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weekendwarriorblog · 4 years

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The Weekend Warrior 3/19/21: SXSW, Zack Snyder’s Justice League,The Courier, City of Lies, Happily and More!

Remember a couple weeks back when I stated the plan was to bring back the Weekend Warrior as a regular weekly series again? Yeah, well if you looked for a column last week and wondered what happened, I just didn’t have time to write one. And I also just haven’t been able to get back on the ball in terms of writing reviews. It just takes a lot of time to watch all the movies let alone review them the way I did last year. I honestly have no idea how I did it last year, but things have been busier than ever at Below the Line, which does throw a bit of a spanner into any extracurricular plans.

The big event this week is the annual SXSW Film Festival, which I’ll be taking part in virtually, and somewhat tangentially, watching as much as I can while still doing other things. It’s been a while since I’ve attended SXSW in person, but it tends to have great docs, especially music docs. In fact, this year’s Opening Night Film is the documentary, Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, about Demi Lovato’s drug overdose from 2018 and its aftermath. Other music docs of interest include Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché, about the late frontwoman from early punk band X-Ray Spex through the eyes of her daughter; Mary Wharton’s doc Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free made from archival footage of the late singer making his 1994 record “Wildflowers”; Alone Together about Charlie XCX’s pandemic record; Under the Volcano about George Martin’s AIR Studios Montserrat; and it gives another chance to see Edgar Wright’s excellent, The Sparks Brothers, which was picked up by Focus Features after Sundance. There’s also an amazing doc about Selma Blair’s fight with MS, Introducing, Selma Blair, which is equal parts heartbreaking and inspirational.

SXSW also has pretty solid Midnighters, and there’s a number of those I’m also looking forward to, including Travis Stevens’ Jakob’s Wife, starring horror legends Larry Fassenden and Barbara Crampton, who were so great in my buddy Ted Geoghegan’s We Are Still Here. (No coincidence since Stevens produced that movie.) And I hope to watch a few others like Lee Haven Jones’ The Feast, Jacob Gentry’s Broadcast Signal Intrusion, and Alex Noyer’s Sound of Violence. We’ll see how much I get to see this week, cause it’s a lot of movies over only a couple days, basically from Tuesday through Saturday.

Closer to home at the Metrograph, the still-closed movie theater is doing a virtual series called “Bill Murray X6” which has already shown Lost in Translation and What about Bob? With Rushmore screening until Thursday, and then The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou available through Friday. Become a digital member for just $5 a month! This past weekend I saw a really amazing 7-part doc series called Untitled Pizza Movie by David Shapiro. In fact, I stayed up late on Sunday to watch the whole thing since it was leaving the digital screeners, but it’s a very entertaining, intriguing and personal story about the director, his friend and partner in crime Leeds, who he went around to different NYC pizza shops in the ‘90s trying to find the perfect slice, and then they come across pizzaman Andrew Belluci at the world-famous Lombardi’s in Soho. The project that took over 20 years to make follows what happened to the three men, but mainly Leeds and Belluci as they have ups and downs that ultimately leads to Belluci starting his own pizza joint in Queens. Everything that happens in between is quite fascinating.

I saw a couple other movies this past weekend including Robin Wright’s Land, which I quite enjoyed, and the rom-com Long Weekend, which came out last Friday but I totally missed. Land is a pretty amazing directorial debut that’s mostly a one-woman show with her character alone in the wilderness until she runs into trouble and meets Demian Bichir’s kindly Samaritan and they become friends. Directed by Stephen Basilone, Long Weekend stars Finn Wittrock and Zoe Chao in what starts as a meet cute rom-com and turns into something much deeper with a couple sci-fi-tinged twists, a bit like Palm Springs, but much more grounded. I loved the two leads and how Basilone made a romantic comedy that actually was romantic and very funny, as well. Both movies I recommend.

