SEARCH RESULTS

< Back The Piano Lesson reminds us of the similarity of our stories Mundy Lane Entertainment, 2024 125 minutes Director/Writer: Malcolm Washington / Virgil Williams, Malcolm Washington, and August Wilson Reading Time: 5 minutes The Piano Lesson Life in Wonder (YZTFZ6JOABMIRD4V) 00:00 / 07:20 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Barley: Movies and TV shows with a lot of dialog Ginger: Thought-provoking movies and TV shows Reba Chaisson 2024-12-04 Many of us hold on to trinkets. We have boxes and drawers stuffed with small but meaningful cards and gifts that we just cannot bring ourselves to part with. These things carry a lot of sentimental value for us, and they can be exchanged for no amount of money. That Willie Mays baseball card. The special note we received from an aunt after graduating. The plastic jewelry box gifted to us by a sibling when we were just 8 years old. The $2 bill our dad gave us when they were freshly minted. Or the journals or special drawings our children made for us when they were in second grade. Except for the Willie Mays baseball card, these keepsakes aren’t worth much on the open market. But what if they were, and cashing them in could add a significant boost to our family’s life? Denzel Washington’s son, Malcolm, takes up August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Piano Lesson , which explores this very hypothetical. With an all-star cast in tow, Malcolm Washington takes on the tall task of directing a period piece about a Black family in 1930s Pittsburgh whose ancestry dates to the time of early enslavement in the South. Boy Willie, played by John David Washington, arrives at his sister’s place in Pittsburgh with his friend Lymon (Ray Fisher) and a truck full of watermelons from Mississippi to sell. Brash and outspoken, Boy Willie aspires to buy the Mississippi land of his family’s former enslaver. Even selling all the watermelons leaves him short to buy the 100 acres, so he wants to sell the family’s prized piano which has long sat silent in his sister Berniece’s possession. Played by Danielle Deadwyler ( Till , The Haves and Have Nots ), Berniece makes it unequivocally and emphatically clear to her brother that she “is not selling that piano.” She even threatens to shoot him when he tries to do so anyway. Samuel L. Jackson plays Boy Willie’s and Berniece’s uncle, Doaker, who owns the home where Berniece lives and where much of the film is set. Doaker is easy-going but makes it clear that he is to be respected in his own home. As the siblings bicker constantly over the fate of the piano, Doaker lets it go on for so long before he puts his foot down and insists that Boy Willie back off. Doaker is quite deft at this as he gets Boy Willie’s attention, while also acknowledging that the fight over the piano is between the two siblings and not him. Amid Boy Willie’s and Berniece’s bickering is the presence of the family’s former enslaver, Sutter, who is deceased. Berniece insists she frequently sees his ghost upstairs, and the audience shares this sighting with her along with water flowing across the floors and doors creaking. Berniece believes Sutter haunts them because of the way her family came to be in possession of the piano, as well as the circumstances under which he died. In our Crumpets piece on horrors and thrillers, we note that villains are typically known in horror movies, and that their innocent victims need to take time to “[figure] out how to defend themselves and their loved ones from them,” who in this case is Sutter’s ghost. Perhaps Berniece’s insistence that she maintains possession of the piano is her way of protecting Boy Willie and her child from him until she figures out how to rid herself of Sutter’s haunting. Nonetheless, as the original owner of the piano, Sutter’s ghost adds a mystique to the film that is not just about giving a fright, but about sending a chill up our spines and making horror’s presence palpable. In some respects, The Piano Lesson brings to mind Tyler Perry’s 2020 film, A Fall from Grace . The latter’s setting is present day Atlanta, and the subject matter of each film is very different. The two movies are similar, however, in their rising action. Towards the end of both films, the level of suspense is raised from something more than anticipated in the drama we expected to experience when we sat down to watch these films. What the two also have in common is the southern urban aesthetics, despite The Piano Lesson ’s setting being more dated than A Fall from Grace and situated in the Northeast rather than South. The homes in each have dark wood interiors and are dimly lit, but the dark hues are quite effective in drawing the audience into the story. Indeed, Doaker enlightens the audience when he effectively takes center stage in The Piano Lesson . His ensuing monologue explains the significance of what to some might be nothing more than a heavy, old-fashioned piece of furniture with numerous carvings. From him, we get a history lesson about the piano but learn a thing or two in the process that helps us consider the real value of those trinkets we keep. In The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision , Washington said he wanted to respect the playwright’s work but to update it in some ways to “speak to the current times,” including language, images, and sounds. He addresses this, in part, by infusing timely orchestral music with deep soulful sounds, danceable tunes, and even on-screen performances by Erykah Badu. The mix of 1930s costumes with the day’s decor, dance styles, jazz, gospel, and today’s R&B offer a cinematic experience that reaches beyond the intrigue of the story to connect us to the family and keep us fully engaged in the film. Viewers are likely to find themselves not wanting to miss anything in this period piece, when such movies typically lose our interest, and we gladly excuse ourselves to get popcorn or go on a bathroom break. That the film accomplishes this level of engagement without racy scenes or excessive profanities is impressive, and interestingly, consistent with the cinema of the era. In addition to the mystique around the piano itself, The Piano Lesson offers intrigue, horror, romance, and a mix of music delivered through powerful songs and strong acting. And because of this fusion, the film is likely to both attract and engage viewers across a wide age range, albeit a narrow ethnic group given its subject matter. My hope is The Piano Lesson will get us to consider – no, remember – how similar our stories are and the ties that bind us, still. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

I Got This calls into question what it means to be a family < Back I Got This calls into question what it means to be a family Funclub Unlimited, 2018 22 minutes Director/Writer: Erik Bork Reading Time: 3 minutes 📷 : Licensed from Shutterstock I Got This Long Weekend (IB9NFREA1TRJSFJ8) 00:00 / 03:52 Jasmine Movies and TV shows with heart, positive vibes, and warm messages White Movies and TV shows that make you laugh, or involve urgency, like chase scenes or other physical activity Reba Chaisson 2022-12-22 We don’t typically review comedies on the platform. But in thinking about Chris’s wonderful Crumpets article on the purpose of short films, I got to thinking about the breadth of stories told through independent cinema. Compared to mainstream, the range of genres seems narrow (predominantly drama, documentary, and horror). This reality means we need to dig deeper to find nuggets and granules of other works in this segment of the industry. Given the random approach to seeking out more thematic variety, I stumble upon one. I Got This is a comedy short starring Rome Shadanloo ( The Last Shift , Beyond Paradise ) as Jennifer, a reticent mother who comes clean to her partner about the fact that he is not her 3-year-old daughter’s father and she doesn’t know who is. Jack De Sena ( Lego Monkie Kid: Embrace Your Destiny , This Could Be a Podcast ) plays Chris, Jennifer’s self-effacing and dedicated partner who insists that the biological father, nonetheless, has the right to know he has a child. The late 20-something year-old couple sets out to covertly collect biological samples from each of her past encounters for DNA testing. (Despite the humor, one scene in this part of the film should be accompanied by a trigger warning since it is quite graphic.) Except for the courage of such young people, this is not an unusual story. Several past and present daytime television talk shows commodify personal stories like this — about women who are less than forthcoming about their child’s biological father. Billed as entertainment, the shows typically devolve into silliness, rancor, and even physical fights among family members. It was refreshing to see that this film was a quiet story centered only on the two people involved. Instead of family conflict and high-level acrimony, this story is tame and honest as it depicts another, more humorous, way of handling an awkward and emotionally painful situation. The film got me thinking about the notion of family, which is similar to themes in the film, Mr. Church . In our critique, we noted that a family isn’t just limited to shared genes. Along these lines, I couldn’t help but wonder if the answer Jennifer and Chris are looking for really matters. Yes, I know, but hear me out. Often the relationships between children and stepparents are indistinguishable from those between children and their biological parents. Having already stood in the role of dad for three years — which included changing diapers, playing with her in the snow, reading to her before bed, and all the things that parents often do for their children — Chris’s love and affection for his child is highly unlikely to change after learning who the biological father is. Case in point: After breaking the news to Chris and announcing her plans to move, Jennifer adds, “Maybe you can live nearby or come visit regularly. That would be ideal.” Such a statement likely sounds ridiculous to someone who is emotionally attached to the child he has raised since birth. Simultaneously, it conveys the emotionally wrenching prospect of pulling a family apart – blood-related or not. So, what constitutes family, and what does it mean to be a father? One thing for sure, a shared biology is not a necessary condition for either, right? Available on Film Shortage Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

