Rambling Film

Official Synopsis:  When Minnie's ( Katherine Mallen Kupferer)  closest friendship is suddenly disrupted the summer before senior year, she struggles to find her footing and develops an unexpected, complicated bond with her best friend’s mother, Helen. (Sophie Okodeno) Between this and Tangles , I've been single handedly keeping Kleenex in business. Your girl has cried a LOT lately. But don't let that deter you, Mouse has a lot to say about grief and you'll certainly be able to relate to it. Maybe a lot, or maybe just a little, but it'll be there.  I wasn't familiar with co-directors Alex Thompson and Kelly O'Sullivan (who is also the writer) previous work, but after seeing how expertly they handled the various levels of grief in this, I know I need to check it out. I'm going to single out Kelly a bit more here because she's the sole writing credit, but there is such a tenderness in this film. I think a lot of millennials will see themselves in Minn...

Official Synopsis: Set in 1949, the Shikishima family ( Ryûnosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe)  confronts a fresh catastrophe two years after surviving their previous ordeal with the legendary monster. Godzilla Minus One surprised a lot of people back in 2023. Maybe not serious Godzilla fans, but for more casual ones like me, the smaller budget film set in the aftermath of WWII Japan was tonally so different from what I had grown used to seeing. Now, the universe continues to expand with Godzilla Minus Zero . I'm glad the film chose to bring back the main players from Minus One . Koichi and Noriko have tried to move on from back to back catastrophes but it's never that simple. They're both inject a lot of heart into this film, and that's one of the main things that sets it apart from it's predecessor. This one is very emotional and while it opens with a massive kaiju battle like you'd expect, it takes its time setting the stage before we get to the next one. Thos...

Official Synopsis:  Sarah (Abbi Jacobson) is forced to return to the conservative small town where her bizarre family lives to take care of her mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss); she must deal with the cruel reality of her mother's Alzheimer disease, and become the daughter they need. Tangles is based on writer Sarah Leavitt's graphic novel of the same name. It follows her mother's diagnosis of Alzheimer's and I think she describes this work best: "my goal was to create an unsparing documentation of our family’s journey, including not only the grief, anger and fear, but also the moments of love and joy and even some dark humor." All of that is perfectly captured in this film. I couldn't help but think of the other dementia centered films from recent memory - Amour, Away From Her, Still Alice, The Father - This one I liked so much better because of the dark humor. There's an ongoing bit with the flight attendants' announcements on an airplane that I j...

Official synopsis: A struggling primary school teacher, Maria (Saoirse Ronan) begins to make some questionable decisions after one of her students, Danny (Eddie Waller) is injured. When I first saw the trailer for Bad Apples earlier this year I was pretty excited about it. Saoirse is one of my favorite actresses, so of course this was going to be a watch for me. Then it fell off the face of the planet, at least in the United States. I saw no more promotion, IMDb tells me it's U.S release was September 16th, but I'm guessing that was very limited. The only reason I got to see this movie at all, is because it's available to watch on Delta Airlines' seatback screens. That bums be out because Bad Apples could've been a crowd pleaser. It's a very well acted dark comedy that I feel like a lot of people would've went to go see it had they been given the options.  Ronan is great in the role of a very stressed out teacher. She wants to love her job, but Danny in pa...

Official Synopsis:  An ostracized Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) commissions the local Basketmaker (Peter Dinklage) to weave her a husband (Alexander Skarsgard), but when her wicker creation proves unexpectedly extraordinary, his presence ignites jealousy and upheaval that threatens their quiet village. This has been one of my most anticipated films since Sundance. Not only because the cast is fantastic but because the movie seems so outrageous. The marketing focused heavily on the sex aspect of the Fisherwoman (yes, that's her actual name. Everyone is named after their profession, or they're the wife of said profession) and her Wicker Husband, so I expected a film mostly about sexual liberation. But it really isn't about that. There's significantly less wicker dick then the trailers would have you believe. Instead, the story is more about balance in a relationship and how marriage should be about partnership. Sure, they have great sex, but they also dance sweetly and the ...

Official Synopsis: The adventures of Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) as she sets off to the forests outside Portland to find her kidnapped brother. Ever since the first trailer for Wildwood premiered with "The hands that created Coraline" my family and I have been sold. I didn't realize until after I saw this film that it's based on a book (written by Colin Meloy of The Decemberists) so I can't speak for how the story goes adaptation wise. Count me in with everyone else saying Wildwood is a visual masterpiece because it is stunning. It brought me back to when I saw WALL-E in theaters for the first time and how blown away with how far animation has come then. That feeling stays here. There were several times throughout the film where I just kept thinking "wow" or "how did they pull that off" or "God, that must have taken forever." And these thoughts didn't distract me from the story in any way, it just made the ride so much ...