Getting into some of the streamer offerings this week, ZACK SNYDER’s JUSTICE LEAGUE will hit HBO Max on Thursday, so we can finally see whether or not that extra money and work paid off. I’ll be reviewing this over at Below the Line, so won’t spend too much time here. I figure that anyone who has been waiting for this will watch it, as will anyone who has been curious about it. As you can read from my review, I was quite impressed by the film as an achievement in finishing what is clearly a far superior film to the 2017 theatrical release. Some of the highlights include great stuff between Ray Fisher’s Cyborg and his father, a far more fun introduction to The Flash that was cut from the 2017 release and just some insanely crazy good action. I can’t wait to watch the movie again.

Kicking off on Friday is the anticipated Marvel Studios series, THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER (Disney), bringing back the title characters played by Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, who were introduced in one of the MCU’s better movies, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I was sent the first episode and unfortunately, there’s an embargo until Thursday afternoon, but I do think that MCU fans are gonna be thrilled with the first episode, especially with the Falcon’s opening action sequence, which is like something right out of the movies.

Okay, fine, so let’s get to some new movies and some real reviews…

Probably the movie with the widest release this weekend will be THE COURIER (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions), starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which I’m guessing will be in 1,000 or so theaters. The movie premiered at Sundance way back in 2020 under the significantly worse title of “Ironbark” with plans to release it later in the year, but then COVID happened. I’m not sure if Roadside Attractions planned for this to be an awards movie, but after a few delays, releasing it in mid-March just days after the Oscar nominations, I’m guessing probably not?

Directed by Dominic Cooke (On Chesil Beach) from a screenplay by Tom O’Connor (The Hitman’s Bodyguard… wait, WHAT?), this Cold War spy thriller set in the early ‘60s stars Cumberbatch as Greville Wynne, a British businessman who is coerced by agents from MI6 and the CIA (repped by Rachel Brosnahan) to smuggle Russian secrets from military man Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze). Greville’s trips to Moscow start getting more and more dangerous under the shadow of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and his wife (the always great Jessie Buckley) wants him to stop taking the trips. It all leads up to a pretty exciting second act as the KGB starts to figure out what Greville and Oleg have been up to and work to put a stop to it.

I have to admit that as much as I enjoy a good spy-thriller, a lot of this reminded me of Cumberbatch’s earlier film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – yes, the John Le Caree adaptation, which I was never a particularly big fan of. This has similarities in that it starts out fairly slow, making me think this might be one of those well-made, well-acted movies that are just plain boring cause the subject doesn’t interest me. I’m sure when this was greenlit, there was probably more relevance to the situation between the U.S. and Russia, although this is obviously a British production and maybe something better to watch on the Beeb than in a movie theater.

In general, the stuff with the two men and their families tends to be the best part of the movie. I wasn’t familiar with Merab Ninidze beforehand, but he’s a really good actor who holds his own in scenes with Cumberbatch. Although Cumberbatch’s performance is significantly better here than in The Mauritanian, that’s definitely a better movie, so even in the last act which sees Wynne in a Russian jail, it just doesn’t compare. This is the second film with Rachel Brosnahan in which she didn’t really impress me much after hearing how great she is on Mrs. Maisel. Even so, the movie did make me want to go back and rewatch the beginning again to see if maybe I wasn’t as focused on it, as it should be.

As far as box office, I don’t have much hope for this making more than $2 or 3 million this weekend, since it seems more like a prestige platform release that would have to build audiences from rave reviews or positive word-of-mouth. Coming out so long after its festival debut (kinda like that Thomas Edison movie a few years back) may have helped people forget about the midling festival reviews. Even so, this movie just doesn’t have much buzz or interest from #FilmTwitter who has had its tongue so far up the superhero movie ass this week between Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to pay much attention to this. (Hey, facts is facts!)

Johnny Depp and Forrest Whitaker star in Brad Furman’s crime-thriller CITY OF LIES (Saban Films), which is about the real-life search for the killer of the Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls with Depp playing Detective Russell Poole, who ended up on the case in 1997, and Whitaker playing reporter Jack Jackson, doing a story on Smalls for the 20thanniversary of the unsolved murder.

