop, but I can't call myself an expert of it by any means, especially freestyle. To me that's always been poetry in motion. Something I greatly respect and know that I could never ever do. Watching these musicians talk about their process, how they got started, then seeing them spit their rhymes made for a great watch. At one point, someone mentions excelling in rap battles with his scientific word play, only to be thrown off when someone simply told him to "suck his dick" in a rhyme. It's funny how such a basic insult can throw someone off.  I found the whole thing fascinating, especially when th...

When oil is discovered on Osage land in the 1920's, a string of murders begins to happen to the Osage one by one. Mollie (Lily Gladstone) and her husband Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio) find themselves at the center of it all. Director Martin Scorcese finally brings us his long awaited epic. I feel like I've been hearing about this movie for the last 5 years and now it's finally in theaters. All three and a half hours of it. Thankfully, it's well worth your time. This film takes great care to honor the Osage people, and I'm glad they don't shy away from how horrid they were treated. Scorcese choosing to have Ernest Burkhart, and his uncle William "King" Hale (Robert Di Nero) as his central figures exacerbates this. Knowing that these two are behind it all the entire time makes it even worse. Especially when Mollie is unaware. I do think Mollie should've been a bigger protagonist, but I understand why he framed it this way. It's never a whodunnit, bu...

  A group of environmental activists all from different backgrounds come together in west Texas to turn their activism into terrorism by blowing up an oil pipeline. There's college students  Xochitl (Ariela Barer)  and Shawn (Marcus Schribner) wanting to change the world. Burnouts Rowan and Logan (Kristine Forseth and Lukas Gage) Dewayne (Jake Weary), a man who lost his house to an oil corporation. Michael (Forrest Goodluck), a native man living on a reservation in North Dakota who knows all too well how much oil has changed that region. And a couple, Theo and Alisha (Sasha Lane and Jayme Lawson) who are dealing with a life changing illness as a result of these factories.  I had been trying to get my hands on a screener for this earlier in the year with no avail, so finding out it's now available on Hulu made me so happy. I'm glad it's getting a platform where a lot of eyes will be on it. I have not read the book this loosely based on, so I cannot speak to any change...

This week's horror theme from Wandering Through The Shelves are films where a new person comes on the scene. It could be a new sibling, step-parent, colleague. That leaves quite a bit of choices, here's three horror films I really enjoy 1) Ready or Not - I feel like I just talked about this film, but it fits really well here. Grace marries into a family with a very strange tradition. This is easily one of the best horror-comedies out there. 2) A Quiet Place - That new baby really makes things difficult in a world where you need to remain silent to live.  3) Orphan - That new daughter you adopted? Yeah, about that...

Hal (Christopher Abbott) is about to inherit a massive hotel chain and decides to break off his relationship with his dominatrix, Rebecca. (Margaret Qualley) She's not okay with this. Sanctuary feels like a play. It's two actors verbally sparring in a hotel room and spar they do. Abbott and Qualley are fantastic with each other. The type of Sub/Dom they're participating in - one that involves no touching whatsoever was really interesting to me and not something I would've expected.  Sure, you could say Rebecca is way over the top. There's so much to their relationship that we didn't see, which makes her reaction feel pretty intense, but a film like this is more of an actors showcase if anything. It's not to say the script is bad, it isn't. I'm just walking away from it with more appreciation with other parts of the film. The production design is beautiful. I love how the hotel room has striking reds and greens. It feels fancy enough for Hal's job...

Tom Nichols (Benicio del Toro) is a hardened detective with a checkered past. When he leads an investigation of the murder of a real estate agent, it ends up being a much bigger conspiracy than he expected. I love murder mysteries like this. It felt like a book that I would've checked out at the library came to life, and trust me a lot of those books I read do not translate well to film. This one wasn't based on a book, but its beats felt that way to me. Del Toro is always a great actor to watch. It amused me seeing his character married to Alicia Silverstone's. An Excess Baggage reunion for the ages. I had no clue Michael Pitt was in this either, and it was nice to see him in something again. Justin Timberlake, bless his heart, just cannot act. He's very weak here but thankfully he's not the main focus. As far as the mystery goes, I was captivated from start to finish. While I did guess the killer correctly, I still liked watching the story play out because the ...

