#jazz fest: a new orleans story

[greensparty]

Remembering Jimmy Buffett 1946-2023

Musician and businessman Jimmy Buffett has died at 76. I never got that into his music but I certainly respect that he had a 50+ year music career and possibly the most devoted music fanbase, seriously Parrot Heads are up there with Dead Heads for musician devotion! He also had loads of business ventures like his restaurants and hotels.

He also was featured in and executive produced last year's documentary Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story, which I got to review. He also had small parts in numerous noteworthy films like Repo Man, Hook, the mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, and Jurassic World.

The link above is the obit from Hollywood Reporter.

[mbrainspaz]

Wildest shit I’ve ever experienced in over a decade of staying in hostels around the world but I guess of course if it ever would happen it’d happen at NOLA during a festival

I’ve seen plenty of obnoxious loud drunk people come in at 3am over the years but 5:30am?? Crazy. Then they climb into a bunk together and start loudly making out?!??? At 5:30???? Bruh I was about to get up and make coffee. Now I feel trapped in my bunk in a room with 9 other mortified random strangers.

I’m just lying there unable to go back to sleep now because—What in the Below Decks everloving frickafrack is even going on here?! I consider saying something but like… what the hell do you say?? Was this even real life?

The making out continues for a horrific 5 minutes when suddenly—a hero. Big Australian guy on a bunk across the room goes ‘you know this a full bunk room guys. Just sayin.’

A startled pause.

But alas, the face sucking noises soon resume.

Our outback knight in shining armor persisted, calmly pointing out that there was an empty study room down the hall.

The make-out girl tried to get sassy with him but he never wavered, ever the calm voice of reason. He never told them what to do, just kept suggesting options and drawing their attention back to the unwilling audience.

It wasn’t long before they gave it up and traipsed back out in shame to the sound of muffled giggles from every bunk.

This definitely did not need saying but FOR THE LOVE OF GAWD DO NOT TRY TO HOOK UP IN A FULLY BOOKED HOSTEL AT 5:30AM!!!!

3am would have been just as scandalous but a little less deranged.

[musicarenagh]

 "Funk, Rock, and Soul: DJ Williams Delivers with 'By Way of RVA'" Welcome music freaks, brace up for some rocking summer as DJ Williams, electric guitar wizard and producer par excellence, sets off for a 26-city tour across the U. S. This is more than just an ordinary concert – it’s a celebration of his latest album titled “By Way of RVA” that is a testament to the city of Richmond, Virginia where he cultivated his unique creativity. If you have got the opportunity to watch DJ Williams perform, then you well aware of the fact that this guy is a monster on stage. Premier Guitar even described him as ‘…a monster… an inspiring and efficient and melodic soloist, with a warm sound and extraordinary technical proficiency. ’ Now, he begin and ends his tour on May 3 in New Orleans during Jazz Fest After Dark and on July 13 in Golden, Colorado. But he’s not doing this alone – DJ is supported by incredibly talented musicians, including Ben Atkind on drums, Steph Orsini on bass, and Macon Mann on keys. Together, they’re going to be ripping through tracks from his latest EP, “By Way of RVA,” released on Projekt Records and highlighting just how versatile of a musician DJ is. We’re talking funk, rock, soul – all in one, and all part of this excellent piece of audio. [caption id="attachment_55817" align="alignnone" width="1038"] This is followed by the opening track on the EP ‘Fade Away’[/caption] This is followed by the opening track on the EP ‘Fade Away’, a catchy tune that can only be attributed to DJ Williams but has hints of Lenny Kravitz to it. It has its energy from the power chords, live drum and a guitar solo that will bring anyone to their knees. Next up is “Burning Ash” which features very powerful riffs and great falsetto, and then we’re on the dreamy “By Way of RVA” which features Hip Hop beat and awesome Guitars that take one to another world. Though, the piece that I found most impressive as generally unorthodox is “Mr. Nobody,” with it’s strange guitar line and extended vocal summit that solves this great tale. There’s also DJ’s take on Nirvana’s heart shaped box, so this is one of those they take it into lo-fi, trip-hop, trap style, this and that, that proves how much of a beast he is. “Turn Of Events” is the final cut with a reggae inflection perfectly serving as a laid-back finale after the musical chaos. What is even more intriguing is the fact that the album can be regarded as highly personal for DJ. He did the whole thing in his bedroom and even produced some peculiar ideas such as placing drums in the wardrobe and vocals in the shower as it created a natural reverb. Listen to how he stacked like 22 vocals on “Heart-Shaped Box” or just how he went over the top with these orchestral synth arrangements on the title track. That is the life story of DJ, who was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and who listens to the music ranging from Curtis Mayfield and Nirvana, from Miles Davis and Led Zeppelin. He is currently the lead guitarist for Karl Denson Tiny Universe Band, also performs a solo project DJ Williams Projekt as well as has performed with John Legend, Dave Matthews Band, and George Clinton to name but a few. And if you are up for the fact filled summer of live music, don’t snooze on DJ Williams ’ tour. And, with his fiery performances and this thrilling new EP, he’s absolutely making an impact on the musical landscape. Don’t wait for the show, take Your tickets, turn up the music on RVA, and let the concert begin! Listen to By Way Of RVA https://open.spotify.com/album/6jKhcEaErVzqlQiLQ2S99z Follow DJ Williams on Facebook Spotify Bandcamp Youtube Instagram

[abraham2love]

frank marshall : director

full movie

[weclassybouquetfun]

Film Awards Season Check-In

In early October the field was looking light as only three studios released their screening schedules early: Amazon, Netflix and Searchlight. Now that we are in early November more studios have entered the fray and/or readying their boards.

Sony is putting forth THE WOMAN KING, DEVOTION, the Whitney Houston biopic I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY, LYLE, LYLE CROCODILE, Tom Hanks' A MAN CALLED OTTO and WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING; and new to the mix Mark Wahlberg's FATHER STU.

So far THE WOMAN KING and DEVOTION have had a number of screenings with DEVOTION (based on the true story of the friendship between pilots played by Glen Powell (who is an executive producer on the film) and Jonathan Majors) getting special treatment with a screening hosted by Amanda Seyfried.

Sony's indie arm Sony Pictures Classic has put up the films they are pushing: documentaries: HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG; JAZZ FEST: A NEW ORLEANS STORY, Luca Guadagnino's SALVATORE: SHOEMAKER OF DREAMS, THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER, TURN EVERY PAGE- THE ADVENTURES OF ROBERT CARO AND ROBERT GOTTLIEB and narrative films, Florian Zeller's THE SON (which is connected to Zeller's THE FATHER, which earned Anthony Hopkins an Oscar) starring Hugh Jackman; two Cannes screened films: RETURN TO SEOUL and ONE FINE MORNING and the English-language remake of Akira Kurusawa's IKIRU - LIVING starring Bill Nighy

When TOP GUN: MAVERICK screened at CinemaCon a few critics in attendance said it was a Best Picture candidate and I guess Paramount feels the same as TG:M and Damian Chazelle's LALA LAND follow-up BABYLON are the only films they are putting forward. IIRC this is a one-picture improvement over 2019 as that year ROCKETMAN was the only film they put forward. TG:M has quite a few screenings lined up (with no Q&A component so far because Tom Cruise isn't going to beg for a nomination) with zero, as of yet, for BABYLON.

Focus Features has put up ARMAGEDDON TIME starring Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong, DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA, HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL (which had a brief theatrical release while streaming on Peacock), MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, THE NORTHMAN (with alleged new father or soon-to-be-father Alexander Skarsgaard), the fantastic THE OUTFIT, THE SILENT TWINS starring Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance, YOU WON'T BE ALONE and TAR with Cate Blanchett who is sure to be the front runner in the Lead Actress category.

Universal has released the titles they are putting forward: Steven Spielberg's film a'clef THE FABLEMANS, the true story of the women who crafted the article to expose Harvey Weinstein, the Carey Mulligan starrer SHE SAID, NOPE, BROS and animated films MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU, PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH and THE BAD GUYS.

Disney had their slate up for some time but have only just recently added James Cameron's AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER and Rihanna's offering for WAKANDA FOREVER, "Lift Me Up"; a song written by Rihanna, the film's director Ryan Coogler and film's composer Ludwig Göransson. "Lift Me Up" joins Giveon's "Time" from AMSTERDAM as the possible Best Song candidates the studio has put forward.

