Monday, October 24, 2022

But Is It Worth Watching?

[I weigh in on some popular series:  "The Watcher," "Bad Sisters," "The Patient," "Real Girlfriends in Paris," "The Mole" and the new Netflix cooking show "Easy Bake Battle."]  

"The Watcher" is currently the most popular series on Netflix. It seems the entire country is watching it.  But should you watch "The Watcher?" 

Let's see.


The Watcher 





A family moves into their dream house only to be stalked by "The Watcher." 

This is your classic tale of the malevolent house. An innocent family buys their dream house and then finds out its sad history and then everything goes to hell.  Remember "The Amityville Horror?"  Well, this one is kind of like that but in this case the evil comes from someone watching the family and sending them threatening letters.

Writer/Producer/Director Ryan Murphy ("Glee," "American Horror Story," "Pose," "Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story") has taken a true life mystery and Murphy-ized it into a gothic horror story.  

The series is based on the true story of the Broaddus Family, Derek and Maria, who bought their dream home at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey in 2014.  Before moving in, they started renovating the house and soon started to receive anonymous letters from "The Watcher," someone who claimed to have lived in the house and was now in charge of watching over it.  There were four letters, all menacing, and, because of those letters, the family never moved in and eventually sold the house five years later for a loss of $400,000. "The Watcher" was never identified.

So those are the basic facts of this story, and beyond the basic facts - that the owners of a beautiful house in Westfield, New Jersey received scary letters signed "The Watcher" - the rest of this series is complete fiction. Ryan Murphy discovered this story and was off and running.

Murphy has taken the true story and run with it, adding his dramatic touches, throwing in a variety of suspects, along with a smarmy police detective (Christopher McDonald), Theodora Birch (Noma Dumezweni), an eccentric private investigator, many red herrings, a satanic cult and even the latest phenomenon of "phrogging." There is everything in this but the kitchen sink, including the real life List murders, a mass murder that happened in Westfield in 1971. John List (here called John Graff) killed his entire family and then went on the run for 18 years.  Murphy has added that as something that also happened in the house at 657 Boulevard but those murders did not happen there.

In this fictionalized account, Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale play Nora and Dean Brannock, who buy the house and move in with their son, Carter (Luke David Blumm), and daughter, Ellie (Isabel Gravitt).  Nora is an artist and Dean is a lawyer and this house is a chance to get out of the city and live the American Dream, even though it's a bit beyond their means. Well, it's a lot beyond their means. In fact, they have some real money problems. Soon after moving into the house, the Brannocks start receiving menacing letters from "The Watcher." 

So who is "The Watcher?"

Is it Maureen (Margo Martindale) and Mitch (Richard Kind), the odd, older, unfriendly and disapproving neighbors across the street who sit in their yard chairs and watch the Brannocks?  Is it, Pearl (Mia Farrow), the nutty local historian for the Westfield Preservation Society who is obsessed with the dumb waiter in the house (note: the dumb waiter plays a role) and who threatens to take the Brannocks to court if they disturb it or make changes to the house that the preservation society doesn't approve of?  Or is it Pearl's brother, Jasper (Terry Kinney) who has PTSD from finding the Graff family murdered in the house years before?  What about Dakota (Henry Hunter Hall), the young kid who is putting in the security system?  Or Karen (Jennifer Coolidge), the real estate agent who is dying for Nora to sell the house so she can list it?  And what about Theodora Birch, that private investigator that the Brannocks hired to help find The Watcher. What's her deal?  There is a lot going on in this bucolic little town, and everyone is a suspect and everyone is suspicious. And the bottom line is that everyone is watching everyone.

Naomi Watts is always good, though after seeing her last movie, "Goodnight Mommy," and now this, I'm wondering if she is headed for a career in horror films. And I can't help but ask, "What's with those huge black glasses?" But that aside, Bobby Cannavale is the one I had a problem with.  He is perfect gangster material but as a harried husband, I struggled with it, but like the show, he grew on me. But why the character of Theodora Birch?  She didn't really seem to have a purpose. In fact, there were many characters like that, who made me wonder, "What are they doing here?"  Like I said, Murphy threw everything he had at this.

So the series gives us many suspects but in the real life story?  Who sent those letters? You decide. So far, no one knows, but there are rumors out there - one is that the husband did it.  Isn't that always the case with true crime? The husband did it. 

And there is a sort of message here: There is a dark side to the American Dream, when that dream is money, status and a big house and even with all of that you still don't feel safe. 

