#as a kid I only watched football and never saw the appeal of cricket

[musiquesduciel]

Today marks the first ever cricket match I've been invested in and watched to its entirety. I felt the excitement of the game to my core and the appeal here is crystal clear.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior 6/18/2021 - THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD, THE SPARKS BROTHERS, LUCA, 12 MIGHTY ORPHANS, FATHERHOOD, RITA MORENO and More!

Well, it’s another week and another column and now I’m not only trying to stay on top of Emmy stuff for Below the Line, but I’m also desperately trying to see stuff for the 20th Tribeca Festival AND still having time to watch stuff for the column. As Nancy Meyers might say, “Something’s Gotta Give.” (Well, maybe she said it when someone asked her the title of her next movie in 2002. Shut up.)

But first, this week’s “The Chosen One” and how could it be anything but Edgar Wright’s THE SPARKS BROTHERS (Focus Features), which I’ve now seen three times maybe?

To talk about Sparks, you almost have to remember the first time you heard of Sparks, and for me, it was in the early ‘80s when I was getting hipper into music and record collecting, and I’d see the covers of their records with their punny titles and be like, “What is this?” But those covers also scared me in some ways. Oddly, the “alternative rock” station WLIR should have been playing the hell out of Sparks in the ‘80s but other than “Cool Places,” their duet with the Go-Go’s Jane Wiedlin, they went mostly ignored.

It wasn’t until I saw them on Saturday Night Live performing “Mickey Mouse,” and I was immediately fascinated by keyboard player Ron Mael’s stage presence, standing completely still and stoic while his brother Russell pranced around the stage like a true rock star. Over the years, I heard covers by bands like the Dirtbombs and the Dresden Dolls, but it wasn’t until I watched the movie did I realize the influence they had on early new wave bands like Duran Duran, Erasure and Depeche Mode.

In many ways, there’s no one more perfect to direct this documentary other than Wright, since the Maels have been so influenced by cinema and their work with auteur filmmakers, some endeavors more successful than others. And then of course, Wright, has this amazing encyclopedic knowledge of music, as well as being so connected to that world that he can get the likes of Beck and Flea and others to go on camera to talk about the band. This is one case where the veritable Who’s Who *IS* a veritable Who’s Who. The number of actors and artists who come forward to share their stories about Sparks is quite amazing to the point where there’s almost a “Holy shit!” moment every couple minutes. “There’s two of New Order! And two of Duran Duran!” (Is there ANYONE Edgar DOESN’T know?)

More importantly, he gets Ron and Russ to talk at length about their entire career, almost album by album -- and they’ve made 25 of them! -- and it even covers the band’s leaner years in the 90s

All the interviews are done in black and white, almost as the perfect contrast to the colorful stories they tell and the similarly colorful music videos that punctuate those stories.

I mean, if Wright was writing a thesis paper on the influence and reach of Sparks, then he’d get an “A.” But then that still bodes the question: Are Sparks loved because their songs can be weird or have such a strange sense of humor? Well, They Might Be Giants, probably one of the most obvious influences, has never mentioned Sparks’ influence before, as far as I know, although, they, too, win over fans with the charm of their humorous songs. Even when you think of other groups of two members like the Black Keys, Sparks were doing that first, as well.

I couldn’t tell you if The Sparks Brothers will turn the brothers Mael into the global superstars selling out stadiums they’ve deserved to be for many years, but I know it’s going to be a LOT tougher to get tickets to see them the next time they tour between this and Leos Carax’s Spark-written musical Annette later this summer. Wright’s documentary is the definition of comprehensive.

I’m honestly not 100% sure how wide Focus Features is releasing this movie, but I figure it will be in 500 or 600 theaters, which would be a great way to get word out about the band. I’d love to see Wright’s fans go out to see it and for it to make a million or two this weekend, as that wouldn’t be bad for any documentary, especially with so many going straight to streaming these days.

Let’s get to the single wide release of the week, which opened on Wednesday (something I completely forgot), and it’s THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD (Lionsgate), the reunion of Samuel L. Jackson (as the hitman), Ryan Reynolds (as the bodyguard) and Salma Hayek (as the hitman’s wife). See how all of that works? The action-comedy sequel hopes to capitalize on the success of the first movie, which was #1 for an amazing three weeks in the late summer of 2017, grossing $75 million in North America alone.

The sequel opens at a very different time when a $21.4 million opening (like the original movie) wouldn’t be bad, but can THWB make that much at a time when people are being very precious about what they see in theaters? At least this one, unlike last week’s In the Heights -- which made less than half what I predicted -- is not debuting on streamers so if anyone wants to see it, they will have to go out to theaters, but why would they want to see it?

I already reviewed this at Below the Line, and I guess I liked it more than a lot of critics, because it’s currently at 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is very, VERY bad. That’s an even lower rating than Samuel L. Jackson’s last movie with Lionsgate, the horror sequel Spiral: From the Book of Saw, which bombed last month, opening with less than $9 million. So yeah, people may not rush out to see it for Jackson, but it’s been a very long time since there was a movie from Ryan Reynolds, and he’s definitely more of an A-lister thanks to the Deadpool movies. In fact, it’s been two full years since Reynolds was in Detective Pikachu, which grossed $144 million domestically, mostly with his voice role. Reynolds also provided a voice in The Croods: A New Age, one of the first movies to open theatrically during the pandemic that grossed $58 million.

