Category Archives: Rent It Tonight

“Will & Harper” a Road Trip to Self-Discovery and Friendship

Trying out different environments for size, two longtime buddies contemplate changes afoot in their lives while embarking on a revelatory journey. Josh Greenbaum’s meditative documentary Will & Harper (A) traces a 17-day westbound road trip across America via station wagon with friends comic actor Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, a 61-year-old comic writer transitioning from male to female. Thoughtful questions, thorny run-ins, poignant discussions and witty encounters mark this life-affirming chronicle as Harper tells her goofy pal no question is off limits. Scored to a jukebox of great needle drops by the likes of Simon & Garfunkel and Bon Iver with some “Wagon Wheel” and “Luck Be a Lady” tossed in for good measure, the film contemplates the notion of living lonely versus living authentically out in the world. Joyful adventures abound, ranging from riding hot air balloons over Albuquerque to standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and the Mighty Mississippi. Acceptance comes in unexpected biker bars, just as a restaurant stopover results in a cascade of mean tweets. Ferrell, known for doing whatever it takes for comedy, tones it down to put his friend on a pedestal (several moments overwhelm him) and assembles some of their well-known Saturday Night Live collaborators for some bright cameos. The movie makes an important statement about friendship and acceptance without ever being preachy or treacly. It’s a beauty of a film.

“The Wild Robot” Should Be Considered for Best Picture

One of the best animated features ever committed to film, The Wild Robot (A+), written and directed by Chris Sanders based on a book series by Peter Brown, is a glorious must-see movie on the theme that kindness is a survival skill. Sure it has requisite robot chases and cute talking animals to please a full spectrum of family members, but this heartwarming parable will also leave you motivated and possibly deeply moved about what can be achieved when society comes together for the common good. It’s also a testament to “being more than you’re programmed for” in terms of acting with instincts of integrity. The story centers on Roz (voice of Lupita Nyong’o), a robot shipwrecked on an uninhabited island, who goes rogue and builds relationships with local wildlife and becomes the adoptive mother of an orphaned goose, Brightbill (Kit Connor). The film deftly handles the robot’s adaptation and translation of language so she can communicate with the likes of Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara and Ving Rhames as a wily fox, protective opossum and sage falcon, respectively. The film is a full-throttled beastly feast of expressive characters and expansive wilderness landscapes resembling paintings, thanks to production designer Raymond Zibach. It features a propulsive narrative against the backdrop of a memorable score by Kris Bowers and two soaring songs by Maren Morris. The film’s themes and touching tone are deeply resonant, so bring tissues as many of the sensitive sequences may prompt a watercooler waterworks, especially for parents. The voice ensemble is full of talented actors who drop great wisdom throughout the tale. It’s reassuring to see an animated movie in which all elements excel, and it surely will take its place in the pantheon of the year’s very best films.

“Saturday Night” Shows High-Wire Act Behind SNL’s 1975 Pilot

Saturday Night Film

When NBC’s SNL ushered in a new format of bawdy and topical sketch comedy nearly a half century ago, it arrived in the world via a most improbable birth. The 90 or so tense minutes leading up to the live pilot episode are the subject of Jason Reitman’s punchy, energetic ensemble dramedy Saturday Night (B+). Gabriel LaBelle masterfully plays optimistic show runner Lorne Michaels opposite an array of splendid fellow writers (a whip-smart Rachel Sennott and deadpan-droll Tommy Dewey are fantastic) and legendary on-air comedians (really solid impressionistic impersonations by Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd and Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris). The movie crackles with kinetic energy as last-minute wardrobe fitting, set building, camera testing and script doctoring activities collide with the madcap antics of these delirious denizens of the famed 30 Rockefeller Plaza studio. Reitman justifiably ribs the old guard of classic TV production in the form of a smarmy executive (Willem Dafoe) and a really dickish Milton Berle (J.K. Simmons) as he curates a near real-time portrait of art and anarchy in the making. The film is consistently entertaining, even if a bit lightweight in terms of story or substance. It’s a whirling dervish energy fueled showcase of how unusual and disparate ingredients collide like fermenting hops in a creative home-brew. The film offers the thrills of artists working at the top of their game in a pressure cooker, and it’s a bright return to form for Reitman who cracks open what seems like a familiar vault and unleashes a vibe of his own. The inventive comic syncopations he puts into motion will tickle and tantalize.

