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Film reviews

The Parenting Review

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Parenting is a movie that I would refer to as a flick with many ensemble actors from many great TV series coming together in a house around Poltergeist sound effects. The twist here though, isthat they do not know how to handle it which is the cleverness of The Parenting. Directed by Craig Johnson, this time around his directing lifts the mood up. I say this because of his film The Skeleton Twins where features of his tended to have a stronger and sadder approach to a family dynamic. This one is where breaking the ice and dealing with a haunted house situation are the two conflicts he tangos with. 

The film centers around a gay couple, Rohan (played by Nik Dodani) and Josh (played by Brandon Flynn). Both have found success from starring in series on Netflix. Dodani was Zahid in Atypical, and Flynn was Justin Foley in 13 Reasons Why. Each series had a background of combating new relationships in many complicated scenarios. Here they are a couple having a weekend getaway at a vacation rental in hopes of having both of their families accepting their relationship. 

The parents of Rohan are played by Edie Falco and Brian Cox. Falco is one who has tons of success from the HBO series, The Sopranos, and Cox has just concluded Succession. Their roles of the parents have those lingering personality traits that raise eyebrows. Also, the parents of Josh are played by Lisa Kudrow and Dean Norris. They seem more like the stereotypical “normal” type of parents. Regardless, the dynamics of the families are written to inspire disaster at the finest level of sheercomedic joy.

As the family comes together in their home, there is already a lot of structure and disorganization abound—a lot of that because of Rohan and Josh having constant anxiety over how the trip with their parents will go. Also, the house has started to possess some strange moving parts. The film though is not scary, it is comedic. There are some moments of dark turns, but they actually make audiences think in the terms of how bad things can get.

As the visit continues to go awry, there is room for more to go downhill in an entertaining direction. Once the house has its “poltergeist” moments, more peril ensues. A creature runs around in unexpected angles of the home. One of the parents starts to become possessive and this is where the tension rises. When this individual becomes possessive, there is more that makes The Parenting feel like the happy family vibe is not so fulfilling. None of the characters take each other seriously, especially when they do not know how to handle all the falling apart moments of the vacation. 

The film takes the comedy approach and blends in darkness to create turmoil in order to build chemistry and uniqueness. Along the lines of its casting, all of the players have a diversity among personalities that blends well for this new brand of satire and dark comedy. In many moments it finds some breed of negativity, but it does not go overboard. It has a way of correlating the many unnerving factors to be one-of-a-kind.

There is chemistry that sets the funny focuses in motion way before the story gets rolling. Josh has issues with employment which makes Rohan appear to be the bread winner. At the same time, they keep trying to think of excuses or reasoning for their parents to look at them in a lighthearted perspective. When the bad cans of worms start to open at their vacation spot, more truths are revealed. The bad blood, the errors of the vacation, and the reading between all the lies thrive fluorescently. Once the tones of annoyance and aggravation find steepness, The Parenting is a title that defines itself. All the disasters paint a portrait of how maturity is in the form of arrested development.

The Parenting is faithful in its anxiousness for common ground to be found. It is broken by the more unfortunate episodes during the vacation. At the same time, it has a form of brilliance where the story and characters do not break. It is almost perfect yet not mesmerizing. Deep down lightness and darkness play to fuel the comedy of unexpectedness. Instead of finding the sadder components as Johnson did with The Skeleton Twins, it finds the ones of mind readers and egotistical characters. In a funny approach, those personalities are twisted by the reality of what is ahead. Three out of four stars for The Parenting.

Film reviews

MoviePass, MovieCrash Review

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This was a concept I lived for and thrived in when it first found its popularity. A membership that allowed me to see as many movies as I wanted to for as low as ten dollars a month. A membership that made going to the movies cost-effective. There is more to the story though. MoviePass, MovieCrash is a documentary that is realistic and speaks the truth of where the flops of the program, company, and membership of MoviePass started to happen. There may have been a volume of growth with the rise of memberships, but it lost its direction in becoming sustainable.

Directed by Muta’Ali Muhammad, MoviePass, MovieCrash dives into the early days of the creation of MoviePass. It then follows its years of rising and falling. Throughout the film, the depths of profits, struggles, and moving parts of the company are revealed to create a portrait of a module that just did not work. With interviews of many insiders including the main founders, Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe, it’s clear to see the dynamics of business and vision went in many directions. The original founders were Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, who then passed it down to Farnsworth and Lowe. Their reputation of faith and personality they built the business on did not find common ground. The film is honest along the lines of seeing the plateaus, yet  what definitely spoke was the rising numbers. The increases kept happening while problems kept being put on the backburner.

With conflicts not finding prioritization, MoviePass, MovieCrash hurts in hearing the truth of what many of the workers, fans, and visionaries went through in terms of all the disasters that occurred as a result. One was sponsorship from AMC Theatres who actually despised MoviePass. Another issue was that there were not enough tools to make the membership cards. Finally, there were not enough resources to handle the amount of traffic from incoming customer complaints when issues in cinemas came up for the members of MoviePass.

