Dune Part Two

8.5/10

In part two of this adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel, exiled space nobleman Paul Atreides (played by Timothee Chalamet) allies himself with the Fremen rebels, who want to wrest control of the planet Arakis back from the Harkonen family.

I liked the first one, but this one is stronger as we get to the payoff and more stuff seems to be happening. As Paul is considered to be a prophet by many Fremen, we get a well-designed look at how religion can be used to control, not to mention the long-term affects of colonialism and how radicalism amongst the natives can develop in response to it.

Overall, this is a mostly well told movie. It's long, but for the first two acts it does a really good job of moving a plot and balancing all the political machinations. Only weak point might be that by the final act, you do have a few characters repeat voicing their goals/concerns a little too much, especially Paul (we get it, you're conflicted by your role as a false prophet.) 

We continue to have a wide cast of interesting characters, old and new. Although, the Harkonen's evilness for the sake of evilness is ramped up to a 100, and they were already really evil. They kill so many of their own people that it gets cartoonish, and it's hard to believe how they don't have any rebellion within their ranks.

Chalamet really sells a character that is trying to do good but must struggle with the weight of his responsibility. Zendaya as Fremen Chani has chemistry with Chalamet and her character serves as a solid voice of reason amongst people consumed by their goals. Ferguson continues to shine as Atreides' mother who masterfully manipulates the populace in order to survive, and Javier Bardem continues to be a great performer as a very religious Fremen who wants to believe in Paul. Elvis' Austin Butler debuts as Feyd-Rautha Harkonen. He overshadows his already larger-than-life family members as a psychopath with a strange honesty about his violence and a charisma to him.

Director Denis Villeneuve's direction continues to be amazing. This will definitely be remembered as one of the best looking films of 2024, continuing the original film's memorable 60'/70's sci-fi aesthetic (particurlarly that type of sci-fi design that specifically seems to come from European directors). Though one could argue that the Harkonen's all black aesthetic feels a little too simplistic.

Highly recommended. The message gets slightly worn near the end but this is still top-notch cinema.

The Irrational- Season 1

6.5/10

In this new NBC show based on the nonfiction book Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, behavioral psychology professor Alec Mercer (played by Law & Order/The Flash's Jesse L. Martin) uses his knowledge of irrational behavior to help the authorities solve crime.

This starts off weak. The first couple episodes or so have some troubled dialogue. The last line of the first episode feels like a parody of network television mysteries. The writers do find their voice but even then it is still an average show of its type in regards to writing and characterization.

The best part is the info dumps about human behavior. They're interesting (and the only well written section of the first episode is the introduction to the irrationality of man). The individual stories aren't too shabby and the show is pretty flexible in the cases Mercer takes on, they're not all murder mysteries. There is an overarching storyline about a tragedy in Alec's past. It doesn't break the network television storyline mode, but it is a competently told and decently paced narrative with a respectable resolution. 

Martin's trademark smooth attitude works for making Mercer feel authoritative. However, this is one of Martin's weaker roles. Mercer as a character is low-key and does not give the actor the opportunity to bring the charisma he has been known. Mercer also has a burn scar on his cheek and the makeup doesn't look great.

Kinda recommended. It's your basic network fare but makes for decent time-wasting, and I do like the look at how irrational people are.

Drive-Away Dolls

8/10

In Drive-Away Dolls, during the 90's lesbian friends, uptight, serious Marian (played by Miracle Workers' Geraldine Viswanathan) and southern twanged free spirit Jamie (Margaret Qualley, the hitchhiker from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) go on a trip to Tallahassee, not knowing that there's been a mix-up and that the car they're dropping off is carrying a package that some dangerous people want.

This is the first solo film directed by Cohen brother Ethan. Whereas Joel showed that he may be the more serious brother and went with his adaptation of MacBeth, Joel may be showing that he's the more comedy-oriented one. (Not claiming this as an original idea. I'm not the first one to make this conjecture online.) DAD may be the guy's most over-the-top film and makes for a fun ride. This has that Cohen/Pulp Fiction style of chaotic, gonzo, pulpy comic feel that latter movies haven't been able to recapture. There are some solid comedy bits with a great cast and unexpectedness to where the story is going. This is also Cohen's raunchiest comedy, so if you like hard R than this is for you. 

Admittedly, at a short 84 minutes the movie does still have a few scenes that felt unnecessary or drawn out. There are definitely two dream segments that could've been cut. Also, there are a few trippy interstitials that feel indulgent and the budget for the graphics doesn't feel great. The endgame of what is in the car may not live up to expectations of what you want it to be.

Viswanathan and Qualley make the film. They may be playing ropes, but they really manage to shine with great delivery and chemistry amongst them. Qualley shows that he she finally deserves a lead role. Viswanathan who was already a great comedic talent in Miracle Workers, but the first three seasons did have her shackled down with a straight man role, gets to show her talent a lot more. Other fun performances are Beanie Feldstein as Jamie's rightfully angry ex-girlfriend and Twisters' Joey Slotnick as a goon who is also a people person.