A Brush of Violence makes us consider how we handle disappointments < Back A Brush of Violence makes us consider how we handle disappointments DLW, 2023 40 minutes Director/Writer: Daniel Lawrence Wilson Reading Time: 5 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Daniel Lawrence Wilson A Brush of Violence Echo Mountain (T4UAWDOFDJONIQJD) 00:00 / 05:26 Ginseng Suspenseful and intense thrillers Dandelion Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Reba Chaisson 2023-08-21 “Always remember why you started in the first place.” Popular wisdom on adversity contends that how we respond to disappointments and setbacks reveal a lot about our inner strength and focus. Do we persist when things initially don’t go our way, or do we cut and run in a different direction? I think the thinking here is simplistic since it considers neither the context of our lives nor our complexity as individuals. In other words, we neither cope with nor respond to happenings in the same ways. A Brush of Violence highlights this issue, but also leads us to consider our own fragility as it relates to our passions and disappointments. A Brush of Violence centers Vio, a reclusive artist who is famous for his provocative and violent paintings. After years of anonymity and being isolated in his home, he requests that Akila, a photographer, come to his home to take pictures of him that would amount to an unveiling of the man behind the paintings. Played by Mia Krystyna ( Solitude , A Letter on Loss ), the sedate and unflappable Akila is initially hesitant, though also curious why he chose her. She accepts Vio’s invitation, realizing it as a rare opportunity to boost her career ambitions. Darren Streibrig’s cinematography for the film is dark, fitting for the subject matter about a man who rarely ventures beyond the brick masonry and stone walls of his vast, eerie, and isolated estate. Joseph Holiday and Snakes of Russia’s soundtrack of low notes and shrieking violins add an ominous tone that hangs throughout the presentation. When combined with the minimal though profound dialog, it completes the film’s doomy feel. So, when Vio, played by Yavor Vesselinov ( The Bridge , Adultery ), asks Akila how far she will go to be remembered, we get the sense that something dark and unimaginable might happen during her visit. The 40-minute film contains some unexplained symbolism with flashes of color and masks. This may be frustrating for some of us since we’re not keen to Vio’s experiences, motivations, and what brought him to his life as a recluse. But films of all genres and lengths contain elements that are annoying and off-putting. I am reminded of several Spike Lee films that are laden with symbolism and special effects forced into the productions, disrupting an otherwise seamless movie-watching experience. The 2006 film Inside Man and the 1991 hit Jungle Fever come to mind. Both were, nonetheless, engaging films with strong lessons. In A Brush of Violence , the annoyance of the symbols is dampened by writer/director Daniel Lawrence Wilson’s use of multiple locations and the large cast of extras appearing in scenes at a bar and an art gallery, for example. Unusual for short films, these elements seem to make the movie come up for air after what feels like a dark and suffocating visit with Vio. Over an eerie silence, Vio and Akila engage in a conversation that gently stirs our emotions with light fingertips as the two use few words to talk about passion, aspiration, and ego. At one point, Vio, in his light, monotone voice advises Akila to “Always remember why you started in the first place” and later asking rhetorically, “What if there was never a day you were forgotten?” Vio’s musings hint that he lost himself sometime during his career, and that the passionate painting he once relished was somehow derailed. Despite his famed accomplishments, he is deeply saddened by not having fulfilled his ambitions and is now concerned about his legacy. In this sense, A Brush of Violence is similar to the passion exhibited in the 2008 tearjerker, The Wrestler . Mickey Rourke received an Oscar nomination for his role as Randy “The Ram,” a retired wrestler who has settled into a life outside the ring. While he works to make amends for his past failings as a father and husband, he longs for the fame and popularity he once reaped from the sport. He seizes the opportunity to get back into the ring, telling his fans that they are the only people to tell him when he’s through “doing his thing.” Passionate but not as brazen and vocal, Vio in A Brush of Violence is similarly concerned about his legacy and wants to solidify it on his own terms. I think many of us, especially those over 40, can relate to this. We begin our work lives with every intention of doing what we love, but we abandon it for practical reasons, or we are forced to leave it because of a life event. Also, sometimes, crap just happens! Our response to these disappointments varies, for instance dabbling in our passions on the weekends or returning to them after the dust has settled in our lives — to restore the essence of ourselves. I’m hoping Vio’s response to his disappointments is the exception. Check out this intriguing film and you’ll see what I mean. Available on YouTube Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Explore Critical Evaluation of Film & Short Film Reviews with Cup of Tea Critiques, your online source for sharp insights on movies and television. Click here to see what we have to offer! Tea Brew Legend Our critiques are tagged with a tea brew that evokes a feel for the movie or television show. So, instead of likes, ratings, emojis, or thumbs up or down, they are assigned a tea that, based on its benefits, gives you a sense of the production's feel and substance. Below we show several plants that teas are made from. So, scroll to figure out which tea best fits the movie or TV show that matches your mood. We hope you enjoy our critical evaluation of film & short film reviews Photo by Emma Van Sant on Unsplash Tea: Barley Category: Herbal Barley tea is good for oral health, which translates nicely to shows that have a lot of dialog like: The Accident , Between the Temples , and Flamin' Hot — to name just a few! Genre: Movies and TV shows with a lot of dialog Tea: Chamomile Category: Herbal Chamomile tea induces sleepiness. This is not to say that shows marked with this tea are boring; they're actually rather calming — not action packed. Try the Oscar-nominated film, American Fiction , The Long Game, or The Old Oak for example. Genre: Family dramas Photo by Rebecca Asryan on Unsplash Tea: Coca Category: Herbal Coca tea can produce psychosomatic effects, making it perfect for marking movies and shows about drugs or disorienting presentations such as Back to Black , Lonesome Soldier , and The Substance . Genre: Movies and TV shows about drugs or with disorienting presentations Licensed from Adobe Stock Photo by David Dawson on Unsplash Tea: Dandelion Category: Herbal Dandelion tea is a bitter herbal tea that fits with movies and shows with difficult or heavy subjects like Fair Play , the Oscar–nominated film, Killers of the Flower Moon , Monkey Man , and Presumed Innocent . Genre: Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Tea: Ginger Category: Herbal Ginger tea has many benefits, one of which is protecting the brain against disease. This translates perfectly to thought-provoking movies and shows, for example: the Oscar-nominated film, Drive My Car , Life After , Maestro, and War is Over! . Genre: Thought-provoking movies and TV shows Photo by Joris Neyt from Pexels Photo by Uwe Nake on Unsplash Tea: Ginkgo Biloba Category: Herbal Ginkgo Biloba tea slows signs of aging, so what better movies and shows than