Him (2025)

Everyone knows that sport is a serious business. People get so passionate about it that it's quite scary. There are a number of sports that could take top priority in your life, and many Americans absolutely love their American Football, whether they're supporting a team or spending some of their youth risking injury and pain for the sake of becoming a decent player. Him is a film about someone who could be more than a decent player. That person could be a new GOAT, but it's going to require a fair amount of sacrifice, of course.

Tyriq Withers plays Cam, a young football player who looks to have a bright future ahead of him. Then he's suddenly attacked, which leads to him requiring some rehabilitation and a reconsideration of his options. He still wants to play football though, and he wants to be the best. That's how he ends up being given the opportunity to be mentored by the great Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), a quarterback who is due to retire from his team, the San Antonio Saviors. Has Cam got what it takes to make it? And will he want everything that comes with his potential superstardom?

If I told you that I'd already heard some mixed opinions on this film then I'd be lying. Most people I know disliked it. Some hated it. I couldn't help being intrigued though, especially with the cast including Wayans in that main role, and support from Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, and Jim Jefferies. I also enjoyed the fact that I both knew the kind of film that I was getting, yet also wasn't sure exactly where it was going to go before the end credits rolled. 

Directed by Justin Tipping, who also co-wrote it with Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers, Him is an enjoyable trip into some truly bonkers horror territory. Things start off strange, and it only gets weirder and weirder with each subsequent sequence, but it's easy to believe that Cam would tolerate almost anything as he stretches further out over the abyss while ready to grab his golden prize. It feels very much like a case of someone being bemused, but also thinking "okay, this is how things happen when you can just do anything you want". 

There's a great soundtrack and score accompanying the impressive visuals, with everything designed to be impressively cool and unsettling, and the lead performances are good enough to sell the main storyline. Withers is decent, although he's the least interesting character until allowed to have some fun in the third act. Wayans is superb, almost giving us two very different characters in one, a man who has given his all to something that has also given him everything in return, for better or worse. Heidecker is cast well, Jefferies equally so, and Fox seems to have been asked to play her character as a cross between a business manager and Lady Gaga. Which, to be clear, I am not complaining about. 

While it may not work for those wanting something comfortably familiar, and less darkly comedic, Him absolutely hit the spot for me. It looks at pain, at sacrifice, at being pushed along a certain path through life that was plotted for you by others, and it felt like a genre-shaded mockery of the lengths that people and clubs will go to in order to tie a potentially great player into a contract. And it does it all in a decent 96-minute runtime. It may not be a complete blowout, but it's a convincing victory.

7/10

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The People's Joker (2024)

It happened. At long last. I had been wanting a way, any (legal) way, to watch, and support, The People's Joker since I first heard about it last year. The opportunity finally came my way with a limited online event, allowing me to rent both the film and a Q & A between writer-director Vera Drew and Grant Morrison. I hoped it would live up to my expectations, and I am happy to say that it exceeded them.

Working around the main line of "you want to know how I got these emotional scars?", The People's Joker is a wild and brilliant exploration of gender, self-expression, and the very obvious appeal to those who feel "othered" of comic book characters who spend a lot of their time processing their own trauma while writhing around in leather and/or latex. It has been said many times lately, because it is very true, but when others are trying to erase your existence from the world then simply living your life is a wonderful act of rebellion. Vera Drew, portraying the lead character of Joker The Harlequin here, embraces that ethos, and uses the meta-layering of the film to present an astonishingly authentic and anarchic version of a character others have sometimes struggled with.

Co-written by Drew and Brie LeRose, this is a film as defiant as the woman at the helm of it. Considering all of the legal ramifications and constant dancing around (and over and under) copyright, all of which is acknowledged at both the start and end of the film, this feels like a bizarre collage that shouldn't exist. Drew claims "fair use", a canny tactic as her appropriation of the famous DC characters are being used to depict and explore her journey through life, but I have to think that she's also been allowed to keep her vision intact thanks to those who saw the film and recognised the brilliance of the central conceit. There are a number of intertwining main strands here that intertwine on the way to the final scenes. We see Drew struggling to communicate her feelings to her mother (Lynn Downey). We see Drew figuring out, and deciding whether to embrace or smother, her persona, Joker The Harlequin. The character also falls for a certain Mr. J (Kane Distler), who comes with a large number of red flags. And then there's an ongoing worry about the long-term effects of Smylex, the "miracle drug" that definitely has no insidious side-effects whatsoever.

It's hard to praise this without sounding hyperbolic, but it's an interconnected series of insightful skits that feels absolutely masterful in how it weaves together comedy, pathos, commentary, and IP. A few of the jokes may seem a bit obvious, but most of them are smart and genuinely funny. All of the performances work as they need to with the material, with Drew being a fantastic anchor for the whole thing, and highlights include Downey, Lister, Nathan Faustyn (as Penguin), Trevor Drinkwater (The Riddler), and a very special cameo from one Mr. Boop. Various goons make trouble, "Batsy" (voiced by Phil Braun) is amusingly mocked, and Lorne Michaels (voiced by Maria Bamford) seems to fit nicely alongside anyone else who could be perceived as either a superhero or super-villain.

The effects all work well, whether being obviously fake and cheesy or being used to complement the main action as seamlessly as possible, there are some impressive bits of animation, and the end result feels exactly like what it is - a collaboration between many artists and like-minded individuals in service of one unifying vision. It's also worth mentioning the superb score from Justin Krol and Quinn Scharber, but I'll also compliment Laura Wheeler (costume design), Nate Cornett (cinematography), Courtney McIntosh (production designer), and everyone else who came together to deliver us a brilliantly unique experience.

