Rambling Film

this threesome never happens Official Synopsis:   Tashi, (Zendaya) a former tennis prodigy turned coach, turned her husband Art (Mike Faist) into a champion. But to overcome a losing streak, he needs to face his ex-best friend and Tashi's ex-boyfriend, Patrick. (Josh O'Connor) I've never been into tennis. Aside from the Williams sisters, I could not name a single professional tennis player. But what I am into is this cast and director Luca Guadagnino. And this film makes tennis thrilling. The way the tennis games are shot and edited is just spectacular to watch. I didn't think going in that this would be "must see" on the big screen, but to really get the scope of those scenes in particular, you should. That said, while I enjoyed this movie overall and I do recommend seeing it, I'm left with some mixed feelings about the story. This film is heavily marked around Tashi. It's her game, her rules after all. Only Tashi ends up being the thinnest character ...

Official synopsis:  Summer heats up in rural Louisiana beside Eve’s Bayou, 1962, as the Batiste family tries to survive the secrets they’ve kept and the betrayals they’ve endured. For some reason, I grew up thinking Eve's Bayou was a horror movie. Probably because they chose a very menacing photo of Samuel L. Jackson for the poster and I vaguely knew they talked about voodoo. When I went to log this film on letterboxd, I was comforted in knowing I wasn't the only one that had that very far off assumption. Eve's Bayou is not in fact a horror film, though a horrible thing does happen in it. It is instead a story of coming of age and loss of innocence. All told through the eyes of young Eve (Jurnee Smollett) It's s visually striking piece. The lighting is perfect, the costumes beautiful, and you can feel the atmosphere. I never would've guessed that this is director Kasi Lemmon's first film. This might be the best first feature I've ever seen. It's made wi...

Official Synopsis:  When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada)  discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies. Some series don't fit the binging model and are best enjoyed week by week. This series is one of those. Each episode ended with just enough intrigue for the next, but not enough to make me lose my mind that I would have to wait.  Lord Toranaga looms large over the series, but it's really his English captive John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and his translator Mariko (Anna Sawai) who are our main characters. They form a strong bond together, even though they are at times at odds. I really hope we see Anna Sawai's name as an Emmy nominee this year because she's tremendous in this. Mariko is easily the most interesting character and when she's not on screen, the show is just a little less good.  There's some pretty intense death scenes here, I don'...

Back in the mid aughts, every gamer I knew played Fallout. It had a cool story and an amazing soundtrack. I didn't mind watching people play it. Now, Amazon Prime has made a series based on that game. Already renewed for a second season, the first 8 episodes are now available to stream. The series takes place in a post-nuclear war U.S and we follow 3 different leads. There's Lucy (Ella Purnell) who has lived her life underground in a bunker. Maximus (Aaron Moten) part of "The Brotherhood" who lives on the surface. And The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) Also on the surface, whose story is best seen to understand. Even if you didn't play the game, the plot is easy to follow and everything is explained very well. There's also plenty of Easter Eggs for those that did play. Goggins obviously is a veteran actor who is great at playing bad. Purnell I was only familiar with from another great series - Yellowjackets, and she makes for a great lead. Lucy is so naive and sweet. ...

Official synopsis:  A journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists, Lee (Kirsten Dunst) Joel, (Wagner Moura) Sammy, (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and tag along Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House .  As soon as I heard "Western forces of Texas and California" in the trailer, I knew this movie was going to be apolitical. The "why" of this war isn't even vaguely addressed. You can read between the lines a bit here and there, but really this is a film about war photographers, not the civil war named in the title. When you go into it with that in mind, it will make for a much better watch.  Lee is tired. She's seen too much, she's practically on auto pilot throughout this entire film and she's trying to provide just enough advice to young Jessie while also keeping her at arms length. It's their relationship that's the crux of ...

Official Synopsis:  When people in Littlehampton, including conservative local Edith (Olivia Colman) begin to receive letters full of hilarious profanities, rowdy Irish migrant Rose (Jessie Buckley) is charged with the crime. Suspecting that something is amiss, the town's women investigate. I open this review with a question. Have you seen ANY marketing for this film? Any ads at all? Because I have not. When I saw my local indie theater was getting it, I of course hit "play" on the trailer based on Colman and Buckley's names alone. This was my first time seeing anything about this film. Which is a shame, because it should be advertised everywhere. What a delightful little comedy this was. Full of amazing performances from the largely female cast, and brilliantly directed by Thea Sharrock. Yes, there's bursts of creative profanity, but it's well placed for maximum laughs. Comedies in my opinion are always best enjoyed in groups so the laughter can be contagious...