But is "The Watcher" worth watching? (I love a little alliteration, don't you)?

After watching the first episode, I was thinking, no.  It was very over-the-top and over dramatic.  I mean Mia Farrow in pig tails and big glasses was enough to turn me off right at the beginning.  And other characters were so out there that at times I thought I was watching a comedy. Jennifer Coolidge alone makes me laugh without even doing anything. And later, some of the side storylines went completely off the rails. A satanic cult? A murder/suicide across the street? C'mon. But Ryan Murphy is never not compelling, so I hung in there and, like Bobby, the series grew on me...until the end.

The last episode...oh, dear. 


Rosy the Reviewer says...I can't wholeheartedly recommend this, but it's an intriguing story and I did stick with it.  However, it could have been executed better, but if you are a Ryan Murphy fan and like your mysteries strange and way over-the-top with some comedy moments (that maybe aren't supposed to be funny), you might enjoy this, and, hey, if everyone else is watching it, you want to be in the know around the water cooler at work, right? (Are people still at work?  Are there still water coolers)? (Netflix)



Bad Sisters 


There are five Irish Garvey sisters - Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi and Becka and four of them are gravely concerned about how Grace's husband, John Paul (Claes Bang), treats their sister, Grace. They all have reasons to hate him. And then he turns up dead.

And that's not a spoiler.  The series begins with John Paul's funeral and it unfolds in flashbacks as we discover just what a bad guy John Paul was. Let's just say the first episode is called "The Prick" for a reason.  That's John Paul.  And he was.

But first, let's get to know the Garvey sisters.

  • Eva Garvey (Sharon Horgan) is the oldest and feels the most protective of her sisters since she had to take care of all of them after the death of their parents. Eva is single and feeling her time running out for having children.  She and John Paul don't get along, not just for how he treats her sister, Grace, but they also work at the same architectural firm and are up for the same promotion and John Paul is not above doing some dirty stuff to ruin Eva's reputation.

  • Grace Williams (Anne-Marie Duff) is the second eldest sister of the Garvey family, John Paul's wife, and the mother of their daugher, Blanaid (Saise Quinn). Grace loves her husband, but he is, as the first episode is named, "A Prick." He is controlling and cringey and she is losing her close relationship with her sisters because of him. He demeans her and has done everything he can to make her feel bad about herself.  But don't give up on Grace.

  • Ursula Flynn (Eva Birthistle), the middle sister of the Garvey family, is a nurse, is married to Donal (Jonjo O'Neill) and has three children.  She is also having an extramarital affair with Ben (Peter Coonan) and, when John Paul discovers the affair, he threatens to expose her with some racy pictures she thought she was sending to Ben.

  • Becka Garvey (Eve Hewson), youngest sister of the Garvey family, is a massage therapist who hopes to open her own massage studio.  John Paul was going to help her with that until he reneged on his promise.

  • Bibi Garvey (Sarah Greene), second youngest sister of the Garvey family, hates John Paul after he is responsible for the car accident that resulted in the loss of her eye. She wears an eyepatch, and is the impetus for the sisters' decision to murder John Paul.

So...all of the sisters have a reason to want John Paul dead.  And, like I said, he really is a bad guy. You will want him dead, too!

Each sister is different and interesting and you can love them all or pick your favorite but you will root for them because - did I mention this?  John Paul is a very bad man.

So they decide they need to murder him. But how? They try various and humorous means, but these women are not good at murder. He's like a cockroach.  They can't seem to get rid of him.  

So how did he die?  Well, that's why you keep watching.  And you keep watching because these sisters are fun to watch. 

Then to make matters even more interesting, enter the Claffin brothers, the insurance investigators who represent Claffin & Sons.  Grace has asked for the insurance pay out for John Paul's policy and they suspect foul play.  They also do not want to pay it for reasons that become clear later.  Thomas Claffin (Brian Gleeson, son of Brendon) embarks on an insurance investigation that threatens to uncover the sister's plans.  To complicate matters, Becka becomes involved with Matt, the other, and extremely handsome Claffin brother played by Daryl McCormack, who those of you who watched the charming Emma Thompson movie "Good Luck To You, Leo Grande" will recognize as her handsome escort. 

The series goes back and forth from the present to the past in a pleasing way (not the usual confusing flashbacks and flash forwards we sometimes encounter), as the sisters try to find a way to off John Paul, and the Claffin brothers try to get out of paying Grace the insurance money. You see, the Claffin & Sons insurance company has its own issues so they have to figure out a way to prove that John Paul's death was not an accident.

