Tag: Movies

Friendship and The Chair Company

On By Christopher TuthillIn Comedy, Movies, ReviewsLeave a comment

Friendship, with Tim Robinson, was great fun; if you enjoy the over-the-top characters and situations in his sketch comedy, you’ll find plenty of laughs in this tale of a misfit who can’t seem to act normally. The movie reminded me of The Cable Guy, the equally hilarious story of a man who wants so badly to be friends with a customer that he stalks him, committing crimes in the hopes of forging a connection.

This story was a bit more dramatic than that, as Robinson’s character, Craig, desperately craves the approval of his new neighbor, Austin (Paul Rudd), an incredibly cool dude and local weatherman who at first takes an interest in Craig, before finding out how unhinged he is. When Craig acts like a lunatic at Austin’s party, Austin politely suggests they go their separate ways. But Craig, who has no other friends, and seemingly no other hobbies aside from buying clothes and obsessing over them, feels totally betrayed by this rejection. He has bought a drum kit, lost his phone, and started acting like the carefree spirit he believes Austin to be, and won’t let this bromance die without a fight.

What follows is the relentless destruction of Craig’s life—he loses everything—his wife, his job, and what little dignity he once possessed, as he pursues his lost friend, only to find that Austin isn’t who he seems. At one point, in total despair, he screams at Austin “You all accepted me way too fast! You can’t do that! You made me feel too free! People need rules!”

These lines, delivered with Robinson’s trademark, bug-eyed wildness, had me dying with laughter and encapsulated this poor man’s dilemma. He’s an awkward psychopath who holds a good job, with nice clothes, a nice house and family, but he is emotionally stunted, living through his phone, spending his days wishing he could fit in and be a normal guy, something he enviously watches his colleagues and coworkers do with seemingly effortless ease. For work he creates an addictive app, when not making up ad campaigns for local politicians. His wife, who has recently beaten cancer, cannot stand him, nor can his teenage son.

If there was a flaw in the movie, I thought it was in this home life. It seemed beyond belief that Craig would have married so highly above himself and had such a good job. But then again, most sitcoms have this same exact setup: an oaf with a beautiful wife and family who barely tolerate him. And there are lots of weirdos walking among us, doing all sorts of crazy things under the veneer of normality. I really enjoyed this movie, even if I am more partial to Robinson’s more light spirited anarchic stuff.

Speaking of which, I found the first episodes of his new HBO show, The Chair Company, to be totally hilarious and loved everything about it. In this one, Robinson again plays a suffering everyman, this time seeking justice against an office furniture business after enduring a hysterically funny mishap in front of his entire workplace. Robinson is so good at these kinds of characters, barely holding his life together, trying to keep a lid on a brimming rage that bursts out over and over, through minor and major inconveniences. After his fall, he is determined to root out the villains who have embarrassed him, no matter the cost. The first two episodes moved him down this dark path in a painfully funny manner, and I can’t wait to see just how outrageous it gets over the course of the story.

The Case Against Satan (1962) and The Exorcist (1971)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Halloween1 Comment

Both of these were popular novels long before my time, but when I was in college in the 1990s, I was quite taken with the film version of The Exorcist, which to me is one of the scariest movies ever made. Since William Peter Blatty’s novel of the same name was first published in 1971, there have been no end of books and movies about exorcism of varying quality; such films are practically their own industry at this point. People sure enjoy reading books and watching scary films about demonic possession.

Ray Russell’s The Case Against Satan, originally published in 1962, is an excellent, tightly paced and disturbing read about a case of possession and exorcism involving a young girl. It predates Blatty’s novel by nine years, so it is probably the first novel of its kind. It’s a very different read from the Exorcist, told with more attention to psychology and spiritual matters. Russell was a fine writer of Gothic tales, and I highly recommend his short stories. There are a couple of good books that collect most of them, including the very creepy Sardonicus.