Based on the book “Labyrinth” (the movie’s original title), it’s a story that takes place in two time periods, Los Angeles in the ‘90s after the Rodney King beating and L.A. riots and how it’s made the criminal element that surrounds rap mogul Suge Night. It begins with Poole investigating the death of a black police officer named Gaines, shot by a white police officer (Shea Whigham) in what is seemingly a road rage incident. As Poole investigates, he learns about police corruption in the force including a number of officers tied directly to Knight.

As Jackson interviews Poole to try and find out who killed Biggie, we flashback to Poole’s investigation and interaction with some of those corrupt cops and being put into extremely dangerous situations. The movie isn’t bad, especially the scenes between Whitaker and Depp, who gives a far more grounded performance than we’ve seen from him in recent years. Even so, the performance that really impressed me was Toby Huss as Poole’s superior, who just brings something new to the tough head detective role we haven’t really seen.

Regardless of what you think of Depp’s activities off-camera, this is a fairly solid crime thriller (as was Scott Cooper’s Black Mass), and though you never actually get to see Biggie, Tupac or Suge Night, it’s an interesting examination into a period in L.A. that seems so long ago but still rings true to what’s been going on in the last year.

BenDavid Grabinski’s HAPPILY (Saban/Paramount) is a dark comedy-thriller starring Joel McHale and Kerry Bishé as Tom and Janet, a happily married couple who annoy their friends by still having sex on the regular whenever they possibly can. In fact, their friends decide to uninvite Tom and Janet to their planned couples’ weekend because they’re so annoyed by them. One day, a mysterious man (played by Stephen Root) shows up at Tom and Janet’s house, one thing leads to another and they kill and bury him. Thinking that the man’s visit might be part of a friend’s prank, they go to the planned couples’ trip, trying to figure out if the prankster has gotten suspicious about what they’ve done.

For the sake of transparency, I met Grabinski at my very first Sundance ever as he was friends with some of my colleagues, but I never spent a ton of time talking to him. This film impressed me, since it’s a prtty strong debut from him, one that benefits greatly from a strong cast that includes Paul Scheer, Breckin Meyer (who I didn’t even recognize!), Charlyne Yi, Natalie Morales and more, making for a really solid ensemble dark comedy that reminded me of the tone of last year’s The Hunt or Ike Barinholtz’s The Oath or a great lesser-seen movie from last year, Robert Schwartzman’s The Argument. Dark comedy isn’t for everyone, and this is definitely a little mean-spirited at times, but more importantly, it’s very funny and tends to get crazier and crazier as it goes along.

More importantly, I loved Grabinski’s musical choices from Devo’s “Working in a Coal Mine” to not one but two OMD songs, and great use of Public Image Limited as well. The way Grabinski puts this together comes across like a hipper and fresher Hitchcock, and while it might not be for everyone, I could totally see this killing at a genre fest like Fantastic Fest or even this week’s SXSW. It’s clever and original and rather intriguing how Grabinski puts all the various pieces together.

Hitting Shudder on Thursday is Elza Kephart’s horror-comedy SLAXX (Shudder) about a possessed pair of jeans brought to life to punish the practices of a trendy clothing company, which it does by terrorizing the staff locked in overnight. Didn’t get to watch this before getting bogged down in SXSW but definitely looking forward to it.

Another horror film coming out this week is the horror anthology PHOBIAS (Vertical), exec. produced by the filmmaking team “Radio Silence” (Ready or Not) with segments directed by Camilla Belle, Maritte Lee Go, Joe Sill, Jess Varley and Chris von Hoffman. The stories follow five dangerous patients suffering from extreme phobias at a government facility with a crazed doctor trying to weaponize their fears.

Jeremy Piven stars in Paolo Pilladi’s LAST CALL (IFC Films) playing real estate developer Mick, who returns to his old Philly neighborhood and must decide whether to resurrect his family bar or raze it. I actually watched a few minutes of this, but apparently, IFC Films isn’t allowing reviews, so I have nothing more to say about the movie beyond the fact that it’s coming out on Friday.