This all sounds very serious but it's actually very funny, the dark kind of funny.

Conceived by Sharon Horgan, Brett Baer and Dave Finkel (Horgan was also one of the producers), this series is a follow-up to Horgan's stint in the wonderful "Catastrophe" and shows that she is much more than a comic actress in a quirky rom-com.  As for Claes Bang, I first saw him in a Danish film (he's Danish) called "The Square."  He has since made his mark in several films since, like "The Girl in the Spider's Web," and here he does a good job of playing an Irishman, a bad one.  Gleeson and McCormack are also fun to watch, and I predict McCormack will become a very hot leading man.  I mean, c'mon, he's HOT! But the entire ensemble is first rate. 

But is it worth watching?

Rosy the Reviewer says... Yes! This is a celebration of sisterhood.  These "bad sisters" are really good sisters who are loyal and love each other very much and it is a joy to watch.  And if you read my reviews regularly, you will know that I judge on whether or not a film or series is a satisfying experience.  I think you will find this fun to watch and the ending very satisfying. Brilliant writing, brilliant actresses and a brilliant villain. (Apple+)


The Patient 


Every psychiatrist's nightmare.

Created by Joel Fields and Joseph Weisberg, "The Patient" stars Steve Carell as psychiatrist Alan Strauss who finds himself locked up and chained to the floor at the home of one of his patients. Turns out, Sam, his patient, is a serial killer who wants to stop those killing urges of his and thinks the only way to do that is to have the doctor all to himself.
You Harry Potter fans might recognize Domhnall Gleeson (he played Bill Weasley and is another son of Brendon - see "Bad Sisters" above) as Sam and the series is mostly what the Brits call a “two-hander,” Alan and Sam alone in the basement with Alan trying his best to keep Sam from killing again while at the same time trying to figure out how to get Sam to let him go.
Alan is Jewish and when he is alone, he spends time thinking about his wife and his son, Ezra. Through flashbacks, we learn that Alan’s wife, Beth, was a Jewish cantor. Their adult son, Ezra (Andrew Leeds), has become Orthodox causing frustrating family events and estrangement that affected Beth’s health and she has recently died. Alan also thinks about his own therapist (David Alan Grier) and has mental conversations with him that gives the viewer more insight into Alan and forces him to examine his own life. Sam isn’t the only one with issues.
I am not usually a huge Steve Carell fan but here he embodies the kind of therapist you would want to have. He emanates warmth and kindness and trust, which is a LOT considering he has been imprisoned by a serial killer and there is a man Sam wants to kill imprisoned in the other room. Oh, didn’t I mention that?

But is it worth watching?

Rosy the Reviewer says…Yes! This brings a whole new meaning to the guy living in his mother's basement. From the start, you will be hooked and want to know what is going to happen to Alan and Sam. A tense, sometimes humorous but always fascinating look at empathy, isolation and the world of therapy and one of the best series of the year. Not be missed. Trust me. I'm a criticologist!
(Hulu)


Real Girlfriends in Paris


Six Gen-Z’s follow their dreams and navigate the pitfalls of friendship and romance while trying to find themselves, all with the City of Love as their backdrop.
This looks like Bravo’s attempt to pull in a younger crowd to it’s “Housewives” franchise, except these ladies aren’t rich housewives, they are twenty-something ex-pat singles living in Paris, and so far no one seems to have an axe to grind nor has anyone angrily flipped a table. It’s more “Emily in Paris” meets “Sex and the City.
Victoria is 25, from a conservative family in Texas, and likes girls, but hasn’t yet come out to her mother. She had been briefly married to her college boyfriend but ended the marriage when she discovered his cheating.
Adja, who is also 25, has Senegalese roots, has family in Paris and is fluent in French. She finds European men more romantic than American men and she is working her way through a few.
Margaux, 26, has French parents and spent her life living in both New York City and France. Her Dad currently supports her until she “finds herself.” So far she has dabbled in several careers – the French would call her a dilettante. Currently she thinks she wants to open an agency to represent artists. We shall see.
Kacey is 27, African American and has lived in Paris off and on for three years. She teaches English part-time and babysits and is hoping to get a visa so she can stay in Paris permanently.
And there is a real life Emily. She is 22, has an internship at a fashion house but unlike that other Emily in Paris, knows little about fashion.
And finally, Anya. She is the only one not in her twenties. She is a fashionista, licensed tour guide and the OG of the group – 32 – and she has been in Paris for ten years so she is the shoulder the other women sometimes need.