Body Horror Becomes Demi Moore in “The Substance”

It’s generally cause for distress when your enchanted pumpkin carriage or lovable Mogwai has overextended forbidden activities beyond midnight. But age-old adages about the exact time when perceived Hollywood beauty expires go into audacious overtime in the contemporary satirical body horror film The Substance (A), written, directed and co-edited with glorious gore and gusto by Coralie Fargeat. A stunning Demi Moore lunges into a memorable central performance as a driven 50-year-old TV aerobics superstar facing career decline and experimenting with a black market medical regimen billed as a fountain of youth. Margaret Qualley occupies a symbiotic doppelganger role, an object of fantasy and fury in delicate balance with the leading lady. Both actresses are incredible in their mirror-image parts on various ends of the glamor spectrum, and it’s clear from how game they are in service to Fargeat’s vision that they are pursuing their roles with zero vanity. There are jaw-dropping sequences of blood and bombast, but the film’s watershed moment involves Moore’s character at the looking-glass, hesitating in numerous bittersweet ways as she prepares for a date because she doesn’t feel pretty. Benjamin Kracun’s candy-colored cinematography and Raffertie’s explosive score complement the outstanding 29-member makeup department and Emmanuelle Youchnovski’s standout costumes. Dennis Quaid and other male characters in the film are written quite broadly, which works well as parody but generates a distancing effect to interactions. Frequent allegory paints with a thick brush over a few inconvenient plot points. The overall grotesquerie will please ardent Fangoria Magazine readers but could turn away other viewers who would savor the fresh commentary. With her singularity of vision and hypnotic, horrific stylings, Fargeat invites comparisons to Kubrick, Cronenberg and De Palma but ironically could have nipped and tucked a few impulses causing the film to wear out its welcome long after making its point. This film itself is far from a fading star!

My new year’s 2025 “FilmThirst” TikTok review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTY3wv7N6

Documentary Dissects Life of “Super/Man” Christopher Reeve

A debilitating accident that would have banished a mere mortal to a fortress of solitude instead prompts a popular actor to soar even higher as a crusading hero in Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui’s Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (A-). Nearly a decade since his passing, remembered through the eyes of those who knew and loved him, this bittersweet biographical documentary presents the Superman movie actor’s highs and lows as he endeavors to stay grounded in the wake of global superstardom, to break the cycle of a fractured family and distant father and to find power and meaning in his life’s work to advance stem cell science. After an equestrian competition tumble leaves him paralyzed from the neck down, the adrenaline junkie actor turns activist and becomes the man of the masses worthy of his mythic status. Flashbacks to his film career are brief and enjoyable, but this chronicle focuses more on the final chapter of Reeve’s life. It’s also a testament to the love of his life with wife Dana in an intimate and moving portrait of resilience. The film’s format is fairly straightforward, yet a strange connective device in which apparent Kryptonite starts growing on the spine of a cosmos-floating disembodied statue of the actor is not all that fetching. Interviews with the mother of two of Reeve’s children and with his trio of offspring plus fellow thespians Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg, Jeff Daniels and Susan Sarandon enliven the storytelling. And appearances by Christopher’s college roommate and lifelong friend Robin Williams add to the film’s plaintive portrait of a man with steely resolve. The tale of a man who changed the planet, daily, may also challenge viewers’ superpowers of stoicism.

Spoiler-Free Rave as “Deadpool & Wolverine” Match Wits and Weapons

In the service of a more mature and madcap Marvel installment, Disney has cracked open its most violent and vulgar vaults to unleash a buddy comedy adventure with its own crass love language. The mouse is definitely out of the house with superkillafragilistic, zipadeedickjokes, hakunayomama abandon. Except for over-staying its welcome by a short hair, Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine (A-) is an absolute laugh machine throughout with a singularly sensational “meta”-morphosis of the superhero form. If there were a fifth and sixth wall to break, consider them toppled. The plot involves snarky mercenary Deadpool (a series best performance by riotously funny Ryan Reynolds) recruited to safeguard the multiverse by uniting with his would-be pal Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, in great stoic form for action and comedy) to save the world from an existential threat and villain (Emma Corrin at the height of her powers). Despite their outward swagger, both titular costumed crusaders must overcome a crisis of confidence, and it’s in their tentativeness and vulnerability that many of the film’s most delicious zingers and gags are born. It helps to know comic book, movie studio and pop cultural lore to fully follow some of the funniest and most subversive laugh lines. The stunts and action choreography are top-notch with excellent needle drops and kick-ass sass rivaling the first film in the series. The film outwardly acknowledges past Disney/Fox rivalries and casting incongruities, and it remedies some of the vexing variances in clever and convincing ways. Expect some stale conventions to get upended and some new directions for the franchise to come of age based on this fierce installment. 