fun, youthful , and lighthearted ones like Nobody is Crazy , Rye Lane , and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar . Genre: Youthful, lighthearted, and fun movies and TV shows Tea: Ginseng Category: Herbal Like Chrysanthemum, its floral counterpart, Ginseng tea acts as a stimulant. We reserve this designation for suspenseful and intense thrillers that contain some violence. From, Leave the World Behind, Longlegs , and Rebel Ridge are among these. Genre: Suspenseful and intense thrillers Photo by Rodion Kutsaev from Pexels Licensed from Adobe Stock Tea: Honeybush Category: Herbal Honeybush tea is calming. But unlike chamomile, this one is best for non-family dramas with adult themes like A Good Day Will Come , Challengers , and Rez Ball . Genre: Nonfamily dramas with strong adult and/or socioeconomic themes Tea: Jasmine Category: Green Jasmine tea is sweet and relaxing, making it a great sip for movies and shows with heart, positive vibes, and warm messages like the ones in these: Babes , Bob Marley: One Love , Perfect Days, and the Oscar–nominated film, The Holdovers . Genre: Movies and TV shows with heart, positive vibes, and warm messages Photo by Tanya Nedelcheva on Unsplash Photo licensed from Shutterstock Tea: Masala Chai Category: Black Masala Chai is a black tea that promotes strong bones, oral and digestive health, and reduces the risk of stroke, making this drink perfect for movies and shows about toughness or athletic competition like Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Napoleon, and The Brothers Sun . Genre: Movies and TV shows about toughness and athletic competition Tea: Matcha Category: Green Matcha improves mental focus, making it perfect for navigating mysteries and figuring out whodunnits such as Decision to Leave , Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, The Independent , and The Night Agent . Genre: Mysteries or whodunnits Photo by Michael Burrows from Pexels Photo by Simon Lee on Unsplash Tea: Mint Category: Herbal Mint tea has a cooling effect and is known to reduce fever, which makes it a good fit for movies and shows filmed in cold weather or blizzards, such as Blow the Man Down, Society of the Snow, and Wind River . Genre: Movies and TV shows in cold weather and blizzard conditions Tea: Oolong Category: Oolong Oolong tea is fat burning, supports weight loss, and helps mental performance, making it compatible with movies and shows that make you laugh or involve physical activity like dance and exercise. Chevalier, Florida Man, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith are just three examples! Genre: Movies and TV shows that make you laugh or involve physical activities like dance and exercise Licensed from Adobe Stock Photo by Jared Subia on Unsplash Tea: Peach Category: Floral Peach tea has a sweet and pleasing aroma, making it perfect for movies and shows with a springtime feel and imagery of the season, such as Bloodline, Florida Man, and I Love That for You . Genre: Movies and TV shows with a springtime feel or with images of the season Tea: Rosemary Category: Herbal Rosemary tea has a sharp pine fragrance and is proven to boost memory, making it perfect for signaling stimulating shows with intense action like Civil War , Lawman: Bass Reeves , and Monkey Man . Genre: Movies and TV shows with intense action Photo licensed from Shutterstock Photo by Mohammed Amiri on Unsplash Tea: Saffron Category: Herbal Besides the beauty of its color, Saffron tea promotes eye health, which transfers well to movies and shows with great visual effects like Dream Scenario , Leave the World Behind , the Emmy– and Golden Globe– nominated series, The Bear, and The Substance . Genre: Movies and TV shows with great visual effects Tea: Sage Category: Herbal Similar to its floral counterpart (Lavender), Sage tea is an anxiety/stress reducer, which makes it great for watching films with low-key characters like those in Bob Marley: One Love, Living, and Perfect Days . Genre: Movies and TV shows with low-key characters Photo by Phillip Larking on Unsplash Tea: White Category: White White tea is fat burning, supports healthy weight loss and skin, and slows aging. All are qualities that make it a good fit for shows that make you laugh or involve urgency like chase scenes or other rigorous physical activity such as those in Full Time and I Got This . Genre: Movies and TV shows that make you laugh, or involve urgency, like chase scenes or other physical activity Licensed from Shutterstock Tea: Yarrow Category: Herbal Like Ginger, Yarrow tea promotes digestive health, reduces fever, cold, and cramps, and even relieves itchy skin, making it appropriate for movies and shows about illness or that are set in hospitals or other medical institutions such as those in A Girl Upstairs, From, the Oscar–nominated film, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Swarm . Genre: Movies and TV shows about illness or set in hospitals or similar medical institutions Licensed from Adobe Stock Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back A Lot of Nothing expresses the power of feeling powerless Anonymous Content, 2022 104 min Director/Writer: Sarah Kelly Kaplan / Sarah Kelly Kaplan and Mo McRae Reading Time: 5 minutes A Lot of Nothing Treacherous (FZWPDWAOPLBCQGMG) 00:00 / 06:09 📷 : Licensed from Shutterstock Ginger: Thought-provoking movies and TV shows White: Movies and TV shows that make you laugh, or involve urgency, like chase scenes or other physical activity Chris Chaisson 2023-03-21 A Lot of Nothing presents the successful, charming couple of James (Y'lan Noel, Insecure ) and Vanessa (Cleopatra Coleman, Infinity Pool ). Living in their extravagant house in the Hollywood Hills, the two lawyers hear a news report one night about a fatal police shooting involving their uniformed next-door neighbor, Brian (Justin Hartley, Smallville ). They disagree on their comprehension of the news story, with James suggesting they should not jump to conclusions and Vanessa insisting that Brian is guilty. As they come to an agreement about Brian’s probable guilt, they then debate on what, if anything, they should do about it. After they each experience a stressful day of work, James comes home and unwinds while Vanessa, left to bring in groceries alone, spots Brian and heads over to confront him about his involvement in the shooting. After Brian is disrespectful and threatening in his response, Vanessa heads off and tells James, who heads over to Brian’s house to clear the air. When he fares no better, he and Vanessa kidnap Brian at gunpoint, forcing him into their house and tying him to a chair in the garage, all to coerce him into a more remorseful tone. As the evening progresses, their plan goes farther and farther off the rails. A Lot of Nothing certainly has its flaws, with a couple of far-fetched moments and plot details introduced way too far along in the story. As in other works, if you find the film humorous enough, you may overlook its biggest weaknesses. Nonetheless, the film serves as an examination into how a sense of powerlessness can strongly influence one’s behavior. Despite being a well-to-do couple working for established law firms, James and Vanessa ultimately feel like they cannot incite change in any methodical, level-headed way. Mo McRae’s directorial debut provides social critiques without being preachy, particularly in its first act. For instance, James bristles at his White co-worker’s use of the term “baby mama.” Vanessa copes with being talked over by her male colleagues and having her fair skin complexion used to insult her. These moments serve as snapshots of what members of marginalized groups can experience in spaces dominated by the majority. They often do not feel that they have the power to express their objection to the language or treatment of others, and the frustration from such encounters festers. Despite its serious synopsis, this indie flick swings from a humorous tone to suspenseful and back several times. For instance, in the scene preceding Vanessa’s first intimidating encounter with Brian, James speaks very seductively to his Peloton machine in a goofy aside. Similarly, the opening scene oscillates between the fearfulness James and Vanessa feel over the revelation about their neighbor and their brainstorming which Martin Luther King quote to post to Facebook. The humor infused into the story differentiates it from many other films on the subject of police brutality. While it may sound ill-fitting, the comedic element endears the film’s main characters to the audience. On the topic of characters, the situation escalates once James’s brother Jamal and his pregnant fiancée come over for dinner. As in many stories, such as Rachel Getting Married (2008) or the aptly-named Brothers (2009), the presence of a sibling can shed light on the way a protagonist behaves. Jamal is much more militant than James, consistently inferring that James is conforming to White society. Similar tension exists between Jamal’s earthy fiancée, Candy, and the more practical Vanessa, who rolls her eyes at Candy’s talk of veganism, energy and overused