I have a soft spot for “Emily in Paris” because it helped me endure lockdown during the height of the pandemic. This series doesn’t quite have the same charm as “Emily,” but it still has that je ne sais quoi that makes me want to know what is going to happen to these young women. And just like “Emily,” there is fashion (which you know I love) and, of course, Paris (which I really love)!

This series celebrates female friendship and six cute young women living in Paris? What’s not to like?

But is it worth watching?

Rosy the Reviewer says…Yes, for me anyway! Lots of fodder here for some interesting and fun storylines. But it's very fluffy and sometimes silly, so if you are not a fan of Bravo's reality shows, this probably isn't for you. (Bravo)


The Mole


Twelve players compete for a cash prize, except it's not really a fair contest. One of them is a mole who is trying to sabotage them. Who is the mole?

This is a reboot of a show that ran from 2001 to 2008. I loved that show back in the day, one of the original reality game shows. It's actually a kind of intellectual version of "Survivor," with some mystery thrown in. Who is trying to sabotage the other players? Contestants must complete tasks to win money but there is a saboteur amongst them and they need to figure out who that is.

Hosted by MSNBC host Alex Wagner (back in 2001 it was a very young Anderson Cooper), this time the contestants are in various parts of Australia and have to complete missions that include zip lining, climbing mountain peaks, treasure hunting and trying to follow homing pidgeons, all within a certain amount of time. If they complete the task, they add money to a pot that one of them will ultimately win. But if The Mole is able to sabotage, they win nothing.

At the end of every episode, the contestants must take a quiz that asks questions to identify about who they think the Mole is and the person scoring the lowest is eliminated.

Who is The Mole? Can you figure it out?

But is it worth watching?

Rosy the Reviewer says...Yes, it's a unique take on competition shows, so if you are a "Survivor" or "The Challenge" fan and enjoy a bit of mystery, this is for you! (Netflix)


Easy Bake Battle 


Home cooks compete to see who can make the easiest and fastest dishes.

If you like cooking competitions featuring home cooks, this is a new one.

No, they don’t really have to use a toy Hasbro “Easy-Bake Oven,” though there is a giant state-of-the-art version that plays a role in the competitions. The keyword for this show is “easy.” The recipes must be easy. In addition to easy, the dishes must also be delicious, well-presented and in one competition, "The Dish Dash," fast. fast. The cook who finishes the fastest gets extra points. That is followed by the “Easy-Bake,” where the cooks must create a dish using only the oven.

The contestants and the judges also share cooking hacks to make cooking easier, such as cooking bacon in a waffle maker, poaching eggs in the oven in a muffin tray, crushing ice in a food processor and using dental floss to cut dough.
Hosted by Anthony Porowski (“Queer Eye”) and featuring a different celebrity guest judge per episode, three home cooks square off against each other, with one winning $25,000 and then moving on to the next episode in hopes of winning up to $100,000. There are eight episodes, all with different themes (late night snacks, holiday cooking, kid-friendly eats), each episode less than 40 minutes so you can binge this entire series in one day if you are so inclined.

But is it worth watching?

Rosy the Reviewer says…Yes and no. It is entertaining and there are some good ideas for home cooks, though some of the hacks may seem a bit lame for experienced cooks. I was also frustrated that I couldn't find the recipes. (Netflix)

Thanks for reading!


See you again soon!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critic Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

(NOTE:  If you are looking for a particular movie or series, check out this cool site: JustWatch.  It tells you where you can access all TV series and movies)







Wednesday, October 5, 2022

"Blonde" and the Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "Blonde" as well as a little British mystery film: "Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop." The Book of the Week is Kelly Ripa's "not-a-memoir," "Live Wire: Long-Winded Stories."]

Blonde (2022)



A very fictionalized account of the life of Marilyn Monroe.

There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding this movie with it taking a lot of criticism about its accuracy when it came to Monroe's life.  However, what you may not know is that this movie is based on Joyce Carol Oates' book of the same name, a book that was a work of fiction.  It was her fictionalized account of Marilyn. So with that in mind...

I get the controversy, but I am not against movies having creative license when it comes to telling true stories.  What I am against is an unpleasant film experience. This is not just a fictionalized account of Marilyn's life but a horror movie.