Opening at the newly reopened Film Forum – currently doing a hybrid of in-person and virtual cinema – is Chris McKim’s doc WOJNAROWICZ: F**K YOU F*GGOT F**KER (Kino Lorber), premiering virtually on Friday. It’s about David Wojnarowicz, one of the loudest voices in the ACT-Up movement during the ‘80s who died of AIDS himself in 1992. (Correction: Film Forum actually isn’t reopening until April 2.)

A few other things this week include Aengus James’ doc AFTER THE DEATH OF ALBERT LIMA hitting Crackle about Paul Lima, a son obsessed with capturing his father’s murderer who has remained at large in Honduras due to a failed legal system. Because of this, Paul travels to the Honduras with two bounty hunters to find and capture the killer.

Lastly, streaming on Topic Thursday, there’s Parliament, directed by Elilie Noblet and Jeremie Sein, about a young man named Samy who arrives in Brussels after the Brexit vote trying to get a job into the European Parliament without really knowing how it works.

That’s all for this week. It might be a while before I can get The Weekend Warrior back into some sort of fighting weekly shape, but I’m doing the best I can right now, so let me know if you’re reading any of this.

#TheWeekendWarrior #TheCourier #Movies #Reviews #BoxOffice #ZackSnyderJusticeLeague #Happily #CityOfLies

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allbestnet · 8 years

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Popular Critically Acclaimed Books: [1900 - 1910]

Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad (1900)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum (1900)

Sister Carrie - Theodore Dreiser (1900)

The Illustrious House of Ramires - Eça de Queirós (1900)

The Road to Reunion - Paul Herman Buck (1900)

Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann (1901)

Kim - Rudyard Kipling (1901)

The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1901)

Three Sisters - Anton Chekhov (1901)

Up from Slavery - Booker T. Washington (1901)

Wings of the Dove - Henry James (1902)

The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter (1902)

Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie (1902)

The Varieties of Religious Experience - William James (1902)

The Ambassadors - Henry James (1903)

The Call of the Wild - Jack London (1903)

The Beast in the Jungle - Henry James (1903)

Riddle of the Sands - Erskine Childers (1903)

Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler (1903)

An Introduction to Metaphysics - Henri Bergson (1903)

The Souls of Black Folk - W.E.B. Du Bois (1903)

Principia Ethica - George Moore (1903)

Nostromo - Joseph Conrad (1904)

The Golden Bowl - Henry James (1904)

The Cherry Orchard - Anton Chekhov (1904)

The Sea-Wolf - Jack London (1904)

Hadrian the Seventh - Frederick Rolfe (1904)

The History of the Standard Oil Company - Ida Tarbell (1904)

The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton (1905)

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion - Unknown (1905)

Doctor Glas - Hjalmar Soderberg (1905)

Professor Unrat - Heinrich Mann (1905)

A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett (1905)

Where Angels Fear to Tread - E. M. Forster (1905)

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality - Sigmund Freud (1905)

Science and Hypothesis - Henri Poincaré (1905)

Creatures that Once Were Men - Maksim Gorky (1905)

The Confusions of Young Törless - Robert Musil (1906)

The Jungle - Upton Sinclair (1906)

The Man of Property - John Galsworth (1906)

White Fang - Jack London (1906)

The Railway Children - Edith Nesbit (1906)

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils - Selma Lagerlöf (1906)

Selected Plays of Henrick Ibsen - Henrik Ibsen (1906)

The School and the Child - John Dewey (1906)

The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad (1907)

Pragmatism - William James (1907)

The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (1908)

A Room With a View - E.M. Forster (1908)

The Old Wives' Tale - Arnold Bennett (1908)

The Man Who Was Thursday - G. K. Chesterton (1908)

Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908)

Penguin Island - Anatole France (1908)

The Iron Heel - Jack London (1908)

Tendrils of Vines - Colette (1908)

