January Jams Part 3: Mean Girls & The Brothers Sun

To close out January, I offer up two extremely different pieces of pop culture that will cater to absolutely every conceivable genre you are yearning for. A bold claim, you say? I stand by it!

Mean Girls: Twenty years following the original film, we now have the obligatory nostalgic remake. However, this one, while still written by Tina Fey, is based off the subsequent Broadway musical adaptation. So now we have a tale of high school drama that is further enhanced with music.

I will not re-hash the story of this movie; you’ve had years to revel in its glory. In this version, Angourie Rice takes over as our heroine, 16-year-old Cady Heron, the new girl who has to make her way through the scary wilds of an American high school, and will face off against Regina George (played here by the fabulous Renee Rapp), the mean but popular girl who rules the school. There are some fun cameos throughout the film of the random adult teachers (Jon Hamm has a particularly hilarious turn as the hapless and bro-y sex education/PE teacher). But overall, this movie mostly serves as an homage to the original, gleefully calling back the most iconic lines, and reminding us just how we love Glen Coco.

The music is peppy and fun but not particularly memorable. I do find myself periodically humming “my name is Regina George,” while my fiancé has not stopped bopping to “Revenge Party” since we got out of the theater, but overall, I could take or leave the music. The joy of Mean Girls has always been in the cast and that dialogue, and here we get a faithful recreation of the original that left me wondering if we really even needed this version. If you loved the movie in 2004, you should watch this adaptation. But I doubt anyone will be re-watching this adaptation in years to come. The original is still impossible to beat and I might just need to go back and watch it again on October 3rd.

The Brothers Sun: I will confess, I was a little skeptical about this show at first. The pace was a little slow and I wasn’t sure I cared enough to keep watching hour-long episodes. But oh dear God, I have now devoured all eight episodes and this show is a freakin’ masterpiece that deserves your eyeballs posthaste.

Created by Byron Wu and Brad Falchuk, this is the story of the Sun family, Taiwanese gangster who lead a major crime syndicate. However, when the father, "Big Sun" (Johnny Kou) is attacked by a rival, the eldest son, Charles (Justin Chien) travels to Los Angeles to find his mother, who left the family years ago with his little brother in tow. Who plays the mother? Michelle Yeoh. So you better believe you're in for an amazing ride. Sam Song Li plays Bruce, Charles' younger brother who had no idea his family was involved in anything criminal and must suddenly come up to speed with a lot of troubling information when his introduction to his long-lost elder brother involves watching him and his mother dismember the dead body of an assassin that was trying to kill them. Talk about a complicated family reunion.

This show has some of the most incredible and impeccable stunt choreography I have ever seen on any screen. Every episode has a new miraculous action set piece that finds fun and inventive ways for our heroes to destroy their enemies and display their sublime martial arts skills (Justin Chien in particular is a delight to watch as he plows through everyone in his path). Things can get a little bloody, but mostly these fight sequences feel like you're at the ballet, and I would find myself perched on the edge of my seat, gleefully glued to my screen. The story is polished and intriguing and the final resolution is blissfully satisfying, while still leaving open possibilities for a second season that I need to happen NOW. So enter this kung fu wonderland and get ready for a bloody good time. 

Comedy Binges: Still Up, Colin from Accounts, What We Do in the Shadows

Do you need some laughs in a variety of accents? Then I've got a slew of great sitcoms to recommend to you, from England, Australia, and...Staten Island.

Still Up: Created by Steve Burge and Natalie Walter, this is a supremely charming little series about two insomniac friends who call each other up late at night to have long chats and go over the day's events or anything else going on in their life. Antonio Thomas and Craig Roberts play Lisa and Danny, and over the course of eight episodes, you will see the two of them get into some funny scrapes and then some bittersweet drama as they have to grapple with some difficult and challenging decisions. It's perhaps a testament to the chemistry that these two actors have that it came as a complete shock to me that we even get an episode about how they first met and became friends; as far as I was concerned, these two had known each other their whole lives.