Emily (Pheobe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are a secret couple that work in the same cut-throat hedge fund where dating colleagues is against the rules. But when one of them gets a promotion, it changes their dynamic forever. The online chatter around this film has been something else. It's been getting great reviews, but some describe it as an erotic thriller, and others a romantic thriller, and to me it was neither. Sure, there's a lot of romance within the first 5 minutes, and a relationship is its central theme. But it's never something I would describe as "romantic" Emily and Luke seem happy enough at the beginning but we spend more time watching their partnership unravel than seeing them at their happiest.  Director Chloe Doemont makes a strong first feature. I was engaged from start to finish with the story, it's just some of the details that bothered me. While I'd say the film is paced well overall, these two go off the rails so quickly. Th...

  In the future, a war between humans and AI rages on. A former solider, Joshua (John David Washington) is tasked with going back to the AI-accepting "New Asia" to locate a weapon that may threaten humanity. AI has been a hot topic this year. Not only in our real life, but in our movies. A sci fi action thriller with a talented lead actor seemed right up my alley, but unfortunately The Creator suffers under the weight of its ideas. I stress the word "ideas" because that's what the film felt like. A series of ideas, some good, but ultimately not tight enough to form a strong script. Joshua has gone through some serious trauma. Some we are privy to, but most of it happened before the events of the film take place. When he meets Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) is when the film is at its most interesting, but the script is so erratic I felt like we were just going through the motions. Joshua's insane plot armor didn't help. Washington is good, but this film s...

Flora (Eve Hewson) is a mess of a single mother living in Dublin and struggling to connect with her teenage son Max. (Oren Kinlan) She gets a guitar with the idea of giving it to him, but when he doesn't want it, she decides to learn to play herself. Taking lessons from the LA based Jeff (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) over the computer.  Director John Carney, shitty opinions aside, makes some damn good movies. And here my fantasy of being taught guitar by a bearded Joseph Gordon-Levitt is on full display! I'm jealous. JGL thirst aside, I adored this film. I've been excited for it since it premiered at Sundance. Apple TV required the streaming rights - not surprising with their close relationship with JGL and Hewson - and now it's available to stream everywhere. Why I'd love to see this in theaters, I'm glad it's accessible. Flora and Max have an awful relationship. They speak to each other in ways I could never imagine speaking to my own son. Yet, you root for bot...

We're still in the milder months up north, so that means more time outside for me and less time with my small screen. Though I did manage to watch some great TV this month.  Ahsoka - I loved this. Since I watched Star Wars Rebels I was probably more invested than those who haven't but overall I thought it was great. It was way too short, and I NEED a second season, but I like what I saw. Personally, I want to see more of Hera and Ezra immediately. Not showing Ezra meeting Jacen was a disappointment because I wanted to be in all my feels.  Reservation Dogs - I did not have Elora's dad being THAT actor, but what a treat that was. I haven't watched the finale yet since I was traveling over its air date, but I'll be sad to say goodbye to my Rez dogs.  One Piece - I cannot believe how into this I got. My son is a huge fan of the anime so we decided to watch the condensed live action version as a family and it was great. The actors were awesome, the show was ridiculous ...

  It's October so that means it's Halloween month over at Wandering Through The Shelves . This week we're talking about tourists in horror movies and there's no shortage of picks there. Here are a few of my favorites.  1) The Cabin in the Woods - This is my favorite horror comedy of all time. College kids go on a secluded cabin vacation and of course something creepy happens. It's such a clever film and so rewatchable.  2) Midsommar - Swedish cult nightmares anyone? This is still my favorite of Ari Aster's film and Florence Pugh was Oscar worthy 3) Infinity Pool - Hands down the weirdest movie I've seen this year, but absolutely worth it. It takes tourism horror to the next level. Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaames!