Rental Family

I can't even really express in words how upset I was not to see this in theaters.

All you ever had to say was Brendan Fraser in Japan, and my ass would have been in that seat day frickin' one! And what an interesting premise about a struggling actor essentially being hired at a company who supplies people for emotional moments, you could hire them as a friend to hang out with, a husband to wed, an interviewer to tell your life story, and it's all willing from all parties. Now this is new even to me, if this is indeed a legit business in Japan I've never heard of it and I don't even really see a problem with it but the movie does such a good job showcasing the hesitation and unease for someone hired to do a thing. Humans are emotional social creatures in our bones, we love to be around people and share experiences with people, and that is what the movie is about. Building connections. That's fascinating stuff and not only does the director craft an emotional tale but the actors are what makes it work as well as it does. Do I even need to talk about Brendan's performance? That handsome man could sway me into any movie, he does a damn good job and is incredibly believable in the part of Philip. Shannon Gorman for being so young has so much attitude and emotional range as Philip's "daughter" and I was kinda actually surprised how the movie doesn't focus entirely on their relationship. Rather Philip is always onto the next client, like Akira Emoto as novelist Hasegawa who is having memory issues and Philip helps him reclaim memories in a very emotional subplot. Also I'd like to shoutout Takehiro Hira, great to see him again after Shōgun and boy does he have a twist that would make Rod Serling pause, and ho mah gawd Mari Yamamoto I am shamelessly gonna crush on you forever, I'd stand by her and obey her every word because she is the boss in this movie. The film so easily spices the story up with variety, it can be heartfelt, sad, cute, fun, funny, and ultimately enjoyable. The cinematography is naturally going to get a generous heap of love from me, it's a gorgeous country regardless of it's surroundings being either urban or rural. At first it seemed flat but as the movie progressed we got more and more atmsophere to it, more beautiful shots, more brief moments of reflection on nature. And to be perfectly honest I think that's why I love it so much, why I praise it so much, why it steals my heart away and I won't ever care to ask for it back. We don't really do that in America where we shoot cityscapes or landscapes of nature with the same level of beauty or even reverence that japanese filmmakers do. I feel that's a crying shame but I'm happy someone is doing it! It's more a drama than a comedy despite some good humor peppered throughout, and yeah it got me very close to crying in the latter half. I'm...slightly puzzled by the ending and yet I still like it, I'm not sure if there's symbolism at work here or if it really did end on a positive note of quiet introspection, I can't put my finger on it but it works well all the same. I always appreciate foreign films and it is not a movie that goes light on the japanese language, but me being a sucker for that and being a subtitle enthusiast since DVD players started getting big it was far from a deal breaker for me. I very much liked it, I thought it was a different kind of love story that worked quite well for this week, and yeah it does make you appreciate all the more the people you already have in your life and could make you excited about the people you've yet to meet. 3 stars, 7.5/10, and our next film is going to be a doozy so join me on V-Day for something...less than family friendly.

The Whale

It's been a hot minute since an ending has gotten me that vocally invested.

