Film and Music Reviews and Suggestions
I recently read Mark Hoppus’ autobiography, Fahrenheit 182. As I was listening to the history of each album, I was going back and listening to them.
I realized that the band had a lot of songs that could tell the story of the life with a dog. From seeing the dog for the first time, to house training, to the dog running away, to the day the dog crossed the rainbow bridge.
So I made a playlist.
If you follow the songs in order, it kind of plays out like a little story:
TV Show or Movie: Movie
Where to Watch: Theaters
Genre: Black comedy, action, thriller
Writer: John Patton Ford
Director: John Patton Ford
Cast: Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley
Synopsis: Disowned at birth by his obscenely wealthy family, a blue-collar will stop at nothing to reclaim his inheritance, no matter how many relatives stand in his way.
Review:
Trailer:
TV Show or Movie: Movie
Where to Watch: AppleTV, Prime, YouTube, Google Play, and Mubi
Genre: Drama, comedy
Writer: Mark Phinney, Sean McGinley
Director: Mark Phinney
Cast: Mike Mitchell, Julie Mann, Jason Dugre, Charlene Amoia, Jeremy Brothers, Michael Weil
Synopsis: Mark lives in constant fear, anxious about flying, friendships, relationships, and his career, struggling to maintain a sense of calm and control. When he meets the girl of his dreams, his carefully managed life is thrown into turmoil. To pursue love and connection, Mark must confront his fears, navigate his chaotic mind, and find inner peace. This journey challenges him to embrace vulnerability, confront anxiety, and discover balance between love and self-acceptance
Trailer:
More on the film:
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt29281893/
https://letterboxd.com/film/fear-of-flying-2024/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fear_of_flying
Stream it here:
https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/fear-of-flying/umc.cmc.453iu1roravahcmuz8a7ujbtx?l=en-US
https://mubi.com/en/us/films/fear-of-flying-2024
https://youtu.be/hZjcSKR_978?si=U5yg7lkDGSTHULyW
https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Fear_Of_Flying?id=_wwDzsSslPs.P
Buy it here:
TV Show or Movie: Movie
Where to Watch: Theaters
Genre: Adventure, Animated, Sports, Comedy, Family
Writer: Aaron Buchsbaum, Teddy Riley
Story by Nicolas Curcio, Peter Chiarelli
Director: Tyree Dillihay
Cast: Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Aaron Pierre, Nicola Coughlan, David Harbour, Nick Kroll, Jenifer Lewis, Patton Oswalt, Jelly Roll, Jennifer Hudson, Sherry Cola, Eduardo Franco, Andrew Santino, Bobby Lee, and basketball player Stephen Curry
Synopsis: A small goat with big dreams gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball, a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world.
Review: I am so impressed by kids movies. This isn’t anything new, but I love how many jokes they include in there for both children and adults. And how many little details there are to every single shot.
The animation to this movie was very impressive. Which is no surprise, as it was the same people behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The animation flows so well with the fast action through the film.
The movie has a lot of heart and a lot of message.
Trailer:
Venue: Colonial Theater
Presented in Partnership with Nova Arts
Date: Sunday, January 31st
Opener: Adam and the Flood
Review: I was so excited when I saw this show first announced. I have been a fan of Reggie Watts for a few decades now, but have never had the chance to see him live. And the cherries on top: The show was 30 minutes from where I grew up and a hometown rapper I like was opening the show.
The Colonial Theater was has been around for a century and just had a major upgrade. The venue reminded me of some of the venues in Boston like Bosch in Boston. It’s a beautiful older venue covered in gold, long bannisters, and a good view no matter where you are seated.
Adam and the Flood, formerly known as Adeem/Glue, is the newest project by Adam. He is a Keene native who now resides in my hometown. I saw him perform twice years back and he put on such a good, live show. His music is always filled with powerful samples, strong beats, and lyrics that mean something. This new project is fronted by a full band and Adam brought his bassist out for his show at the Colonial. They pushed through ten songs, while Adam talked a little inbetween each about the meaning behind them, the rappers who inspired him, his native roots, being a father. If you get a chance to see them, make it happen!
Setlist for Adam and the Flood:
I have been a fan of Reggie Watts for as long as I can remember. From his Conan appearances, his band leading duty on Comedy Bang Bang, the man has had a long and successful career in music comedy. I did stand up for a decade and occasionally played the piano or guitar and did one-liners and songs. Though I could never do what Reggie did, I remember researching his equipment, his setup, everything. I was so impressed by him.
The German-born, Minnesotan demonstrates his vocals on stage from bass to tenor, that man can hit all notes. Which is no surprise, as he formerly lead bands including the soul/funk Maktub.
On stage, Watts beatboxes, sings, raps, and loops sounds together to create hilariously skilled songs. And the coolest part: No two sets are alike. As in, everything is improvised. You could follow him for a whole tour and every night would be new. Don’t expect to see him and hear a favorite from one of his live recordings or late night appearances. Instead, expect to hear songs about the city he is performing in, songs about the crowd, songs about topical events.
Pictures:
Where to find the artists:
Adam and the Flood
Reggie Watts
I was scrolling Facebook yesterday when I saw the news that Catherine O’Hara had died. I figured it was just another spam account that I had followed by accident. That felt easier to believe. I guess it was wishful thinking. I then went to Google, where I saw countless news publications sharing the same news. And then came the tributes from those close to her.