This show is a gentle little comedy, very sweet, but also funny, with plenty of character growth and development from start to finish. You will like these characters, but also hope they can eventually get out of their own way and get their life back on track. And, spoiler alert, in episode eight, you'll be cheering for them as they do just that.

Colin from Accounts: Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall (who also wrote the show, and are married in real life, a charming fact I just learned!) star in this delightful tale about Ashley and Gordon, two single people who meet when Gordon accidentally runs over a dog because Ashley distracted him on the street. The dog doesn't die, but after they take him to a vet, they have to pay for a significant surgery and now have to take care of this special-needs animal. Gordon is a middle-aged man who owns a brewery, while Ashley is a struggling medical student, and as they get increasingly entangled in each other's lives, much comedy, drama, and yes, even romance, results. 

The tone of this show can veer largely into drama in some episodes, and you're going to be made uncomfortable in the tradition of squirmy British sitcoms everywhere (makes sense that Australians would have a similar sitcom sensibility as their colonizers). But overall, this is a beautiful romantic comedy about two slightly weird people with a lot of baggage who come together in an unexpected fashion. And yes, you need to watch it to find out who Colin from Accounts is.

What We Do in the Shadows: I know I'm late to the party, OK? This show has already been on for five seasons but I only just binged it all last year and am now here to tell the rest of you stragglers to get caught up. If you never saw the original movie by Taika Waititi, this is the story of a bunch of ancient vampires who live together in a house, and have a human familiar who has to provide them with humans to feed on and generally deal with the admin of getting by in the 20th century without getting caught. 

In the TV show, the setting has been moved from New Zealand to the rather comic location of Staten Island, and we have Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, and Mark Proksch as the vampires (Kristin Schaal joins in the fun in later seasons), along with Harvey Guillen as their hapless familiar, Guillermo, who keeps laboring under the delusion that he will be turned into a vampire any day now. Every single season of this show is incredible, with the stakes constantly getting raised and the vampire world-building always leading to increasing complications and the introduction of further threats to our merry band of selfish but somehow still lovable protagonists. They always manage to find a fresh take on this tale as old as time, and the shenanigans are always wild and wonderful, whether they're having to deal with other supernatural beings, a bunch of clueless humans, or the endless bureaucracy of the Vampiric Council. So sink your teeth into this show - you'll have a bloody good time.

January Jams Part 2: The Iron Claw & Maestro

Need to get more biopics into your cinematic viewing rotation? Well there are currently two powerful films you can watch. Warning though, you might have to bring a hanky.

The Iron Claw: Written and directed by Sean Durkin, this is the true story of the Von Erich family, a wrestling dynasty that was dogged by horrifying tragedy in the early 1980s. Zac Efron plays Kevin, the eldest son of the family, and boy is he ripped and almost unrecognizable in this role. He is a quiet but stoic man who loves his younger brothers deeply and is desperate to take care of the family. Unfortunately, he is up against the wild ambitions of his father, Fritz (Holt McCallany), a former wrestler who never garnered as much fame as he thought he deserved and is now hellbent on creating a family wrestling empire that will take the wrestling world by storm. 

The second oldest son, Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), is a discus thrower due to compete in the 1980 Summer Olympics, but the boycott sends him back home where he now joins Kevin and their other brother David (Harris Dickinson) in the ring to compete as a fierce trio of brothers. Meanwhile, their youngest brother, Mike (Stanley Simons), would much rather be a musician, but don't you worry, he'll end up in the ring too. 

The wrestling sequences are wonderfully choreographed but the meat of this story is about the string of tragedies that hits this family in rapid succession, leading Kevin to become convinced the family curse might not just be a superstition but actual fact. I won't give anything way - suffice to say, I was expecting one tragic death and then got way more than I had bargained for. It's a lot to take, but these actors are incredible, particularly Efron as the stalwart older brother who has to watch his beautiful family unravel in front of his eyes and has to reckon with the pressures of toxic masculinity and the unhealthy relationship he has with his father. It is beautifully written, powerfully acted, and even though it's heavy, it will certainly move your heart. Watch this movie and then go tell all the men in your life to have a nice little cry. They will thank you for it.