WB's schedule has been static with six films put forward (THE BATMAN, DON'T WORRY DARLING, FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE, the documentary NAVALNY, DC LEAGUE OF SUPERPETS and ELVIS). The only movement is that they keep adding Q&As for Austin Butler. They're working him like Colonel Parker did Elvis.

What I Have Seen So Far:

NETFLIX The Good Nurse Wendell & Wild Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Mexico's Oscar submission)

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio

(Q&A last weekend with Guillermo del Toro, co-director Mark Gustafson, stars Gregory Mann, Christoph Waltz and Finn Wolfhard)

Lady Chatterley's Lover

(Q&A with Emma Corrin and director Laure de Clermont-Tonnere)

The Wonder

-A late addition to their slate is Scott Cooper's THE PALE BLUE EYES; the directors third film with Christian Bale. Disney has AMSTERDAM up as part of 20th Century and are putting Bale and his costars but it appears Bale is stumping for this instead, with a Q&A with Cooper and his costars Lucy Boynton and Henry Melling this week.

AMAZON My Policeman

SEARCHLIGHT The Banshees of Inisherin Empire of Light

FOCUS FEATURES

TÁR

Armageddon Time

SONY

The Women King

(Q&A with Composer Terence Blanchard, Editor Terilyn Shropshire, Cinematographer Polly Morgan, Viola Davis and her husband/producing partner Julius Tennon and director Gina Prince-Bythewood)

UNITED ARTISTS Till Women Talking Bones and All

(Q&A with producer Peter Spears, composers Atticus Ross & Trent Reznor, writer David Kajganich, Taylor Russell and director Luca Guadagnino)

SRAB FILMS Saint Omer (France's Oscar submission)

(Q&A with director Alice Diop)

[mooveeposters]

Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story (2022)

[greensparty]

2022: The Year in Green’s Party

This has been another great year on this blog of me sharing a thought or two about pop culture! This was a year I needed pop culture, entertainment and escapism more than ever. I got to do so many awesome things and I can’t believe that in early 2023 this blog turns 10! Here are some of the highlights of 2022:

Retweets and Social Media: There were numerous retweets and shares of my posts this year on social media including 2022 Collectibles Extravaganza sharing my coverage, Dana Carvey liked my tweet about Wayne’s World at Nice a Fest, David Spade liked my tweet about my interview with Siobhan Fallon Hogan, and Sean Baker liked my tweet about Red Rocket being my Best 2021 Movie I Saw in 2022.

Interviews: I got to interview numerous people including Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz of Weird Al Yankovic’s band (plus a bonus portion of the interview), Nice a Fest founder Alex Pickert, musician Colleen Green, actor / director James Morosini, director Marq Evans, director April Wright, director Ryan White, musician Kay Hanley, and actors Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson.

Movie Reviews: I got to review A Hero, Sundown, I Want You Back, Studio 666, Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story, Jurassic World Dominion,  The Beatles and India, George Michael Freedom Uncut, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, Thor: Love and Thunder, Clerks III, Sidney, Nothing Compares, Halloween Ends, Let There Be Drums!, Rebel Dread, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, A Christmas Story Christmas, She Said, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Bablyon.

Album Reviews: I got to review Eddie Vedder’s Earthling and the vinyl reissue of Ukelele Songs, John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies’ Firestarter soundtrack and Halloween Ends soundtrack, Florence + The Machine’s Dance Fever, The Rolling Stones’ Live at El Mocambo, The Clash’s Combat Rock / The People’s Hall special edition, Wilco’s Cruel Country, Beabadoobee’s Beatopia, Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s Toast, Neil Young and Promise of the Real’s Noise & Flowers, R.E.M.’s Chronic Town 40th anniversary EP, Oasis’s Be Here Now 25th anniversary edition, Ringo Starr’s EP3, Djo’s Decide, Billy Idol’s The Cage, The Smithereens’ The Lost Album, The Pixies’ Doggerel, L7′s Bricks Are Heavy 30th anniversary reissue, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Cool It Down, Alvvays’ Blue Rev, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Return of the Dream Canteen, Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros’ Joe Strummer 002: The Mescalero Years box set, The Beatles’ Revolver Special Super Deluxe Edition, Foo Fighters’ The Essential Foo Fighters, the compilation album ‘Life Moves Pretty Fast’ The John Hughes Mixtapes, Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion I and II box set, Bruce Springsteen’s Only the Strong Survive, Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Live at the Fillmore, 1997.

Concert Reviews: The year began with a livestream concert review of Mike Garson’s A Bowie Celebration. In person concert reviews came back with reviews of Sheer Mag, Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, Paul McCartney, Death Cab for Cutie, Alvvays, and not an official review but I did a semi-review of Cheap Trick at Boston Calling.

DVD and Blu-ray Reviews: I got to review some DVD and blu-rays including The Beatles: Get Back, Neil Young and Promise of the Real: Noise & Flowers, and You Can’t Do That on Film.

Book Reviews: I got to cover numerous books released in 2022 including Olivia Harrison’s Came the Lightening: Twenty Poems for George, Pattie Boyd’s My Life in Pictures, and Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee Book.

Theater Reviews: This year I got to do my first official theater review, for On Beckett.

Music Festivals: I got to cover the 2022 Nice, a Fest festival.

Film Festivals and Film Events: I got to review a virtual film at Sundance Film Festival, my annual guide to the 2022 Oscar Nominated Short Films, my coverage of the 2022 Independent Film Festival Boston, covered the 2022 Collectibles Extravaganza, and the 2022 IFFBoston Fall Focus.

...And the biggest postings and news of the year:

- 1/2/2022: Green’s Party turned 9!

- 1/28/2022: I wrote my tribute to Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who I have been lucky enough to cover since 2017.

- March 2022: I took a breather from the blog for a few weeks due to a death in the family. 

- 3/26/22: I posted my remembrance of Taylor Hawkins. 32 notes, my biggest post of 2022!

- 3/29/22: I posted my This Month In History column for March. 19 notes.

- 4/14/22: I wrote about returning to my first live concert in over 2 years to see LCD Soundsystem.

- 5/26/22: I posted my remembrance of Ray Liotta. 11 notes.

- 6/19/22: I re-shared my 2021 post about Sesame Street’s Juneteenth Song. 28 notes.

- 7/31/22: I posted my remembrance of Bill Russell and Nichelle Nichols. 18 notes.

- 8/7/22: I shared my return to Kim’s Video at NYC’s Alamo Drafthouse. 

- 9/21/22: I shared the big news that my documentary Life on the V: The Story of V66 has been added to the Permanent Collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

- 10/12/22: I re-shared my 2018 post about This Day in 2018. 15 notes.

- 12/8/22: Tumblr provided their data of Green’s Party Year in Review up until December 8.

- 12/17/22: I re-shared my 2020 Top 5 Seinfeld Episodes During the Holiday Season list. 11 notes.

[whoreforfanfiction]

Favorite Disney Movie  (MM Preferences)

my favorite Disney movie would have to be the Aristocats. honestly so adorable and i loved the soundtrack. 