Macaulay Culkin, Dan Levy, Pedro Pascal—so many people talked about what a joy it was to work with her.
O’Hara got her start in Canadian comedy. She worked alongside so many talents, including Eugene Levy and John Candy, on SCTV. She was also a cast member on Saturday Night Live. She went on to become everyone’s favorite mother in the Home Alone films. She dominated the mockumentary world in Christopher Guest films and worked alongside Tim Burton, including the famous dance scene in Beetlejuice.
More recently, O’Hara co-starred in Seth Rogen’s The Studio as a former executive pushed out because of her age. And, of course, we loved her as the once-affluent Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek.
Roses bloopers for the fruit wine commercial is one of my favorite performances of hers. https://youtu.be/jVojhvifruk?si=flhNOEywcGGjoteh
Her role as the struggle mother in the 2002 comedy Orange County was one of the first things I saw her in and will always be one of my favorites. Her character tries to keep it together as a trophy wife and mother to a slacker played by Jack Black and an over achiever played by Colin Hanks.
https://youtu.be/DnwnDFr9kOs?si=GGFNAfMPgkkHx-Sj
And everyone loves Best in Show. Which is fair. It’s fantastic. But A Mighty Wind is just as good, if not better. O’Hara’s relationships with longtime screen partner Eugene Levy is so good in this movie. https://youtu.be/QwLZfPPM7GQ?si=WyymHHW9Ax9o_MJf
Rest in peace to an absolute comedy legend.
TV Show or Movie: Movie
Where to Watch: Theaters
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Writer: Mark Swift, Damián Shannon
Director: Sam Rami
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brieb
Synopsis: An employee and her insufferable boss become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. Here, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, will they make it out alive?
Over the past two years, I wrote four children’s books. Three of them I plan to turn into series. I took a break from those to put together a book of short horror stories.
Some stories we’re written long ago. Some we’re just ideas in my head that I finally put to paper. And some of them are brand new. I would love to one day to turn them all into a television show or turn one or two of them into a movie. More realistically, I hope someone else turns them into a show or movie.
I was raised on thing like Stephen King films and The Twilight Zone. My stories are heavily inspired by those things.
There are stories about ghosts, spiders, monsters, torture.
Pick up a copy here: https://a.co/d/7EQyj0d
TV Show or Movie: Movie
Where to Watch: Theaters
Genre: Horror
Writer: Johannes Roberts, Ernest Riera
Director: Johannes Roberts
Cast: Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander, Troy Kotsur
Synopsis: A group of friends’ tropical vacation turns into a terrifying, primal tale of horror and survival.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/wo87F-va410?si=tIwG7ag9OIrXja4k
Review: if you have read this site, then you know that I am a big fan of horror. It is my favorite genre. I just released a book of short horror stories. The last two October, I watched 31 horror movies that were new to me.
I’m looking forward to this year as we have a lot of good horror. Movies coming out. A new Silent Hill film, and a new Resident Evil film. We have Ready or Not 2, Clayface, a new Evil Dead, a new a Scream entry. And I’m sure many more movies in the Poohniverse.
I was excited for primate from the first trailer that I saw. It reminded me of Jordan Peele’s Nope. At least the opening. Monkeys are one of my absolute favorite animals. But I also enjoy a horror movie about monkeys. Such as 28 Days Later or Congo.
I didn’t know if this movie would be kitschy or not. I walked out out of the movie, saying that I really enjoyed it, but then saying that I felt there were some plot holes within the writing. But the more I thought about them, the more they made sense. The film follows a chimpanzee who gets rabies in Australia. A good fact to go into going into this Movie is that rabies do not exist in that continent.
Troy, who played the father in the Oscar winning CODA also plays the dad in this. There are some cool sign language scenes used between the humans and the chimpanzee and also some where the humans are communicating in sign language quietly, to avoid the ravenous Chimp. And there’s also a very cool, unique scene, where we take the POV of the death, father, which sets up some good scares.
For some reason, I didn’t think that the kills would be as brutal and gory. But I was wrong. The first one alone was very graphic. I felt like I was brought back again to when I took my girlfriend to see the substance last year, and she covered her face for a half of the movie.
Category: Movie, Movie Reviews
TV Show or Movie: Movie
Where to Watch: Theaters
Genre: Animal Adventure, Buddy Comedy, Computer Animation, Urban Adventure, Whodunnit, Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Crime
Writer: Jared Bush
Director: Jared Bush, Byron Howard
Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Shakira, Idris Elba, Patrick Warburton, Quinta Brunson, Danny Trejo, Alan Tudyk, Nate Torrence, Don Lake, Bonnie Hunt, Jenny Slate
Synopsis: Brave rabbit cop Judy Hopps and her friend, the fox Nick Wilde, team up again to crack a new case, the most perilous and intricate of their careers.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/BjkIOU5PhyQ?si=eIRIBec_s5-22Yl9
Review: A Silence of the Lambs reference and a Shining reference in the sequel. A Godfather reference in both. These movies now how to cater to children and to their parents. Ke Huy Quan has the most adorable voice and plays such a cute snake. And we get the whole Handsome podcast hosts of Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin.