With Romance and Music, “Cyrano” is Optimistically Transformative (Review)

I love Urban Dictionary. Aside from including fantastically inappropriate terms that would never make it into the actual dictionary, there are words made into verbs and adjectives for no conceivable reason. One of those words is ‘Cyrano,’ for which the top definition is:

“...a situation when a nerdy guy helps a handsome guy date the girl that he loves by telling him what to say and what to do.”

The adjoining example (for how to use the word) is:

“Our boss asked us to meet him here and he is not here yet, he just tried to put us together, he cyrano’d us. Let’s make him win, kiss me.”

After my inevitable Urban Dictionary rabbit hole, I was able to laugh at the total absurdity of the word “Cyrano” being used in that context. I would be willing to bet money that no one has ever used the word like that in the entire history of the world — and how would we know? Let’s just say that I win.

Jokes aside, the definition is the bare basics of the story of Cyrano de Bergerac, a real-life poet whose life was dramatized by Edmond Rostand in 1897. The play was subsequently adapted into a musical in 2018 by Erica Schmidt, which led to the creation of the movie musical starring Peter Dinklage.

The Urban Dictionary definition is surprisingly accurate. Commonly taunted soldier Cyrano (Peter Dinklage) is in love with his childhood friend Roxanne (Haley Bennett), and uses the man that Roxanne loves, Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) to communicate his own love with her through letters. Christian himself is not very romantic, and seeks Cyrano’s help, and as events become more complicated, Cyrano must decide whether to reveal his own feelings for Roxanne.

“Family Squares” Confronts the Reality of Virtual Living (Review)

At this point, it’s a cliché to say that COVID-19 has impacted our lives in ways we never thought possible two years ago. Now, it’s the new normal, and Family Squares proves it.

Written and directed by Stephanie Laing (director of HBO Max’s Made for Love), Family Squares is set almost entirely over various Zoom and FaceTime calls, chronicling a family’s process of grief and acceptance after their nearest and dearest, Grandma Mabel (June Squibb) passes away live on a video call, leaving behind a series of clues that could reveal one of the family members is not who they claim to be.

The main selling point here is the cast — the Zoom-oriented premise means that barely any of the actors have to film together, and seemingly anyone is fair game. Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Judy Greer (13 Going on 30), Billy Magnussen (Into the Woods), Scott MacArthur (The Mick), Ann Dowd (Mass) and Henry Winkler (Happy Days) are among the family members, with Sam Richardson (currently starring in Apple TV+’s The Afterparty) appearing as Grandma Mabel’s attorney. It’s one of the best non-murder mystery casts I’ve seen in a while, and it may not have been possible had this been filmed anywhere but virtually.

Review: Scarily Effective “The Cursed” Brings Back Werewolf Horror

Writer/director Sean Ellis’s werewolf movie The Cursed, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival under the (far superior) title Eight for Silver, begins rather unassumingly for a period horror movie: we’re thrown into the trenches of the First World War, as a cloud of mustard gas descends upon a crowd of French troops. One of the soldiers is taken to a field hospital where his wounds are attended to, and a bullet is pulled from his chest curiously not of German make or model.

We’re left to puzzle this out-of-context question as we’re taken back twenty-five years to rural France, as the property of land baron Seamus Laurent (Alistair Petrie) is occupied by a non-threatening Romani clan who purports to have a claim to the land as well. Laurent mercilessly slaughters them, unknowingly unleashing a curse on his family and their village.

Review: Violent, Gory and Exciting “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is a Legacy Sequel Done Right

Modern horror’s oldest franchise is back, and this time it falls victim to what is rapidly becoming a progressive problem in long-running horror series — it copies another franchise’s story approach. This seems like a bad omen, but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre somehow defies all odds and makes it work.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Forgoing decent set-up or too much explanation, Texas Chainsaw Massacre really goes for it. Our main characters, and future corpses, are moneymaker Melody (Sarah Yarkin), her sister Lila (Elsie Fisher) and her partner Dante (Jacob Latimore). They travel to a small Texas town on a business trip, ignoring all omens of doom along the way, and find only violence and blood waiting for them in the form of unhinged cannibal Leatherface (Mark Burnham).