Yoosung

- HERCULES

- nothing has ever come to mind faster

- it has heroes and powers and monsters just like LOLOL

- plus, he sees himself in the story

- he and Hercules both are hard-working but start off from less than ideal circumstances

- Hercules was weak

- and Yoosung was just a poor college student not knowing what to do with his life

- and then they both blossomed into wonderful young men

- Hercules saved lives and Yoosung saved pets

- always tears up slightly when “Go The Distance” plays  

- just really hits home for him 

- sees Hercules’ struggles as his struggles with losing the Rika he knew 

Zen

- Beauty and the Beast

- he’s a sucker for love stories first of all 

- also, it arguably has one of the BEST soundtracks ever

- he’ll sing the tale as old as time song when you two dance in the living room

- you buy him a Miss Potts and Chip cup set one year for his birthday

- THIS MOTHER FUCKER CRIESSSS

- it’s always a staple for movie night

- he loves the story, the music, the visuals, and literally everything about it

Jaehee

- Princess and the Frog

- (CAN THEY PLZ MAKE A LIVE ACTION OF THIS) 

- like Yoosung, she likes it because she sees herself in Tiana

- both working really hard towards goals

- she likes it mainly because she loves Tiana’s characterization

- plus, she’s always wanted to go to New Orleans because she likes the vibe it gives off

- this chica never really gets into music unless it’s Zen’s musicals

- but she can’t help but BOP to this soundtrack

- she loves the jazz instruments used 

- you both lowkey have huge crushes on Tiana 

Jumin

- can my computer stop correcting jumin to jasmine plz

- wasn’t ever really into movies

- to finally educate him on the beauty of the movies, you two had a binge-watching fest

-  you were surprised to find out his favorite movie out of the lot was 

- the Incredibles

- liked it so much he discussed buying a car that looks like an exact replica of Mr. Incredible’s with you

- you weren’t sure exactly why he liked it so much 

- you asked him about it one day and his answer was

- superpowers are cool 

- Dash appealed to his sense of humor

- and he liked the family unity that he never got to have in his childhood

- he said all of that made for an enjoyable movie for him to watch

Saeyoung

- sorry this is so long, i’m a cheese for saeyoung 

- lies and says it’s ariel so he can put on a wig and dress up like a mermaid for you

- you find it sexy and funny, but you want to know his real favorite 

- you can’t ask him without him saying 

- “it’s the female me!! she defends the justice under the sea and on land. she’s super me!”

- but, you stalk and find out it’s Peter Pan

- because it was the only movie saved to his computer and he had 5 copies of it hidden within his desk

- you confront him about it and he gets all gushy

- he likes it because one the dude can fly to a different, more fun place which is awesome

- two, it’s what he wished he coulda done with his brother

- he admitted he used to stare out the window to see if peter would come and save them

- one night when you were having a bad dream, he turned over and held you close and said

- “I’m Peter and you’re Wendy. Together we will fly to Neverland and be happy and young forever. Neverland also doubles as the space station since it isn’t of this world, so we can get married.” he would coo with a faint smile on his lips

- the story makes him feel safe so you two watch it whenever he gets sad

V 

- finding nemo/ finding dory

- he thinks it’s the perfect mixture of sad and happy

- with adventure mixed in

- he looks like an excited kid every time he watches it

- he used to really like it as a child as well

- and still every single time you go to a pet store, he looks at the fish in the tank and says “Look, M/C, it’s Dory” at every Blue Tang fish

- you find it adorable

Saeran

- hey just fyi i write saeran from his personality at the end of his route. i don’t do the unknown version of him so spoiler, he’s an adorable softie 

- really adores Big Hero 6

- he thinks Baymax is the purest thing he has ever seen and instantly gets hooked the second he sees him

- saeyoung tries to replicate his own baymax and it actually worked

- gave it to you and saeran as an anniversary present and awww his heart melts

- he likes the action and the technology and overall just thinks it’s super cool 

[abraham2love]

frnak marshall : director

documentary full

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior 10/13/20: FREAKY, THE CLIMB, MANK, HILLBILLY ELEGY, AMMONITE, DREAMLAND, DOC-NYC and MUCH MORE!

It’s a pretty crazy week for new releases as I mentioned a few times over the past couple weeks, but it’s bound to happen as we get closer to the holiday movie season, which this year won’t include many movies in theaters, even though movie theaters are still open in many areas of the country… and closing in others. Sigh. Besides a few high-profile Netflix theatrical release, we also get movies starring Vince Vaughn, Margot Robbie, Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Mel Gibson and more offerings. In fact, I’ve somehow managed to write 12 (!!!!) reviews this week… yikes.

Before we get to the new movies, let’s look at a few series/festivals starting this week, including the always great documentary festival, DOC-NYC, which runs from November 11 through 19. A few of the docs I’ve already seen are (probably not surprisingly, if you know me) some of the music docs in the “Sonic Cinema” section, including Oliver Murray’s Ronnie’s, a film about legendary jazz musician and tenor sax player Ronnie Scott, whose London club Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club has been one of the central cores for British jazz fans for many decades.

Alex Winter’s Zappa is a much more satisfying portrait of the avant-garde rocker than the doc Frank Zappa: In His Own Words from a few years back, but I was even more surprised by how much I enjoyed Julien Temple’s Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan, because I’ve never really been a Pogues fan, but it’s highly entertaining as we learn about the chronically-soused frontman of the popular Irish band.

I haven’t seen Robert Yapkowitz and Richard Peete’s in My Own Time: A Portrait of Karen Dalton, a portrait of the blues and folk singer, yet, nor have I watched Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider’s Los Hermanos/The Brothers about two brother musicians separated from childhood after leaving their native Cuba, but I’ll try to get to both of them soon enough.

Outside of the realm of music docs is Ilinca Calugareanu’s A Cops and Robbers Story, which follows Corey Pegues from being a drug dealer and gang member to a celebrated deputy inspector within the NYPD. There’s also Nancy (The Loving Story) Buirski’s A Crime on the Bayou, the third part of the filmmaker’s trilogy about brave individuals in the Civil Rights era, this one about 19-year-old New Orleans fisherman Gary Duncan who tries to break up a fight between white and black teens at an integrated school and is arrested for assaulting a minor when merely touching a white boy’s arm.

Hao Wu’s 76 Days covers the length of Wuhan, China’s lockdown due to COVID-19, a very timely doc that will be released by MTV Documentary Films via virtual cinema on December 4. It’s one of DOC-NYC’s features on its annual Short List, which includes Boys State, Collective, The Fight, On the Record, and ten others that will vie for juried categories.

IFC Films’ Dear Santa, the new film from Dana Nachman, director of the wonderful Pick of the Litter, will follow its Heartland Film Festival debut with a run at COD-NYC before its own December 4 release. The latter is about the USPS’s “Operation Santa” program that receives hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa every year and employees thousands of volunteers to help make the wishes of these kids come true.

Basically, there’s a LOT of stuff to see at DOC-NYC, and while most of the movies haven’t been released publicly outside festivals yet, a lot of these movies will be part of the doc conversations of 2020. DOC-NYC gives the chance for people across the United States to see a lot of great docs months before anyone else, so take advantage of some of their ticket packs to save some money over the normal $12 per ticket price. The $199 price for an All Access Film Pass also isn’t a bad deal if you have enough time to watch the hundreds of DOC-NYC offerings. (Sadly, I never do, yet I’m still a little bummed to miss the 10Am press screenings at IFC Center that keeps me off the streets… or in this case, sitting on my ass at home.)

Not to be outdone by the presence of DOC-NYC, Film at Lincoln Center is kicking off its OWN seventh annual “Art of the Real” doc series, which has a bit of overlap by running from November 13 to 26. I really don’t know a lot about the documentaries being shown as part of this program, presented with Mubi and The New York Times, but check this out. For just 50 bucks, you can get an all-access pass to all 17 films, which you can casually watch at home over the two weeks of the fest.

Okay, let’s get to some theatrical releases, and the one I’ve been anticipating the most (also the one getting the widest release) is Christopher Landon’s FREAKY from Blumhouse and Universal Pictures. It stars Kathryn Newton as Millie Kessler, a high school outcast who is constantly picked on, but one night, she ends up encountering the serial killer known as the “Blissfield Butcher” (Vince Vaughn), but instead of dying when she’s stabbed with a ritual blade. The next morning Millie and the Butcher wake up to discover that they’ve been transported into the body of the other. Oh, it’s Friday the 13th… oh, now I get it… Freaky Friday!

Landon is best known for writing many of the Paranormal Activity sequels and directing Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. Msore importantly, he directed Happy Death Day and its sequel Happy Death Day 2 U, two of my favorite Blumhouse movies, because they so successfully mix horror with comedy, which is so hard to do. That’s what Freaky is all about, too, and it’s even harder this time even though Freaky has way more gruesome and gory kills than anything in Landon’s other films. Heck, many of the kills are gorier than the most recent Halloween from Blumhouse, and it’s a little shocking when you’re laughing so hard at times.

Landon does some clever things with what’s essentially a one-joke premise of a killer in a teen girl’s body and vice versa, but like the Lindsay Lohan-Jamie Lee Curtis remake from 2003, it’s all about the talent of the two main actors to pull off the rather intricate nature of playing humor without losing the seriousness of the horror element.