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortenson (baptized Baker) in 1926. Raised in Los Angeles, without a father, her mother suffered from mental illness and Norma spent much of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage.  She started out as a pin-up model during WW II and soon found fame in the movies as a "blonde bombshell," and became one of the most famous sex symbols of the 50's and 60's starring in such movies as "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "The Seven Year Itch" and "Some Like it Hot." But her turbulent personal life seemed to outweigh her career accomplishments.  She was married to James Doherty at the age of 16 (not touched on in the movie), baseball hero, Joe DiMaggio, and playwright Arthur Miller, neither of whom seemed to really take her seriously.  She supposedly had an affair with JFK and she struggled with drug addiction. She died mysteriously in 1962 at the age of 36 and she remains a pop culture icon to this day.

Written and directed by Andrew Dominick, the movie touches on much of that, but quickly skips from the orphanage to modeling to acting without much detail about how Norma Jean got there and became Marilyn. The film mostly concentrates on the sad side of Marilyn:  her exploitation by men, her mentally ill mother, her absent father, an abortion that she never got over (with a very cringy abortion scene), a miscarriage that she also never got over, drugs and possibly her own mental illness. The film also has another very cringy, an oral sex scene with JFK. In fact, there are many cringy scenes in this film. 

Marilyn, played by Ana de Armas, is portrayed as a victim who just happened to make it big.  All she really wanted was to be loved and to be taken seriously and to find that absent father.  But according to this, that never happened.  She was a victim who was taken advantage of time and time again. It's a dreary and grim story, and at almost three hours, it's a dreary, grim, and over-dramatic film experience that eventually becomes irritating because it seems to never end. 

Production wise, the film was also irritating.  It moves back and forth from black and white to color without a rhyme or reason.  At first, I thought the black and white sections were memories or the past but that didn't add up. I never did figure out what that device was supposed to embody, but it bugged the heck out of me.

The only thing I really liked in this film was Ana de Armas' performance which is extraordinary.  She embodies Marilyn and I can envision an Oscar nomination for her performance.  I just wish she had more to work with.

Much of the controversy surrounding this film is about the factual accuracy of this depiction of Marilyn's life. Did Marilyn's mother really try to kill her? Did Joe really beat her up during their marriage? Did JFK really rape her? What if she was a drug addict, what if mental illness was taking her over? Lots of what ifs and did that really happen questions. I don't mind the questions. What I minded was the relentless dreariness of this story.

Yes, Marilyn had a rough life in many ways but what's the lesson here? Is there one?  If there was, I didn't get it.  Men in power exploit women?  Yes, we know that. Horrible childhoods result in messed up adults. Again, yes. Marilyn Monroe was really little Norma Jean trying to find her Daddy. Okay. But when all of this bad stuff goes on and on with no let up and no real message, it feels like Marilyn is being exploited all over again and leaves the viewer feeling exploited too.

Marilyn Monroe may have been dead for 60 years but her memory deserves more than this.  Yes, she was probably exploited in life, but I don't like the feeling I get watching her memory get exploited in death. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...according to this film, Marilyn had an extremely unpleasant life, and for me, this was an extremely unpleasant film experience. (In theatres and on Netflix)


Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop (2021)


An amateur detective investigates some strange goings on at a bookshop.

Miss Elizabeth Willoughby (Nathalie Cox) is a poor little rich girl who grows up to be a professor and an amateur sleuth.  Her parents died when she was very young and she was left with her father's friend, Robert (Kelsey Grammer), an American, as her guardian. As a young girl, Lizzie was an insatiable reader, so Robert let little Miss Willoughby read the morning away but in the afternoon he taught her martial arts, which we later learn will come in handy one day.

When Lizzie's friend, Helen (Louise Bangay), an owner of a bookshop, reports some strange goings on there, she asks Lizzie for help. Helen believes she is being haunted by the ghost of her late father. Helen's husband (Steven Elder) believes Helen is going mad.  Is the bookshop really haunted or his Helen's husband gaslighting her?  Lizzie is on the case.

