Let’s catch up
‘No Hard Feelings,’ ‘Sly,’ ‘Albert Brooks’ and more!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – for film critics.
It’s awards season. Screeners have slowly started to roll in, and the critics guild of which I’m a member will announce its winners in just a few weeks. It’s always my favorite time of the year, as there’s a deluge of great movies to catch up on, and a lot of highly anticipated pictures finally being revealed.
And as with the other most wonderful time of the year, it’s also often a maddening blur. There’s never enough time to watch everything that needs to be watched, the screenings are coming quickly and numerously, and I already have a top 10 list that is going to hurt to tweak. These are absolutely privileges and in no way am I really complaining, but if any of your film critic friends seem a bit on edge right now, realize we’re all living on a supply of stale popcorn and weak coffee and spending more time in the dark than usual.
Screener season has also been a bit affected this year by the fact that life outside of movies is super busy. My wife and I are navigating some repairs around the house, we’ve had several family and church events, and we’ve been out of town for business and pleasure. I just got back from four days in Chicago for work. And while it was a great time, it also meant I missed out on screenings of Napoleon, Thanksgiving, Maestro and Wonka (when film criticism starts paying what my day job does, maybe I’ll consider staying back). So, I’ll be booking to try to fit in what I can before the voting deadline and, what I can’t, I won’t. That’s just the way film criticism has to roll when most critics do this as a hobby, with day jobs requiring their first commitment.
I’m not quite sure how I’ll handle the release of my top 10 list this year. In the past few years, when I wasn’t part of a critics guild, I just waited until well after the start of the new year – usually Jan. 31. I don’t think I’ll have to hold my top 10 list quite as long this year. If I feel I’ve seen enough by the time I vote, you’ll get my top 10 in early December. If there are still a few I feel the need to catch up with, we’ll go later in December. My hope is still to have it to you all before Christmas, so I can enjoy a nice holiday breather.
And, as I said a few weeks back, the newsletter will likely go into a weird rhythm in the coming month. I’ll post more of these updates, but there might be a lot linking back to CinemaNerdz as I post reviews. But one thing I can promise – we’re going full-hog on Christmas movies in December!
Now, with the preamble out of the way, let’s talk about a few things I’ve been watching lately.
A few weeks ago, felled by a nasty cold, I spent some time in bed and began attempting my 2023 catchup. I wasn’t in the mood to focus on anything too heavy, so I decided to start with the Jennifer Lawrence comedy No Hard Feelings, which is now available on Netflix. Lawrence plays a thirtysomething screwup in need of a car who agrees to “date” the 19-year-old, socially awkward son of two rich yuppies. I’d initially written the film off as an empty sex comedy. And while the bones of that are there, No Hard Feelings is a lot more insightful and sweet than I’d presumed. Lawrence is very funny and game for whatever the film wants to throw at her, and the friendship that develops between her and the young man at the center is refreshing and unique. It doesn’t set the world on fire, but it’s an enjoyable return for Lawrence and a thoughtful coming of age story.
I also checked out the Netflix documentary Sly, a career-spanning retrospective about Sylvester Stallone. Director Thom Zimny obviously has a great deal of affection for his subject, who is candid about his successes, failures and frustrations. As probably expected, a lot of time is spent on the Rocky and Rambo films – although I might not have tried to position The Expendables as his third iconic franchise. It’s an entertaining survey of Sly’s career, and I appreciate Stallone’s honesty. But at 95 minutes, it feels like it’s just skimming the surface and playing it safe. There’s lip service paid to his struggles, but the film rushes through anything too negative about some of his bizarre film choices. I understand why Stallone doesn’t want to comment much about the death of his son – a subject the film handles gracefully – but it seems really petty of him to spend so much time on Rocky Balboa, which he positions as his capstone on that character, without even a mention of Ryan Coogler’s Creed, the movie that netted him his most recent Oscar nomination. It’s fine, but it feels like there’s more to mine here.
Perhaps the reason why I felt like there was more to dig into is because at the same time I was watching Sly, I was also halfway through The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops and Feuds of Hollywood’s Kings of Carnage. Nick de Semlyen’s extensive overview of the 1980s action scene and the careers of Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Segal is one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had in a long time, digging not just into these actors’ careers and filmographies but also the stories of their rivalries and wild lives. You’ll learn about Bruce Willis’ attempts to rob John McClane of any quips in Die Hard 2 and how director Renny Harlin made sure the sequel still had the character’s smartass nature intact. I loved reading about the massive egos of Van Damme and Segal – including an in-depth overview of the latter’s disastrous SNL appearance. I had no clue that women were once so obsessed with Jackie Chan that they drank poison and threw themselves in front of trains when he revealed he was dating someone. It’s a riot of a read, and puts the musclebound masters in a new perspective.
I enjoyed the book so much that I immediately downloaded de Semlyen’s previous book, Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the ‘80s Changed Hollywood Forever. I spent a lot of time reading it on the train to Chicago this week, which seems fitting, given that the Windy City was the epicenter for so many of the comedy legends of that time. It’s a similar approach to Last Action Heroes, chronicling the careers of stars like Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Rick Moranis, John Candy, Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy as they made some of the most beloved comedies of all time. It’s just as addictive and enjoyable a read, even if the subject feels slightly more unwieldy because there were so many of these guys making so many movies. But de Semlyen might be proving himself the best chronicler of this decade in cinematic history, and I can’t wait to see what he tackles next.
Speaking of funny people, I also caught up with HBO’s new documentary Albert Brooks: Defending My Life. Directed by Brooks’ best friend, Rob Reiner, the spine of the movie is a conversation between the two of them discussing Brooks’ career. And it makes a good case that Brooks might be the most consistently funny man in America. It’s worth watching just for the ample clips of his stand-up act, talk show appearances and films. And as someone who considers Real Life, Lost in America and Defending Your Life to be among the greatest American comedies ever made, I’m glad to see that Brooks is getting this treatment – particularly while he’s still alive, something neither George Carlin or Garry Shandling got. But at 89 minutes, it rushes through too much, particularly his films, both as a director and Oscar-nominated actor. It’s a breezy watch, but I could have used a lot more.
I’ve also seen more. I should have some thoughts on David Fincher’s The Killer on CinemaNerdz this weekend. I wasn’t able to make the one screening they had in Detroit before its release, so I had to settle for watching it on a laptop from my hotel this week. I’ll put the review in Notes when it’s up, but I really enjoyed this brutal, yet surprisingly funny pulp thriller. I also had a chance to screen Todd Haynes’ May December, but I’ll review that a bit closer to its Dec. 1 Netflix release.
Also, you may have noticed that I didn’t have my usual Marvel post-mortem following the release of The Marvels. I’m not ignoring it. But my wife and I were out of town at a concert when it screened in Detroit, and then last weekend we had some other things going on. I’m actually taking my kids to see it this weekend and, if I feel inclined, I’ll write something up early next week.
Alright, that’s it for now! Have a great weekend everyone, and I’m sure I’ll have much more to come before Thanksgiving!