  Official Synopsis: Dismissed as underdogs before they even step onto the pitch, the Emei Women’s Football Team enters the prestigious Supreme Invincible Cup determined to prove everyone wrong. Back in 2005 I went on a date with a guy who took me to see a movie called Kung Fu Hustle.  He’d loved the director’s previous film, Shaolin Soccer and insisted that it was okay that I hadn’t seen that one before we dove into Hustle. I was pretty flabbergasted with that movie at the time, but I did grow to appreciate how ridiculous it was. So when I saw Shaolin Soccer  was getting a spiritual successor following a woman’s soccer team, I of course wanted to check it out. Unfortunately the majority of the goofy kung fu one would expect from a Stephen Crow film takes a back to seat to complete AI slop. According to Chow, about 50% of the film’s budget went towards generative AI for the visual effects and if I had known that before pressing play, I would’ve skipped it all together on...

Official Synopsis:  When a theft goes awry, a veteran pickpocket, Harry (John Turturro) is sent on a mission through New York to reclaim what he stole A film asking you to follow and sympathize with a thief is already tough ask. Thankfully, a perfectly cast John Turturro is there to help guide us along the way. Even though we’re talking about pickpockets, the love for New York is front and center in this film. It’s beautifully shot in a way only a born and raised New Yorker could do. This is Noah Segan’s second time in the director’s chair for a feature, and he’s clearly put a lot of work into his craft.  I find myself at a crossroads with this film because much of it is good, but there is one plot point that I’m having a hard time getting past. Turturro like I said is perfectly cast. And while Harry is not painted in a good light, he’s still pleasant enough to follow around, even when he’s making awful decisions. Having a veteran actor play against other vets like Steve Busce...

This summer I decided to finally see what all the fuss was about The Diplomat , the Keri Russell led drama that recently premiered its 4th season on Netflix. Now that I'm finally caught up. It's time to put my thoughts down on "paper" The Good * The actors: Russell is perfectly cast and I really need to go back and watch The Americans  * Rufus Sewell is fascinating. I always think of A Knight's Tale when I see him, and this type of role that borders on being a villain is great for him.  * Ato Essandoh should be getting way more attention for this role that he does * Rory Kinnear playing the British Prime Minister again! At least there's no pigs involved in this show. * Georgie Hensley is so sweet. I wish she was in the show more.  * Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford are both great additions to the show later on in the series. * For the story - especially the first season, it moves very quickly and there's always a mystery to be solved.  The Bad * It is v...

Official Synopsis:  Liz Baxter (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor)  works as a nanny for a prominent white family in Oakland, California. In 1967 she discovers that the Connor children are suffering under the hands of their mother, Jane, (Rachel Lefevre) and attempts to step in to protect the children. This film is based on an autobiography of the same name written by Todd Connor, one of the children who Liz ultimately saved. According to Connor, Liz's bravery goes unnoticed for years until he stands up at her funeral and shares how she saved his and his siblings' lives. I haven't read his novel so I can't compare the film to page, but the admiration for Liz is easy to see.  Writer/Director Sterling Macer Jr has a tough task of re-contextualizing a child's story of his caretaker that he loved so much with what was going on in Okaland in the 60's. This was the during the rise of the Black Panther movement and any encounter a black person had with law enforcement in that time...

Official Synopsis: Thirty-four days before she's sent to prison, notorious Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move. What begins as an intimate portrait becomes a mind-bending three-year journey. I can't remember the last time a documentary has generated this much buzz prior to Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's You Can See Everything . Fielder, famous for his comedy staring incredulously at the never blinking Elizabeth Holmes in that teaser was enough to make everyone both uncomfortable and intrigued. And that feeling it kept out for it's nearly 3 hour run time. It feels far more cinematic than the typical talking heads style doc we're used to.  Like everything else you've probably heard, the less you know about where this goes the better. I would take it a step further and tell you to not even look at the film's IMDb page if you REALLY want to be surprised.  The amount of access Elizabeth and her husband...

