Documentality: The Way Down

 

The Way Down 8/10

I watched this months ago and have been slacking on reviews so I'll be attempting to post a few a day. I have been watching so much stuff that I have just been writing what I watched but not writing reviews. This one, The Way Down, was insane in so many ways. I had seen this lady, Gwen Shamblin Lara's face, but did not know why. I had no idea that she was running a church based weight loss program and the amount of drama and nonsense that wanting to lose weight and be closer to god could cause. This had everything from divorces, fat shaming, marrying an actor who left his family, plane crashes, Trump shit, self harm, and terrible music. When I watch stuff like this I think it happened years ago like in the 90's when people were easier to fleece. Nope. This was happening as recently as a couple of years ago and is likely still going on now. I watched this on HBO Max which is now just Max. Just a few episodes and doesn't drag out the material.

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The Review: They Cloned Tyrone

They Cloned Tyrone 10/10

I love weird ass movies. I really love weird ass Black movies in particular. I had seen a billboard for this movie on Sunset a couple of weeks ago and decided to check it out after seeing people say how good it was. This was a creative movie that is something I am gonna have to watch a few more times because I was watching it in so much amazement at how people can write and direct things in certain ways. Visually this was good. The wardrobe, the scenery, the hairstyles. You couldn't tell what decade this was taking place in. I should start describing the movie.

The Review: I'm A Virgo

I'm A Virgo 10/10

I absolutely loved this damn series. Cam randomly suggested it and we plowed through the first four episodes before I finished the rest the next day. If you one of those people that needs explanations for everything you see then this show will make your head hurt. A lady leaves the hospital with a baby that is about my size now, names him Cootie, and she and her husband are raising him at home. Turns out she is his aunt and they hide him from the world. As he gets older he begins to crave the outside world. His aunt and uncle show him what happens to giants when they are discovered which gives him nightmares. Of course he gets discovered by some kids in his neighborhood and they introduce him to the world of fast food, fame, and women. Meanwhile there is a superhero that is bigoted as hell literally flying around. Its a lot.

The Review: Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Shazam! Fury of the Gods 0/10

This was a trash film and a complete waste of time. Everything that I enjoyed about the first film was removed. Characters were stupid. The plot was bad. Just...ugh. There was nothing about this movie that I enjoyed. Not gonna waste my time even writing credits for this one.

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The Review: Schmigadoon Season 2

Schmigadoon Season 2 (9/10)

Trying to do some late reviews so this will be short. This was a damn good show. L. and I absolutely enjoyed the first season and I was kinda worried about how the next would follow it up. Turns out I was concerned for nothing because this one was funny as hell. The first season had style and music based on musicals from the 1940's and 1950's while this one had the 60's and 70's. Josh and Melissa are trying to have a child and just going through life unhappy after their time in Schmigadoon and decide that they should try to go back. They eventually make their way back but it is now very different from when they were last around and it is seedy as hell and known as Schmicago. The same cast of people are around but playing different roles and the introduction of the Narrator made this season even better.

Keegan-Michael Key as Josh Skinner

Cecily Strong as Melissa Gimble

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Sitting In The Aisle: Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 3

Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume Three 10/10

I fucking loved this movie. Let me get that out of the way. L. and I saw this in theaters because there was no damn way I was not going to. It also made me feel human emotions three times as opposed to the previous films that almost got me once each. This picks up after the holiday special (which I watched and didn't write about) so now we know that Mantis and Peter Quill are brother and sister because their father, Ego, boned literally everything. Peter is still torn up over Gamora being from a different timeline so she doesn't have any emotional connection to him and barely one with her sister, Nebula. Adam shows up after being hinted at in the previous movie and starts wrecking shit immediately. Peter is drunk and ineffective, Drax gets whooped, Nebula can't stop him, and Rocket gets hit so hard he is dying. The team tries to save him but he has a fail safe in his body where if someone tries to save him he will straight up die.

Curtain Call: A Soldier's Play

A Soldiers Play 10/10

This past weekend L. took me to see A Soldier's Play. I didn't plan on going when she first mentioned it because I saw the movie and didn't feel a need to see the play. I see live theater with music and happy and we had watched A Soldier's Story fairly recently and I thought it would be a bummer live. I was super wrong. This was one of the best shows I have seen (and it had some music!). They made great use of such a minimal set. Flashbacks done with different lighting. Beds slid back so an office could be brought in. The acting was just phenomenal and the show moved quickly and did not feel long at all.

The Review: John Wick Chapter 4

John Wick Chapter Four 9/10

I have enjoyed all of the John Wick films. I finally watched the latest one after missing it in theaters and while I did enjoy it a lot I am glad that I got to watch it from home and have the ability to pause it and hoot and holler. This movie is long. I know I love long films and everybody who knows me knows that when I go to the movies I like when a film is two hours or more because it feels like I am getting my money's worth. But when you are watching a man shoot and kill so many people it starts to get physically and mentally exhausting just watching. If this had been about half an hour shorter it would have been a 10/10. I did like the introduction of some of the new characters such as Mr. Nobody and Caine. But my God ,when this was over I was happy. And I was also happy to see the extra little scene that they threw in during the credits. We watched this on Amazon. I doubt that I will watch this again in full and might just look up different fight scenes from it. One complaint I really do have other than the length of this film is the fact that the main villains and these movies tend to die the fastest and suffer the least amount.