proverbs. They share a contentious conversation once Jamal and Candy arrive, all while trying to conceal the fact that they are holding Brian captive. The presence of in-laws with different philosophies on life allows McRae and co-writer Sarah Kelly Kaplan to show Black characters as more than a monolith, again without preaching this point to the audience. A Lot of Nothing does not tie up every loose end. However, it gives its viewers a decent amount to chew on, offering different perspectives and three-dimensional characters. It effectively dodges the temptation to have each party involved provide the exact spiel you’d expect from scene to scene, keeping the interest level up despite some absurd turns in the story. Despite its weaknesses, the SXSW Festival award-nominated indie manages to be visually interesting and thought-provoking. There is no pinpoint accurate comparison for A Lot of Nothing , but a film that bears a slight resemblance is the 1982 Martin Scorsese flick The King of Comedy . Robert De Niro plays Rupert, an unsuccessful comic who develops an obsession with his idol, talk show host Jerry Langford, and proceeds to stalk and kidnap him after an initial rejection. While Rupert is clearly demented, his actions stem from a sense of desperation and powerlessness, similar to James and Vanessa. Both films show their protagonists taking drastic and illegal action in response to these feelings, wasting massive amounts of duct tape in the process. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

The Untold Story of Mild Sauce will make you chuckle and reminisce < Back The Untold Story of Mild Sauce will make you chuckle and reminisce Ill-Hio Films, 2021 13 minutes Director/Writer: Anton Deshawn / Johnathan Craig and Anton Deshawn Reading Time: 3 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Anton Deshawn The Untold Story of Mild Sauce Cats And Dogs Living Together (ECIADMH14RKW9MLT) 00:00 / 03:16 Oolong Movies/shows that make you laugh or involve physical activity like exercise/dance Ginkgo Biloba Youthful, lighthearted, and fun movies and TV shows Chris Chaisson 2023-04-11 For anyone who vividly remembers ‘90s R&B and VH1 programming, The Untold Story of Mild Sauce will offer quite a few chuckles. Shot in mockumentary style, the story raises the curtain on fictional R&B group Mild Sauce, a four-person boy band comprised of Vonn, Juju, Heno, and Dre, and their manager Stony Mack. Between narration and confessional-style interviews, director Anton Deshawn splices in Mild Sauce’s music videos. The choreography and vocals are clearly meant to poke fun at hit songs by the extremely popular groups of the era, namely New Edition, Boyz II Men and Dru Hill. Interestingly enough, the humor hits harder now that R&B music has transitioned away from this style. In the ‘90s and early 2000s, boy bands in pop and R&B were so revered that it would be tough to imagine anyone producing a satire of them. Contemporary groups largely consist of individual acts that collaborate across other genres and lean heavily on sex appeal. The generation-old trends that The Untold Story of Mild Sauce mocks make it easier to look back and laugh at styles that were universally admired at the time. The funniest element of The Untold Story of Mild Sauce is without a doubt the lack of accountability that permeates the actual VH1 Behind the Scenes -style interviews. Generally, the artists and managers alike never own up to any of their transgressions. They instead point the finger at other parties, rationalize their actions or simply deny details that have already been proven true. Mild Sauce turns this into a recurring gag, where the members do not take responsibility for the downturns in their careers or in their personal lives. In one particular interview, a Mild Sauce member will not even give kudos to a female R&B group (likely a nod to TLC or En Vogue) that outsold them at the time. Similarly, Stony Mack does not own up to ripping off the band, just as most managers never do. As is common in VH1 Behind the Scenes stories, a publicist, manager or record label executive takes advantage of the group’s success and cheats them out of money. Mack’s denial is consistent with a vast majority of stories we hear from the music industry, where the swindler acts as though other expenses prevented the band from getting paid out. The interview segments cleverly mimic those from every documentary or biopic that we watch about feuding artists and deceitful management. At this point, so many of our favorite musicians from the past have decided they hate each other, so we may as well poke fun at the never-ending feuds. The Untold Story of Mild Sauce serves as part satire, part time-machine, and executes both equally well. Available on Kweli TV Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back The Baltimorons shows characters breaking out of their perceived limitations Duplass Brothers Productions, 2025 101 minutes Director/Writer: Jay Duplass / Jay Duplass and Michael Strassner Reading Time: 6 minutes The Baltimorons Christmas Wish (XCUORJD1HGJNHVFV) 00:00 / 07:44 📷 : IFC Films and Sapan Studio Jasmine: Movies and TV shows with heart, positive vibes, and warm messages Mint Movies and TV shows in cold weather and blizzard conditions Reba Chaisson 2025-10-16 The popular adage says that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. The trip to what is known as Sin City is meant to be an escape from reality, which includes but is not limited to the past due bills and stressful relationships we leave behind. Much more so than other vacations, the high people get from Vegas is not only natural, but it is heightened. No real need for weed, but I wouldn’t know (wink). Jay Duplass’s The Baltimorons , though, has nothing to do with Vegas, but everything to do with its aspects of escapism that elevate the senses. Set in Baltimore and led by Michael Strassner and Liz Larsen as Cliff and Didi, respectively, The Baltimorons is about a roughly thirty-five-year-old man struggling to stay sober using humor and maintaining connections to the people and activities that bring him joy. You wouldn’t know this from the film’s opening, which shows Cliff walking up a narrow staircase to an attic, proceeding to stand on a stool and put his belt around his neck, and clumsily falling flat on his bottom. The absence of any sound other than Cliff’s groan and the stool hitting the wooden floor make an otherwise sad scene quite hilarious, thus setting the tone for the movie. The inciting incident in the film occurs when Cliff and his fiancée, Brittany (Olivia Luccardi), arrive at her parents’ home for Christmas Eve dinner. When she sees a text come across his phone regarding plans to hang out with his friends later, the two argue as they exit the car. Distracted while texting his friend, Cliff crashes into the Luccardis’ entry door, knocking out his tooth. In search of a dentist, he finally finds Dr. Didi Daw, a mid-forty-year-old divorcée, who agrees to meet him at her office. When Cliff’s car is towed while receiving care and Didi’s plans for family dinner are abruptly canceled, the two wind up spending the day together. With humor, jazzy Christmas music, and festive holiday decorations in mostly neighborhood settings, The Baltimorons maintains a light tone while dealing with what are normally heavy subjects. When Cliff calls his best friend Marvin (Rob Phoenix) for help getting out of a jam for instance, Marvin, who is a Black man, is incredulous to learn of Cliff’s request, responding “You want me, a Black man, to break into a tow yard?” It is only then that Cliff realizes he was asking his friend not only to commit a crime but that the perception (and likely consequences) of Marvin doing such a thing is very different than they would be for someone who is White. This exchange in the film is brilliantly executed, as its point is dulled neither by its brevity nor its humor. Complementing these humorous and teachable moments are the quiet spaces left for more serious, intimate dialog to soak in. Surprised, for instance, that Cliff wants to have dinner with her, Didi asks him “Why do you want to have dinner with me?” “Because we’re having fun,” he responds. Didi’s question suggests she has doubts about her own attractiveness. This is not unusual for women who have experienced divorce. Therapist Lara Farrokh writes that “[they] often feel like potential partners will see them as ‘used goods’ — as if women are like cars which devalue with age and use.” Cliff’s response in this tender exchange speaks to his feelings of vulnerability, which is an unusual depiction of men, particularly for those of higher weight. This group is often treated as if they are made of metal exteriors, as if they don’t experience physical or emotional pain like others, or that they cannot and should not be taken seriously. Cliff flips these conceptions on their head. The class and age differences between Cliff and Didi are subtly highlighted in the The Baltimorons . When Cliff sees Didi’s home, he jokes that she has good credit. The comment calls attention to Didi’s