It may not be too surprising with Vaughn, who made a ton of dramas and thrillers before turning to comedy. (Does everyone remember that he played Norman Bates in Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho and also starred in thrillers The Cell and Domestic Disturbance?) Newton is a bit more of an unknown quantity, but as soon as Tillie dawns the red leather jacket, you know that she can use her newly found homicidal attitude to get some revenge on those who have been terrible to her.

In some ways, the comedy aspects of Freaky win out over the horror but no horror fan will be disappointed by the amount of gory kills and how well the laughs emerge from a decent horror flick. Freaky seems like the kind of movie that Wes Craven would have loved.

I’m delighted to say that this week’s “Featured Flick” is Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin’s indie comedy THE CLIMB (Sony Pictures Classics), a movie that I have seen no less than three times this year, first when it was playing Sundance, a few months later when it was supposed to open in March… and then again last week! And you know what? I enjoyed it just as much every single time. It’s an amazing two-hander that stars Covino and Marvin as best friends Mike and Kyle, who have a falling out over the former sleeping with the latter’s fiancé, and it just gets funnier and funnier as the friends fight and Kyle gets engaged to Marisa (Gayle Rankin from GLOW) who hates Mike. Can this friendship possibly survive?

I really had no idea what to expect the first time I saw The Climb at the Sony Screening Room, but it was obviously going to be a very different movie for Sony Pictures Classics, who had started out the year with so many great films before theaters shut down. (Unfortunately, they may have waited too long on this one as theaters seem to be shutting down again even while NYC and L.A. have yet to reopen them. Still, I think this would be just as much fun in a drive-in.)

The movie starts with a long, extended scene of the two leads riding bikes on a steep mountain in France, talking to each other as Kyle (once the athlete of the duo) has fallen out of shape. During the conversation, Mike admits to having slept with Kyle’s fiancé Ava (Judith Godréche) and things turn hostile between the two. We then get the first big jump in time as we’re now at the funeral for Ava, who actually had been married to Mike. Kyle eventually moves on and begins a relationship with his high school sweetheart Marisa, who we meet at the Thanksgiving gathering for Kyle’s extended family. In both these cases, we see how the relationship between Mike and Kyle has changed/evolved as Mike has now fallen on hard times.

It's a little hard to explain why what’s essentially a “slice of life” movie can be so funny. On one hand, The Climb might be the type of movie we might see from Mike Leigh, but Covino and Marvin find a way to make everything funny and also quite eccentric in terms of how some of the segments begin and end.  Technically, it’s also an impressive feat with the number of amazing single shot sequences and how smooth some of the transitions work. It’s actually interesting to see when and how the filmmakers decide to return to the lives of their subjects – think of it a bit like Michael Apted’s “Up” series of docs but covering a lot shorter span in time.

Most importantly, The Climb has such a unique tone and feel to other indie dramedies we’ve seen, as the duo seem to be influenced more by European cinema than American indies. Personally, I think a better title for The Climb might have been “Frenemied,” but even with the movie’s fairly innocuous title, you will not forget the experience watching this entertaining film anytime soon.

Maybe this should be called “Netflix week,” because the streamer is releasing a number of high-profile movies into theaters and on the streaming service. Definitely one of the more anticipated movies of the year is David Fincher’s MANK, which will get a theatrical release this week and then stream on Netflix starting December 4.

It stars Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz, the Hollywood screenwriter who has allowed himself to succumb to alcoholism but has been hired by Orson Welles (Tom Burke) to write his next movie, Citizen Kane, working with a personal secretary Rita Alexander (played by Lily Collins). His story is told through his interactions with media mogul William Hearst (Charles Dance) and relationship with actress and Hearst ingenue and mistress, Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried).

It I were asked to pick one director who is my absolute favorite, Fincher would probably be in my top 5 because he’s had such an illustrious and varied career of movie styles, and Mank continues that tradition as Fincher pays tribute to old Hollywood and specifically the work of Orson Welles in every frame of this biopic that’s actually more about the troubled writer of Citizen Kane who was able to absorb everything happening in his own Hollywood circles and apply them to the script.

More than anything, Mank feels like a movie for people who love old Hollywood and inside Hollywood stories, and maybe even those who may already know about the making of Welles’ highly-regarded film might find a few new things to appreciate. I particularly enjoyed Mankiewicz’s relationships with the women around him, including his wife “Poor Sarah,” played by Tuppence Middleton, Collins’ Rita, and of course, Seyfried’s absolutely radiant performance as Davies.  Maybe I would have appreciated the line-up of known names and characters like studio head Louis B Mayer and others, if more of them had any sort of effect on the story and weren’t just

The film perfectly captures the dynamic of the time and place as Mank is frequently the only honest voice in a sea of brown nosers and yes-men. Maybe I would have enjoyed Oldman’s performance more if everything that comes out of Mankiewicz’s mouth wasn’t an all-too-clever quip.

The film really hits a high point after a friend of Mank’s commits suicide and how that adds to the writer’s woes about not being able to save him. The film’s last act involves Mank dealing with the repercussions after the word gets out that Citizen Kane is indeed about Hearst.

Overall, Mank is a movie that’s hard to really dig into, and like some of Fincher’s previous work, it tends to be devoid of emotion. Even Fincher’s decision to be clever by including cigarette burns to represent Mank’s “reels” – something explained by Brad Pitt in Fight Club – just drives home the point that Mank is deliberately Fincher’s most meta movie to date.

You can also read my technical/crafts review of Mank over at Below the Line.

Ron Howard’s adaptation of JD Vance’s bestselling memoir HILLBILLY ELEGY will be released by Netflix into theaters ahead of its streaming debut on November 24. It stars Amy Adams and Glenn Close, but in honesty, it’s about JD Vance, you know, the guy who wrote the memoir.  The film follows his younger years (as played by Owen Asztalos) while dealing with a dysfunctional white trash family in Middletown, Ohio, dealing with his headstrong Mamaw (Close) and abusive mother dealing with drug addiction (Adams).  Later in life, while studying at Yale (and played by Gabriel Basso), he has to return to his Ohio roots to deal with his mother’s growing addiction that forces him to come to terms with his past.

I’m a bit of a Ron Howard stan – some might even say “an apologist” – and there’s no denying that Hillbilly Elegy puts him the closest to A Beautiful Mind territory than he’s been in quite some time. That doesn’t mean that this movie is perfect, nor that I would consider it one of his better movies, though. I went into the movie not knowing a thing about JD Vance or his memoir but after the first reviews came out, I was a little shocked how many of them immediately went political, because there’s absolutely nothing resembling politics in the film.

It is essentially an adaptation of a memoir, dealing with JD Vance’s childhood but then also the past that led his mother and grandmother down the paths that made his family so dysfunctional. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between the older Vance and his future wife Usha (as played by Freida Pinto) earlier in their relationship as they’re both going to Yale and Vance is trying to move past his family history to succeed in the realm of law.

It might be a no-brainer why Adams and Close are being given so much of the attention for their performances. They are two of the best. Close is particularly amusing as the cantankerous Mamaw, who veers between cussing and crying, but also has some great scenes both with Adams and the younger Vance. The amazing special make-up FX used to change her appearance often makes you forget you’re watching Close. I wish I could say the same for Adams, who gives such an overwrought and over-the-top performance that it’s very hard to feel much emotionally for her character as she goes down a seemingly endless vortex of drug addiction. It’s a performance that leads to some absolute craziness. (It’s also odd seeing Adams in basically the Christian Bale role in The Fighter, although Basso should get more credit about what he brings out in their scenes together.)

Hillbilly Elegy does have a number of duller moments, and I’m not quite sure anyone not already a fan of Vance’s book would really have much interest in these characters. I certainly have had issues with movies about people some may consider “Southern White Trash,” but it’s something I’ve worked on myself to overcome. It’s actually quite respectable for a movie to try to show characters outside the normal circles of those who tend to write reviews, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the movie might be able to connect with people in rural areas that rarely get to see themselves on screen.

Hillbilly Elegy has its issues, but it feels like a successful adaptation of a novel that may have been difficult to keep an audience invested in with all its flashbacks and jumps in time.