Keanu Reeves as John Wick

Donnie Yen as Caine

Bill Skarsgård as the Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont

Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King

Hiroyuki Sanada as Shimazu Koji

Shamier Anderson as Mr. Nobody

Lance Reddick as Charon

Ian McShane as Winston Scott

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Curtain Call: Six The Musical

Six: The Musical 9/10

This was a fun ass play! I forgot that I was even going to this with Cam a few weeks ago. We headed to The Pantages to check this out. Now, we all know that this theater has one of the worst sound systems but for whatever reason it was on point that evening. I sat down having zero idea what the show was about or anything. All I knew was that a lot of people in the crowd had little crowns on and a very flamboyant man in the audience I hoped wouldn't ruin the show for me.

Curtain Call: Twilight Los Angeles 1992

Twilight Los Angeles, 1992 10/10

"Nearly thirty years after the Los Angeles uprising following the Rodney King verdict, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 returns home to the Mark Taper Forum to be reimagined with an ensemble cast for a new generation of audiences. A powerful piece of living record and one of the most important works in the history of the Taper, Twilight is a stunning and seminal play that explores the devastating human impact of the five days of uprising following the Rodney King verdict. From nine months of over 300 interviews conducted during the year following the uprising, playwright and scholar Anna Deavere Smith crafted a play that goes directly to the heart of the issues of race and class."

The Review: The Mandalorian Season 3

The Mandalorian Season 3 (6/10)

This previous season of The Mandalorian while it was good it was not close to as entertaining as previous seasons. This felt like TV shows back when I was younger that came out in the '70s '80s and early '90s where there would be episodes where the main character was barely in it and it focused mainly on side characters or new characters. Next thing you know you realize that it was setting up for a spin-off. That's what this season felt like. I remember on Married with Children there were a few episodes where the same thing happened and I just sat there like “What the hell does this have to do anything with the show?” It was cool and everything but I didn't like the way the main villain was taken out and that maybe half the season focused on the Mandalorian. I did not hate the season but I'm not excited for another one the same way I was after season one and season two.

Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin/The Mandalorian

Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan Kryze

Emily Swallow as The Armorer

Carl Weathers as Greef Karga

Katy M. O'Brian as Elia Kane

Mercedes Varnado as Koska Reeves

Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon

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The Review: Creed II

Creed II 6/10

I have actually been waiting a while to see this movie because when it was first released and I saw the storyline I thought it was too soon to be doing it. This takes place a couple of years after the first film and Adonis has been fighting to get back his belt. He ends up winning but then he is challenged by Ivan Drago's son. For those who don't know somehow Drago is the one who killed Adonis's father Apollo Creed in Rocky IV (which is the best Rocky movie ever). He eventually ends up fighting him and wins but just because Ivan's son is a dirty ass fighter and keeps listening to his evil father. Adonis also discovers that his girlfriend is pregnant and he's afraid that his daughter will be born with hearing issues just as she has.

The Review: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Everything Everywhere All At Once 10/10

How do I even begin to describe the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once? The basic premise is that it's about this lady who's a Chinese American immigrant who works at a laundromat with her husband they ended up coming to America and she had a daughter named Joy. She ends up going to the IRS because they're being audited and suddenly her husband begins acting like another person and tries to quickly explain to her that he is from a multiverse and that there is someone on the hunt and killing them and versions of this lady who works at the laundromat. The next thing you know there is some of the best fight choreograph choreography I've ever seen and an actual incredible story about family.

Sitting In The Aisle: Ant-Man And The Wasp Quantumania

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania 8/10

So here is my late ass review for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. I had not seen a Marvel film in theaters since 2020 so I was super excited when L. and I went to go see this. I like the first Ant-Man okay but wasn't a huge fan of the villain but seem to like Ant-Man more as he popped up in other films. We were mostly excited to see the villain Kang the Conqueror in this because when he popped up and Loki it was incredible. This movie is about parents in their relationships with their children pretty much. I know that sounds weird but it makes sense.

The Review: The Woman King

The Woman King 8/10

As I sit here with my feet soaking in warm water with bubbles in between my toes I realize that after watching a film like The Woman King I would not have survived that environment in real life nor the training done to do this movie. The Woman King turned out to be a far better film than I expected it to be. Not that I thought it was going to be bad or anything but I pretty much thought it was just going to be an action film with a lot of tough ass looking women and that's about it. I was very wrong. This is about a general and she leads and trains a group of women warriors from all different parts of Africa. Colonizers start arriving and she begins to realize that they are just trading their own people for more weapons and losing more and more of themselves as time goes on. The king agrees with her but he also has his evil ass wife in his ear who tries to go behind his back and make decisions because she wants to be declared the next woman king.