You may not love this as much as I did, but I'm pretty sure you won't have seen anything else like it. I really hoped to enjoy this. The more I think on it, the more I view it as a modern masterpiece. 

10/10

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Terri (2011)

There are two ways you can view low-budget, independent movies. One, you can roll your eyes at a lot of the familiar tropes (the quirky characters, the moments of discomfort, the low-key and relaxed way the slim plot unfolds, etc). Two, you can enjoy visiting a small part of a world populated by people who don't have an extra layer of celebrity sheen to act their way through. I prefer the second method, of course, but it's often decided by the quality of the movie itself.

Terri is a good movie, and I hope others share my opinion of it. Considering I had never heard of it before today, I am really not sure of how it has been received by the few who have already seen it.

Jacob Wysocki plays the titular character, a high school student who has taken to attending school in his pyjamas. They are just more comfortable for him, and it saves him time as he is finding it more and more difficult to look after his ill Uncle James (Creed Bratton). But that still doesn't stop him getting into trouble at school, due to his tardiness and worsening grades, which brings him to the office of the School Principal, Mr Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly). That leads to him befriending the troubled Chad (Bridger Zadina), and also eventually helps him make a connection with the lovely Heather (Olivia Crocicchia).

Directed by Azazel Jacobs, who also came up with the story idea that was shaped by first-time scriptwriter Patrick Dewitt, Terri is a character study that just manages to avoid being too irritating and quirky thanks to the fact that a lot of fun moments are injected with an honesty that stems from the motivations of the main characters.

The performances help a lot. Wysocki is very good in the main role, although he is stuck in the role of gentle victim of circumstance looking forward to times when high school is far behind him, but the star turn comes from Reilly, portraying someone who wants to help the kids in his care but doesn't always do things in the right way, because he is just a man who makes mistakes. Bratton is also excellent, most of the time unaware of exactly what he is doing, because of his illness, and Zadina and Crocicchia both do very well, although both are given unsatisfying moments in the third act.

Overall, this is a small film that does so much right that it's easy to forgive some of the mistakes. It's a shame that it builds up to something that doesn't really satisfy as it should, but that's the way of life, and films like this tend to value that approach over easy brownie points.

7/10

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A Merry Friggin' Christmas (2014)

At this moment in time, I have no idea of how many movies featuring Robin Williams are still due to be released after his untimely death. All I can say is that I hope some of the others are a damn sight better than this one, which I worry will be received positively by people who simply don't want to speak ill of the dead.

And let me clarify something before I go on. Williams is pretty great in this. He's one of three main highlights. So this isn't a review aiming to have a go at him. It's just a review critical of a movie that he happened to be involved with.

Joel McHale plays Boyd Mitchler, a man who has to return to his family home, with his wife (Lauren Graham) and kids, in order to attend the christening of his nephew on December 24th. It doesn't take long until the greetings give way to animosity and resentment. The main friction comes from Boyd and his father (Williams). Boyd's younger brother, Nelson (Clark Duke), reacts to the more volatile moments by running off to hide, while his sister, Shauna (Wendi McLendon-Covey), is fairly nonplussed by the whole situation. She's busy keeping her kids from causing too much damage and telling her father off whenever he accuses her husband (Tim Heidecker) of being a pervert (for reasons that become clear as the movie plays out). To top everything off, Boyd realises that he forgot the main presents for his youngest son. This is probably the last year that he'll believe in Santa Claus and Boyd wants it to be special, unlike his own childhood Christmas experiences. Can he make the trip back to Chicago, and THEN back to Wisconsin, in time? He's certainly going to try his hardest.

Looking at the credit listings for the main talent behind the camera on this movie, it quickly becomes clear just where the problems stem from. Director Tristram Shapeero has a fine body of work to his name, but most, if not all, of it is TV work (including one of the best TV episodes ever for Brass Eye, and many episodes of Community). This would explain why the film never really feels very cinematic. It is, to all intents and purposes, either a TV movie or a couple of episodes serving as the finale/opener of some show. Unfortunately, that means that viewers are taken along for a ride with characters you have no time, or inclination, to get to know better. Oh, they could have been memorable, they could have been people that were worth watching, if the script had been better. That's where first-timer Michael Brown comes in. Seemingly content to line up the hurdles that McHale needs to overcome in order to enjoy Christmas, Brown forgets to create characters that are interesting enough to invest in. He also forgets to create a fluid narrative that leads to a deserved finale, one ripe with the potential for redemption and change. Whatever happens to these characters before the end credits roll, it just seems unearned.

I already mentioned Williams as a highlight. The other main highlights would be Duke and Oliver Platt (as a down and out Santa). Graham, Mclendon-Covey and Candice Bergen (as the mother of the household) also do solid work, but they're given a lot less to do. Heidecker's character really didn't need to be there, which leaves him with very little to do, although all of the child actors do enough to earn their places onscreen. McHale, as much as I like him on TV, can't overcome the script. His character feels more like an irritant than the lead, most of his behaviour is either stupid or simply stubborn (aka stupid), and part of me kept hoping that yet another obstacle would come along to knock him flat on his ass. That surely wasn't the intention.

I would recommend a number of Hallmark/ABC movies over this one, and I'm not joking or exaggerating when I say that. This was really poor, and a waste of some considerable talent. Skip it, unless you're a real Robin Williams completist (and I know there are a few out there).

3/10

http://www.amazon.com/Merry-Friggin-Christmas-Blu-ray/dp/B00NGAJAOS/ref=sr_1_2_twi_2_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418319820&sr=8-2&keywords=a+merry+friggin%27+christmas

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