Recommended. This was a pretty good time. This isn't top tier Cohen like Fargo and Big Lebowski, but it's up there, and I liked it better than the likes of Brother Where art Thou? or Hail Caesar. 

Madame Web

 

5/10

In Sony's continued quest to mine whatever Spider-Man characters they own the rights to, we get a tale about the psychic Madame Web which serves as a Spider-Man prequel (but doesn't appear to take place in any specific movie timeline). EMT Cassandra Web (Fifty Shades of Grey's Dakota Johnson) discovers she can see the future and tries to save the lives of three teens (all three to become different spider heroines) from being assassinated by the spider-powered Ezekial Sims (The Mauritarian's Tahar Rahim).

Little surprised they went with MW as the first female lead and used some of the less prominent Spidey women (no offense to Julia Carpenter and Anya Corazon fans). Black Cat, Silver Sable and the first Spider-Woman should've been the logical choices. Oh well. Just musings. Not an attack on utilizing the character. I think anyone can properly be utilized if given the right direction. (The Riddler had only two appearances before in the comics before he was used in the 60's Batman show and look what that did to his popularity).

Here's an actual criticism. Again, this is a Sony Spidey film that feels like it was from the 2000s. (An excellent film to compare this to is Elektra). I don't know why Sony keeps taking this basic serious route when the fun ones, the Tom Holland and Spider-Verse films, are doing so well. The MCU films may be too quippy and DCEU films too dark and serious but at least they had a solid identity. 

The is very uneven. There are a few good comedy bits but there is also a lot of dialogue that just doesn't work. I give the movie credit for naturally introducing multiple characters. However, the movie drops the ball in the third act completely. It feels choppy with odd choices just there to advance the plot. 

I give credit for giving each of the teens a backstory, but the kids-with-sad-lives tropes feels really worn out by now. (Didn't need it in Stargirl and didn't need it here.) Also, I don't feel like any of the trio completed a character arc.

We got a good cast who just can't make the bad script work. There are a couple exceptions, especially Park and Rec/Severance's Adam Scott, who deserve an award for sounding natural, but most can't. Johnson is pretty good in the funny parts but that's the best she can do. 

Credit should be given to the movie for at least basically knowing what it is and having an identity compared to recent superhero films that are messy or feel derivative. Web doesn't have super strength or other offensive powers, only her psychic abilities which makes for a very different dynamic when going against a villain.

Faring the worst is Rahim. He has the worst lines and you can tell he was poorly ADRed at times. To be honest, Sims feels like an odd choice to use as a villain. He wasn't really an antagonist in the comics. (You'd think that they would've learned from the outrage of Psylocke being made a villain in not one but two X-Men films). The sad thing is that Sims in this had the DNA to make a decent baddie. You understand his motive and was pretty competent in his strategy if only he was better written.

Going back to the 2000's feel this has a bland white lighting scheme. However, the action and the look of Webb's vision powers are actually pretty good.

Not particularly recommended or not recommended. This is messy and this is definitely not a must-see. However, I don't think this is bad as some say. It's distinct in its way, and I don't regret watching it. Have no plans to rewatch but would stay in the room if someone else had it on.

Argylle

7.5/10

In this new movie from Matthew Vaughn (director of the Kingsman films), Elly Conway (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) is the author of a successful series of novels about a spy named Argylle. Her books predict real world events which puts her in the sights of a secret organization and ends up having to go on the run with her cat and a spy named Aidan Wilde (Sam Rockwell).

Since this is a Vaughn spy film, we get his love for fun 60's/70's spy stories. There are decent moments of humor. This is PG-13, so Vaughn can't get as crazy as he did for the Kingsman films, but he still delivers some creative action. The final fight really is something. Visually, Vaughn's still got that colorful flair he's known for.

The biggest issue is definitely that the movie didn't need to be 2 hours and 19 minutes. You can feel it in the first two acts. Howard and Rockwell work well off of each other, but there is way too much time spent on them talking and arguing. However, once we get to the third act and secrets are revealed, everything flows a lot more smoothly. The trailer advertised that there is a big secret. To be honest, it's not a Sixth Sense level reveal, but it's well played, especially one part.

Howard was good casting. Her Elly is naturally likable, and she has this way with her facial expressions. Catherine O'Hara is Elly's mother. The actress is always good, but I got to say that this might be one of her best performances. 

Bryan Cranston is the main villain. He's not bad (definitely determined, I'll give you that), but he is marred a little by an accent or voice choice that's a bit hard to pinpoint and the character itself could've been stronger. I've realized that an Achilles Heel of Vaughn's is that his villains can have the tendency to be a bit broad. The West Side Story remake's Ariana DeBose is in this as a character in the Argylle novels and she is poorly utilized. Her character could've been easily cut. 

Recommended. This could've been a leaner, stronger piece, but it's still fairly entertaining, and I do love the finale.