Netflix is also streaming the Italian drama THE LIFE AHEAD, directed by Edoardo Ponti, starring Oscar-winning actress Sophia Loren, who happens to also be the filmmaker’s mother. She plays Madame Rosa, a Holocaust survivor in Italy who takes a stubborn young street kid named Momo (Ibrahima Gueye), much to both their chagrin.

I’ll be shocked if Italy doesn’t submit Ponti’s film as their choice for the Oscar’s International Film category, because it has all of the elements that would appeal to Oscar voters. In that sense, I also found it to be quite traditional and formulaic.  Loren is quite amazing, as to be expected, and I was just as impressed with young Ibrahima Gueye who seems to be able to hold his own in what’s apparently his first movie. There’s others in the cast that also add to the experience including a trans hooker named Lola, but it’s really the relationship between the two main characters that keeps you invested in the movie. I only wish I didn’t spend much of the movie feeling like I knew exactly where it’s going in terms of Rosa doing something to save the young boy and giving him a chance at a good life.

I hate to be cynical, but at times, this is so by the books, as if Ponti watched every Oscar movie and made one that had all the right elements to appeal to Oscar voters and wokesters alike. That aside, it does such a good job tugging at heartstrings that you might forgive how obviously formulaic it is.

Netflix is also premiering the fourth season of The Crown this week, starring Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth and bringing on board Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher, Emma Corin, Helena Bonham Carter, Tobis Menzies, Marion Bailey and Charles Dancer. Quite a week for the streamer, indeed.

Another movie that may be in the conversation for Awards season is AMMONITE (NEON), the new film from Francis Lee (God’s Own Country), a drama set in 1840s England where Kate Winslet plays Mary Anning, a fossil hunter,  tasked to look after melancholic young bride, Charlotte Murcheson (Saoirse Ronan), sent to the sea to get better only for them to get into a far more intimate relationship.

I had been looking forward to this film, having heard almost unanimous raves from out of Toronto a few months back. Maybe my expectations were too high, because while this is a well-made film with two strong actors, it’s also rather dreary and not something I necessarily would watch for pleasure. The comparisons to last year’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire (also released by NEON) are so spot-on that it’s almost impossible to watch this movie without knowing exactly where it’s going from the very minute that the two main characters meet.

Winslet isn’t bad in another glammed-down role where she can be particularly cantankerous, but knowing that the film would eventually take a sapphic turn made it somewhat predictable. Ronan seems to be playing her first outright adult role ever, and it’s a little strange to see her all grown-up after playing a teenager in so many movies.

The movie is just so contained to the one setting right up until the last 20 minutes when it actually lives the Lyme setting and lets us see the world outside Mary’s secluded lifestyle.  As much as I wanted to love Ammonite, it just comes off as so obvious and predictable – and certainly not helped by coming out so soon after Portrait of a Lady. There’s also something about Ammonite that just feels so drab and dreary and not something I’d necessarily need to sit through a second time.

The animated film WOLFWALKERS (GKIds) is the latest from Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, directors of the Oscar-nominated Secret of the Kells (Moore’s Song of the Sea also received an Oscar nomination a few years later.) It’s about a young Irish girl named Robyn (voiced Honor Kneafsey) who is learning to be hunter from her father (voiced by Sean Bean) to help him wipe out the last wolf pack. Roby then meets another girl (voiced by Eva Whittaker) who is part of a tribe rumored to transform into wolves by night.

I have to be honest that by the time I got around to start watching this, I was really burnt out and not in any mood to watch what I considered to look like a kiddie movie. It looks nice, but I’m sure I’d be able to enjoy it more in a different head (like watching first thing on a Saturday morning).

Regardless, Wolfwalkers will be in theaters nationwide this Friday and over the weekend via Fathom Events as well as get full theatrical runs at drive-ins sponsored by the Landmark, Angelika and L.A.’s Vineland before it debuts on Apple TV+ on December 11. Maybe I’ll write a proper review for that column. You can get tickets for the Fathom Events at  WolfwalkersMovie.com.

Next up is Miles Joris-Peyrafitte’s DREAMLAND (Paramount), starring Margot Robbie as Allison Wells, a bank-robbing criminal on the loose who encounters young man named Eugene Evans (Finn Cole) in rural Dust Bowl era North Dakota and convinces him to hide her and help her escape the authorities by taking her to Mexico.

Another movie where I wasn’t expecting much, more due to the generic title and genre than anything else, but it’s a pretty basic story of a young man in a small town who dreams of leaving and also glamorizes the crime stories he read in pulps. Because of the Great Depression in the late ’20, the crime wave was spreading out across the land and affecting everyone, even in more remote locations like the one at the center of Dreamland.

The sad truth is that there have been so many better movies about this era, including Warren Beatty’s Bonnie and Clyde, Lawless and many others. Because of that, this might not be bad but it’s definitely trying to follow movies that leave quite a long shadow. The innocent relationship between Eugene and Allison does add another level to the typical gangster story, but maybe that isn’t enough for Dreamland to really get past the fact that the romantic part of their relationship isn’t particularly believable.

As much as this might have been fine as a two-hander, you two have Travis Fimmel as Eugene’s stepfather and another generic white guy in Garrett Hedlund playing Allison’s Clyde Barrow-like partner in crime in the flashbacks. Cole has enough trouble keeping on pace with Robbie but then you have Fimmel, who was just grossly miscast. The film’s score ended up being so overpowering and annoying I wasn’t even remotely surprised when I saw that Joris-Peyrafitte is credited with co-writing the film’s score.

Dreamland is fine, though it really needed to have a stronger and more original vision to stand out. It’s another classic case of an actor being far better than the material she’s been given. This is being given a very limited theatrical release before being on digital next Tuesday.

This might have been Netflix week, but maybe it could have been “Saban Films Week,” since the distributor also has three new movies. Actually, only two, because I screwed up, and I missed the fact that André Øvredal’s MORTAL was released by Saban Films LAST week. Not entirely my fault because for some reason, I had it opening this week, and I only realized that I was wrong last Wednesday. Oh, well.  It stars Nate Wolff as Eric Bergeland, an American in Norway who seems to have some enigmatic powers, but after killing a young lad, he ends up on the lam with federal agent Christine (Iben Akerlie from Victoria).

This is another movie I really wanted to like since I’ve been such a fan of Øvredal from back to his movie Trollhunter. Certainly the idea of him taking a dark look at superpowers through the lends of Norse mythology should be right up my alley. Even so, this darker and more serious take on superpowers – while it might be something relatively unique and new in movies – it’s something anyone who has read comics has seen many times before and often quite better.

Wolff’s character is deliberately kept a mystery about where he comes from, and all we know is that he survived a fire at his farm, and we watched him kill a young man that’s part of a group of young bullies.  From there, it kind of turns into a procedural as the authorities and Akerlie’s character tries to find out where Eric came from and got his powers. It’s not necessarily a slow or talkie movie, because there are some impressive set pieces for sure, but it definitely feels more like Autopsy of Jane Doe than Trollhunters. Maybe my biggest is that this is a relatively drab and lifeless performance by Wolff, who I’ve seen be better in other films.

Despite my issues, it doesn’t lessen my feelings about Øvredal as a filmmaker, because there’s good music and use of visual FX -- no surprise if you’ve seen Trollhunters -- but there’s still a really bad underlying feeling that you’re watching a lower budget version of an “X-Men” movie, and not necessarily one of the better ones.  Despite a decent (and kinda crazy) ending, Mortal never really pays off, and it’s such a slog to get to that ending that people might feel slightly underwhelmed.

Seth Savoy’s ECHO BOOMERS (Saban Films) is a crime thriller based on a “true story if you believe in such things,” starring Patrick Schwarzenegger as Lance, a young art major, who falls in with a group of youths who break into rich people’s homes and trash them, also stealing some of the more valuable items for their leader Mel (Michael Shannon).

There’s a lot about Echo Boomers that’s going to feel familiar if you’ve seen Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring or the heist movie American Animals from a few years back, but even with those similarities, Seth Savoy has a strong cast and vision to make more out of the fairly weak writing than another director might manage. Schwarzenegger, who seems to be pulling in quite a wide range of roles for basically being another generic white actor is only part of a decent ensemble that includes Alex Pettyfer as the group’s ersatz alpha male Ellis and Hayley Law (also great in the recent Spontaneous) as his girlfriend Allie, the only girl taking part in the heists and destruction. Those three actors alone are great, but then you add Shannon just doing typically fantastic work as more of a catalyst than an antagonist.