What a film! Finally talking The Whale, heard so much high praise about it but I never saw a single showtime at any theater and I knew I couldn't pass it up. I really don't want to talk about it too much cause I feel people should just see it but hey this is a review and there's good stuff to talk about. The plot isn't terribly involved, taking place almost entirely in a single apartment where we meet Charlie an online college writing professor who is quite literaly morbidly obese and is suffering from congestive heart failure as he tries to reconnect with his family. That's all you need to know walking in. It's pure high emotional storytelling, I genuinely would call it a tragedy instead of a drama, as we see just how this one man's life went on a downward spiral and he's just trying to find something positive he has done with his life. I'll level with you here today, I'm quite a large fellow. 6'5", 350 odd pounds with no rippling muscles to be seen whatsoever, I wear 4XL or 5XL shirts, I prefer wearing sweatpants for comfort, and my ring plus my shoe size is a 16, and while I'm not to the extent of Charlie or suffering major health problems it was quite easy to understand his complications with day to day living. And yes the movie did make me confront why it is the way I am today in physicality. You see this man whose heart is worn constantly on his sleeve, positivity to the Nth degree, completely honest and caring, who is constantly berated and treated so badly by his family for mistakes he did in his past and you sympathize pretty strongly. I heard a lot of bashing in the case of Charlie's daughter Ellie and while I admit she says horrible things for seemingly the most random of purposes, I can understand where it all stems from and that's an aspect the movie does incredibly well at, it simply potrays people as individuals who are not perfect. They have problems, they make mistakes, they have demons to wrestle with. I'm not entirely sure why there is a semi-prominent religious aspect to the film, it doesn't hurt the film in any way and brings up interesting points, but I don't quite get what the intention is from the writing and directing perspective. Let's switch gears to the cast real quick. Brendan, my frickin' guy, I'm so proud of you on your awards cause you really did bring it for this role, I mean I know it comes down to a combo of the script, the actor, and the director but he really did great work and his commitment to actually carrying a heavy weight on camera speaks volumes to his character. I really loved Hong Chau as Liz who is Charlie's carer, she's a hard ass but you can tell she does truly want to be there for him and at a point certain information comes to light and it poses the question of does she do it because she cares or does she do it because she feels an obligation? Which is a great talking point after the movie! Sadie Sink as Ellie is nothing but a wild card in the equation, heavy on the angst and gruffness which I know will bother some people but look at it from a teenage perspective and see if your opinion changes. Ty Simpson as a missionary named Thomas is quite good as well, sort of inexplicably drawn to Charlie for reasons of his faith but like Charlie wants to try to do positive things. I'm gonna go off on a wee tangent here but shit I fucking need to just admire teachers, as I said Charlie is an online course professor and fully encourages his students to be honest, thoughtful, and meaningful writers and it made me think a lot about how hard it is to be a teacher. You gotta make a curriculum for the year, you have to have a system of judgement to grade papers, you need to have equal parts patience and passion to educate others, that shit ain't easy so I loudly and unapologetically applaud teachers of all sorts. And his message of writing with honesty and meaning, to commit to the words on the page, emboldened me because that's how I prefer to write. Uncensored, undiluted, speaking my mind with zero reservations because it's who I am. It's a very well written movie with solid moments of catharsis near the end, understandable characters, and a very small scale but engrossing story. And that ending got me, I couldn't shut up, I was just like, "You fucking bastard Darren Aronofsky, you actually did that." man that goes to show how into this movie I was. It might not be the best movie I've seen all year but it most certainly was a great movie. I give it 4 stars, 8.5/10, and we're going to do something a little different than usual tomorrow so stay tuned.

Airheads

Back on track, and definitely a more unheard of rock movie.

