Well, here we are again...
This time, we've got an abundance of titles from all areas of entertainment; from tv series to documentaries, to award winning feature films to cult classics.
Now that you've seen
Captain America: Civil War and the tv season is winding down, there's plenty of time to check out the new titles within.
Fire up those queues and clear out that shopping cart...it's That Time of The Week!
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| 20th Century Fox / Released 5/3/16 |
JoyJoy is the wild story of a family across four generations, and centers on the girl who becomes the woman who founds a business dynasty and becomes a matriarch in her own right. Betrayal, treachery, the loss of innocence and the scars of love pave the road in this intense emotional and human comedy about becoming a true boss of family and enterprise facing a world of unforgiving commerce. Allies become adversaries and adversaries become allies, both inside and outside the family, as Joy's inner life and fierce imagination carry her through the storm she faces. Oscar Winner Jennifer Lawrence stars with fellow Oscar Winner Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Edgar Ramirez, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen, Elisabeth Rohm and Dascha Polanco. Like David O. Russell's previous films, Joy defies genre to tell a story of family, loyalty, and love. Extras include featurettes, interview with David O. Russell & Jennifer Lawrence and gallery.
Last Word: I have a sort of unconditional love for director David O. Russell, so it’s hard for me to admit that this film wasn’t my favorite. While all the usual suspects (Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, to name a few) perform with excellent timing and deprecating humor, I felt the story was diminished by the fact that the typically fluid, fun yet exciting nature we’ve come to love in Russell’s films, was over-exaggerated, a bit contrived, and pretty slow.
Now, the story of
Joy is actually fun and interesting. It’s a true story about a woman who single-handedly creates a corporation from her invention of the self-wringing mop—this after taking care of her broken-hearted soap-opera obsessed mother, dealing with her ex-husband, who awkwardly lives in her basement, and juggling her father’s move in/move out situations depending on whether or not he has a girlfriend.
Joy is thwarted at every turn not only by familial dysfunction, but bad luck, and irrational circumstances that render her helpless. Her mop invention is incredibly fitting here, as she is so often the rag (of her family) that is used to clean up mess after mess without any consideration for her wants, needs, or happiness.
There was a lot of great content to be used, but the presentation was executed in an almost cocky and disingenuous way—I don’t think it was totally intentional, at least I hope not. But the mood was just too inconsistent. And maybe the purpose of the unsteady aspect was to mirror the characters’ discombobulated lifestyles, but I’d say that’s a pretty far-fetched notion and, regardless, it didn’t work. The unfortunately inauthentic quality of Joy began during the opening scene with a kitschy voice-over. That wise-old-grandmother gimmicky storytelling feature instantly gave the film a child-like satirical air. Not only was it unnecessary, it was out of place considering the grandmother was in the film a minuscule amount. Other pitfalls include pace, odd nightmare-dream sequences, and simply unrealistic character traits.
Flashbacks and expository recaps of
Silver Linings Playbook as well as
American Hustle, are fluid and relevant, the same just cannot be said about
Joy. The first hour is an assembly of disjointed scenes that reflect past and present slights and slims of Joy’s childhood, but they don’t add anything to the film, but instead elongate the already two-plus-hour running time. The story of Joy’s movement forward is far more interesting than her past. We don’t need nightmares of stress—Jennifer Lawrence does a perfect job presenting that stress in her facial expressions, no more is necessary.
Here I will say that David O. Russell indeed knows how to direct his actors, regardless of the pitfalls of this film, the director knows how to make a film look great. His consistent extreme close-ups and over-the-shoulder point of view shots accompanied by an amazing soundtrack, equally inspire sympathy and pump up the audience respectively. The presentation of the claustrophobic house in which Joy’s dysfunctional family resides is done with the same delight as the overbearing environment of
Silver Linings Playbook, but many scenes that start off strong, end up goofy instead of genuine. Don’t get me wrong, I was entertained throughout, but those funny scenes, either ones of depressive humor, witty dialogue, or empowering success, weren’t enough to merit this film a success.