Maestro: Directed by Bradley Cooper, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Josh Singer and then stars in it, this is the story of Leonard Bernstein, the man who was America's first great renowned conductor. It chronicles his early beginnings when he got the call to make his conducting debut at the New York Philharmonic when a guest conductor fell sick and his subsequent meteoric rise. It is also a love story, a tale of his relationship with the actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan, putting in a dazzling performance), who he would go on to marry. Their marriage was complicated by the fact that Bernstein continued to have affairs with men, so you know...that's a bit of a challenge.

If you are a Bernstein fan, this movie should be right up your alley. The score consists entirely of Bernstein's compositions, so you may notice familiar snippets throughout the film. As I am a Bernstein novice, I was less moved by that aspect of the film, but I did find the acting by Cooper and Mulligan to be quite stellar, with both affecting those strange pseudo-British accents of the 1940s that I associate with screwball comedies. They banter deliciously in the early parts of their courtship. and later on, when their marriage has started to sour, there is a surreal and bizarrely comic scene, where they are having a fight while the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade takes place outside their windows. 

This is a visually inventive movie, and it captures so much of the joy and passion that Bernstein put into his music. It isn't a standard, dull biopic, instead finding clever cinematographic ways to elevate the material and give us something that feels just a little bit out there. It's not a hagiography, but an honest portrait of a complicated and brilliant man, and it might compel you to spend some more time exploring the many sides of Leonard Bernstein.

January Jams Part 1: Poor Things & The Color Purple

All the movies seeking awards recognition are out in theatres, so it’s time to watch them and gear up for the Oscars. Here are two wildly different movies that feature wildly wonderful lead performances to kick off your New Year:

Poor Things: After giving us The Favourite, writer Tony McNamara and director Yorgos Lanthimos have teamed up again to give us this film adaptation of the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray. They’re also working with Emma Stone again, who delivers a remarkable performance that is destined for a nomination. She plays Bella Baxter, a sort of Frankenstein’d woman who has the brain of an infant courtesy of the creepy surgeon, Godwin Baxter (Willem Defoe, in a piece of perfect casting). Godwin is your classic mad scientist, obsessed with interspecies crossovers and pushing the limits of what the human body can endure. He enlists the help of Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), an eager young medical student who is fascinated by Godwin’s work and who agrees to track Bella’s progress to adulthood. 

Unfortunately, no one accounts for the arrival of Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a lusty lawyer who takes a fancy to the naive Bella. He convinces her to go away on an adventure with him and the two embark on a long journey where our heroine gets to explore her sexuality and discover the joys of female autonomy. This is a very funny but weird movie, one that is stylistically inventive and fascinating but terrifically odd in terms of content. 

Poor Things is enjoyable but I didn’t find it particularly profound. The most compelling things about it are the cinematography by Robbie Ryan, the dissonant score by Jerskin Fendrix, and the incredible way that Stone moves: she has this unsteady gait of a child who is just coming to terms with having limbs, and she truly delivers a remarkable performance, even if all the things she is being asked to do in this film are weird and raunchy as hell. If you are not into body horror, you might need to skip this film as aspects of it will make you squeamish. But if you are into funny and creepy vibes, this could be your next favourite film.

The Color Purple: Written by Marcus Gardley and directed by Blitz Bazawule, based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker, as well as the subsequent film and musical adaptations that have taken place in the decades since, my views on this movie are very similar to my views on Poor Things. Namely, the movie is fine, but the real reason to watch is a standout performance from the lead actor, Fantasia Barrino, who plays Celie. 

I had never seen or read any version of The Color Purple prior to this movie so the story was completely new to me. Unfortunately, not new enough - I tend to have very little patience with narratives where women of color are exploited, abused, molested, etc. Which is immediately how this tale begins, in 1909 Georgia, with the teen Celie (played by Phylicia Pearl Mpasi) giving birth to her second child after her guardian impregnated her again, and then he takes the baby away from her. He then marries her off to Mister (Colman Domingo), a creepy man who already has three kids at home and needs a wife he can abuse and mostly treat as a maid. And oh yeah, Celie’s sister, Nettie, who is very intelligent and has big ambitions, is forced to run away when both their guardian and Mister separately try to assault her. Yeesh.