Review: “Uncharted” Fails to Break the Video Game Movie Curse

At a certain point, it feels like if you’ve seen one action movie, you’ve seen ’em all. Occasionally, there are exceptions that give me hope for the action genre, and prove that the market is still alive for original material. Uncharted, adapted from the PlayStation video game series, is unfortunately not one of those.

It’s not for a lack of trying. There are some decent enough set pieces, and the action is well-shot by director Reuben Fleischer (Zombieland, Venom), but there’s just not enough that I haven’t seen before to make me invested.

Tom Holland plays Nate Drake, a fortune hunter (and future adventurer) who is recruited by Victor “Sully” Sullivan — played by a miscast Mark Wahlberg — to track down the lost treasure of the Magellan expedition. They are racing against Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas) and mercenary Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle), so their mission does have a ticking clock. It’s just a shame that the stakes are virtually nonexistent.

Review: “Death on the Nile” Continues Branagh’s Streak

The ending of 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express had one of the most obvious and needy set-ups for a sequel that I’ve ever seen. After solving the titular crime, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) travels to Egypt for, and it becomes increasingly apparent that another mystery will soon be on his hands.

Five years (and a whole host of COVID-related delays) later, in 2022’s first murder mystery set on a boat in an exotic location (I have a sneaking suspicion the sequel to Knives Out will eclipse Death on the Nile this fall), Poirot is back, and it turns out the case from the end of Murder was just, shall we say, a red herring. The real case comes about two months later, when Poirot is invited to a Nile cruise on the honeymoon of a wealthy heiress (Gal Gadot) and her husband (Armie Hammer). Little do they know that soon enough, murder will strike again!

The Lenient Critic Podcast Episode 12: Moonfall, The Worst Person in the World, The Fallout

Is Moonfall any good? Roland Emmerich’s recent track record may say otherwise, but Foster Harlfinger is here to help give the definitive Lenient Critic review and rating! Foster and Rowan also discuss The Worst Person in the World, a strong contender for Best International Feature Film, and The Fallout, an under-the-radar streaming original about tragedy and emotional trauma. Plus, their top five alliteratively-titled films, and more of the films they’ve been watching.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts!

2022 Oscar Nominations Breakdown

Note from 3/29: The Academy Awards have now come and gone, and many of the following predictions are embarrassingly wrong. Please direct all ridicule to the comments. Now on to the original article!

The time is upon us again! Film Twitter has been engaged in some civil (and some uncouth) discourse throughout the day, as the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards were announced today!

The ceremony is being held later than usual this year so as to avoid attention conflicts with the Olympics, which end February 20. The Oscars ceremony will be held March 27, which will make it one of the latest Oscars shows (behind last year’s, held April 25). I will be watching live, but we have a little under two months before the actual show — so let’s make our predictions now, shall we! In this article, I’ll also discuss what I believe should have been nominated that wasn’t (and vice versa), with some commentary in between!

Review: “Moonfall” Misses Every Mark

Let's all be honest here…was this anything less than we expected?

Moonfall is the latest from Independence Day director Roland Emmerich, and if his recent track record was any indication, we were in for a wild ride. Maybe not a fun ride, or a rewarding ride, but a crazy one nonetheless.

John Bradley (Game of Thrones) stars as K.C. Houseman, a conspiracy theorist who discovers that the moon is slowly edging out of its orbit, bound for a collision course with planet Earth. Former NASA astronauts Jo Fowler (Halle Berry) and Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) team up with Houseman to figure out exactly what is wrong with the moon as disasters on Earth get worse and worse (and more Emmerich-friendly).

Review: “The Worst Person in the World” Examines Life, Love and Everything Else

Occasionally a film comes along that is so simple in its premise, yet so intelligent in its execution that it manages to stand by itself in the pantheon of genre films. The Worst Person in the World, a Norwegian film directed by Joachim Trier, is one of those movies that has broken through and made itself notable among the countless romantic comedy-dramas out there.