I went into East of Eden with zero familiarity of the source material. I’ve never read the book. I never saw Elia Kazan’s 1955 film. But I’m a big fan of his granddaughter Zoe Kazan, so when I saw she was adapting it into a series, I knew that’s what I would start with. This version plays out across 7 episodes giving Kazan plenty of time to flesh out the characters. I enjoyed the series overall, though I expected a bit more from the ending. Florence Pugh is the absolute stand out and it’s nice to see what Joseph Zada can do ahead of his big turn in the upcoming Hunger Games adaptation. I did decide to look up what big changes Zoe made to the source material, so I thought it might be fun to talk about those. Cathy Ames is more fleshed out - I can’t say I’m surprised to hear that a male author in the 1950’s didn’t give his female character any agency but this show is good BECAUSE it chooses to follow Cathy so much. It never makes excuses for her, but it explains why she views the world t...

Official Synopsis:  Bodies start to pile up when a drug-user nurse, Mandy (Angela Bettis) and her cousin, Cathy (Julianne Dowler) try to find a replacement kidney for an organ trafficker. (Mick Foley) This is another film that was featured on the documentary 1000 Women in Horror that I previously had not heard of.  Being released during COVID probably didn't help that, according to IMDb this film grossed a little over $6,000 in its opening weekend. Thankfully, it has now found a home on Netflix for easy viewing. 12 Hour Shift is a horror comedy first, and your mileage may vary with just how much absurdity you can handle. Mandy is a an easy character to follow. She has a drug problem, but she and her co-worker, Karen (Nikea-Gamby Turner) mostly have their shit together when it comes to handling their jobs and moonlighting as organ smugglers. It's when Cathy comes into the picture that it can get trying. Cathy is easily one of the dumbest characters ever written. It's very i...

  Official Synopsis: Follows Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), a young Facebook engineer, who enlisted the help of Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), a Wall Street Journal reporter, to blow the whistle on the social network's most guarded secrets. Writer/Director Aaaron Sorkin follows up the very successful 2010 feature he also wrote, The Social Network with how Facebook is still ruining people’s lives. Only this time he loses Director David Fincher, his Oscar nominated star in Jesse Eisenberg, but you know what? That’s fine! He doesn’t want you to view this as a sequel anyways. And it’s true. this isn’t exactly a sequel, but Fincher, Eisenberg, and I’d argue even Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross cast heavy shadows over the film that is sometimes just impossible to get around. I’ll start with the good. Because there IS good here. I’ve always been a big fan of Sorkin’s writing, even if his directing isn’t as strong. The rapid fire dialogue has always appealed to me and because of it, his...

Official synopsis : A lonely hairstylist, Claire (Najarra Townsend) becomes obsessed with the private lives of her clients and descends into murderous madness.  This was one of the films I learned about from the 1000 Women in Horror documentary I watched recently. Director Jill Gevargizian adapted this from her short film of the same name. This film is shot like a 90’s erotic thriller at times. the close ups of Claire doing hair with that sensual score playing in the background made me think of that immediately, and it works despite this being a pretty un-romantic film. Claire is a pretty interesting character to follow. It would be easy to write her off because she IS a murderer, but she’s also just an incredibly awkward woman. I weirdly had a soft spot for her. It might be the first time I’ve ever been worried about a serial killer taking too long in a room. Like girl, you’re gonna get caught. The film reminds me a lot of Maniac (2012)  which was another I really enjoyed. Yo...

  Official Synopsis: A celebration of pioneering female filmmakers and performers who have left an indelible mark on horror cinema from the beginning of the silent era to the present.  October is in full swing and I wanted to take this month to finally catch up on some horror films that I missed. And what better way to start than with documentary that gave me a few more ideas to add to the list There are far more than 1000 women in horror, as this doc points out, but it’s nice to get a few of them together so they can talk about the genre they love. Director Donna Davies keeps the runtime concise, though I could’ve listened to these ladies talk for hours. She’s also very careful of what horror clips are shown, because if we’re going to talk about women in horror, we are eventually going to get into some uncomfortable topics. As someone who struggles to watch media with sexual assault scenes, I really appreciated that Davies doesn’t jump scare us with inserted assault clips o ...

Official Synopsis: The most powerful man in the world, Digger (Tom Cruise) embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he's unleashed destroys everything. If you haven't watched this yourself, you've probably seen the headlines about how divisive this is. And rightfully so. This movie is not what it's being marketed to be. And while I'm not going to do a spoiler review, I am going to add an optional spoiler of the swerves this movie takes because it's one of those rare occasions where I think I would've had a slightly better time if I had known. Highlight here for spoiler ---> About 30 minutes into the film, it is revealed that we are not watching these events take place in real time, but rather we are watching actors put on a play about those events. Then later, with about 15 mins of the film left. We are told that the benefactor of said play is Digger's nephew (played by Jesse Plemons) and it is taking pla...

