What “Bob’s Burgers” has always excelled at is making us laugh while also making us well up with emotions. Loren Bouchard has a real challenge ahead of him developing his short form comedy series in to a feature film, and despite some tumbles narratively, it’s a success. The series has a knack for making me laugh and cry and Bouchard delivers on both fronts. Only this series can feature a hilarious gag of Linda trying to sell burgers in a bikini in one beat, and then revealing the origin of Louise’s rabbit ears in the next beat. Suffice to say I never expected the writers would ever give us a reason as to why Louise is so devoted to her rabbit ears, but the explanation left me on the verge of tears.
Tag Archives: Adaptation
Night Swim (2024)
It’s always good to see an indie success story and Bryce McGuire’s is the latest. After delivering the pretty creepy short “Night Swim” in 2014, McGuire was able to develop it in to a feature film and, ironically, mid-way through it I found myself thinking “This would work better as a short.” I wasn’t trying for sarcasm, it’s just that “Night Swim” presents only a seed of a potentially scary horror film that never actually feels fully fleshed out or extensively realized. Its penchant for ambiguity is its big downfall as it’s a victim to so many of the typical haunted house tropes, banal fake outs, and clumsy ghost scares, without ever trying to re-invent the wheel.
Suitable Flesh (2023)
“Suitable Flesh” feels like a movie displaced from the nineties. It feels like a film that would have originally starred Linda Blair and Julie Strain in the duel roles we see in Joe Lynch’s newest horror film. In many ways that’s both a pro and a con as “Suitable Flesh” is completely out of what director Joe Lynch typically delivers. While “Suitable Flesh” pegs itself more as Lovecraftian body horror, the movie leans very heavily more on erotic camp revolving around a lot of body switching and hyper sexual violence. While the movie will definitely have its fans, at the end of the day “Suitable Flesh” and I just didn’t click with it.
Lightyear (2022)
Even though we were under the impression that Andy loved Buzz Lightyear because he was this new special toy, we’re told in 1999’s “Toy Story 2” that he was actually a part of a TV series, which was further canonized in the 2000 animated show “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.” Now we’re told that in 1995 Andy actually loved Buzz Lightyear because he originally came from a hit movie within the “Toy Story” universe. And this is that movie. That we’re watching—uh, somehow. Despite the absolutely elaborate concept behind it, “Lightyear” is a meta-movie that features pre-toy Buzz as an adventurous space ranger and bonafide hero. All the while there are some fun allusions to “Top Gun,” “Flash Gordon,” and “Aliens” to be explored here.
Poor Things (2023)
Emma Stone is an actress that has continued to challenge herself time and time again with roles that we’d never expect her to take on. Originally beginning her career in a teen comedy, she’s managed to really escape pigeonholing by exploring new and interesting roles. Bella Baxter is probably one of the best performances of her career, one even better than her turn in “Birdman.” As Bella, Stone is remarkable in the way she evolves, and develops and grows in to something that we never quite recognize when the film has ended. Although “Poor Things” will get so many interpretations, I pegged Yorgos Lanthimos’ film primarily as a statement about the illusion of bodily autonomy.
Five More of My Favorite Fictional Movie Rock Bands
It’s that time of year again and since I haven’t continued in my quest to list all of my favorite fictional movie rock bands, I thought a sequel would be only appropriate. These are five more of my favorite fictional movie rock bands from past and present. While I took some liberties stretching the definition of rock and roll, I think this list holds up. Continue reading
The Color Purple (1985) [4K UHD/Digital]
What with Warner Bros moving forward with their highly anticipated musical remake of Alice Walker’s 2023 musical remake of “The Color Purple,” the 4K UHD release of Steven Spielberg’s 1985 classic just made sense. With the continued push for the 4K UHD format, this re-release includes the original dramatic masterpiece on 4K UHD only. For hold outs the 1985 masterpiece arrives in a more restored and crisp picture quality. Spielberg seemed like an unusual choice to steer the adaptation of Alice Walker’s iconic novel, but his film has aged pretty well even if it has some very rough narrative choices it never quite topples.