You can probably expect there will be some dissension in the ranks, especially when the group’s “Fagan” Mel puts Lance in charge of keeping them in line and Allie forms a friendship with Lance. What holds the movie back is the decision to use a very traditional testimonial storytelling style where Lance and Allie narrate the story by relaying what happened to the authorities after their capture obviously. This doesn’t help take away from the general predictability of where the story goes either, because we’ve seen this type of thing going all the way back to The Usual Suspects.

While Echo Boomers might be fairly derivative of far better movies at times, it also has a strong directorial vision and a compelling story that makes up enough for that fact.

In theaters this Friday and then On Demand and Digital on November 24 is Eshom and Ian Nelms’ action-comedy FATMAN (Saban Films/Paramount), starring Mel Gibson as Santa Claus and Walton Goggins as the hired assassin sent to kill him by a spoiled rich boy named  Billy (Chance Hurstfield) who unhappy with the presents he’s being brought for Christmas.

While we seem to be surrounded by high concept movies of all shapes and sizes, you can’t get much more high concept than having Mel Gibson playing a tough and cantankerous* Kris Kringle (*Is this the week’s actual theme?) who is struggling to survive with Mrs. Klaus (played by the wonderful Marianne Jean-Baptiste from In Fabric) when they’re given the opportunity to produce military grade items for the army using his speedy elf workshop. Unbeknownst to the Kringles, the disgruntled hitman who also feels he’s been let down by Santa is on his way to the North Pole to fulfill his assignment.

You’ll probably know whether you’ll like this movie or not since its snarkier comedic tone is introduced almost from the very beginning. This is actually a pretty decent role for Gibson that really plays up to his strengths, and it’s a shame that there wasn’t more to it than just a fairly obvious action movie that leads to a shoot-out. I probably should have enjoyed Goggins more in a full-on villainous role but having been watching a lot of him on CBS’ The Unicorn, it’s kind of hard to adjust to him playing this kind of role.  I did absolutely love Marianne Jean-Baptiste and the warmth she brought to a relatively snarky movie.

I’m not sure if Fatman is the best showing of Eshom and Ian Nelms’ abilities as filmmakers, because they certainly have some, but any chance of being entertaining is tamped down by a feeling the filmmakers are constantly trying to play it safe. Because of this, Fatman has a few fun moments but a generally weak premise that never fully delivers. It would have thrived by being much crazier, but instead, it’s just far too mild.

Malin Åkerman stars in Paul Leyden’s CHICK FIGHT (Quiver Distribution) as Anna, a woman unhappy with her life and inability to survive on the little money she makes at her failing coffee shop. When Anna’s lesbian traffic cop friend Charleen (Dulcé Sloan) takes her to an underground fight club, Anna her trepidation about joining in, because she has never been in a fight in her life.  Learning that her mother has a legacy at the club, Anna agrees to be trained by Alec Baldwin’s always-drunk Murphy in order to take on the challenges of the likes of Bella Thorne’s Olivia.

Another movie where I’m not sure where to begin other than the fact that I’m not sure I’ve seen a movie trying so hard to be fun and funny and failing miserably at both. Listen, I generally love Akerman, and I’m always hoping for her to get stronger material to match her talents, but this tries its best to be edgy without ever really delivering on the most important thing for any comedy: Laughs.  Sure, the filmmakers try their best and even shoehorn a bit of romance for Anna in the form of the ring doctor played by Kevin Connolly from Entourage, but it does little to help distinguish the movie’s identity.

Listen, I’m not going to apologize for being a heterosexual male that finds Bella Thorne to be quite hot when she’s kicking ass in the ring. (I’m presuming that a lot of what we see in her scenes in the ring involves talented stuntwomen, but whoa! If that’s not the case.) Alec Baldwin seems to be in this movie merely as a favor to someone, possibly one of the producers, and when he disappears with no mention midway through the movie, you’re not particularly surprised. Another of trying too hard is having Anna’s father Ed (played by wrestler Kevin Nash) come out as gay and then use his every appearance to talk about his sex acts.  Others in the cast like Fortune Feimster seem to be there mainly for their bulk and believability as fighters.

Ultimately, Chick Fight is a fairly lame and bland girl power movie written, directed and mostly produced by men. I’m not sure why anyone might be expecting more from it than being a poorly-executed comedy lacking laughs.

And yet, that wasn’t the worst movie of the weekend. That would be Andrzej Bartkowiak’s DEAD RECKONING (Shout! Studios). Yes, the Polish cinematographer and filmmaker who once made the amazing Romeo is Bleeding, starring Gary Oldman and Lena Olin, has returned with a movie with the onus of a premise that reads “a thriller inspired by the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.” No, I did not make that up. It mostly takes place in Nantucket, Massachusetts, which I guess is sort of close to Boston, but instead it focuses on the relationship between teens Niko (K.J. Apa) and Tillie (India Eisley), the latter whose parents died in a plane crash that might have been caused by a terrorist. It just so happens that Niko’s brother Marco (Scott Adkins) is an Albanian terrorist. Coincidence? I think not!

Once you get past the most generic title ever, Dead Reckoning is just plain awful. I probably should have known what to expect when the movie opens with Eric “Never Turned Down a Job” Roberts, but also, I strong feel that Scott Adkins, better known for his martial arts skills, is easily one of the worst actors ever to be given lines to say in a movie. And yet, somehow, there are even worse actors in this movie. How is that even possible?

Although this presumed action movie opens with one of three or four fight sequences, we’re soon hanging out on the beach with a bunch of annoying teenagers, including Tillie, who is drowning the sorrow of recently losing her parents by literally drinking constantly in almost every single scene. When she meets the handsome Eastern European Niko, we think there’s some chance of Tillie being saved, but it isn’t meant to be.

Part of what’s so weird is that Dead Reckoning begins in territory familiar to fans of Barkowiak’s movies like Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave and Maximum Impact but then quickly shifts gears to a soppy teen romance. It’s weird enough to throw you off when at a certain point, it returns to the main plot, which involves Adkins’ terrorist plot and the search by FBI Agent Cantrell (played by James Remar) to find the culprit who killed Tillie’s parents. Oh, the FBI agent is also Tillie’s godfather. Of course, he is.

Beyond the fact that I spent much of the movie wondering what these teens in Nantucket have to do with the opening scene or the overall premise, this is a movie that anything that could be resembling talent or skill in Barkowiak’s filmmaking is long gone. Going past the horrendous writing – at one point, the exasperated and quite xenophobic Cantrell exclaims, “It’s been a nightmare since 9/11... who knows what's next?” -- or the inability of much of the cast to make it seem like anyone involved cares about making a good movie, the film is strangled by a score that wants to remind you it’s a thriller even as you watch people having fun on the beach on a sunny day.

Eventually, it does get back to the action with a fight between Cantrell and Marco… and then Marco gets into a fight with Tillie’s nice aunt nurse Jennifer where she has a surprisingly amount of fighting skills. There’s also Nico’s best friend who is either British or gay or both, but he spends every one of his scenes acting so pretentious and annoying, you kind of hope he’ll be blown up by terrorists. Sadly, you have to wait until the last act before the surfboards are pulled out.  (Incidentally, filmmakers, please don’t call a character in your movie “Marco,” especially if that character’s name is going to be yelled out repeatedly, because it will just lead to someone in the audience to yell out “Polo!” This is Uwe Boll School of Bad Filmmaking 101!)

The point is that the movie is just all over the place yet in a place that’s even remotely watchable. There even was a point when Tillie was watching the video of her parents dying in a car crash for the third or fourth time, and I just started laughing, since it’s such a slipshod scene.

It’s very likely that Dead Reckoning will claim the honor of being the worst movie I’ve seen this year. Really, the only way to have any fun watching this disaster is to play a drinking game where you take a drink every time Eisley’s character takes a drink. Or better yet, just bail on the movie and hit the bottle, because I’m sure whoever funded this piece of crap is.