Divided into twelve chapters (bookended by a prologue and an epilogue), Worst Person follows Julie (Renate Reinsve), a medical student-turned-writer who is finding her own way in the complex world of relationships, conflicting feelings, and the brutality of the real world. It’s more a series of interconnected vignettes, further punctuated by the use of chapter titles, showing us what may be the most important four years of Julie’s life.

I’ll just say it right out of the gate — if I had seen this last year, my rankings for 2021 would definitely be different. Reinsve is giving one of the year’s best performances, and the film is genius in its depiction of the feeling of being in love, side-by-side with the practicality of reality, which can sometimes be unfortunate and disappointing.

The Lenient Critic Podcast Episode 10: The Most Anticipated in Film and Television of 2022

2022 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years EVER for film and television. Alice-Ginevra Micheli is here to discuss with Rowan what we’re looking forward to this year! 

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts!

A Selection of Sundance Film Festival 2022 Reviews

With Omicron rapidly spreading this January, Robert Redford’s historic Sundance Film Festival once again had virtual screenings of new (and mostly never-before-seen) independent films. This was the first opportunity I had to attend a film festival, so I definitely jumped at the chance and ended up seeing six films, solely on the basis of basic interest.

Some films were shown that ended up generating a lot of buzz, including After Yang, Cha Cha Real Smooth and Emily the Criminal, but unfortunately those showings were sold out before I had the chance to buy tickets. I’m sure they will eventually get distributions and I will be able to review them fully! Until then, here are a selection of my reviews from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

The Lenient Critic Podcast Episode 9: Scream, Brazen, The King’s Daughter, The Tragedy of Macbeth

See, January isn’t all bad! Bernard Ozarowski, founder of The Invention of Dreams and co-host of Final Review, joins Rowan to discuss Scream, the latest in one of the best horror franchises; Brazen, a paint-by-numbers new Netflix film; The King’s Daughter, a movie filmed 8 (eight!!!) years ago; and, finally, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the Coen Brother movie that you definitely know the plot of! They’ll also preview some upcoming releases, chat major horror franchises, and talk about what they’ve been watching in the last month. 

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts!

Review: “Flee” is an Extremely Unique Refugee Doc

“I’m glad you’re finally ready to tell this story.”

The first semester of my time at college, I took a film history course about Experimental Documentaries, and one of the takeaways from that class is that documentaries can be presented in any form. They are art, like any other film, and unorthodox documentaries can be as effective, if not even more impactful, than traditional documentaries.

Flee is one of the most unique documentaries I’ve ever seen. Beautifully animated using a fresh variety of styles, it is the story of Amin Nawabi, a man who had to leave his home in Afghanistan, and charts his path to eventual safety in Denmark. Scenes of Nawabi telling his story are intercut with vivid and surreal pictures of his home, including live-action footage of the world events happening at the time. It paints a complete picture, all while focusing on what Nawabi and his family endured.

The Lenient Critic Podcast Episode 8: The Best Film and Television of 2021

2021 was a big year, and a wide span of releases requires more than one cinephile. Foster Harlfinger and Chris Bakker join Rowan this week to break down their favorite film and TV (and the best performances) of last year!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts!

“Scream” Review: Ghostface is back. Hope all is well. 🙂

Amidst a whole host of “legacy sequels,” the horror genre is catching up and, as usual, it’s subverting any trope it can find. The latest sequel-that’s-not-really-a-sequel is Scream — yes, with the same title as the first film — as the Ghostface Killer returns to Woodsboro once again for another murder spree. The final murder spree, perhaps? With the inevitable success of 2022’s Scream, not bloody likely.

Series mainstays Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette are back in action for Scream, but unlike the previous four films, they’re not the focal points. Melissa Barrera takes the reins as our “final girl,” Sam Carpenter, who returns to Woodsboro with her boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid) after her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) is attacked and gravely wounded. True to form, a new killer has donned the by-now trademarked Ghostface mask and black robes, and seems to be targeting victims connected to the original massacre, depicted in the original 1996 Scream.