So that’s how we begin and what follows is a story of Celie facing a long life of abuse and neglect. But then she encounters some new women like Sofia and Shug (the magnificent Danielle Brooks and Taraji P. Henson) who have figured out how to live life on their own terms and not kowtow to the abusive men in their lives. Celie is initially bewildered by these women, and they are also bewildered by how Celie can be such a mouse who doesn’t hit back or demand more respect from Mister. It’s frustrating because while these women are good role models, they don’t really know how to help Celie, failing to recognize how a woman who has only known cruelty since she was a little girl might have no concept of her own self-worth and the right to seek better treatment. 

Nonetheless, I did find myself very moved at various stages of this film, and watching Celie gradually fight back and come into her own is an incredible thing to witness. I just didn’t want to watch her being treated so poorly to begin with. The ending is truly joyful and uplifting, and the movie does maintain a rousing tone throughout, thanks to it being a musical with some powerful songs that take place in some rather extraordinary and creative set pieces. It’s a novel visual spectacle, but I wish it didn’t tell such a tale as old as time.

Mystery Binges: Bodies & A Murder at the End of the World

It’s January and you need a juicy murder mystery to binge over the cold weekend, right? Well, I’ve got two great shows for you, so head on over to a warm couch and settle in for a spell.

Bodies: Do you love time travel as much as you love mysteries? And British people? Well, this is the show for you. Created by Paul Tomalin and based on the graphic novel by Si Spencer, this is an eight-episode twisty mystery that takes place across four different time periods (one of which includes the future), so prepare to be mildly confused at the beginning and then delighted as you gradually put together all the pieces like a glorious cinematic jigsaw puzzle. 

Our protagonists across these four different eras are played by Kyle Soller, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Amaka Okafor, and Shira Haas. The one thing they all have in common is that they are police detectives, but of course, that means very different things in 1890 versus 2053. And all four of them are investigating the mysterious appearance of the same dead body in the middle of the same London street, multiple years apart. How is that possible? Oh, just you wait.

Obviously, it’s hard to talk about this show since you don’t want to give anything away. So just take my word for it that it is intriguing and captivating and you won’t be bored for a second. The costume and production design are absolutely impeccable, even when the show must do that awkward thing of trying to portray how people dress and look in the future. It’s the perfect binge watch, a show you won’t be able to stop hitting “Play Next Episode” on as you encounter every conceivable cliffhanger. What are you waiting for?!

A Murder at the End of the World: Created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, this is an intriguing seven-episode series that delivers a juicy mystery. Our main protagonist is Darby Hart (Emma Corrin), a young woman who has just published a true crime memoir about how she and her ex-boyfriend, Bill (Harris Dickinson), investigated a series of cold cases and eventually tracked down a serial killer. She then receives an invitation to join an exclusive gathering at a remote Icelandic retreat owned by tech billionaire, Andy Ronson (Clive Owen). She has no idea why she has been invited, but she could use some extra publicity for her book sales and decides to attend. Of course, once she gets there, things go awry. And as per the title of the show, she has to solve a murder.

There are twists and turns aplenty and, spoiler alert, there may be more than just one murder before the show is done. There’s a blizzard that cuts off access to the outside world so it’s this great locked room mystery with some real And Then There Were None vibes as our heroine must identify the killer before everyone ends up dead. Along the way there are many red herrings, flashbacks to her past, and a supporting cast filled with mysterious strangers who all have alibis and motives and shady pasts that need to be looked into. 

Is the ending any good? I certainly thought so! This show is incredibly moody and dark and cold, like it’s Scandinavian setting, but the reveal in the final episode really tickled me. Corrin is doing fine work throughout (with a very good American accent) but the show could sometimes drag in the middle episodes and I wasn’t always fully engaged with what was going on or the motivations of the other random characters. But that finale was well worth the binge and I'm intrigued to hear if you think so too.

December Movies Part 5: Anyone but You, Migration, Ferrari, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan

Alright, it's time for a buffet of movie reviews to close out 2023. Do you want a raunchy romcom, an animated movie about some birds, a biopic about a man who made some cars, or a Bollywood drama about social media? Well, keep reading!