Opening at New York’s Film Forum on Wednesday is Manfred Kirchheimer’s FREE TIME (Grasshopper/Cinema Conservancy), another wonderful doc from one of the kings of old school cinema verité documentary filmmaking, consisting of footage of New York City from 1960 that’s pieced together with a wonderful jazz score. Let me tell you that Kirschheimer’s work is very relaxing to watch and Free Time is no exception. Plus the hour-long movie will premiere in Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema, accompanied by Rudy Burckhardt’s 1953 film Under the Brooklyn Bridge which captures Brooklyn in the ‘50s.

Also opening in Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema Friday is Hong Khaou’s MONSOON (Strand Releasing) starring Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) as Kit, who returns to Ho Chi Minh City for the first time since his family fled after the Vietnam War when he was six. As he tries to make sense of it, he ends in a romance with Parker Sawyers’ American ex-pat and forms a friendship with a local student (Molly Harris). Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to watch this one before finishing up this column but hope to catch soon, because I do like Golding as an actor.

I shared my thoughts on Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer’s FIREBALL: VISITORS FROM DARK WORLDS, when it played at TIFF in September, but this weekend, it will debut on Apple TV+.  It’s another interesting and educational science doc from Herr Herzog, this time teaming with the younger Cambridge geoscientist and “volcanologist” to look at the evidence left behind by meteors that have arrived within the earth’s atmosphere, including the races that worship the falling space objects.

Opening at the Metrograph this week (or rather on its website) is Shalini Kantayya’s documentary CODED BIAS, about the widespread bias in facial recognition and the algorithms that affect us all, which debuted Weds night and will be available on a PPV basis and will be available through November 17. The French New Wave anthology Six In Paris will also be available as a ticketed movie ($8 for members/$12 for non-members) through April 13. Starting Thursday as part of the Metrograph’s “Live Screenings” is Steven Fischler and Joel Sucher’s Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists from 1980. Fischler’s earlier doc Frame Up! The imprisonment of Martin Sostre from 1974 will also be available through Thursday night.

Sadly, there are just way too many movies out this week, and some of the ones I just wasn’t able to get to include:

Dating Amber (Samuel Goldwyn) The Giant (Vertical) I Am Greta (Hulu) Dirty God (Dark Star Pictures) Where She Lies (Gravitas Ventures) Maybe Next Year (Wavelength Productions) Come Away (Relativity) Habitual (National Amusements) The Ride (Roadside Attractions, Forest, ESX) Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix) Transference: A Love Story (1091) Sasquatch Among the Wildmen (Uncork’d) All Joking Aside (Quiver Distribution) Secret Zoo (MPI Medi Group/Capelight Pictures)

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, I think you’re very special and quite good-looking. Feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[halfahundredcats]

Quarantine Tag Game

I was tagged by @hazzabeeforlou thank youuuuu!!!

Are you staying home from work/school?

Yes, I work for a public library, and I’ve been home on paid civil leave for the past week. The week before, we were closed to the public but still had to go in. It was a Whole Thing.

Who is at home with you?

My roommate (who is my ex-partner and current bff) and our 3 cats.

Are you a homebody?

Very much so. Big-time introvert with social anxiety. Staying in is not much of a hardship for me lol.

Any event that you were looking forward to that got canceled?

Nothing I’d gotten tickets for yet, but Jazz Fest (New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival) has been moved from the end of April to sometime in the Fall, and I had been planning to go to 2 days of that (Lizzo *and* Stevie Nicks, y’all). I have tickets for Louis and Harry in July and August respectively, so wait and see on those, I guess.

What movies have you been watching recently?

Not too many. I watched A Kind of Murder on Netflix the other night, and it was pretty bad. Also watched The Blackcoat’s Daughter recently, that was pretty good, but confusing.

What are you doing for self-care?

Haha. Not much of what I should be. The most important thing is having virtual sessions with my therapist. When I talk to her tomorrow, I’m sure we’ll be setting up a more structured routine for me.

What shows are you watching?

Almost caught up on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; rewatching Hannibal; just finished the second season of Sex Education last night (So. Many. Feelings.) Keeping up with B99, Superstore, Bob’s Burgers, and Prodigal Son on Hulu. Might fuck around and check out this Tiger King craziness.

What music have you been listening to?

Mostly Fine Line and Heartbreak Weather, but I was listening to my beloved Belle & Sebastian last night. Oh and Harry’s playlist from the Zane Lowe interview, good shit.

What books are you reading?

The Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (this is a cute middle-grade book, recommended if you liked The Westing Game or Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library)

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James (super-creepy thriller, reminds me of Jennifer McMahon)

Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg (historical fiction about a roguish transgender dude in the 1700s—gritty and bawdy, like Sarah Waters, with an interesting meta frame story)

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager (sleepaway camp thriller with unsolved disappearances, vaguely reminds me of the story Death By Landscape by Margaret Atwood).

And if you would like a fic rec, Whoever, However by Brooklyn_Babylon is *extremely* hot and well-written HL smut, featuring H’s recent BP photo shoot ensembles.

Imma tag @more-berries @iii-was-stumblin @romcomswithharry bc I know they usually like to do these kinds of things, but anyone who is seeing this, assume I’ve tagged you too 😘

[willbyington]

If I only had a brain...

Updated 5/22 - Y’all sure know how to make a guy feel loved!!! Thank you all for the comments, calls and texts! I was actually released today and am recovering the next few days at my parents house in Naperville.

So... here goes nothing. Get ready for a novel. I’m gonna start with saying 1) don’t worry (be happy) I’m fine and 2) sorry to any and all this will be a shock too... which is pretty much everyone other than some family, etc. If it makes you feel any better... this will even be an update/news to a lot of my aunts/uncles etc and again... sorry. That was my call and by design. And again... I’m great so don’t freak out. Enough on that, here’s the story of how my head was getting too big and something had to be done. Enjoy. Today... I had brain surgery. A very small one... small surgery, not brain... but one nonetheless. I’m ready for all the jokes.

Let’s start with how I got here. As all of you know and I’m sure are sick of hearing about... from late January to early March, I photographed 7 rock and roll cruises for my friends and the best clients in the world, Sixthman. Over that time, I took 98,500 photos and had an absolute blast documenting the best fans, friends and bands in the Caribbean. As many of you have said... best job ever... and it really kind of is. Fast forward to the last 3 days of the whole run... in the middle of the 311 Cruise. I woke up a couple days after photographing meet & greet photos of the entire ship with the band... and had full on 100% double vision.

As in... literally seeing two of everything. I really thought it was a combination of dehydration, exhaustion, hangover or some of all of the above. I thought I’d stay on the boat, sleep it off... and get back at it. That night came... I photographed bands, fans, etc and still had it. Same goes for all day Tuesday. I spoke with the medical staff on the boat to make sure I wasn’t dying... and all vitals were great. So I kept on working. When I closed one eye to get around or to take a photo... everything was normal. So shoot away I did. Man was it weird though. To anyone on the boat that I was a little off to or walked right past... sorry. Below you can get an idea of the final product and somewhat what I was seeing with two eyes open.

I flew home from 311 and went straight to my family doctor. That started a few weeks of doctors and tests. Long story not short... through an MRI... it was found that truly my head was too big. I had a non-cancerous benign pituitary adenoma... a tumor. I hope I typed that all right... basically the best part... NO CANCER... and it’s something 30-40% of society has in their head... you just never know about it till a random MRI or it does things like say... make you see double! If it had been smaller, we would have monitored it and I would have kept my little friend in my head. But because I’m an overachiever, was born in Texas and like to go big or go home... it was a macro one that had already impacted my vision and it had to come out. Again... a few people but very few knew this. Also... other than seeing double until the end of April... I felt 1000% and was ready to keep rocking and rolling. So with my doctor’s permission and approval... and no chance of worry (from him or me)... trust me... I made sure.... I went back to work with a little double vision corrected by closing one eye... so taking photos actually helped... over the next month, i photographed the Chicago White Sox Pride Crew, a corporate conference in Las Vegas, Cubs Opening Day, the Bon Jovi Cruise, The Murray Brothers Caddyshack Charity Golf Outing, a few shots at New Orleans Jazz Fest and finally Kid Rock’s Island Adventure before two great gigs back in Chicago this past weekend.

Almost everyone on all of those had no clue and that’s the way I like it. I’m stubborn like that. Again... sorry.