lifestyle in contrast to the numerous past due bills casually strewn on Cliff’s table at his home. And when Didi indicates she is unfamiliar with sketch comedy, Cliff happily explains the art form to her. Such moments in the story speak to the social class and generational gaps, respectively, between the two adults. The contrasts allow us to hold up a mirror to ourselves to consider where we fall on each spectrum. We can even reflect on how we conduct ourselves when we encounter people in social and age locations different from our own. The Baltimorons brings to mind similar indie films like Raine Allen‑Miller’s 2023 debut feature, Rye Lane , and Nora Ephron’s 1993 classic, Sleepless in Seattle . Both depict serendipitous events that bring two people together. Like The Baltimorons , they use wit and humor to avoid being heavy and preachy while they invite questions about friendship and complicated romantic relationships that we stumble into. While Cliff periodically updates Brittany on his whereabouts, ensuring her that he will be home soon, it becomes clear that neither he nor Didi are quite ready to go back to their lives. What is never spoken out loud, however, is how different their lives are. That is, despite the difference in age and social class, the two gravitate toward one another. When she and Cliff perform an impromptu set at a sketch comedy club, he admits to her that he didn’t think he could ever do anything like that sober, suggesting how invaluable her support meant to him. When Didi’s ex-husband takes several verbal jabs at her, Cliff interjects to humiliate him, indicating how he is becoming protective of her. I love this film about two people who can be seen as needing an escape to avoid the realities of their lives at a time of year when people often feel lonely. In addition to being funny and entertaining, The Baltimorons teaches us that the social dimensions we occupy don’t have to be hard lines or barriers that keep us from engaging one another and enjoying the rich relationships that can evolve from that. Indeed, Cliff and Didi would probably describe their time together as fun, surreal, and just what they needed at that time. But where does Brittany fit in all of this? As Cliff’s fiancée, she not only wonders but worries about where and why he has gone AWOL on one of the most significant family holidays of the year. Unfortunately for her, he might as well have been in Vegas. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Footnotes illuminates the highs and lows of a pandemic-era romance Box Party Films, 2023 95 minutes Director/Writer: Chris Leary Reading Time: 4 minutes Footnotes Home Inside (LJBFFLYOBAYC6VUN) 00:00 / 05:03 📷 : Used with permission, Chris Leary Barley: Movies and TV shows with a lot of dialog Jasmine Movies and TV shows with heart, positive vibes, and warm messages Chris Chaisson 2023-06-23 We’ve all heard idioms such as, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” However, platitudes like this ignore the reality of how humans survive in a new environment. Adapting involves making new friends in your new surroundings and letting go of connections from your old one. Those who believe in soulmates feel like their heart will always yearn for the same person regardless of distance, but for everyone else, it is important to turn the page. Chris Leary’s touching pandemic-era romantic drama Footnotes highlights these diverging mindsets. The co-stars of this indie film set at the height of the pandemic in 2020 are Will (Chris Leary), a 20-something building manager in Los Angeles, and his new tenant Apurna (Sharayu Mahale). They meet in February, when she moves in, and hang out to pass the time after the economy shuts down due to COVID. Early on, Apurna addresses the elephant in the room, saying that she will not sleep with Will. After clearing the air, the two hit it off, swapping stories and sharing intimate details about themselves over the course of several months. While their relationship is platonic, they clearly have romantic chemistry, evident when Apurna is silently jealous of Will having a date with another girl. Despite their budding unspoken romance, Apurna takes a trip home to New England to visit family around the holidays. Now apart, only time will tell whether their feelings grow or simply dissipate. During the pandemic, many couples experienced severe turbulence in their relationships, as their increased time together exacerbated any conflict between them. Footnotes presents the flipside of this dynamic, illustrating how the pandemic also had the opposite effect of bringing two people together who likely would have never formed a bond. Both homesick and living alone, Will and Apurna become friends in large part due to going stir-crazy. Through his dialogue, writer/director Chris Leary takes viewers back to the very relatable phenomenon of the struggle to socialize after a lack of human interaction or to reexamination of their place in life, both of which many people experienced back in 2020. Just the same, Will and Apurna’s exchanges foreshadow what is to come in their relationship, particularly as they talk about their exes. Though there are no flashbacks in the story, the sentiments they share reveal their flaws as potential partners. Will puts people and his relationships with them on a pedestal, while Apurna hedges, staying non-committal. Their imperfections feel very real and apply to someone in most people’s dating history. Even if the co-stars come off as flaky on one side or possessive on the other, Apurna and Will are operating in a very uncertain time period and have no idea of what the future holds. Remembering this uncertainty that many of us felt at the time makes their actions and emotions understandable. A new romantic connection can be exciting but also intimidating in what feels like an alternate universe, prompting people to return to what may be a more familiar past. Apurna is faced with such a mix of emotions as she reverts to her past by returning home. While Will seems too dependent on Apurna to maintain his emotional state, struggling to take care of himself when she leaves, his difficulties appear similar to the stories told by single people about their emotional challenges during the pandemic. Despite its minimal cast, Footnotes also manages to depict cultural differences. Apurna’s Indian heritage is discussed in her conversations with Will and depicted when she returns home, both in a way that does not feel forced. While being traditional, her parents still have their own personalities, as is shown when Apurna’s mother engages in a Jane Fonda-like workout on TV, or her dad stares in confusion at the box of Special K cereal Apurna brings home with her. These slice-of-life moments keep all of the characters from feeling like stereotypes and keep the story from being too centered on Will’s perspective alone. Footnotes feels most similar to the 2009 Joseph Gordon Levitt-led film 500 Days of Summer . Like Will, Tom (Levitt) is a hopeless romantic who has put his love interest on an unreachable pedestal and is crushed by reality. Sadly, Footnotes lacks a flash mob scene set to Hall and Oates but does deliver on the other emotional swings of a romantic drama. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Are Mumblecore Movies Relatable or Just Boring? Examining a Subgenre of Indie Filmmaking Chris Chaisson 11/15/23 Reading Time: 9 minutes 📸: Used with Permission, Scott Saslow (scottsaslow.com Instagram: @scottsaslow Twitter: @saslow_scott) During the pandemic, many consumer trends changed, some temporarily and others permanently. One particular uptick was younger people tuning in to YouTube live streams of lo-fi hip-hop. Loosely defined, lo-fi (low fidelity) hip hop is a music genre that consists of short, downtempo, repetitive beats meant to give a raw, unpolished sound. Rather than mixing and mastering to create clean audio for mass consumption, producers leave the static, feedback, and other aural imperfections in. The style stems from both the desire for a more authentic sound and the limitations of the artist’s recording equipment. As a genre, lo-fi hip hop’s raw sound and down-to-earth feel not only create a sense of nostalgia and heart but also hope, particularly for anyone that does not have the means to record on high-tech gear. What does this have to do with film? Lo-fi hip hop has its doppelganger in the world of film with a subgenre that many cinephiles call mumblecore . This label describes movies in the independent space that contain imperfect dialogue, naturalistic acting, and minimal budgets. Much like lo-fi, the genre was born out of directors’ lack of resources and connections to shoot more polished, grandiose productions. Over time, it became a preferred style for some romantic comedy (rom-com) filmmakers. Once a handful of directors succeeded in gaining traction with these films, the movement over time attracted more familiar faces and increased budgets for the filmmakers themselves. In addition to bigger name actors gravitating towards such projects, the familiar faces already in the mumblecore