Anyone but You: I wasn't going to watch this movie. But then I discovered it was directed by Will Gluck (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Ilana Wolpert), and my interest was piqued. He directed the phenomenal Easy A, so I figured maybe this movie wouldn't be terrible. And oh man. It was splendid! Starring Sydney Sweeny and Glen Powell (two wildly attractive yet also thankfully personable actors) as Bea and Ben, this is a story of two people who had a disastrous one-night stand but now have to reunite at the wedding of Bea's sister and Ben's childhood best friend...in Australia. They hate each other, but they don't want to ruin the wedding weekend, so they decide they need to put up a front. Obviously, things don't go smoothly.

It's very tropey, but it's a classic, and the script has just the right amount of sizzle to make this a very R-rated comedy. Also, please note the couple's names: Bea and Ben. This entire movie is an ode to Beatrice and Benedict from Much Ado About Nothing, with references to the play sprinkled throughout the film as delightful nerdy Shakespearean Easter eggs. The tone is always light and breezy but also carries a great deal of heart, and the supporting cast are quite wonderful and unexpected and keep things moving along. If you've been pining for a classic romcom, your prayers have been answered. Get thee to this movie!

Migration: Do you want something more PG-rated? Then this might be the film for you. Written by Mike White (creator of The White Lotus, but don't expect any sexy shenanigans or murder here) and directed by Benjamin Renner, this is a charming movie about a family of mallard ducks that decide to migrate to Jamaica for the winter. They are led by patriarch, Mack (voiced brilliantly by Kumail Nanjiani), who is very anxious about leaving the comfortable pond they have always lived in. But he wants to please his wife, Pam (the equally brilliant Elizabeth Banks), who is longing for adventure, so they embark on this journey with their kids Dax and Gwen (Caspar Jennings and Traci Gazal) and Mack's grumpy uncle Dan (Danny DeVito). 

Unfortunately, they get a little lost, and instead of ending up in the Caribbean, they find themselves in the wilds of New York City. Here they befriend a pigeon (natch) named Chump, voice by Awkwafina, and many adventures ensue, some of which involve a very evil chef who wants to turn them all into dinner. It's a fun, diverting, entertaining movie, and the ideal treat if you're a New Yorker who loves seeing the city in animated form.

Ferrari: Written by Tory Kennedy Martin and directed by Michael Mann, I like to think of this movie as House of Gucci: The Sequel. Which is slightly unfair because it's not an awful movie. But because you can't even laugh at it, you're just left spending two rather dull hours watching non-Italian actors do their best Italian accents and deal with the dramatic fallout of mixing business with pleasure. 

Adam Driver plays the titular Enzo Ferrari, and we follow his strained relationship with his wife, Laura (Penelope Cruz), with whom he founded his company. It's 1957, they are having financial difficulties, their son Dino just died last year at the age of 24, and oh, Enzo has been having an affair since World War II with another woman, Lina (Shailene Woodley), with whom he has a son. So you know, typical Italian stuff. On top of this, we have lots of car racing, lots of drama with Ferrari's drivers, and the high stakes of the upcoming Mille Miglia race throughout Italy. This is a film about a man who is desperately trying to maintain control as every aspect of his life is evading that control, and I don't know. I didn't find it particularly compelling, I thought the actors were fine but only serviceable, and overall, it left me cold. But maybe if you're a huge fan of Ferrari and his legacy, this is exactly what you've been looking for? Your mileage may vary. Pun intended.

Kho Gaye Hum Kahan: Directed by Arjun Varain Singh (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Yash Sahai and my girls Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti), this is a vibey and solid Bollywood Netflix movie about the trials and tribulations of our modern age and everyone's smartphone addiction. We follow a trio of friends from boarding school: Imaad (Siddhanth Chaturvedi), who is a stand-up comedian and is a commitment-phobe who is constantly going on Tinder dates with women he will never meet a second time; Ahana (Ananya Pandey), who thought she was in a solid relationship with her boyfriend of two years, but is now floundering after he has unexpectedly asked her for a break; and Neil (Adarsh Gourav), a personal trainer who still lives at home with his parents but is desperate to build a business, get some celebrity clients, make a lot of money and live his best life. 