It’s really hard to gauge how THWB will do under pandemic rules, even as places like New York City have thrown off all COVID limitations, so that theaters should be allowed to be full again? Will that matter? After the last few weeks, I feel like I should go lower on this one, closer to $15 to 17 million. I’m not sure if most people will even realize this opened Wednesday, but people are still figuring things out, and I’m not sure the original movie is as beloved as three times at #1 might convey.

Also expanding nationwide into about 800 theaters is 12 MIGHTY ORPHANS (Sony Pictures Classics), which I wrote a little about last week when it opened in 120 Texas theaters, although I hadn’t actually seen it at that time. Well, I’ve seen it, and I have to say that it’s a perfectly pleasant period underdog story that I actually enjoyed more than George Clooney’s wacky Leatherheads, which is set around the same period.

Again, it’s not a particularly groundbreaking story, showing how Luke Wilson’s Rusty Russell takes a rag-tag group of orphans from the Masonic Home orphanage in Fort Worth, Texas, and not only teaches them how to read and do math but also how to play football in the early days when very few of the current plays existed. If you’ve seen any of these types of movies before, then you probably already know how it plays out, and though I try not to be cynical, especially with the over-the-top villainy of Wayne Knight’s cricket-bat wielding abuser, I do think this offers one of Wilson’s better performances, and I enjoyed seeing Martin Sheen in a strong supporting role as well.

Even knowing full well that most of the conflicts the team faces will probably be the kind of “5-minute drama” that will be resolved soon enough, it’s still enjoyable to watch such an inspirational story that one can probably forgive some of the cliches of the genre that keeps the film’s last act from elevating itself above the obviousness last act. (When it decides to show what happened to every single person in the movie during the end credits, you could hear the sound of my eyes rolling.) This might appeal to those looking for something a little less snarky or cynical at a time when that’s the norm, but true cinephiles will rightfully snub their nose at those cliches, because this feels like one of those sports movies that tries to win audiences over by not veering too far from what has worked previously.

Even expanding into 800 theaters this Friday, I’m not sure 12 Mighty Orphans will make more than a half million this weekend.

Pixar Animation Studios releases its latest offering LUCA (Disney/Pixar) onto Disney+ and into one single L.A. theater. It’s the first feature film from Enrico Casarosa, who directed the Oscar-nominated short, La Luna, and I wish I liked it more than I did. It centers around a young sea monster named Luca (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), who discovers that he can pass off as human when he surfaces from his deep-sea home. He makes a friend with another sea monster named Antonio (Jack Dylan Grazer) and the two of them go off on a quest to find a Vespa, because that is their obsession. Along the way, they meet a spunky redhead girl named Giulia (Emma Berman), and they decide to take part in a race that can win them the money they need for that Vespa. That’s it. That’s the plot.

Honestly, I have no idea what my fellow critics and other movie enthusiasts are seeing in this movie, because it reminded me of a very bad Roberto Benigni movie with these American actors breaking out into bad Italian accents or phony Italian every few minutes. It’s obvious the movie’s director is from Italy and some have even called this movie a “love letter to Italy,” which makes you wonder why he would want to have these kid actors doing inappropriate takes on Italians by throwing in random Italian words but mostly speaking in English. It was really hard to get past, and it distracted me from enjoying it. I just didn’t really care for any of the characters at all. Giulia, while fun at first, just gets annoying, because she’s such a spaz.

The animation also wasn’t particularly impressive, seeming very cartoonish -- yes, I know it’s a cartoon -- but it just shows how hard it is to have humans star in an animated movie, because you really have to work harder on the characterization than what has clearly been done here. Because of this, Luca lacks much of what made Soul and other Pixar movies so special, as it’s just a kids’ adventure movie with the flimsiest literal fish-out-of-water premise with very little in terms of jokes, so it relies on physical humor and the idea that the boys need to hide their seamonster-ness from the naties. Even the presence of the genuinely funny Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan voicing Luca’s parents do very little to save the movie. It just seems to be throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the viewer to make up for the weak characters.

This is one of the first true disappointments from Pixar, maybe my least favorite movie the company has made since Coco, which won the Oscar and had people falling over each other to praise it. Casarosa’s short was really wonderful, but this is just not a very good feature, and I honestly don’t know who this was meant for. It’s not particularly funny or moving or anything. It’s just a very basic watered-down premise that goes nowhere. Skip this and get your kids to watch a Fellini movie instead.

Streaming on Netflix Friday is Kevin Hart’s new comedy, FATHERHOOD (Netflix), which was originally produced by Sony PIctures, but then like so many other movies, it got sold off to Netflix for streaming. It kind of makes sense, since Hart has been a regular brand on the streamer. Adapted from Matthew Logelin’s book, Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Love & Love, the movie is co-written and directed by the great Paul Weitz, and it co-stars Alfre Woodard, Lil Rel Howery, DeWanda Wise, Anthony Carrigan, Melody Hurd and Paul Reiser. Basically, Hart plays Matt, whose wife dies in childbirth leaving him with a baby girl, Maddy, that he swears to raise even without a wife, even though his mother (Woodard) doesn’t think he can handle fatherhood.

