Hello there and welcome to this week’s newsletter. I know I’m late. But I was dealing with a terrible sinus infection, sore throat, and cough here. Yeah, fun times! But I survived and felt good enough to write something for you guys. This week I share my thoughts on the terrible Netflix original movie RED NOTICE. I talk about the new Apple TV+ show with “the sexiest man alive”, Paul Rudd, which is dark AF but I liked it. And two Indie films, VIOLET, and PASSING that deserve much more attention they are getting. And as always, there’s a playlist of 5 songs I enjoyed last week.
Quick Thoughts
RED NOTICE - So, imagine ALL the cliches of heist movies. Add to it some bad and rejected jokes from DEADPOOL plus some very bad acting, courtesy of Gal Gadot. And you will have RED NOTICE. A generic action flick engineered to appeal to everyone but that ended up being terribly bland. The movie budget was 200 million dollars but the action scenes are nothing special and the writing is likewise bad, with a generic plot and dreadful dialogue. RED NOTICE feels and looks like a low-budget 90s movie. And it's clear that the performers took the majority of this massive budget home. So please don’t watch this crap. Otherwise, Netflix will keep funding more terrible content like this awful movie.
THE SHRINK NEXT DOOR - The Apple TV+ series, was initially a podcast based on a true story. The series recounts the real saga of Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell), a sad New York businessman, and his soul-crushing relationship with Isaac "Ike" Herschkopf (Paul Rudd), a charismatic, celebrity-obsessed psychiatrist. He ends up taking over Marty's home, career, and bank account for over three decades. The two stars of the series, both comic geniuses but who've previously exploited their underlying somber sensibility for dramas, are, of course, at the core of its attraction. And both deliver. THE SHRINK NEXT DOOR Is a very dark comedy with a dramatic twist, as well as an incredible cautionary story. The show takes its time but pays off in the end.
VIOLET - I had a chance to watch the feature debut of writer/director Justine Bateman at SXSW and TIFF earlier this year and I’m glad that VIOLET is now available for everyone on VOD. The film immerses viewers in the main character of the film anxieties in a strange and visceral manner. At this point in my life, I’m pretty sure that most of us have that annoying inner voice. The one that whispers inside our heads and tells us we're not good enough. VIOLET explores the gap between a person's internal thoughts and its exterior persona. Olivia Munn portrays the central character, a Hollywood executive who is tormented by the "committee," the voice in her head (played by Justin Theroux) that dictates all of her decisions. The film combines audio and visual components to express Violet’s inner struggle as she battles with thoughts of not being good enough. And honestly, I've never seen a more realistic representation of anxiety on film. Olivia Munn’s performance is by far the best of her career and the creative brilliance of Justine Bateman as well as the clever utilization of engaging storytelling methods culminated in a memorable experience for everybody.
PASSING
PASSING is set in the 1920s and depicts the story of Irene (Tessa Thompson) and what happens when a childhood friend, Clare (Ruth Negga), reenters her Life, disrupting its tranquility and endangering its well-constructed illusions. Irene, married to African-American doctor Brian (Andre Holland) and the mother of two sons, is a proud Black woman who “passes” as a white person only on some occasions. While Clare lives in disguise “passing” as a white person and has married John (Alexander Skarsgard), a vicious racist rich man. The film is based on Nella Larsen's classic 1929 novel and is an agonizing tale of identification and belonging.
The film which premiered on Netflix this week marks Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut, and I really enjoyed it. I’m actually disappointed that this film isn't receiving the attention that it deserves. It exceeded my expectations and provided me with a valuable window into a bygone period. The film Takes on issues of class, societal standards, and recreates a terrible period in America’s history and the bigotry that still haunts POC today. Also, Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson give their greatest performance ever. The film is brilliantly photographed in black and white by cinematographer Edward Grau, and it is gorgeous to look at. Rebecca Hall has some great potential as a director and I’m looking forward to her next film.
It is basically a miracle nowadays to have a non-franchise film made. And is even more so when it's an indie film with black performers. So I think it is a shame this film isn’t getting the attention it deserves. So please give PASSING a chance, you won’t regret it.
Top 5 songs
These were the 5 songs on heavy rotation in my house last week. You can listen to them on Spotify and YouTube.