So here we are today and this note has rambled on way longer than it should. This is the part I’ll keep short. Today with the service of an excellent neurosurgeon and an ear/nose/throat surgeon (who actually graduated after me at WVHS) they made their way through my nose into my brain... and took out the tumor.

Everything seems to have gone great! I’m laid up in the hospital with more tubes and cords coming out of me than ever before but everyone is happy with the results so far. I’ll be here a day or two for monitoring but again... I don’t want your worries and no need to be sad. Life after 40 is an adventure, right? Rumor is recovery is fairly easy and other than no strenuous activities for a couple weeks (I avoid most of those anyway usually) Doc says I can be back photographing in days. Who needs a photo shoot? I gotta pay for this morphine and awesome hospital food somehow. Just kidding... I have insurance and it’s good. But I’m still ready to take your photos or sell you some prints!

A huge thanks to my parents and my sister and nephew for being here today! Meant the world to me.

So if you made it this far... I’m glad I could give you some entertainment now that Game of Thrones is over. Feel free to drop me a hello via email, Facebook, twitter or Instagram. And I hope to see you, my friends, all real soon.

Best, @WillByington

[nflfanpointii]

Jimmy Buffett taunts the NFL at Jazz Fest

Trop rock maestro and die-hard Saints fan Jimmy Buffett appeared at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival costumed as a sight-impaired NFL referee, satirizing the NFC championship game officiating gaffe that notoriously robbed the Who Dat Nation of a Super Bowl appearance. Stripped of the zebra stripes by a pair of Saintsations, Buffett serenaded the Acura Stage audience with a stream of his dreamy Caribbean story songs.

Buffett’s lyrics are as penetrating as anything Paul Simon ever penned, minus the angst. The most existential circumstance Buffett describes is the misplacement of a salt shaker and the slight ennui that comes with realizing paradise on earth can’t last forever. He is the hero of seaside hedonism and, on Sunday (May 5), the Fair Grounds environment rose up to meet his aesthetic. Wispy clouds, seagulls, beach balls and illicit smoke wafted through the glorious spring air.

Buffet reconfirmed his charming cheekiness when he told the crowd he couldn’t wait to sing “Margaritaville” on Cinco De Mayo, before launching into a breezy rendition of his mega hit.

Buffett also was thoughtful enough to wish Mick Jagger well, before leading the crowd in a sing-along of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” As all of New Orleans knows, Jagger was forced to scrub the Rolling Stones’ Jazz Fest performance because of heart valve surgery.

Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews followed Buffett on the Acura Stage, performing a heavy metal rock show in which the heavy metal was a brass trombone and trumpet. Cyril and Aaron Neville joined Andrews, wistfully revisiting the years in which the Neville Brothers closed out the fest.

On the opposite side of the race track John Fogerty closed his set with “Proud Mary,” which he noted was the same vintage as the 50th anniversary Jazz Fest.

[marvellouslymadmim]

Five Things

Thank you @culturepopper for the tag! 

5 Things in My Bag (Or something else if you don’t carry a bag):

Wallet

Phone

Keys to other people’s houses

Baby Lips #5 BECAUSE IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIPS AND YOUR LIFE

My planner + at least 2 pens

5 Things in My Room

A shadow box filled with fun notes and artwork from all the children I’ve worked with, over the years

Antique dresser I restored and repainted and IT IS THE CUTEST DAMN THING EVER

Dried flowers for rituals

A magical dress my second mum made (one day I’ll tell you the story)

Crystals. Lots of crystals.

5 of My Favourite Things

Maladaptive daydreaming while driving to work (sorry, fellow motorists).

Music.

Solo travel.

The way kids laugh when you can feel it shaking their entire belly, and they’re just the embodiment of true delight. It sounds like wine pouring too quickly from a bottle and it’s the best thing ever.

Singing people to sleep. I don’t care how fucking old you are, if I love you, I will sing to you at some point.

5 Things I’m Currently Into

MARIE KONDO WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. SHE IS A PURE PIXIE AND MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS OK.

It’s Carnival season so...New Orleans Jazz is on repeat and I’m pulling out my recipes for Mardi Gras.

Rediscovering joy in my life and surrounding myself with physical reminders of that joy.

Soft anything. Soft pillows, soft sheets, soft butches...

Deeply listening. Radical compassion is so hot right now.

5 Things on My To-Do List

I legit gotta start my yeast for tomorrow’s french bread. We can’t have crawfish dip without some NOLA style french bread!

Finally go back and read all the other TWW Valentines Lemon!Fest entries and squeal at all the smutty goodness.

Finish planning my trip to see the Redwoods and Sequoias. I’ve lived in California for nearly 5 years and I still I haven’t see them :/

Probably need to mail out that cool scarf I got for my best friend back in fucking November...maybe tomorrow though...wait tomorrow’s Mardi Gras, I will definitely be drunk off my ass...soo...Thursday sounds good.

I feel like there’s probably a bill I need to pay. There’s always a bill to be paid. Adulthood really balances out the whole “yeah you can have whatever you want for breakfast and get drunk and wear what you want” thing with a lot of dumb stuff like “hey, pay your gas bill so you can have hot water” and “when’s the last time you changed the oil in your car?”

No pressure, but let’s tag: @room-on-broom, @saltbroom, @cassiopeiasara, and anyone else who wants to play!

[noladrinks]

New from http://noladrinks.com/broadcast/noladrinks-show-3-25-19-french-quarter-fest-series-helen-gillet-and-derrick-freeman/

NOLADrinks Show – 3-25-19 – French Quarter Fest Series – Helen Gillet and Derrick Freeman

On this edition of The NOLADrinks Show we have our next French Quarter Fest Series from Louisiana Music Factory! With the festival right around the corner, we’re all getting excited! This time around, we talk with two highly multi-faceted musicians, cellist Helen Gillet and percussionist Derrick Freeman.

Pictured above from left – Derrick Freeman of Soul Brass Band, Helen Gillet, and Bryan Dias of The NOLADrinks Show.

NOLADrinks Show – 3-25-19 – French Quarter Fest Series – Helen Gillet and Derrick Freeman

We start the show off letting you know what’s on tap this week. We also let you know about next week’s show featuring interviews from the 3rd annual New Orleans Bourbon Festival.

Then, we’re off to our featured interview and the next installment of our French Quarter Fest Series from Louisiana Music Factory. We chat with two very talented musicians – percussionist Derrick Freeman, leader of Soul Brass Band among many other things, and Helen Gillet, a very eclectic cellist. Both draw on numerous influences and genres in their music.

We talk about their backgrounds in music, both started young, and some of their influences. Helen grew up in Singapore and comes from a bilingual household. Her multicultural upbringing is reflected in her music that ranges from Indian music to French chanteuses to rock. Derrick, a long-time New Orleans resident who studied at UNO, was raised in Houston and comes from a classical background along with musical theater. His projects have spanned jazz to New Orleans music to hip-hop. He is a leader of the Soul Brass Band.

Next up, we talk about food and drink. Helen and Derrick touch on their love of cooking and some of how their upbringing and experiences abroad have influenced their palettes. We even get into some favorite recipes and kitchen ideas!

We close out the radio portion of the show talking about French Quarter Festival and what it means for them to participate. Derrick and Helen talk about when and where they are playing and a bit about what to expect from their performances. They share some of their experiences playing past festivals – Derrick, for example, has played with a who’s who of the fest!

Pictured at left from left – Helen Gillet, Derrick Freeman of Soul Brass Band, and Bryan Dias of The NOLADrinks Show.

Helen and Derrick stick around for our podcast-only “Another Shot with NOLADrinks.��� We cover some more ground, namely, they both share some terrific stories from touring abroad – don’t miss it!

We close things out with our “Parting Shot” talking about how New Orleans defies genres.

The map below shows the location of Louisiana Music Factory. You can subscribe to, stream, and download The NOLADrinks Show podcast using the links and player at the top of the post!

Cheers, You All!

~ Bryan

Music Played on This Episode

Here’s the music we played going in and out of the commercial breaks and the radio portion close. All can be found in-person or online at Louisiana Music Factory:

  “Quand Je Marche” – Helen Gillet

“Circles” – Sould Brass Band

“Slow Drag Pavageau” – Helen Gillet

“Levels” – Soul Brass Band

“Vautour” – Helen Gillet

“Rendezvous” – Soul Brass Band