The Exorcist reads more like a page turning thriller than Russell’s work. The story is more over the top, which fans of the film will recognize. If you like this genre of horror movie, I think you owe it to yourself to read this book and see where it started. Russell’s less well-known book is also a must read. Both novels do a great job of bringing this ritual to life; even if you aren’t Catholic, or don’t believe that possession is something that exists, I still think the books are well worth reading for their treatment of the topic. You can read them on the level of enjoying a good scare, but I feel that there is more here in the way Russell and Blatty discuss the nature of evil, the possibility that ‘the adversary’ exists. Many of us still believe in a spiritual life, and here we also see the belief in the dark side of that world. Both of these books stayed with me long after I read them–I found that their reputations are well-earned.

The Fantastic Four: Babies are Magic

On By Christopher TuthillIn Comic Books, Comics, Movies, Reviews2 Comments

These days, everybody is a critic. And every movie is based on a comic book, so there is plenty to criticize. I enjoy going to the movies with my kids, and consider the experience time well spent with them, no matter what. Even so, I have opinions, and now you’re gonna hear mine regarding the new Fantastic Four movie.

First off, let me say I’m pro family. I like babies very much and doted on my children endlessly. I still do, even though they’re not babies anymore.

“What the hell do babies have to do with Fantastic Four!” you might ask, and you’d be right to yell that at me. Well, the first half hour of this film consisted of a pregnancy test, an ecstatic mom and dad, and a fawning Thing and Human Torch constantly saying how they could not wait for the baby, how great it was that the baby was coming. How wonderful it will be to have a baby at Fantastic Four headquarters! Everyone exclaimed this, over and over. They make dinner and drink wine and talk about parenthood and read a book by Dr. Spock about child rearing and share many tearful, sensitive moments in anticipation of the new baby.

Oh, when are they gonna get to the fireworks factory?

I exaggerate, but not by much. Dr. what’s his name, Mr. Fantastic, ably played by the omnipresent Pedro Pascal, is worried he won’t be a good enough dad. He’s so very very concerned that the baby may be strange like he is, you see. He devises ways to observe the baby in utero. He is a loving father, a good person! You must know this. You better know this. He will be a GOOD DAD! Invisible woman frets and worries she may not be a good enough mom. She is going to be a GREAT MOM. We know this, she knows it. She worries and that is why she’ll be a perfect mommy. That baby has great parents!

Finally, a BAD GUY appears. His name is Galactus, and he’s pretty bad. But he’s given little to do aside from saying he wants to blow up the earth etc etc. UNLESS! And here’s the big twist: UNLESS he can have the baby! He dispatches the Silver Surfer to GET THAT BABY! The silver surfer is the coolest character in this film by a long shot. She gives not one fuck about babies or anything else, and just wants to fight the fantastic four. Thank you, Silver Surfer! You alone seem to know your assignment! Kick some ass!

Eventually there is a giant battle and NY is razed and the fantastic four defeat the bad guy. The baby, of course, has mystical magical powers and will enrich the fantastic four’s inner lives beyond their wildest dreams.

What happened to clobberin’ time? Well, there’s that fight scene, but as my son said, “Why did they wait almost two hours to get to the fighting?”

“I don’t know, son,” I replied, “I just don’t know.”

And we both wept.

As the end credits rolled, a sensitive folk tune played. It sounded like the singer was about to cry. It was all very touching, what with the baby and whatnot.

I think I would have had a better time just reading the old Jack Kirby comic. You will, too. I give this movie one star because the robot was kind of cool, and so was the Silver Surfer. The retro sets and graphics were neat. Otherwise, I don’t get why you spend a billion dollars on a movie and just talk about a baby the whole time.

No offense to babies.

Superman

On By Christopher TuthillIn Comic Books, Comics, MoviesLeave a comment

I know that 50-year-olds are not the key demographic for comic book films, but I’ll give my opinion anyway, since as someone who has loved Superman for more than forty years, I’m as qualified as anyone to offer mine.  

I suppose the new Superman film accomplished what it set out to do, serving as the first of DC’s planned ‘universe.’ Having watched Marvel run circles around them at the box office since 2008, they used a hired Gunn (pun intended) to get the kryptonite rolling. I was interested to see what they’d do, but I knew in my heart no one could ever replace Christopher Reeve for me. He was just too good in that role, and I first saw it when I was about 5 years old, so he’ll always be my favorite. But I’m always game for a new version, and my 10- and 12-year-olds were eager to see this incarnation. Off we went.  