The Lenient Critic Podcast Episode 7: The 355, C’mon C’mon

And, thus, we have entered January, the first of the winter months that sees a string of likely-disappointing film releases. The first is The 355, a movie that has been pushed back multiple times, and for good reason. Then, we try to catch up on missed 2021 releases with C’mon C’mon, a philosophically-minded film from Mike Mills that is in black and white for some reason. Heath Lynch is Rowan’s guest this week, bringing a new perspective to the week’s films, as well as some of the best spy movies out there and a certain horror franchise which has a much-anticipated installment coming up.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts!

Review: “The 355” Keeps the Bar Low for 2022

January is a well-known “dump month” for movies that studios just aren’t that confident in. Sometimes, that can work to a film’s advantage (like the upcoming Scream, which has been getting plenty of positive buzz and with little to no solid box office competition), but for every one of those there’s The 355, a big-budget studio flick destined to fail.

From the producer of the (somewhat) critically-acclaimed X-Men franchise and the director of the (definitely not) critically-acclaimed Dark Phoenix, Simon Kinberg, The 355 features a rather stellar cast in Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger and Sebastian Stan, and still somehow manages to be boring and uninteresting.

Expanding the Universe is Moving to Letterboxd!

As another year comes to a close, I find myself extremely satisfied with 2021 (aside from, you know, the COVID-sized elephant in the room). The Lenient Critic was revived, and quite effectively, with a number of new segments and a podcast now in its roster! But you know me, with hardly time to catch a break, I’ve been hard at work watching as many films and series as I could.

However, with the new year comes a change: the monthly Expanding the Universe segments will be moving to Letterboxd, and each review for every film and miniseries I see will be published there. As for episodic series, those will be reviewed on the blog (for the most part) as separate articles.

As a farewell to the regularly published article, here are some highlights of new releases I watched in December 2021. For a full list, see my Letterboxd diary, and from now on, my reviews will be published as Letterboxd reviews.

The Beatles: Get Back (2021)

Viewed from: November 25-December 2

Read and/or listen to my full review here.

Dune (2021)

Rewatched on: December 3

Read my full review here.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021)

Viewed on: December 4

Read my full review here and listen to the podcast review here.

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Viewed on: December 8

Listen to the podcast review here.

West Side Story (2021)

Viewed on: December 9

Read my full review here and listen to the podcast review here.

Don’t Look Up (2021)

Viewed on: December 10

Read my full review here and listen to the podcast review here.

Encounter (2021)

Viewed on: December 11

Listen to the podcast review as well as some spoiler thoughts here.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Viewed on: December 16/18

Read my full review here and listen to the podcast review here.

The King’s Man (2021)

Viewed on: December 21

Read my full review here.

Matrix: Resurrections (2021)

Viewed on: December 22

Read my full review here and listen to the podcast review here.

Hawkeye (2021)

Viewed on: November 24-December 22

Listen to the podcast review here.

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Viewed on: December 26

Listen to the podcast review here.

The Lenient Critic Podcast Episode 6: The Matrix Resurrections, Nightmare Alley, Hawkeye, Being the Ricardos

 

There’s a lot of pressure on this week’s films for a variety of reasons. We have legacy sequel The Matrix Resurrections, intending to resurrect the entire franchise; Guillermo del Toro’s new film Nightmare Alley, his first since 2017; a Disney+ series about the only Avenger who had not yet received a solo project; and Being the Ricardos, a fictional film covering a true event from one of the greatest living screenwriters. Rowan is once again joined by his father to break down these three films and one series, and preview some that we will see (which some have already seen!) in the coming weeks!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts!

“Hawkeye” Shows the Biggest Problem with Marvel’s Disney+ Shows

After the release of Black Widow, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye was the only original Avengers character to not have his own solo venture. Now, in the same year, that’s come to us in the form of a six-episode Disney+ series, which, for the most part, was enjoyable — it’s better than Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but not as good as Loki, What If…? and WandaVision — which is a shame, because I really wanted to love it. I’ve always liked the character of Hawkeye, and this series had a lot going for it. Unfortunately, it fell into the trap many of the Marvel Disney+ series have so far.