space became household names. Mark Duplass, a mumblecore mainstay as both actor and director, starred in the popular FX series The League and Apple TV+ hit, The Morning Show . Adam Driver played a supporting role in 2012 mumblecore favorite Frances Ha before going on to star in both small screen and big screen productions, such as episodes VII and VIII of Star Wars . Not to be outdone, the star of Frances Ha , Greta Gerwig, just directed one of the top grossing movies in cinema history, Barbie . I must say, if you were cool at all growing up, you probably won’t relate to anything you see onscreen. The films are called mumblecore for a good reason. There is a lot of staring at feet, “I dunno,” and unnecessary apologizing. At some point, you may shout at the screen, “Just say something! Anything!” The characters in this genre wear their neuroticism around their necks. Their mannerisms and speech reflect the same lack of assurance about the direction their lives are going in (or not going in). Your late teens and early twenties can certainly be a confusing and scary time, and for some people, it is hard to break out of their shell. The portrayals of aimless characters serve as a reflection of where most twenty-somethings are mentally. Knowing your life path at that age is admirable and reassuring, but it takes many people a decent amount of time to figure it out as they gather life experience. In mumblecore movies, the characters typically get around to voicing some of their insecurities or uncertainties, likely reminding viewers of their own sentiments at such an age. For instance, in the 2014 Lynn Shelton indie, Laggies , Keira Knightly’s 20-something year-old character, Megan, panics after her boyfriend proposes and hides out for a few days at a teenager’s house. At one point in the film, Megan utters, “I'm sure it does seem kind of stupid to make some sort of rigid plan for the future. But... It's stupider not to start paying attention to who you are and what makes you happy. Otherwise, you just float.” Her aside is both relevant to the plot and a message for twenty-somethings watching the film to process. Despite, or maybe even because of, their technical imperfections, mumblecore movies have received critical acclaim on the festival circuit. Many originators in the mumblecore genre earned recognition from critics and audiences alike. Drinking Buddies , directed by Joel Swanberg, won Narrative Spotlight at SXSW in 2013. Girls creator Lena Dunham’s first feature, Tiny Furniture , won numerous festival awards, including Best First Screenplay at the Film Independent Spirit Awards in 2011. Plenty of criticisms of this style could be voiced by…well, critics. One particular critique is that the movies do not have enough conflict from scene to scene. When you show awkward teens and tweens hanging out and struggling to have conversations, the story is lacking an antagonistic force. Nothing is stopping the characters from getting what they want, since at times, they don’t even seem to want anything. Traditional Hollywood movie plots rely on goal-oriented characters striving to achieve something, which is how the audience finds them endearing. Watching a 25-year-old with no hopes or dreams could frustrate a viewer who wants to root for him or her. Furthermore, the element of imperfect dialogue can be cumbersome for audience members to endure. It is certainly truer to real life, as we don’t all have perfectly timed exchanges, quips, and witty responses to one another. True conversations are rarely as rhythmic as the ones we witness onscreen and often just trail off. However, movies are entertainment, and a conversation with no flow to it becomes either boring or uncomfortable. Despite these perfectly valid bones to pick with mumblecore, any criticism can have pushback. If you sit down to watch a slice-of-life film about characters and relationships, what better way to display them than through imperfect dialogue and occasional conflict? Most of us are not constantly at odds with those in our social circle; if so, it may be time to do some vetting. When meeting new people, we often try too hard to make an impression, straining to say something relatable, speaking out of turn, or making a joke that falls painfully flat (I just got a shiver thinking about something I said 15 years ago to break the silence). It may not be the height of entertainment to watch characters do the same for 90 minutes, but one could argue this flaw is as endearing as any buttoned-up character could exhibit. Mumblecore movies likely won’t offer the same escapism as Mission: Impossible , but they can bring about nostalgia and appreciation for the struggles of young adulthood. A harder critique to push back against would be the exclusivity of the mumblecore subgenre. Often, the main characters and their priorities tilt heavily toward a middle-class, white-collar perspective. The protagonists may be “broke,” but they are generally college educated and have parents to support them, whether they are part of the story or not. Generally, they have no one financially dependent on them and no dire concern relating to their situation (i.e. getting evicted). Most mumblecore characters seem as though everything is going to work out for them, which makes each of them a little less of an underdog. That said, many films and television shows follow exceedingly rich people who are petty beyond belief and somehow still endearing to the audience. Additionally, as the community of mumblecore filmmakers can be somewhat insular, the projects often lack racial diversity among both the main characters and the communities in which the films take place. One notable exception is the 2008 indie Medicine for Melancholy , starring former The Daily Show regular Wyatt Cenac, about two San Franciscans bonding over their status as minorities in a city being gentrified. Its director, Barry Jenkins, went on to direct the Best Picture winner Moonlight , further illustrating what a great foot in the door this genre provides for aspiring filmmakers of all demographics. Mumblecore has proven over the years to be somewhat malleable, as it extends beyond slice-of-life comedy. An offshoot of the movement has coined the phrase “mumble-gore,” indie movies with the same types of characters and dialogue but in the horror genre. One such unsettling movie is the 2014 Mark Duplass hit Creep , where a videographer drives to a remote location for a gig and meets a strange man who wants to make videos for his unborn son (or so the videographer thinks). Sometimes, mumblegore movies will have several silent or one-actor scenes that later culminate in extreme violence, such as Blue Ruin (2013). Other times, these projects feature similar conversations between characters as the comedies, except the nerdy or awkward character is actually a lunatic. They can go in several directions, but the common thread is the same minimalistic feel. Some might wonder what the future of this subgenre holds. It is likely to continue evolving, especially since as smartphones evolve, more creative and motivated people have the technology to make something . One can only hope that the plots expand to include more perspectives, as that is the best way for any movement to continue growing. As for the other criticisms, they are all a matter of taste. Maybe heavily rehearsed dialogue, fancy set designs and top-flight visual effects are too perfect for some. In any case, mumblecore provides us with more of the variety we always seek in our entertainment. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Challengers shows us what it’s like to handle a different type of loss Frenesy Film Company, 2024 131 minutes Director/Writer: Luca Guadagnino / Justin Kuritzkes Reading Time: 7 minutes Challengers Afterpxrty (YYABID45DSUN9L0A) 00:00 / 08:14 📷 : Used with permission, Bartos Gyorgy https://www.instagram.com/bartosgy https://www.facebook.com/methwarddesigns https://www.bartosgyorgy.com/ Masala Chai: Movies and TV shows about toughness and athletic competition Honeybush: Nonfamily dramas with strong adult and/or socioeconomic themes Reba Chaisson 2024-05-01 Loss is often viewed as the death of a loved one, but it can also refer to the sudden loss of an ability we once had. In both instances, we grieve. After denial, anger, bargaining, and depression, the stages of grief note that we accept our loss and figure out a way forward by discovering or nurturing a newfound purpose. But according to psychologists , sometimes we never get to acceptance. Because the loss is so devastating, we carry the emotional weight wherever we go, and it manifests in our treatment of others. In addition to being a story about a love triangle, Challengers is about the damage such baggage can inflict on us and those we care most about. Played by Zendaya ( Spiderman: Homecoming , The Greatest Showman ), Tashi is a confident but sociable 18-year-old tennis phenom who believes a match is about “a relationship” with her opponent. She is quick on her feet, powerful with the racquet, and has an intense yell when she wins a long and active