Eighty minutes into this film, I was wondering why Superman had so little to do, and why he’d just been pummeled from one end of the theater to the other, with no end in sight. Imprisoned and helpless and tearful is not my favorite kind of Superman. I know he needs conflict and drama, but I wasn’t enjoying it much. I wished I’d saved some money and watched the 1978 version. I found myself confused as to why a movie called Superman had much better things for Guy Gardner, of all people, to do. Better lines, as well.  

James Gunn made the very funny and lucrative Guardians of the Galaxy films, and the new Superman felt like it was trying to be that sort of movie, an ensemble cast of wisecracking misfits. In my view, Gunn is great at comedy/action films like that, and I think he’d probably make an awesome Green Lantern film. But for me, this Superman lacked something. Plenty of people might disagree with me, but I wanted more about the main character and his story. Otherwise, it might as well be called Justice League.  

This one felt like a generic mess, way too convoluted in the way that almost all these films are, and worse, it was boring. For long stretches of this thing I could barely keep my attention focused on what I was seeing. The cast is great and this isn’t their fault. But I wonder: how can you hire an actor as talented as Wendell Pierce and give him nothing to do?  A bedrock of American comics like Superman deserved better than this hodgepodge of a movie.

My children enjoyed it pretty well and found it funny, and that is the audience for this. They’ll grow up watching the rest of whatever movies DC sees fit to release. A shame that this one didn’t have more heart. 

IF

On By Christopher TuthillIn Movies, Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

I took my nine-year-old daughter to see IF, the recent movie with Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, and young Cailey Fleming as the lead. It’s a sweet story about imagination and growing up. I hadn’t read any reviews and knew nothing about it before going, but I knew what we were in for when there were scenes of some of the characters watching the Jimmy Stewart classic “Harvey,” about a man and his imaginary friend, a giant rabbit.

The film deftly handles some serious subjects, including the death of a parent and the serious illness of another. Normally, I would be worried that such a tale might be guilty of mawkishness, of overloading us with too much pathos, but this movie had such good humor and genial performances that it never veers into this kind of cheap emotion.

At the heart of this story is the idea that as we age, we leave behind childish things in our eagerness to become adults. The danger is that you can completely lose your imagination, your sense of wonder, all the things that make life worth living in the first place. The main character, twelve-year-old Bea, is starting to close herself off from a world of hurt after losing her mother; her father, played by Krasinski, becomes ill with a heart condition, leaving the young girl in a scary and vulnerable situation. She stays with her kindly grandmother, played by Fiona Shaw in another fine performance, and immediately lets grandma know she’s no longer a kid, and can deal with adult problems.

While worrying about her dad, Bea meets one of her grandmother’s neighbors, an eccentric man named Cal (Ryan Reynolds), who, she learns, lives with a variety of IFs, or ‘imaginary friends’ who have been abandoned by children who grew up and grew out of them. There is a giant purple monster that is on the advertising for the film, voiced by Steve Carrell, as well as a ballerina, a spy, a teddy bear, and a whole cast of whimsical characters in search of children to help. The problem is that adults, and even most children, cannot see these imaginary beings, no matter how hard the creatures try to get their attention.

This setup may sound a bit daft, but I found it a sweet story, and one that had some surprising depth. Every adult I know can use more of the things that the movie explores—fun, warmth, laughter, imagination, and everything else that children have in abundance and that most adults lose if they aren’t careful.

If the mark of a good YA story is that it keeps children engaged while also entertaining parents, IF does the job admirably. I would go as far as saying it was a moving story. My daughter loved it, and I thought it was great too, with excellent performances by all the cast, and enough comedy to lighten the tone from some more serious themes.

If you have a tween, be sure to take them to see this film. There are few movies like this, that tell an earnest tale with warmth and humor, and this is one that adults and kids can enjoy. Kudos to Krasinski, who also wrote and directed this film, it’s an excellent, heartfelt story.