Orthodoxy - G. K. Chesterton (1908)

Lives of the Artists - Giorgio Vasari (1908)

Jakob Von Gunten - Robert Walser (1909)

Three Lives - Gertrude Stein (1909)

The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux (1909)

Martin Eden - Jack London (1909)

The Meaning of Truth - William James (1909)

The Promise of American Life - Herbert Croly (1909)

Howards End - E. M. Forster (1910)

The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge - Rainer Maria Rilke (1910)

If: A Father's Advice to His Son - Rudyard Kipling (1910)

The History of Mr. Polly - H. G. Wells (1910)

The Future Prospects of Psycho-Analytic Therapy - Sigmund Freud (1910)

An Introduction to Mathematics - Alfred North Whitehead (1910)

#1900-1910 #best #books

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ronroybush · 7 years

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This Ivy League Couple Quit Their Corporate Jobs To Travel Across The Americas

Ready to have your nerve melted into a monstrous mound of liquid mush?

Two super hot Ivy League graduates( yes, some people really do have it all ), Nikki Levi and Jakob Celnik, decided to quit their corporate activities to restore an old-time van and traveling 38,000 miles across the Americas with their dog.

Initially after graduating from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, the couple…

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#Travel #Wanderlust

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fahrudinahmad · 7 years

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Masih Adakah Loyalitas?

Belakangan ini, sudah merupakan hal yang lumrah bilamana kita melihat seseorang berpindah dari satu partai ke partai yang lain dan kemudian berpindah lagi. Dalam panggung politik mungkin orang berpikir bahwa sah–sah saja bilamana seseorang berganti peran. Namun, kita mungkin juga berpikir kembali makna loyalitas bilamana perpindahan bisa dilakukan semudah itu. Bukankah alasan bergabungnya seseorang di suatu partai tertentu seharusnya berdasarkan pada prinsip dan nilai tertentu dari partai tersebut yang dirasa memang selaras dengan prinsip dan nilai individunya

Pada zaman ayah saya, kami dididik untuk menghormati idealisme, peraturan atau organisasi tertentu tanpa sikap kritis yang berlebihan.Hal inilah yang membuat connectivity kita dengan sebuah lembaga menjadi kental. Bahkan, di Jepang, hal ini bisa menjadi kekuatan korps negaranya. Namun, apakah sense of commitment ini masih berlaku di dunia yang sudah global, rata dan nomadik ini? Dan, apakah komitmen memang diartikan pada connection yang tidak pernah boleh terputus?

Loyalitas dua arah

Ada perusahaan yang sangat menuntut, bahkan memaksakan loyalitas karyawan. Mulai dari disiplin absensi tanpa mempertimbangkan keadaan lalu lintas, dan kondisi cuaca, sampai kepada audit media sosial dan juga penyadapan pembicaraan karyawan internal. Suasana yang penuh disiplin ini membuat karyawan menjadi patuh namun diwarnai rasa takut. Bisa kita bayangkan bagaimana bentuk loyalitas yang dihayati para karyawan. Pertanyaannya kemudian, bagaimana sikap pemilik perusahaan dalam menampilkan loyalitas perusahaan kepada karyawannya? Apakah masih menghindari pembayaran uang pensiun, bahkan karyawan yang menderita sakit pun tidak mendapatkan perhatian manajemen dengan layak karena dianggap sudah mendapat hak penggantian kesehatan? Apakah kerap menuntut karyawan bekerja lebih sampai lembur berkepanjangan tanpa memperhitungkan keseimbangan kehidupan sosial mereka? Hubungan antara karyawan dengan manajemen perusahaan seperti itu biasanya lebih diwarnai ketegangan, alih-alih terasa loyalitas.