When they interviewed the fans, the raves and addictions to countless movies were true, but when the errors happened, they made it clear that it felt like a never-ending nightmare. I can relate to this because I had these same problems when I had the membership. Then when AMC A-list came out, I resorted to that, as I was able to get free movies in premium formats. I could get up to 3 free movies a day. MoviePass only allowed one film a day in no premium formats. The cost-effectiveness for amazing movie memories was not there with a MoviePassmembership. There were only additional headaches as the frequent technicalities due to poor management continued and escalated.

MoviePass, MovieCrash created a culture where money and profit always come first. When studios spend millions of dollars in advertisements, it makes sense why MoviePass had all its plateaus. It had nothing much to offer for its audience. A free movie is nice, but did they have the profits to throw in concession items? Did they can add more premium formats? Why were there glitches in the apps with all the summer releases in 2018? MoviePass, MovieCrash depicts the boiling turmoil of making movie moments less enjoyable when it results in problems all around. The minds of Lowe and Farnsworth were the ones that had meaning. They knew what they were doing, but they did not pay attention to the rising problems on the side of actual operations while they were still hitting it big with their memberships. MoviePass, MovieCrash throws in the truth of the frustration to the many people (including myself) and the reasons for all of the suffrage of the membership. 

A riveting documentary that makes the audience think of the business sides of memberships. The  cinema world still must explore ways to put audiences in physical seats. The true catastrophe of the MoviePass membership debacle boils this issue to the bone. It does it in terms of politics, favoritism, corruption, connections, and the finding no satisfaction in the experience. It feels like a truth that the world truly knows already, but its presentation displays the anarchy of it all. Three out of four stars.

MAX series Reviews, Tokyo Vice

Tokyo Vice Season 1 Review

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As a critic invigorated to become a stronger writer, the MAX series Tokyo Vice blew me away. Each episode has a new truth and a new puzzle. Everything in Tokyo Vice comes together. The series is based on the true story of the American Journalist and crime reporter Jake Adelstein. Adelstein spent his life during the 1990s in Japan. Adelstein became the first non-Japanese journalist at the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. Today he writes for The Daily Beast, Vice News, The Japan Times, and other outlets. Adelstein wrote the novel Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the police beat in Japan and just published The Last Yakuza.

Tokyo Vice is Adelstein’s journey as he uncovers the dark underworld of crime bosses in Japan. Ansel Elgort plays Jake Adelstein, Ken Watanabe plays Hiroto Katagiri, Rachel Keller plays Samantha, Rinko Kikuchi plays Eimi, Sho Kasamatsu plays Sato, Shun Shugata plays Ishida, and Ayumi Tanada plays Tozawa. All these characters play a crucial role in portraying the realism in Tokyo Vice. They all carry a piece of the puzzle in the uncharted territory around them. Jake is taking risks to find the hidden truth which is hard to unfold as it lies deep in the infrastructure of Japan’s political scene.

The first episode begins establishing the foundation of what Jake is doing in Japan. He is fluent in Japanese and is questioned since he is an American Journalist. The episode jumps back totwo years earlier when Jake is teaching English to Japanese students and going through the steps to become a journalist. Jake has adapted to the culture of Japan. He does karate and often lacks sleep due to making Japan his playground. Jake says to himself, “Giving up and going home is not an option.” The story of Tokyo Vice is set in motion once Jake becomes a journalist.

The show gets more intriguing as the episodes get deeper. Jake’s boss Eimi feels that he is not doing the stories he is assigned. Jake is determined to do a real story as a journalist in Japan not fake news that is otherwise common. Eimi insists that Jake go by the book and report what is assigned to him. Jake is still determined to follow his own tracks where he meets Sato who isassociated with crime bosses. Jake realizes that Sato is considered a Yakuza which is an organized crime syndicate that is correlated to the mafia. Once Jake puts this piece together, there is a murder with no leads or evidence. The world of corruption in Japan becomes Jake’s guide for reporting on pieces that uncover the reality he discovers.

Jake then meets Samantha who is working in night clubs while also living in Japan. She puts up with shady clients day in and day out. Jake gets to know Samantha as well as her routine.Samantha’s goal is to start her own club but faces some obstacles. Another character is Detective Hiroto Katagiri who is Jake’s guide and connection for his crime reporting. The people Jake meet serve a purpose as leads which help Jake have a stronger voice. In addition, these contacts help find the places and resources to dive deep into the infrastructures behind criminal activity in Japan. The revelations in Tokyo Vice are endless and engrossing because they are both true and thought-provoking.

Tozawa and Ishida are crime bosses who give off protagonist and antagonist vibes. They help Tokyo Vice to connect the dots of hidden business being done so criminals can make money, while also maintaining their risky reputations. They are also connected to the authorities. The story that Jake is tempted to tell is the fact that criminals and authorities are working together. If he tells it, however, his story, his career, and his life will all face consequences.

Is Jake falling into a deadly trap? Is the story worth his life? How deep will his connection be with the bad people he comes across? Tokyo Vice is one of the most spellbinding and triumphant series on MAX. It is a true story where the pieces of the puzzle all matter. There is going to be more for Jake in Tokyo Vice Season 2 coming in February. Don’t miss it!