The entire series seems to be written with anticipation, edging towards a major reveal near the end that eclipses what we’re supposed to be caring about. Rumors don’t help, but come on — there are a lot of those, most of them just theories, and many of them prove to be untrue anyway. Of course, the major Hawkeye reveal (which I won’t spoil here) did turn out to be leaked beforehand, but it was still kept under wraps rather well for most of the show’s run…until the last few episodes.

These problems have manifested in different forms, depending on the series. With WandaVision (the first), it was purely rumors — rumors that the character of Mephisto would appear and be behind everything, rumors that Doctor Strange would appear in the finale — and the actors didn’t exactly help. Paul Bettany himself said that there was a big cameo in WandaVision’s finale that hadn’t been leaked yet, and “[they had] fireworks together.” He was, of course, referring to the character of White Vision, also played by Bettany. It’s an expert troll, but might be seen as frustrating by fans expecting something more.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Spoiler Discussion

Spider-Man: No Way Home is one of the biggest superhero films of all time, and a super-sized movie deserves a super-sized discussion. Alice-Ginevra Micheli and Foster Harlfinger join Rowan to break down the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe venture, including their Spider-Man nostalgia, favorite fan-pleasing moments, post-credits scenes and much more.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts!

Review: Failing to Resurrect “The Matrix”

It’s difficult to put into words how I feel about The Matrix Resurrections, because I wanted to love it. From my viewing of the first trailer, I was fully on-board with this movie and was willing to buy whatever it was selling.

The last Matrix film, 2003’s Revolutions, was a disappointing end to a mostly-strong trilogy, and say what you will about it, but it gave a concrete end to the story. There was no doubt that it was the end of the line, and it was frankly a satisfying conclusion. Released eighteen years later, Resurrections proves itself to be a sequel without a clear purpose. In this way, Resurrections continues a long line of reboots/sequels that bring back the original cast for what is essentially an expensive reunion that unnecessarily extends the perfectly fine conclusion to the original series.

Review: Manners Maketh “The King’s Man”

The Kingsman film franchise has been reliable in some ways, and unreliable in others. Since it began in 2015, it’s been a comically ridiculous parody of the spy genre, but its consistent mocking nature means that truly dramatic and emotional moments are few and far between. At the same time, though, neither film (from 2015 or 2017) has fully delved into comedy, which makes for an odd balance that becomes more uneven as the films progress.

The new Kingsman film goes in a drastically different direction, in a bold move for the franchise that I believe pays in dividends. This is The King’s Man, set during the First World War, which explores the origins of the Kingsman organization amongst the tragedies the war brings. Six years after the franchise’s inception but only two movies in, I’m glad that they’re switching it up this soon. It’s a good sign that the creatives behind it (including returning director Matthew Vaughn) aren’t afraid to take risks and introduce brand-new characters in a very different world, with little connection to the other films in the series.

Review: “Spider-Man: No Way Home” Takes the Wall-Crawler to New Heights

Ever since 2019’s Far From Home, rumors, hopes and dreams about the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s third Spider-Man film have been flying around the aether, and before I entered the theater to see Spider-Man: No Way Home, I made peace with the fact that the movie could never be as exciting or epic as I was anticipating.

I was very wrong.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a coalescence of everything beloved from the last twenty years of Spider-Man films, and not just in a way that services the fans of the last eight films; there’s a strong respect for the Spider-Man property that walks (and succeeds in) the tricky balance of telling an amazing story while paying off the history of Spider-Man films in a satisfying way. I think No Way Home comes the closest of any Spider-Man film yet to being universally fulfilling.

Review: “West Side Story” Razzle Dazzles the Remake Landscape

Just when you thought remaking a classic couldn’t make it any better, here comes Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest directors of all time, adapting one of the greatest stories of all time — yep, it’s Romeo & Juliet on the streets once again with a “reimagining” of West Side Story.

“Reimagining” is in quotes here because there’s not many ways that Spielberg’s West Side Story deviates from the 1961 film. It follows the same track, most of the scenes are recreations (albeit with much more flair and welcome splashes of color), but the differences that are there admittedly serve the story better. 1961’s West Side Story isn’t a nostalgic favorite of mine, but I can recognize why it’s regarded as a classic and why it’s looked back on as one of the greatest musical films ever made.