Adam Cobb, profesor di sekolah manajemen Wharton, membeberkan tentang salah kaprah dalam melihat loyalitas. Loyalitas seharusnya dilihat dari dua arah. Loyalitas saya pada partai, harus sejalan dengan loyalitas partai pada saya. Demikian pula dengan perusahaan dan pemimpin. Pemimpin yang tidak loyal tidak layak menuntut loyalitas bawahan. Perusahaan, lembaga atau partai pun bisa berlaku tidak loyal. Menurut Cobb loyalitas sering berada dalam situasi “telur atau ayam”, mana yang lebih dahulu. Bayangkan suatu situasi manajemen sangat memperhatikan karyawannya, dan karyawan pun sangat peduli pada kelangsungan hidup organisasi. Loyalitas bukan lagi suatu isu yang harus digembar-gemborkan karena sudah berjalan sedemikian wajarnya layaknya udara yang kita hirup.

Loyalitas sebagai ikatan sosial

Manusia pada dasarnya adalah makhluk sosial yang memiliki kebutuhan akan keterikatan dengan teman kerja, atasan, atau tempat kita bekerja. Standar hidup manusia bisa berubah dengan berubahnya kemajuan atau merosotnya ekonomi. Namun, keterikatan tidak jadi kendur dengan berubahnya standar tersebut. Cobb mengatakan, “There is something about having a mentor, or someone in your life who helps you see the future in the midst of chaos, that can make a difference.”

Jadi apa yang sebetulnya bisa menurunkan loyalitas, baik individu ke lembaga atau lembaga ke individunya? Profesor Deborah Small mengatakan, turunnya loyalitas biasanya dilunturkan sedikit demi sedikit melalui “procedural unfairness”, yang biasanya berbentuk praktik-praktik kecil sehari hari, yang lama lama dirasakan tidak nyaman. Tidak semua individu egois dan memikirkan kepentingan pribadinya. Setiap orang yang menurunkan tingkat loyalitasnya sebenarnya juga mengeluarkan “biaya sosial” yang tidak sedikit. Ia akan merasa bersalah dan tidak nyaman, dan merindukan engagement dengan institusinya. Di sinilah hubungan kontraktual akhirnya menjadi umum. Loyalitas tidak ada lagi. Asas manfaat yang lebih dikedepankan. Paham “what’s in it for me” belum belum sudah dipertanyakan sebelum kerjasama dicoba. Yang ada hanya loyalitas sebatas panjangnya tangan. Bisakah kita tetap mempertahankan kualitas sebagai manusia di situasi turmoil begini?

Memupuk loyalitas

Ada berbagai cara, yang pimpinan lembaga, atau perusahaan menjaga komitmen anak buah atau followers-nya. Bila di kemiliteran, refreshing mengenai kesetiaan dan bela negara dilakukan secara berkala, di organisasi tertentu, terutama organisasi bisnis, hal ini belum tentu bisa kita lakukan. Beberapa perusahaan membacakan nilai nilai yang dianut perusahaan, dan menyanyikan mars serta himne perusahaan di awal dan akhir pertemuan. Sebuah perusahaan waralaba di Amerika, tiba-tiba membuat pengumuman untuk menutup tokonya pada perayaan Thanksgiving walaupun sebetulnya bisa mencetak keuntungan besar di hari itu, dengan alasan memberi kesempatan pada para karyawan untuk merayakan hari bahagia itu bersama keluarga. Karyawan gembira bukan karena sikap pemurah perusahaan atau pemimpinnya, melainkan karena seluruh karyawan merasakan rasa syukur yang berlebih.

Hal inilah yang bisa membuat karyawan lebih passionate dan tidak usah mempertanyakan engagement-nya dengan perusahaan. Perusahaan pun perlu jeli melihat idealisme karyawan atau anggota tim. Di lembaga komersial dan bisnis pun, kita akan lebih mudah merangkul karyawan bila misi sosial bersama terasa dan dijalankan. Keinginan Mark Zuckerberg untuk menyumbangkan sebagian besar hartanya untuk kelanggengan kehidupan manusia di masa mendatang pasti akan disambut para karyawan Facebook dengan rasa bangga.

Oleh Eileen Rachman & Emilia Jakob

Dimuat dalam KOMPAS, 30 Juli 2016

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