No, this is not a documentary on the wrestler Cody Rhodes. Just a poorly named 3-part series about a truly harrowing crime. In 2015 Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn were fast asleep when men broke into their home, drugged them and took Denise. Aaron of course went to the police, and found himself the prime suspect after what he described seemed stranger than fiction. Denise re-appears in 2 days, completely traumatized and the police now accuse them of doing this all for attention. It shouldn't take you long to guess who's in the wrong here. At least once a year I watch a true crime documentary that is so insane, I can't believe I didn't know about it before hitting play. American Nightmare is that for me. Was this all over the news? Maybe just locally, because I have no memory of it. What Denise and Aaron went through is awful, and the fact that they are able to calmly talk about it now is a miracle itself.  At a brisk three 45 minute episodes, this makes for an easy sho...

Official synopsis:  An anonymous young man (Dev Patel) unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systemically victimize the poor and powerless. Dev Patel said it's not enough to grace us with his presence in front of the camera, he wants to give it a shot behind the camera too. And so we get his Jordan Peele produced first time feature, Monkey Man . A film that's bound to bring comparisons to the John Wick series. This film has a lot to say about the rich and the powerful, especially the ones who use religion to push their agenda and harm those they deem beneath them. That's what makes Monkey Man stand out from your every day "Dude goes on a killing rampage" film. Patel's not reinventing the wheel here, but by giving us this story with an Indian man front and center, the Western world is at least getting something new.  And he's good as a director! Definitely a bit green. There's far too muc...

Back in 2022, I kept getting Youtube ads for a TV show on HBO called Tokyo Vice. It was the only place I saw ads for this show, and I didn't see anyone talking about it on my Twitter timeline. Normally, a show with Ansel Elgort, card carrying member of the Very Punchable Face Club ™ wouldn't sway me, but something about it did.  Now here we are in 2024, and the finale of season 2 just aired last night. It's safe to say that Tokyo Vice has become one of my favorite new shows of recent memory. If you love journalism stories, this might be for you too. A quick run down of who's who and what actors are involved.- Jake (Elgort) is an American journalist living in Tokyo. He becomes the first foreign reporter at The Meicho. He's our lead. Then there's Detective Katagiri (Ken Wantanabe) who Jake begins to work with on a story. Other main players include Samantha (Rachel Keller) another American living in Tokyo working at a club. Her Yakuza love interest Sato, ( Shô Kasa...

Official synopsis: Ex-UFC fighter Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems. I never saw the original Road House so I can't compare it to that, but I can say that Godzilla x Kong didn't even last a full weekend as the dumbest movie I've seen in a while. I will give credit where credits due, the fight scenes in this are pretty cool and Gyllenhaal got incredibly jacked for this role, contributing to plenty of thirst traps that I will not complain about. The script is pretty basic, but that's not the part that suffers the most. It's the uneven acting. Gyllenhaal is good for what this is. He has nice comedic timing, only he doesn't get to use much of it against the actors that could properly match it, like Jessica Williams (who should be in this movie way more than she is) and Lukas Gage. Arturo Castro gives him something at least, but it's not enough.  Conor McGregor ...

Official synopsis:  Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries. I'm still waiting for Godzilla Minus One to be available to watch, so I decided to tide myself over with this. I've liked most of the new Godzilla movies. They're entertaining enough and this one is no different. Which is great because this might be one of the dumbest films I've seen in a long time. Everything that happens in this script is so convenient. Ancient indigenous language? Don't worry. We got a translator for that. Telepathy? Don't worry, we got someone for that too! Huge robot arm fit perfectly for Kong? Hey, it just happens to be right where we are and we have a vet that can also fly an extremely advanced piece of air craft! But all of those things just add to the chuckles I was already getting from this. Godzilla essentially throws a tantrum and takes a nap in the Colosseum. K...