Written by Kate Wood, Chad Law, and Josh Ridgway (story by Philippe Martinez) and directed by Brad Wilson, this is a bit slow to get going but very much in the vein of British TV shows like "All Creatures Great and Small" and "Grantchester," very cosy and quaint and old fashioned, with a mystery that is not really a mystery.  Let's just say, there is nothing here to get your knickers in a twist about.  It's all very uncomplicated and "G rated," but it's a pleasant story with a pleasant cast. If you were a fan of "Murder She Wrote," it's kind of like that, and this is supposedly the first in a series which would be a welcome addition to that genre.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you need an escape into the beautiful English countryside with some pleasant people, and you like your mysteries British, ones that won't tax your brain too much, this is for you. (For rent on most streaming platforms)


***The Book of the Week***


"Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories" by Kelly Ripa (2022)



Actress and talk show host Kelly Ripa does her usual over-sharing, this time in a book.

Actress and talk show host Ripa (“Live with Kelly and Ryan”) wants readers to know that this is not really a memoir.  It’s a series of essays and she wrote them all by herself.  But fans will be happy to know there are plenty of anecdotes about her life delivered in her characteristic self-deprecating humor.  

She laments the difficulty of writing a book, she shares the difference between North and South Jersey (she’s from the South), muses on parenting (“I thought as long as my kids didn’t get strep throat often and had cookies for the class bake sale I was killing it in the parenting department”), the empty nest, mother/daughter relationships, botox and plastic surgery, auditioning for Live! and her tenuous relationship with ex-cohost Regis Philbin. She also overshares stories about her 25 year marriage to her husband, Mark Consuelos, whom she met on the set of “All My Children,” the birth of her first child, an embarrassing chance encounter with Richard Gere along with a lot more oversharing, but fans of Live! are probably used to that.  Ripa exhibits the same openness, bawdy humor, and TMI that her fans have come to expect.

I laughed out loud at much of this and thought, gee, I should watch the show.  So I gave it a try.  What I discovered was that Ripa is funny on the page, way too much for me in person.

Rosy the Reviewer says...an easy funny read that includes celebrity insider info (if you are into that kind of thing) and if you are a fan, you will love this, but you don't need to be a fan of "Live with Kelly and Ryan" to get some laughs from this! (Check it out from your local library)

 

Thanks for reading!


See you again soon!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critic Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

(NOTE:  If you are looking for a particular movie or series, check out this cool site: JustWatch.  It tells you where you can access all TV series and movies)


 

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

"Don't Worry, Darling" and The Month in Reviews

[I review the new (and kind of controversial movie) "Don't Worry, Darling (yes, I will share the gossip), as well as the horror film "Goodnight Mommy" and the supernatural thriller "The Empty Man."  The Book of the Month is "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy]


It's been a horror of a month - well, at the movies, anyway! Sometimes you need a little movie horror to take you away from the horrors of real life!


Don't Worry Darling (2022)

A woman with a seemingly perfect life discovers that all is not what it seems.

Okay so let's get this stuff out of the way first.

There are all kinds of burning questions surrounding the making of this movie.  Did Shia LeBeouf quit or was he fired from this film?  Did Florence Pugh and director Olivia Wilde not get along?  Did Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine?  And can Harry Styles act?

You might think, who cares?  But there is possibly something at work here that smacks of sexism in undermining a film in this way before it has even been released. According to Olivia Wilde, this is the kind of backlash a woman gets when a woman tries to step into a traditional man's role, here, as a director. And I agree that some of that might be happening here.  For one thing, you can count on one hand the number of successful female directors in Hollywood, and I don't think a male director would be getting the kind of negative outside-the-movie press that Wilde is getting.  Alfred Hitchcock was notorious for abusing his actresses, especially Tippi Hedren in "The Birds." He had a penchant for blondes and when she rebuffed him, Hitchcock used real birds rather than mechanized birds in that famous scene in "The Birds," where birds cover Tippi's head and attack her. Likewise, directors Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick and Werner Herzog, were notoriously difficult, but we never heard about their controversies at the time. But here we have a female director who is accused of things not even remotely like what those other male directors did and it's big news. 

Rant over. I rest my case.

Anyway, let's get to the important thing.  The movie.  

And I have to say that after seeing it, I have all kinds of other burning questions, the main one being...if men had the opportunity to design the perfect world, would it consist of mid-century homes with sunken living rooms, green bathtubs and stay-at-home wives who have dinner on the table every night when they got home and a desire for sex on said table? Duh.

Florence Pugh plays Alice, who is just such a wife.  She is married to Jack (Styles) and they live in the perfect 1950's desert community of Victory. Every morning, along with the other wives in the neighborhood, Alice stands out in front of her house and dutifully waves her husband goodbye as he and his fellow husbands head off to work in their cool vintage cars, out into the desert at the Victory Project, a top secret government project.  While they are gone, the women clean their homes, hang out the wash, take ballet lessons, shop and gossip. In the evening, they all party together.  All the women have to do is stay in their little town and never go out into the desert or show up at their husbands' work. Sounds pretty ideal for the husbands, right?