Official Synopsis : A Harvard student (Jacob Tremblay) becomes the Unabomber after psychological experiments. Years later, an FBI agent's (Shailene Woodley) pursuit reveals how his past shaped his deadly campaign that killed 3 and injured 23 from 1978-1995. True Crime is basically Netflix's bread and butter at this point. There's 100's of documentaries, a new TV show centered around a criminal every year. While most get the mini series format, Unabomber stands out as a single film. I'm not sure who was asking for a film based on this particular psycho, but Russell Crowe, Shailene Woodley and Jacob Tremblay were enough to get me to watch. Especially when I didn't have to leave my couch. This film doesn't have anything particularly interesting to say. Its strongest points are when it's being a detective story. Woodley is very engaging as an FBI agent trying to do the right thing when none of her male colleagues listen to her. They are practically caricatu...

Official synopsis: In 2006, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) sets out to make television history. To Catch a Predator was one of those shows everyone knew about, even if you've never watched an episode. That's the camp I fell into. I've seen episodes of the show here and there, but I was never a regular watcher. Primetime, much like the name suggests follows the point in Chris Hansen's career where he and producer Andie (Merritt Wever) get the opportunity from the Network to take their show to the next level. It's going to get a Primetime spot, right up against Lost. Now the stakes need to be higher, they need to find more "important" people to trap. While this is happening, a new Decoy is being hired, played by a young actor Dan (Skyler Gisondo) who doesn't quite know what he's getting into with this job.  Primetime is deliberately shot in a grainy, over-saturated fashion. It made me feel like I was watching a VHS tape...

Old news? Who cares?!! I didn't get to watch the Emmys last week as I was traveling but I still have opinions on the winners and I have to see how I did on my picks. So one last time, here's a list of all the Emmy nominees and winners + my thoughts.  Outstanding Comedy Series “Abbott Elementary” “The Bear” “Hacks” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” “Nobody Wants This” “Only Murders in the Building” “Shrinking” “Widow’s Bay“ Not surprising, but I would've liked to have seen Hacks go out on tip. Widow's Bay was just too strong.  Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Quinta Brunson – “Abbott Elementary” Ayo Edebiri – “The Bear” Elle Fanning – “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” Lisa Kudrow – “The Comeback” Jean Smart – “Hacks“ Jean Smart did what even the great Julia Louis-Dreyfus couldn't: She won an Emmy for every single season her show was on. Well deserved and an insane stat. Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – “Wonder Man” Matthew Rhys – “Wi...

Official synopsis: A medical courier, Bryan (Austin Abrams) is tasked with delivering a package to a remote hospital. He soon finds himself caught in the middle of an outbreak and must fight through hordes of mutated creatures to survive. I've never been the biggest Resident Evil fan. I don't play the games, and I think I gave up on the movies after the 3rd or 4th one, but I'm also a simple woman. I see something directed by Zach Cregger, and I watch.  Having a normie view is probably a good thing going into any adaptation because I had a great time with Resident Evil for the most part. Even though the screenplay isn't as strong as Weapons or Barbarian , you can see how he's growing as a filmmaker. He's very aware of the space he's filming in and some of the shots he sets up leave you so tense knowing something could be just over there and could come flying out at you any minute. The film is at its strongest when Bryan is on his own, on the outskirts of R...

The Emmys moved some pretty big Prime Time awards to the Creative Arts ceremony, so I figured I'd take the time to talk about them separately since I'm not seeing as many new movies this week as I'd like to. This is nowhere near a full list of nominees and winners, for that I suggest you head over the lovely Next Best Picture who listed them all? Me myself? I'm only listing what I feel like talking about.  Outstanding Movie Heads Of State Miss You, Love You People We Meet On Vacation Remarkably Bright Creatures Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War I haven't seen any of these, but this felt like a shoo-in, so I'm not surprised to see it win here.  Outstanding Animated Program Bob’s Burgers: Grand Pre Pre Pre Opening  Rick And Morty: There’s Something About Morty  The Simpsons: Homer? A Cracker Bro?  Smiling Friends: Le Voyage Incroyable De Monsieur Grenouille  South Park: Sermon On The ‘Mount  South Park took some pretty risky swings this season so I'm gl...