This is a very different movie for Hart, one that allows him to use some of his dramatic acting muscles that we’ve rarely seen from him, although the movie comes more into its own as it goes along. At first, we’re basically watching him trying to care for a baby in a way that doesn’t really break much new ground from the constant talk about babies crying and shitting. (That is what they do, after all.)

Once Maddy grows up, there’s a new dynamic, and Hart is great playing the role of a single father trying to date again, and when he meets a new woman named Swan (DeWanda Wise), he isn’t sure how to introduce her to his daughter. Melody Hurd, the young actress playing the slightly older Maddy is quite good and able to really help drive the second act of the movie, which is far more dramatic and real. She not only holds her own against Hart but also with Woodard!

Even though this is more dramatic than Hart’s normal fare, there are still some great low-key laughs including some great scenes between Hart and Howery as his friend. I genuinely enjoyed Fatherhood, since it’s sweet and a very different kind of movie for Hart, maybe due to Weitz’s able direction. Fatherhood probably won’t be for everyone and to some, seeing Hart in this role won’t be quite like when Adam Sandler makes his occasional foray into films like Punch Drunk Love or Uncut Gems -- that’s just the hypocrisy of film criticism -- but I’m sure this will do just fine on Netflix with Father’s Day being on Sunday.

A movie I saw at SXSW earlier this year was Jaco Bouwer’s GAIA (Decal), which reminded me a bit of Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth. It stars Monique Rockman as an injured forest ranger who is saved by two survivalists, a rescue that becomes increasingly more suspicious as the son and his father have a cultish devotion to the forest, and she soon learns there’s a far great threat in the wilderness.It will hit theaters on Friday and then On Demand June 25. I just didn’t have the bandwidth to rewatch this to write a full review but it was fine, but just not quite on par with Wheatley’s movie, although it sure is pretty.

A doc that’s being released theatrically Friday after its own festival run is Mariem Pérez Riera’s RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT (Roadside Attractions), which as you can tell from the title, looks at the amazing life and career of the EGOT-winning singer/actress who is such an inspiration for LatinX performers that she was able to get the likes of Héctor Elizondo, Gloria Estefan, Tom Fontana, Morgan Freeman, Mitzi Gaynor, Whoopi Goldberg, Norman Lear, Eva Longoria, Justina Machado, Terrence McNally, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo on camera to talk about her.

I really kind of enjoyed this movie, which just played at the Tribeca Film Festival, because I learned so much about Moreno that I really didn’t know before, but also it’s such an inspirational story as we hear her talk about what some of the scenes in West Side Story meant to her sixty years after winning the Oscar for the role, even though she’s still on record as giving one of the shortest Oscar speeches ever: “I don’t believe it!”

She also talks about really personal things like being raped by her agent, who she kept on as her agent after the incident, but that adds to her political activism in recent years, and she’s still a spry and lively disruptor at the age of 87. This is just a brilliant documentary that’s a long time coming.

Another doc worth checking out is Nancy Buirski’s A CRIME ON THE BAYOU, exec. Produced by John Legend’s company, Get Lifted Film Co. It revisits the case of Gary Duncan, a young fisherman in a Louisiana parish who tried to break up a fight at an integrated school in 1966, but when he puts his hand on a white boy’s arm, he’s prosecuted for assault on a minor. Duncan’s case was taken all the way to the Supreme Court to make sure he got a fair trial. This is a decent doc, but I don’t have a ton to say about it, nor the time for a full review.

Francois Ozon returns with SUMMER OF 85 (Music Box Films), which stars Félix Lefebvre as Alexis, whose boat capsizes off the coast of Normandy, Benjamin Voisin’s David comes to his rescue and opens the younger boy’s eyes to friendship, art and sexual bliss. Adapted from Aidan Chambers’ LGBT young adult novel Dance on my Grave, the film explores the relationship between the two boys and the challenges, including Philippine Velge’s sexual rival. The movie will open in New York at the Angelika Film Center, Village East, and Film at Lincoln Center, in Los Angeles at Laemmle’s Royal, Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena and Laemmle Town Center in Encino, and San Francisco (Embarcadero and Shattuck Cinema) followed by key markets across the US, including I’m assuming the Music Box home in Chicago.

Also opening as part of the Metrograph’s Live Screenings this week is THE AMERICAN SECTOR (Grasshopper Films), Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez’s doc about the panels of the Berlin Wall that have been installed as monuments all across the United States, as they talk to people in those locations to find out what they mean to them.

Premiering on Apple TV+ this week is the new series PHYSICAL, starring the wonderful Rose Byrne (also in theaters in Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway), but a few more movies I just didn’t have time to get to…

LES NOTROS (Oscilloscope)

THE BIRTHDAY CAKE (ScreenMedia)

STALKER (Vertical Entertainment)

Wait, is it possible? Is next week really FINALLY the release of Universal PIctures’ F9 in North America?