During the brief shining scenes, that most often include Bradley Cooper (I say that trying my hardest not to be biased), or Jennifer Lawrence solo (without interaction with other characters), the film sparkles. The soundtrack picks up, the mood lifts, and just as you’re ready to change your opinion of the movie, the rhythm shifts right back to another slow moving set of circumstances that are just disappointing.
Joy isn’t a bad movie. It’s just very much not David O. Russell’s finest. I’m guessing there will be other movies that might be more worthwhile seeing on Christmas Day, but if you love Russell’s familiar cast and the humor that they offer, grab a morning mimosa and enjoy it. Emphasis on the mimosa. (
– Caitlyn Thompson)
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| Magnolia / Released 4/19/16 |
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon From the 1970s thru the 1990s, there was no hipper, no more outrageous comedy in print than
The National Lampoon, the groundbreaking humor magazine that pushed the limits of taste and acceptability - and then pushed them even harder.
Parodying everything from politics, religion, entertainment and the whole of American lifestyle, the Lampoon eventually went on to branch into successful radio shows, record albums, live stage revues and movies, including
Animal House and
National Lampoon’s Vacation, launching dozens of huge careers on the way.
Director Douglas Tirola’s documentary
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon - tells the story of its rise and fall through fresh, candid interviews with its key staff, and illustrated with hundreds of outrageous images from the mag itself (along with never-seen interview footage from the magazine’s prime).
The film gives fans of the
Lampoon a unique inside look at what made the magazine tick, its key players, and why it was so outrageously successful: a magazine that dared to think what no one was thinking, but wished they had. Extras include featurettes, and additional interview footage.
Last Word: One of the main criticisms of political correctness is that it insists that the offended be allowed to dictate the intention and extent of his or her perceived injury. It works under the supposition that all insult emerges from ignorance; that the offending party was unintelligent or unsophisticated; and that re-education be implemented once proper apologies have been made.
The founders of
National Lampoon, Douglas Clark Kenny and Henry Beard, were Harvard kids who, within two years of graduating, published
Bored Of The Rings, a stinging parody of J.R.R. Tolkien that sold 750,000 copies.
They were smart guys who really liked make people laugh, and who didn’t give a fuck who it bothered. What set them apart from mere class clowns was their bracing, encompassing intellect and their view that satire was an innately hostile act.
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon describes how Kenney and Beard created a magazine whose raison d'être was to dispassionately observe how much bad taste a joke could bear before collapsing. Reverberating with arrogance and superiority, the brilliant staff at National Lampoon (Kenney, Beard, Anne Beatts, Michael O’Donoghue, Chris Miller, PJ O’Rourke, Michael Gross) savaged both The Vietnam War and the anti-war movement. They ran meticulously detailed Volkswagen ads built around Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick disaster (“If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagen, he’d be president, today!” read the copy beneath the photo of a buoyant Bug.)
They were geniuses who were out to make people laugh or piss people off. Whichever side you were on was up to you. The largely Catholic or WASP writers at
National Lampoon looked to the brilliant Lenny Bruce’s smartass Jewish outsider’s perspective (particularly his bits like “How To Relax And Colored Friends At Parties” and “Let Me Explain Jewish and Goyish To You”) and scrupulously removed any sense of social righteousness. Bruce’s barbed underdog commentary was replaced by an equally revolutionary parody/evocation of a drunk millionaire complaining about the help at a cocktail party. The writers at
Lampoon, at the outset of the anti-comedy tradition, inhabited outrageous humor and never broke character.
The film consists of plenty of interviews, all of which are entertaining. Surprises include a humble and visibly melancholy Chevy Chase discussing the talents of Kenney and his own arch-rival, John Belushi.
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon will be of interest to two possibly-overlapping groups of people: big fans of ‘underground comedy’ of the 1970s; and people who think that any subject is fair game for satire. Figure out which group you’re in and give it a look. (
– Guy Benoit)
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