Airheads is a rather interesting movie and most certainly a cult film, but a good time nevertheless. The story follows a rock band consisting of Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler trying to get some attention for their music and wants to air their demo tape on the radio, but they have the bright idea of taking fake guns to the radio station and before long we got a hostage situation brewing with all the stops. I think because our main characters are a bit thick, though mercifully not idiotic is why it's a pretty fun movie because there's just some not so good ideas that really spiral out and it has an interesting effect. They keep on good terms with their "hostages", slowly more and more cops roll out to the station, and through it all being live on air a massive crowd also forms outside in full support of the band. This is probably me reading a fair bit into it, bit I got a lot of satire vibes from this movie. Satirizing how the music industry works, how radio stations only play popular stuff and not so much good stuff from even lesser known bands, how difficult it really is to get a modicrum of exposure for fledgling bands and performers, hell even the tempermental relationship of a rock star and his girlfriend, so I feel the movie has some stuff to say and does it in a truly understated fashion. So I kind of applaud it for that, and the performances are what keeps the film together. This was two years after Encino Man for Brendan so he wasn't super popular at that time but he still has that charm and likability that we love him for today and I just gotta say he looks good with the long hair and the leather jacket man, Steve Buscemi is easily the most intense of the lot but is all in to get the band signed and has moments of good humor, and my God an Adam Sandler role I honestly don't hate and I find it really fascinating that this was real early in his career too I mean Billy Madison came out next year so it is easily one of his most downplayed but still traditionally dopey performances but I like how he's used in the movie. I gotta say I was really taken aback though by some of the appearances, you got Michael McKean of Spinal Tap fame, you got Ernie Hudson and they are there for the long haul, but then you see Lemmy Kilmister in the crowd just out of nowhere, and then Harold Ramis shows up and I almost couldn't tell it was him, it was just such a shocking surprise but a very welcome one. I did get a good chuckle when they took a jab at grunge which was pretty popular by 1994 and it seemed metal music was shifting and forming into something else, they even call out Anthrax and Public Enemy's crossover which was...different. Not bad though, but an interesting time period for the genre and really you could argue it took until the 90s were over for traditional metal to make a comeback, it was more death metal bands in the 90s like Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death that took the stage, and while your Metallica's and your Slayer's were still doing very very good, the scene was shifting, the times they are a-changin'. But enough of my history ramblings, time for the roundup. Good decent movie, I had fun with it and do recommend it for curiosity's sake. 2.5 stars, 7/10, and we got a wild one coming up next time.

Looney Tunes Back In Action

So the situation is the new Space Jam will get a review Saturday, not Friday because of work hence the oddball schedule this week.

I have so much to talk about here. This is one of the most interesting movies not only to watch but to talk about, it is truly a film in it's own world that must be experienced. I'm not even really sure how to start. I owned this movie on DVD all those years ago and watched it often, and seeing it again after 15 years is kind of a trip. So the film is basically an adventure movie with Bugs and Daffy as they assist two employees of the Warner Bros. company, an uptight vice president played by Jenna Elfman and the son of a spy actor played by Brendan Fraser. It goes off the rails quick in terms of story I suppose like any Looney Tunes cartoon, with chases, slapstick, plots of world domination, and more. I genuinely feel it is a worthy movie to see and not just be left in 2003 when it was released, there's a lot I admire and enjoy about it despite the movie being this utter grab bag of different plot elements yet it pulls it off pretty good. It does kinda break my heart that all tellings of the production pointed to it being a disaster with Joe Dante having a rough time making the movie due to executive control, because they did good work. I think they flat out got some cathartic satire of making Warner Bros. and pretty much every studio system look like braying jackasses, it's kind of beautiful actually. The personalities of the Looney Tunes are present and strong, a distinct action by Joe Dante who absolutely loathed Space Jam and how the characters were treated, and it fits perfectly in with the world of those cartoons. It does have that same spirit, it does have that good humor, it's handled mighty well! I laughed often and even when I didn't I still appreciated the humor. I'm trying so hard not to spiral out and just talk about random things but I feel it's kind of a losing battle with a film like this. We get science fiction references galore in Area 52, including the first time I ever saw Daleks though I had no idea what they were called. Timothy Dalton is essentially playing James Bond again which I absolutely loved. Steve Martin, God bless him man, he had to take on a role of a egomaniacal villain in a post Austin Powers world with mixed success. The celebrity cameos in this is off the charts, Dick Miller, Ron Perlman, Joan Cusack, Matthew Lillard, Roger Corman, friggin' Goldberg, it's outrageous how many people they got for this. The animation style looks airbrushed to shit, and it's not as perfectly mixed with live action as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but it looks good and still has that good fluidity of motion. It's just a bonkers movie to the max, not to the point of overstimulation but certainly fraking hard to talk about after viewing. I do recommend it, but as for a rating I'm a bit stumped. I did like it, it captured the spirit and fun of the Looney Tunes, Brendan is the best part of the movie period, great references, good comedy, odd yet entertaining. 3 stars, 7/10, and the 90s classic is up next.