But then Alice starts to experience bits and pieces of strange memories.  Her friend, Margaret (KiKi Lane), appears to be having a breakdown, calls her and tells her that things are not what they seem and then commits suicide. While out riding in the town trolley, Alice sees a plane crash and goes out into the desert to investigate and finds a mysterious build. Then she wakes up in her bedroom with no recollection on how she got back home. When Alice tries to talk to her friend, Bunny (Wilde also stars), about her fears, Bunny tells her to keep quiet. And then Frank (Pine), the town founder, gives her a warning.  Something is not right and Alice soon discovers the secrets behind not only the Victory Project but her own life and it's not good.

As I said, after seeing this movie I have some burning questions of my own but sadly, I can't really get into them without spoiling the twist but let me just say when the twist came I thought, "What the hell?" I might have even said it out loud. And I laughed.  I don't think I was supposed to laugh.

With a screenplay by Katie Silberman who also wrote "Booksmart," Wilde's first directorial feature, this film is very much in the "Rosemary's Baby" and "Stepford Wives" thriller genre - a seemingly happy woman discovers that her life is not what it seemed and starts questioning her sanity but there are some huge stretches here. However, this story is not as smart as "Booksmart." There are holes in this story as big as the Grand Canyon, some bad directorial choices and more questions than answers, except I can answer this one.  Can Harry Styles act?  Surprisingly, yes.

And speaking of the acting, Florence Pugh can always be counted on to give a great performance and Wilde is also good in a smaller role. Pine can also be counted on to be very, very handsome. Just kidding. He was also good, though his role was not very complex. The whole ensemble is fine and the set design beautiful.  But the soundtrack was very annoying at times, the visuals used to show that Alice was losing it were distracting and monotonous, and I just wish the twist had made more sense.

Freud supposedly asked "What does a woman want?"  Disturbingly, this film appears to ask and then answer the question "What does a man want?"  And it's scary. Perhaps, the theme of this film is why Wilde was getting such a backlash. I liked the idea of this film, I just wish it had been better.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a stylish film that will take you on a journey, but sadly it's a journey with a lot of potholes. I like movies that make me think but I don't like to have to wrack my brain to understand what I just saw. Though I liked some things about this film, I can't really recommend it. (In theatres)

 


Goodnight Mommy (2022)


Twin brothers return home to live with their estranged mother and begin to wonder if she is really their mother.

Twin Elias (Cameron Crovetti) and Lukas (Nicolas Crovetti) move back in with their mother (Naomi Watts), a former actress, after staying with their father since their divorce. When they see her again, her face is fully bandaged as if she were wearing a ski mask.  She tells them she has just had plastic surgery.

The boys quickly sense something different about their Mother.  She has told them they can't go into her room or into the barn and she is drinking and smoking, something they don't remember her doing.  When asked to sing them the lullaby she always sang to them, she doesn't seem to remember it and she hardly acknowledges Lukas at all. Lukas also tells Elias that their mother had green eyes.  This woman has blue eyes. They both start questioning whether this is really their mother.

After Elias tells her she is not their mother, she slaps him.  Things are getting out of hand so the boys run away but are soon returned by two State Police troopers.  When they get back home, their mother has removed her bandages but the boys still don't believe she is their mother.

The next morning, Mother awakes to find herself tied to her bed with duct tape and demands to be freed.  She says she is their mother and when they ask why her eyes have changed color she explains that she wore green contact lenses as an actress and they are downstairs in her purse.  Lukas tells Elias he searched the purse and she is lying. So they leave their mother tied to the bed and run away again.  But Elias says he needs to go back to get his toothbrush and when he does he looks in his mother's purse and finds the contacts.

What is going on here?  Is she their mother or isn't she?

Things go from bad to worse but all is revealed in this scary and moody remake of an Austrian film. I am not a fan of remakes of perfectly good foreign films, but since I did not see the original, I guess I can't complain too much. As for the concept, is there anything scarier than children in jeopardy or Naomi Watts in a white ski mask?  But she is fine in this role. And speaking of children, I usually don't like child actors, especially the very precocious smart alecky ones, but these two boys are very good little actors, very believable and poignant.  