Lee Isaac Chung Lends Lofty Funnel Vision to Delightful “Twisters”

Plan to get sucked up, whisked away and a bit wonderstruck by an utterly crowd-pleasing entry into this summer’s multiplex fare. Lee Isaac Chung’s 2024 action film Twisters (A), ostensibly a standalone sequel to the 1996 tornado disaster flick, is both practically and metaphorically about Americans coming together to weather the storm. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell, both magnificent in their physical and emotional roles, play very different leaders of chaser teams with divergent goals converged in the heartland of Oklahoma. The film’s humane exploration of characters ranging from a committed entrepreneur played by Anthony Ramos to a wily mom portrayed by Maura Tierney help the film transcend its deceivingly simple storytelling contours. The movie’s visual and sound effects are superb, peppering realistic rural landscapes and quaint hometowns with impressive funnel fantasia. Chung’s film deftly asks viewers to re-examine how neighbors should treat one another, elevates the pursuit of science and philanthropy into central themes and doesn’t waste a moment of its running time with anything short of human or natural revelation. With a backdrop of Benjamin Wallfisch’s gripping score and rip-roaring country music needle drops, this observant and opulent film gorgeously fills the screen all the way through a very exciting finale including meta homage to the ritual of gathering for entertainment. This is a wonderful companion piece to Jordan Peele’s Nope, another smart reflection on spectacle by an American auteur. Expect to be pleasantly surprised by this well assembled action epic.

Summer Film Season Gets Middling Opener in “The Fall Guy”

The comedy/action remake of a classic TV series comes in roaring like a lion and devolves into a cat nap. Stunt coordinator-turned-director David Leitch’s The Fall Guy (B-) contains an abundance of awesome ingredients, including some outrageous pratfalls, fabulous soundtrack needle-drops and charismatic leads Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt as stuntman and director, respectively, with ample romantic chemistry simmering. The mysterious meta story set in the world of the production of a big-budget interplanetary blockbuster action movie involves a quest to recover a missing leading man (Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an irritating egomaniac) in time to save the production. The film’s best visual gags involve the vocabulary of cinema, as a heated conversation takes place in a “oner” filled with explosions or as the central pair contemplates the value of split-screen sequences while in one. Unfortunately the slight story rarely serves the massive talents of the leads; the production feels like it needed some reshoots made impossible by industry strikes. It’s often a fun lark; and as expected, the stunts are really good. It just doesn’t completely deliver on its promise or sustain its carefree spirit with quite the finesse it could have.

Steamy Streamer “The Idea of You” a Hit of Atlanta Film Festival, Now on Prime Video

It’s time to say bye, bye, bye to myths about age gap relationships as a 40-year-old divorcee single mom embarks on a love affair with the 24-year-old frontman of a fictional hit boy band. Built on the star-powered shoulders of Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, Michael Showalter’s rom-dram The Idea of You (B) is an enjoyable if not terribly original romp. Despite the fun and fantasy of the film’s premise, the director grounds the story in its lead characters’ humanity and the real-life complications dusted up in their unexpected collision. Hathaway is plucky and authentic as an art gallery curator, and Galitzine is a natural charmer and singer in his role as a superstar. Together they make for a steamy duo. The protagonist’s impulse to keep the romance secret including from her teenage daughter presents some silly subplots, while the through-line of self-doubt and sabotage is very relatable. Many finely observed moments abound in this mostly mainstream fare, and the leads buoy its believability. This movie is pure paperback poolside reading in filmed form and promises to make a delightful date night viewing.