The Lenient Critic Podcast Episode 3: Licorice Pizza, West Side Story, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Encounter

 

Does Licorice Pizza live up to the film bro hype and secrecy, and does Diary of a Wimpy Kid rekindle our nostalgia in a positive way? And what the hell is Encounter, a new film from Amazon Prime? In the latest episode of The Lenient Critic Podcast, Jesse Garra joins Rowan to review four of the latest films, and preview four that we will see in the coming weeks! They also break down their top five children’s book adaptations and talk about what they’ve been watching recently.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts!

And, if you’ve seen Encounter, here’s a bonus episode where we discuss it in detail!

Review: The Apocalypse is Here in “Don’t Look Up”

The world of film is changing. Not only is Adam McKay’s satire significantly better than it was ten years ago, but a film like Don’t Look Up has legitimate Oscar chances when it may have gone ignored earlier this decade.

“I am as MAD AS HELL!”

There’s no way it could’ve been made at any other time, though. Don’t Look Up is such a product of its time that I’m fascinated to see how it ages, and whether it will always be tied to the pandemic and to the year 2021.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as astronomer Dr. Randall Mindy, alongside Jennifer Lawrence as grad student Kate Dibiasky. They discover a comet that they determine is on a direct collision course with plant Earth, and so they make it their mission to spread the word in hopes of preventing the extinction of the human race. Naturally, they’re mostly met with scorn and doubt, and the chaotic and lazy media response means that their words essentially go unheeded.

Random Musings: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021)

I know — of all the films to do an additional article about, why Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a direct-to-streaming animated feature I only felt passively positive towards? In my review, I talk about my history with the Wimpy Kid book series and film franchise, and I had some thoughts I couldn’t find a natural place for in my review. Therefore, it’s time for some random, scattered thoughts — and of course, there are spoilers ahead.

• I mentioned this in the review proper, but I’m still conflicted about the movie’s runtime. I think they could’ve expanded it a little bit and included some fun storylines from the first book (including the disastrous school play), but I can appreciate the briskness and “no bullshit” attitude. Granted, the first book in the series is far from my favorite, so if they devote more time to the gradually-crazier sequels, I can get on board for that.

• Is it just me, or does the animation style feel a bit cheap? The characters look odd, and the backgrounds and locations don’t seem very filled-out and are very stock. Sure, in the book the backgrounds and locations are virtually nonexistent (being portrayed as 2D embellishments in Greg’s “journal”), but this is a movie, and a movie needs to at least look appealing.

• As much as I like Brady Noon as the voice of Greg, I don’t think anyone can beat Zachary Gordon’s portrayal in the first three live-action films. He captures Greg’s utter abrasiveness and polarizing nature perfectly, in a way that I don’t think many could do.

• 
  Speaking of Greg, I’m not sure this adaptation really frames him in the terrible light he deserves. Greg Heffley is a manipulative and disrespectful person, and of course the goal of a story is to show its protagonist in a positive light — but part of the genius of the Wimpy Kid book series is that it has Greg, the narrator and main character, attempting to make himself the hero, but it’s painfully obvious everything he does is wrong. I don’t mean to keep comparing this movie to the books, but that’s clearly what they were emulating, and if they keep adapting the series into these Disney+ films, the comparisons should be expected.

• This has virtually nothing to do with this specific film, but I think this is the perfect place to share a Wimpy Kid theory my friend Xander and I have been cooking for a few years. In the sixth book of the series, Cabin Fever, Greg and his entire family get snowed into their house. They lose and power and everything. Our theory is that Greg actually died in this book, and — hear me out! — the rest of the series shows him in purgatory. What’s the supporting evidence, you might ask? First off, he never gets older. The first six could plausibly take place in his first year or two of middle school, but over the next ten books? Give me a break. Also, while the situations Greg runs into in the first six are relatively realistic and manageable, they get flat-out insane and borderline sadistic in the next ten. Need I continue?

The Lenient Critic Podcast Episode 2: Get Back

Peter Jackson brings us a new, unfiltered look at the Beatles in the Disney+ documentary Get Back. Tim Wood joins Rowan in breaking down its historical significance, effortless charm and the everlasting weirdness of John Lennon. 