Hazbin Hotel- Season 1

7.5/10

In Hazbin Hotel on Amazon Prime, the forces of Heaven, fearing the great numbers of sinners in Hell, hold an extermination once a year where they kill a lot of souls. (In this world, all dead people either become demons or angels.) Idealistic Charlie Morningstar (voiced by Erika Henningsen, who was the original lead in Broadway's Mean Girls the Musical), is tired of this, so she decides to create a hotel that specializes in redeeming any who stay there so that they can get into heaven.

The pilot for this came out four years ago (this was an indie animation that had to first be picked up, plus animating takes time), and I've been waiting, genuinely curious as to the final outcome, and yeah, this doesn't disappoint. Characters are well defined, there's great world building, and the show manages to hit the funny bits pretty well. One is engrossed with the story as it develops and whether Charlie will achieve her dream. This is kinda like The Good Place in that it questions the concept of eternal damnation for people that were lousy or made poor decisions but weren't evil, evil.

Be forewarned that this is very adult. Very, very adult. Maybe more sexed up than the Rocky Horror Picture Show and more foul-mouthed than South Park (I've heard the words b**** and holes, as in orifices and not in the ground, more times than I ever have.) And this, show can be pretty bipolar when it comes to its content. Hazbin Hotel can have a funny part and then something dark may happen. Unlike Bojack Horseman, which was known for balancing lighter and darker humor, I don't know if this finds the balance. The creator Vivienne Medrano is definitely a talent, but she's like those two guys who created the Venture Brothers, they're definitely creative, but you're truly worried about their state of mind. Medrano's original pilot and her web cartoon Helluva Boss, which didn't have to censor for streaming, are a LOT. Things can get uncomfortable with her. The subplot of hotel occupant and porn star Angel Dust (Blake Roman) gets DAAAARRRKKKK. It is front and center in episode four and their is a reason why it is rated 18+ while all the others are 16+.

Also understand that this season is only eight episodes long. The show has a lot of characters and ideas, but they don't all have their equal time to shine. There's so much plot being revealed that it's easy to remember what's going on this season but so hard to remember what was the main story of each individual episode.

The voice cast is good. This show is a musical, and I'm happy to say everyone they cast are good singers. Henningsen really manages to sell Charlie's sheer unbridled optimism. (A big part of her character is how pure she is despite living in a terrible place with awful people.) The other star of the show is Alastor, the Radio Demon (Amir Talai), who sounds like he's speaking over an old-timey radio. He's a very powerful demon that's sponsoring the hotel not because he believes in it, but because it amuses him. He's the "aren't-you-glad-I'm-on-your-side"-type, equally charming and funny and a terrifying fellow when you cross him.

People have already pointed out that Charlie's girlfriend Vaggy (Reno 911/Encanto's Stephanie Beatriz) sounds like and is kinda similar to Poison Ivy in the Harley Quinn show. But in fairness, the pilot came out before HQ. Credit to be given to the show for how the lovers' relationship is made clear through showing without having to explain.

The animation feels like a Deviantart artist's page come to life with a distinct type of character design. It's a very unique depiction of the afterlife. The animation is colorful, and the quality itself is really fluid and detailed. 

The songs are pretty good; there are weaker entries but no bad ones. I particularly like the variety; none of the songs feel like parodies/homages of existing songs like I've seen in many other musical TV shows.

Kinda recommended. This is definitely not for everyone. If you don't like M-rated stuff, stay away. And I do not fault anyone for episode four being too much. However, if you're okay with all of that, you may very well like this creative, well produced work. (You might want to see the pilot on Youtube first. The first episode does explain the premise, but the pilot explains stuff more.)

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters- Season 1

8/10

In this television spin-off of the Godzilla/King Kong theatrical Monsterverse on Apple+, Cate Randa (played by  Anna Sawai) travels to Japan to uncover questions about her missing father where she is drawn into a mystery involving Monarch, the agency that deals with giant monsters.

The plot does start a little tepid. Story is initially decent but doesn't feel like it is excelling. However, things really pick up during the second half. The plot becomes far more intricate and surprising and the character relationships really develop. (There's a lot you can't predict from the outset.) A lot of this also looks at the history of how Monarch first came to be (this doesn't do a half bad version of keeping steady with the movies' continuity) and it's pretty good and planned out.

Also, this is for you if you're looking for something for the whole family. The show maintains the audience level of the movies.

The monster effects are practically movie quality. This is still television, so they are always in short bursts, but you never get an episode without a monster.

Cast is good and the characters are distinct. I liked the main actors but to be honest I think the best performances are probably Joe Tippett as the likable everyman member of Monarch and Hell on Wheels' Christopher Heyerdahl as a general.

Be aware that this takes place approximately after the first Godzilla movie but before the second one. The show could've done a better job of making that clearer from the onset. I first thought it took place currently in the franchise. There a couple other nitpicks: one brief antagonist that is just too caustic and there is one plot point here that doesn't line up with what happened in Godzilla vs. Kong.

Highly recommended. This a popcorn movie made into TV form without feeling overextended.