“Challengers” a Potent Mix of Acting Threesome with Sexy Sport and Score

It’s a love triangle with more than a touch of tennis envy as a palace intrigue story of sorts plays out court-side among the agile athletes of Luca Guadagnino’s smart, sassy guilty pleasure romantic drama Challengers (B+). Three characters are front and center in a plot that zig-zags and thirst-traps across nearly a decade and a half as two doubles tennis playing boarding school dudes find their fates as young adults en route to Grand Slam glory intertwined with a sporty force of nature played by Zendaya, who fully occupies her queen bee position in terms of fetching femininity, fitness and fashion. This is a great role for this iconic actress with much communicated in very few words. Josh O’Connor is perfection as the bad boy roustabout opposite Mike Faist’s more serene boon companion, and the chemistry on and off the court between the members of this trio is palpable. Guadagnino wisely casts his film with actors who can believably portray characters across high school, college and twentysomething years and augments the action with a fast-paced techno score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, pulling viewers deeply into a near-hypnotic trance. The twisty three-hander plot devices further reveal themselves with each escalating episode, and the film proves sexy in what it largely leaves to the imagination. This could very well become this generation’s Cruel Intentions or at the very least a double bill with Saltburn for adventurous moviegoers.

“Indigo Girls” Documentary a Rollicking, Revelatory Look at Signature Duo

Pop music stardom is an uneasy fit for the idiosyncratic women of one of the State of Georgia’s most popular exports, but this steely duo’s combination of vulnerability and authenticity expresses a profound harmony powerful enough to heal an aching world. Director Alexandria Bombach’s joy-balm of a career chronicle Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All (A) derives its title from a verse of the duo’s hit song, “Closer to Fine,” recently featured on the dream car radio airwaves of the Barbie movie as characters trek between fantasy and the real world. This documentary similarly exists in a realm of crafty contradictions and sly serendipity as amplified acoustic troubadours Amy Ray and Emily Saliers reveal their starkly divergent pathways to achieve both their iconic sound and inner peace against a backdrop of changing times and minds. These two couldn’t be more different! Amy constantly tames tempestuousness, all grit and ache simmering on the surface while unleashing her inner rocker, as Emily belts lovely ballads and a bright blend of poetic melancholy while privately battling her own doubts and demons. The sound they make together is singular and sublime, and the respect they have for one another is apparent in every revealing frame. Both women are raw in their confessions, wry in their self-effacing observations and clearly having a wonderful time curating a career unlike any before or after them. The film showcases two lifelong friends coming of age without a roadmap, united in music-making as a mutual coping mechanism and antidote to growing up gay in the south, to being unconventional women in the entertainment business and to not always being particularly prepared for the role model activists they’ve become. While showcasing the origins of their welcoming brand of lyrical and sonic composition forged in the otherworldly necessity of their friendship, the movie also traces the womens’ journey to an even more pronounced consciousness about environmental and justice issues they hold so dear, outside opinions be damned. Archival footage captured on every conceivable form of media, testimonials from true believers who would follow the band anywhere and a keen directorial eye on the lovely details which define a relationship for the ages are among the poignant ways the film showcases its subjects so lovingly. For both devoted fans and newbies discovering these pioneering women in action, bearing witness to their stories both in conversation and song will be nothing short of inspiring. The film is a highly recommended glimpse at two people who by their very existence, and their talent on top of that, are changing the world and saving lives. Go, go, go!

Note: the film runs at Atlanta’s Tara theatre before appearing elsewhere.

“Love Lies Bleeding” is a Trippy Romantic Thriller from 2024 Sundance

Get ready to experience pulp friction of the edgiest order as a mismatched love story collides with a badass crime drama and all-out revenge and cover-up saga in the consistently surprising Love Lies Bleeding (B), directed by Rose Glass. Set in the 1980s, this often unhinged movie chronicles the sexy relationship between a gym manager played by Kristen Stewart and a nomadic bodybuilder portrayed by Katy O’Brian, with a powderkeg or two threatening the serenity of their sapphic world order. Both women are incredible in the roles; their unbridled feral chemistry is a necessary foundation on which the most outlandish episodes can take place. Ed Harris and Dave Franco are also compelling as outrageous and dangerous men; and it’s clear we the audience are settling in for some supernatural splatter when steroids stoke the kindling of the bonfire. After opening sequences ground the story in a very specific world, some of the plot lines admittedly become completely ridiculous. But Glass keeps the story taut and entertaining with a clever eye for detail and noirish nuances. This is a very fun indie walk on the wild side.