volley. Smitten by her beauty, talent, and passion for winning, roommates and best friends Art and Paul, who are strong tennis players themselves, fall for Tashi while attending one of her matches. Their mouths drop the moment she removes her sweater and steps onto the court. The heads of the spectators turn left and right with the movement of the ball, but Art and Paul stare only at Tashi, as if in a drunken daze despite neither having had a drink. In a conversation with Art and Paul during a party at her home, Tashi mentions that she’s going to Stanford in the fall. When Paul (Josh O’Connor) asks why she prefers to beat up on college girls in tennis rather than go professional, she laughs flirtatiously and responds, “You know nothing about tennis.” It’s a “relationship” with the other player, she explains. Paul and Art become so enraptured by Tashi that a years-long competition ensues in a game the boys might call, “Who gets the girl?” and Tashi would dub “Which boy is most aggressive on the court?” Tashi’s standards are simple; you must win. On this point, she is inflexible. Already a student at Stanford, Art (Mike Faist) becomes close friends with Tashi. Both are at the top of their tennis games until Tashi takes a fall that ends her tennis career. No longer able to play, she pours herself into coaching Art at the professional level, imploring him to win every match and even questioning his desire to win when he loses. She is viewed in the tennis world as a good coach, but behind the scenes she is mean about it. Challengers reminds me of the 1983 movie, Class , with Jacqueline Bisset, Rob Lowe, and Andrew McCarthy. It’s about an 18-year-old boarding school student falling for an older woman who turns out to be his roommate’s mother. The movie was promoted as a comedy, but the story contained themes about deep sadness, mental illness, and the difficulties of being mired in controlling families with huge amounts of wealth. I always felt the movie’s marketing team shot itself in the foot with this one, since it was a more important and meaningful story than just a film about laughs. Roger Ebert wrote that “the movie's ads [were] devoted to revealing that very point.” The New York Times commented that “The movie can't make up its mind whether it's a lighthearted comedy … or a romantic drama.” Today, Rotten Tomatoes rates Class at 49% and IMDB gives it a 6.0. Promotions for Challengers suggest it is a fun film where a tennis phenom toys with two guys vying for her affection. Like Class , it has some funny moments, but the film says much more. Challengers is a commentary on what can happen when we are no longer able to do what we once could. And the younger we are, the more difficult a time we have coping with the loss of a significant part of our identity, one we have honed for the previous 15 of our first 18 years of life. We question who we are now and wonder where we direct our energy. When musicians lose the ability to play, they go through periods of frustration and mourning. This is vividly depicted in the 2019 movie, Sound of Metal , where Ruben, a professional heavy metal drummer, begins losing his hearing. He smashes things in his home and is impatient with the people around him in his desperation to just “fix the problem” now. Gradually, he learns to communicate in other ways. The same frustration and mourning applies to athletes, particularly when they are robbed of their abilities early on in their careers, before they have had the chance to challenge themselves and see how far they can take their talents. To stay connected to their game, some elite athletes immediately move into coaching. Researchers argue that this “fast-tracking” of players is premature. An article by Mentally Tough Tennis acknowledges that elite athletes have some clear advantages over coaches who have not played at a high level. It adds, however, that the former phenoms have not focused on honing skills like patience, empathy and athletic skill‑development, all needed to nurture a player’s growth and maturation. Researchers have also expressed concern that fast‑tracking “may perpetuate incorrect, inappropriate, and even abusive coaching practices” which sometimes stem from the newly minted coach's time as a player. Years after her injury, Tashi still demeans Art whenever he loses a match. When he explains that he is tired and ready to retire, she ignores him. Instead, she devises an unscrupulous plan for Art to win and even involves his friend, Paul, in the scheme. Living vicariously through others is one thing. Behaving as if our most central identity is deeply entangled with other people’s accomplishments indicates something is awry, that some level of maturation has not been achieved. Tashi doesn’t seem to have accepted that she is no longer the player. Art’s life is not hers, nor are his tennis competitions hers to win. No matter how hard she tries, she cannot undo the injury that ended her own aspirations to play professional tennis. Her refusal or inability to accept this risks the wellbeing and friendship of the two men closest to her. Tennis has a feel and cadence, which is reflected in Challengers . Much of the movie is shot during the daylight with warm, sunny weather and calm winds. People are lightly dressed in bright colors and their spirits are high. The game commences only when the chatter dies down upon the umpire’s announcement to “Quiet please.” Then, there is no noise except the sound of the ball being served. The heads of the audience move with the rhythm and tempo of the play. So, during the film, spectators are frequently shown turning their heads in unison from left to right and right to left, coordinated with the ball’s impact against the racket and its bounce on the tennis court. The faster the ball moves, the faster the spectators’ heads move. It is as if the ball, the racket, and the court are providing background music for an otherwise quiet affair, until a point is won. Like tennis, Challengers is layered, visiting the characters’ pasts and volleying back to the present. This can be a bit disorienting at times because it is not always clear what is the past versus the present. Nonetheless, Challengers is a film whose look and feel draws you into a story about a love triangle, where each participant struggles to get what they want without losing the other two. At its center, the film is a story about handling loss in a way that doesn’t lead to us losing everyone that means something to us. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Do Slasher Movies Still Cut It? (No Pun Intended) Examining the Shift in the Thematic Trends of the Horror Genre Chris Chaisson 2/9/23 Reading Time: 8 minutes 📸: Used with Permission, Snollygoster Productions (hello@snollygoster.productions ) My music fandom runs deep. As a lover of both oldies and hip hop, I sometimes lament missing the Beatles craze and not being able to connect with why they are so beloved. Recently, I attended the Beastie Boys exhibit in Los Angeles and had the same feeling of having missed out. I can hear the instrumentals and sing along with the lyrics, but I have no recollection of the pure excitement fans had when these groups were in their primes. Hearing the music of these two uber-popular groups over the last few weeks brought me back to a movie night that a good friend of mine hosted several years ago. As it was October, he chose to hold a horror movie night filled with the classics of which he knows all too much trivia. After another one of his trivia nugget-filled monologues before hitting play, he turned on Halloween . No, not Halloween 2, Halloween 3 or Halloween 45 and a half. The original Halloween . A good strategy when watching classics, if you can help it, is to somehow put your mind in the time period when the movies were released. Imagine that all the tropes, visuals, and story twists have never been done before. I couldn’t do that. To me, Halloween seemed dated and clichéd. As my friend had pointed out before his screening, it was actually the first horror movie to do many of the things that I was perceiving as overdone. The piano score, shot composition, and entire slasher concept was initiated by John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece and frequently emulated afterwards. In fact, the film was so renowned that it was inducted into the Library of Congress . Nonetheless, I felt slight disappointment that the heavily revered trailblazer of horror movies seemed so past its time. Playing Mind Games Fast forwarding to the present, I notice that the ground under the entire slasher genre is giving way to a new standard in horror movies. Rather than a crazy, masked, freakishly strong guy chasing around and killing people at random, the villains in today’s horror movies seem much more conniving and mentally torturous. Instead of hunting down the main characters, they toy with the psyches of the protagonists until everyone around them believes they are losing their grip on reality. You may have heard the term gas-lighting in popular culture. People often use this word to describe the behavior of an emotionally