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating on Apple Podcasts!

Below is printed my written review for Get Back, originally drafted for SiftPop.

After some experience with restoring old footage and reconstructing history in 2018’s They Shall Not Grow Old, Peter Jackson has graced our screens (this time on Disney+) with the biggest treat any Beatles fan could ask for.

The Beatles: Get Back is a comprehensive documentary about the making of their album Let It Be (done in under a month, all leading up to their iconic rooftop concert) from 60 hours of video footage and over 150 hours of audio and four years of hard work on Jackson’s part. What I love most about it is that Get Back is far from a traditional documentary — it’s not burdened by a narrator or a specific direction, it just allows their creative process to flourish, while also giving us some insight as to the causes of the band’s inevitable breakup. Even though it may seem dull at points, I find it to be enormous fun just to watch the Beatles be the Beatles.

Review: “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is Detrimentally Cheesy

To quote Dune’s Baron Harkonnen, “when is a gift not a gift?”

The third Diary of a Wimpy Kid film reboot is upon us, this time in the form of a 3D animated Disney+ original that strictly adapts the first book (released nearly fifteen years ago…now I’m feeling a bit old). Like the others, Wimpy Kid follows Greg Heffley (voiced here by Good Boys’ Brady Noon) as he navigates the complexities of middle school with his well-meaning best friend Rowley.

I’ll be honest — I’m a big fan of the books. I buy the new one every year, and I usually find them to be enormous fun. I enjoyed most of the other film adaptations (barring 2017’s The Long Haul), and so naturally I was excited for this reboot. When I pulled it up to watch, I was initially hesitant at the scant 58-minute runtime. That technically makes it a feature film, but it’s not a good sign.

Expanding the Universe: November 2021

A lot of things occur in November: the Halloween candy is consumed, Thanksgiving dinner takes place in the States, and the impending dread of the imminently ending semester begins to set in. Every month, I have a new thing to worry about, but that never stops me. Here are some highlights of what I watched in November 2021. For a full list, see my Letterboxd diary.

The Mummy (1959)

Viewed on: November 1

Hammer Horror is a sizable gap in my film knowledge, so I figured now is as good a time as any to get started. I had already seen The Blood of Dracula, so I figured a step in another direction was a good move. Thus, I turned on 1959’s The Mummy, featuring Peter Cushing going up against a bandaged and unrecognizable Christopher Lee for another round of hero v. monster. There’s not too much character development (I couldn’t tell you the name of any character by the film’s end), but The Mummy is a decent whodunnit that ends very abruptly, telling a complete story with no hangups. [Grade: A-]

Hellraiser (1987) / Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) / Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) / Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

Viewed on: November 3/11/19/26

As you can see, I was in a horror mood coming off of Halloween. Based on a Clive Barker novella and directed by the man himself, the original Hellraiser is a horror classic for a reason. Even though the most recognizable character, Pinhead, gets remarkably little screen time, Hellraiser doesn’t mince words (or meat) and gets right down to brass tacks...or brass chains. Despite some clunky direction and tone-deaf line deliveries, I supremely enjoyed it. [Grade: A] Its first sequel, Hellbound, is a direct follow-up with many of the same characters...only this one actually has the balls to go Hell. It tries some new things, but ultimately it’s not as entertaining or deliciously violent as the first film...to its detriment. [Grade: B] Hellbound was followed by Hell on Earth, which does exactly what the title promises. I can commend the series for trying new things and going in a completely different direction, but that’s about the only thing it has going for it. It does get pretty silly in its second half, and it loses any momentum it gained by the time it gets to the actual climax, which is slightly disappointing. [Grade: B] The final theatrically-released Hellraiser was Bloodline, which attempts a franchise retcon while simultaneously be partly set in the far future. Bloodline had a notoriously troubled production, but I actually think the end product is not as terrible as some have let on. I like that it jumps around in time, and there are some trademark creative ideas in there. However, the downside of this is that Bloodline is all over the place and doesn’t know where it wants to dedicate its time. [Grade: C]