And speaking of believable, the film, directed by Matt Sobel with a screenplay by Sobel and Kyle Warren was compelling, and I bought everything right up until the very end, but then I had yet another "What the hell?" moment. But it was enjoyable getting there.

Rosy the Reviewer says...motherhood can be a horror story! (Amazon Prime)



The Empty Man (2022)


While investigating a missing person, ex-cop James Lasombra stumbles upon a sinister cult that is trying to conjure a supernatural entity.

The film begins in Bhutan in 1995.  

Day 1 - Four friends - Greg (Evan Jonigkeit), Fiona (Jessica Matten), Ruthie (Virginia Kull) and Paul (Aaron Poole) - are hiking on a mountain when Paul hears a strange sound.  When he goes to investigate, he falls down a crevice.  Greg gets down there to investigate and finds Paul in a catatonic state, staring at a skeleton hanging from the wall of the cave.  The group gets Paul out of there and Greg carries him to an empty house.  

Day 2 - some strange start happening. 

Day 3 - some really, really bad things happen.

Fast forward to 2018.  

Ex-cop James Lasombra (James Badge Dale) is grieving the death of his wife and son.  When Nora (Marin Ireland), his neighbor, tells him her daughter, Amanda (Sasha Frolova), has run away and left a message written in blood that says "The Empty Man made me do it," James begins an investigation and discovers that Amanda and her friends were into a local legend, summoning The Empty Man. To summon him, you find an empty bottle on a bridge and blow into it and think of The Empty Man. The first night you hear him, the second night you see him and the third night, he finds you. Oooh, scary.

So James goes to the local bridge, finds a bottle, ("Don't blow into it!)m he blows into it and when he goes underneath the bridge, he finds Amanda's friends dead, hanging from the bridge.

James had also found a brochure for the Pontifex Institute in Amanda's room.  When he researches it, he discovers it is a cult originating in Bhutan.  He goes to the institute and hears a talk by the leader who refers to The Empty Man and says he is an entity that gives his followers what they want as long as they do what he wants.

Remember that James blew into the bottle on the bridge?

Day 1 - James starts to hear what he thinks is The Empty Man. 

Day 2 - James starts to see what he thinks is The Empty Man.

Day 3 - Gulp.

This did not need to be two hours and 17 minutes, but I have to say it moved along and the 22 minute cold opening is literally a killer.  Starring mostly unknown actors, all very believable, the movie, written and directed by David Prior and based on the Boom! Studios graphic novel by Cullen Bunn, is clearly capitalizing on the Slenderman legend and the notorious murder of a young girl by his young followers but this film did not initially do well at the box office. However, it has since taken on its own cult status, and I have to say, it's compelling, even if at times there are some gaps in the plot. I almost said "What the hell?"

Rosy the Reviewer says...an eerie thriller and a cautionary tale.  Do you know what your teens are up to right now?  If you like strange and moody supernatural films, you will like this. (HBO Max and on VOD and on DVD)


***The Book of the Month***



"I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy (2022)


Actress Jennette McCurdy shares her story of growing up a TV child star.

You might not think that this fits into the horror theme this month, but child abuse is definitely horror and McCurdy experienced an exquisitely strange and sad bit of horror growing up.  Her mother desperately wanted her daughter to be a child actor and would go to extreme lengths to make it happen.  Jennette didn't really want to do that but wanted to please her mother, so went along with it. 

Ex-child actor McCurdy shares the story of her growing up years in Hollywood with an overbearing mother who worked to achieve stardom for her young daughter, and, wanting to please her mother, McCurdy endured endless auditions, eyelash tinting, daily weigh-ins, guilt trips and breast and vaginal exams from her mother until she was 17. Her mother made “Mommy Dearest” look like Mother of the Year. Though McCurdy achieved success (Nickelodeon’s “ICarly” and the spin-off “Sam and Cat” with Ariana Grande), it was not without a price. There was bulimia, addiction, and bad relationships. “Fame… I wanted [my mother] to be happy.  But now that I have it, I realize that she’s happy and I’m not.  Her happiness came at the cost of mine.  I feel robbed and exploited.” So no wonder she is glad her mother died because then she was free.

But McCurdy eventually sought help and found herself.  Though this is a grim tale of a lost childhood, a real life horror story, it's not unlike stories of other child actors. But McCurdy is a good writer and her compelling story is not without humor, though as one can tell from the title, the dark kind.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like candid celebrity memoirs and stories about overcoming the odds, this is for you. 


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