abusive ex-partner who makes them believe that they are making things up or overreacting, simply so they can avoid accountability. In recent years, depictions of this manipulative behavior have infiltrated the horror landscape and become a go-to trope. Just for fun, I researched movies about gas-lighting. There are a handful of thrillers from the ‘90s and 2000s that stick out (i.e. the 1991 film, Sleeping with the Enemy ), as well as the 1944 film that originally coined the term, Gaslight . I compiled a list of projects that I would classify simply as horror. My list tilts largely towards very recent hit movies: The Invisible Man, Resurrection, Get Out, Smile, Barbarian, Midsommar, and The Girl on the Train (released in both 2016 and 2021). All of these movies, along with several others, hit theaters over the last seven years. While there is the occasional oldie in the mix, the imbalance feels strong enough to hypothesize a fairly significant movement in the thematic content of horror stories. Possible Explanations Everyone still on board must be wondering why this trend has emerged. A tongue-in-cheek theory may be that building a story around psychological horror allows you to shrink the hair and makeup budget by having less blood and guts on screen (I kid). A more serious theory may be to point the finger at the production companies and how they have chosen to self-brand. A24, for instance, has produced many popular horror movies in recent years, and many deal with stories of personal trauma inflicted by loved ones. A Sign of the Times Though horror movies sometimes seem divorced from reality, I would argue they reflect the prevailing fears of the time of their release (we’ll ignore Sharknado and its sequels for the purpose of this argument). Though less calculated, slasher movie villains and their depravity could be reminiscent of real-life serial killers. During the 1970s and 1980s, the prevalence of serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy was a big news story. Police had a tough time catching many of them or rescuing their victims, and to this day, a lot of mini-series and podcasts are dedicated to their atrocities. While they have by no means gone away, the stigma around them has dissipated with the numerous ways that people can protect themselves or contact the outside world. Therefore, a slasher movie may not hit the same nerve as it did at the time. Case in point, the original Halloween was released in 1978, right in the middle of this scary time period. Another possibility could be that sculpting a horror story around abusive partners and mental health is a more inclusive narrative. Critics of the horror genre believe it to be rooted in misogyny, as much of it revolves around villains chasing around attractive, promiscuous women. More often than not, the victims make very silly decisions that lead to their demise, as Neve Campbell called out during her infamous phone conversation in Scream . Newer narratives in horror movies shift the accountability to the villains and provide more three-dimensional protagonists with which to empathize. Talking Bout My Generation Younger generations have learned to be more open about their experiences in both romantic and platonic relationships. Between sharing stories and seeking out mental health resources, many individuals have come to the conclusion that what their partners put them through is not normal or acceptable. With the normalization of terms like gaslighting and self-care, 20- and 30-somethings more easily articulate what they have endured and how to avoid it in the future than the generations that came before them. For fans of horror, especially the millennial/Gen-Z crowd, seeing these shared experiences portrayed in newer hit movies may be more viscerally frightening but, in a strange way, cathartic. A counter-argument would be that gaslighting has always been an element of horror movies. It is fairly common for the protagonist of a horror movie to be doubted and questioned about the danger they are in or what they have witnessed. After all, Mia Farrow’s character spends two and a half hours being treated as if she is in a state of postpartum delirium in Rosemary’s Baby , a movie that is now over five decades old. I would argue that though horror movie characters have long had their grievances met with a skeptical eye, it has never before been such a central focus of the horror genre so consistently. In older horror movies, the main characters were doubted about whether or not a man that had been shot and set on fire was still alive, or if a child was actually the devil (both of which do sound ludicrous). Now, the protagonists are betrayed by the person they trust the most and doubted by people they’ve known their whole lives. Even in the satirical 2022 horror movie Bodies Bodies Bodies , gas-lighting and other new-age terms are explicitly brought up and discussed by its collection of 20-something characters. Of the movies that I named earlier from my compiled list, all of them had an antagonist who was a significant other, in some cases even a spouse. Regarding slasher movies, there will always be something unsettling about an indiscriminate homicidal maniac who cannot be reasoned with. However, an equally scary thought is that very normal human beings that we love and confide in will chip away at our mental well-being through lies and manipulation. Young, diverse, and talented filmmakers have picked up on this reality and implemented new elements in a genre as old as motion pictures themselves. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back The Awakening of Lilith portrays a lonely, grieving widow struggling to find her footing. Refuge Films, 2020 83 minutes Director/Writer: Steven Adam Renkovish Reading Time: 3 minutes The Awakening of Lilith Counting Breaths (RNVQWXPAQMEVKOSB) 00:00 / 03:28 📷 : Used with permission, Refuge Films Dandelion: Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Chris Chaisson 2021-11-14 The processing of one’s grief after a major loss can take on many forms. Some choose to deny or evade their emotions. Others try to power through by continuing their routines as if nothing has changed. But another group remains in their state of grief for an extended period of time. With no support system or structure around them, they struggle to find the light at the end of the tunnel. The Awakening of Lilith portrays a lonely, grieving widow struggling to find her footing after her partner Noah’s death. The non-linear story depicts its protagonist as a woman who places much of her self-worth into her significant other and struggles to find her sense of self in the aftermath of his passing. Lilith’s attempts to appease the depressed and irritable Noah reveal an imperfect union. She finds herself lacking purpose, and her social circle does little to pull her out of her tailspin. Renkovish’s framing conveys Lilith’s co-dependency, as in many scenes and still photographs of her with Noah, she is staring at him while he stares either into the camera or off into the distance. The film couples its more nuanced elements with overt and often surreal moments. Lilith’s troubles include dark hallucinations, piercing verbal abuse from her mother and judgment from the members of her Bible study group. Her interactions, along with living in solitude, leave her in a disoriented and self-pitying state. While the more absurdist moments lend themselves to the horror genre, the film stays grounded in its relatable representation of how lost one can feel while mourning a traumatic event. As the film progresses, Lilith discovers ways to manage, illustrated by some of her diatribes and the arrival of a supportive friend. The conclusion suggests that Lilith has reached a crossroads where she may wade her way out of the grief or plunge right back into her depressed state, but there is a glimmer of hope for her to establish her independence. Similar movies to The Awakening of Lilith include In the Bedroom , an early 2000s film starring Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek and Marisa Tomei, in which an older couple struggles to cope with the murder of their son. On the more paranormal and surreal side of comparable projects is Ghost , the very popular Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore project from 1990. The Awakening of Lilith differs from both of these in the sense that Lilith lacks a true confidant to grieve with and, of course in the case of Ghost , cannot reconnect with her deceased significant other despite her best efforts. The mind often plays tricks on you when in a state of grief. The way Renkovish's film addresses this is reminiscent of the critically acclaimed breakup movies, 500 Days of Summer and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . In both films, the protagonists come to the realization that they have put their significant other on a steep pedestal with expectations that could never be met. If there is a common message behind all of these movies, it is to learn to love without losing yourself. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!