These are three well-rounded characters and as the film progresses, each gets a robust storyline that centers on how their constant reliance on their phones and the need to compare themselves to what they see on their Instagram feeds is fueling immense amounts of loneliness and insecurity. There's nothing revelatory in this movie, but it is well-told and hits very close to home, particularly when assessing the horrors of the modern dating landscape. This movie can get intense at times, but overall, you can let it wash over you and bask in its moody Mumbai vibe. In that way, it's just like doomscrolling through your phone.

December Movies Part 4: Anatomy of a Fall & American Fiction

Seeking some quality cinematic fare that's bound to get some awards love? Well then I highly recommend a tense courtroom drama/thriller that is partly in French, and a brilliant comedy about a Black writer who decides to write "a Black book". That's what we call range!

Anatomy of a Fall: Directed by Justine Triet (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Arthur Harari), this movie won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival (Triet is only the third female director to win this award). It stars Sandra Huller as Sandra Voyter, a German author who lives in a remote house in France with her French husband, Samuel (Samuel Theis) and blind son, Daniel (Milo Machado Graner). The movie opens with Samuel's dead body outside on the snow, which Daniel discovers when he is returning from a walk. What then follows is an impeccable mystery and courtroom drama where we try to figure out the circumstances of this death and whether our heroine is a murderer.

This movie is simply brilliant. There's a crucial language component to it - a lot of this film is in English, because Sandra's French is not that good and she will speak English to her son or her lawyer, or eventually in court when the questioning is too complicated for her to have to deal with in French. It's fascinating to see how things sometimes get lost in translation - I'm sure there were numerous other examples, but I found it weirdly telling that at one point during questioning, Sandra replies (in English) that a particular passage in one of her books was 20 pages long, and the prosecuting lawyer says (in French), 27. It's not a material error, but still conveys how dangerous this woman's position is, going to trial in a country where she doesn't speak the language with ease and could easily have her words misinterpreted.

The real star though is Milo Machado Graner, who plays her young son, Daniel. He is precocious and wise, wears all his emotions on his face, and despite the extreme trauma of the events that are transpiring, does some significant detective work to help us reach a satisfying conclusion. It's an absolutely gripping movie, unfolding mostly in a courtroom, with increasingly tawdry revelations and red herrings. I was glued to the screen and I'm willing to bet you will be too.

American Fiction: What an incredible movie. Based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett and directed by Cord Jefferson (who also adapted the screenplay), this might be the funniest movie I watched this year. Funny with a great deal of satirical bite.

Jeffrey Wright plays Thelonius "Monk" Ellison, an English professor who is fed up with his woke white students and fed up with white publishers who won't publish his novels of literary fiction because they aren't "Black enough." As a joke, he sits down and writes a stereotypically Black novel, one full of slang and downtrodden characters, gun violence, clashes with the police and the other tropes that pop culture has taught us to expect from Black characters. He sends this to his agent, who is rightfully appalled, but Monk insists that the novel be sent out to various publishers under a pseudonym. The intention is for the publishers to realize it is a joke and that he is mocking them for their racist taste. But of course, turns out they love the book and want to buy it for substantial sums of money. 

What follows is insane and wonderful and thought-provoking. And utterly hysterical. Monk must now pretend to be the author of this godforsaken book, and the lie keeps building and building upon itself as the book continues to get more acclaim. Along the way, he is also dealing with some family drama, with folks like Sterling K. Brown and Tracee Ellis Ross playing his amazing siblings, as well as dealing with his anger towards another Black author that he deems to be a sellout, played by the wonderful Issa Rae. It's a wild ride, and the ending is particularly sublime. You absolutely MUST watch this film - it is incisive, funny, and moving, an absolutely heartwarming piece of magic that also has deeply cutting things to say about American society. Cord Jefferson miraculously balances the tone of this film with pitch perfect precision and Jeffrey Wright delivers the performance of his career - give them all the awards.