3.5 Razors

Queen & Slim

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  • Title: Queen & Slim
  • IMDb: link

Queen & Slim movie reviewWriter/director Melina Matsoukas’ Queen & Slim examines how one night can change your life. Driving Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) home after their unsuccessful first date, Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) is pulled over by a racist cop looking for any excuse to escalate the situation. Two gunshots later, the pair are on the run relatively oblivious to how their story will spread across the country.

The film is built on the backs of Kaluuya and Turner-Smith whose unusual first date leads the to unexpected destinations including a family reunion, a city-wide protest in their honor, and a drive towards freedom. Slim’s even demanor is a nice match for Queen’s more fiery moments, and it’s where the pair come together that Queen & Slim ultimately succeeds.

Matsoukas provides a stylish racially-charged tale of fugitives on the run that does begin to drag on during its final half-hour. While the decisions the pair make after killing a cop in self-defense are questionable at best, the script focuses on their perspectives, and life experience, to make the best choices they can given other equally bad alternatives.

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Dark Waters

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Dark Waters
  • IMDb: link

Dark Waters movie reviewDark Waters is an interesting story that isn’t always told in an interesting way. Based on real events, Mark Ruffalo stars as corporate lawyer Robert Bilott who gets roped into taking on the kind of client his firm usually argues against when a farmer shows up in his offices with a story to tell how his land is being poisoned by the small town’s main employer, DuPont. Much like the court case itself, the film drags on as any movement in events happens at a glacial pace over decades (eventually the movie begins to increase the rapidness of its fast-forwards to alleviate some of the on-screen stagnation).

The script by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Mario Correa showcases how a big corporation flaunts its wealth and privilege, while ignoring any responsibility, even when solid proof of their wrongdoing is exposed. The other aspect to the film, not as well explored, is how the case changes Bilott’s life, both professionally and at home, when he decides to take on a case that eventually becomes more of a crusade he feels obligated to see through. The film’s set-up reminded me of 1998’s A Civil Action (among other films) which explores many of the same themes.

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Arrow – Purgatory

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Arrow – Purgatory
  • wiki: link

Arrow - Purgatory television review

The final pre-Crisis episode of Arrow takes Oliver Queen‘s (Stephen Amell) back to Lian Yu in and episode that attempts (somewhat clumsily) making sense of the various missions and locales Oliver and his friends have returned to over the course of the season. On the island the group will race to complete a weapon for the the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) while literal ghosts from Oliver’s past arise to cause complications. The farewell tour brings back a couple of familiar faces in Yao Fei (Byron Mann) and Fyers (Sebastian Dunn), but in an episode (and season) devoted largely to fan service (when not advertising a big crossover), I was disappointed not to see Shado (Celina Jade) earn a final cameo.

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The Report

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Report
  • IMDb: link

The ReportThe Report is one of a number of movies released in 2019, most of them based on true stories, centered around an idealistic protagonist uncovering a dark truth and struggling to bring it to light. Our hero is Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones (Adam Driver) who is chosen by Senator Dianne Feinstein (Annette Bening) to lead an investigation into the CIA’s detention program, and the enhanced interrogation techniques they deployed, following the attacks on September 11, 2001. What he discovers is shocking and disgusting, as is the CIA’s work to discredit the report and make sure the truth never sees the light of day.

The events depicted in the film are less shocking today then when they were disclosed, but writer/director Scott Z. Burns does fashion this version of Jones as the vessel for the outrage over what was done in the name of freedom as well as a singular source to document and describe many of the flaws with the CIA’s methods that, after all was said and done, produced very little in actionable intelligence. While Jones is obviously Burns’ hero, Senator Feinstein is a bit harder for him to nail down (especially given her late waffling against the opposition to the report).

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Klaus

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  • Title: Klaus
  • IMDb: link

Klaus reviewKlaus offers a fun, if a bit predictable, holiday tale that explains various aspects of the Santa Claus mythology when a spoiled postman (Jason Schwartzman) is shipped off to the edge of the world and enlists the help of a hermit named Klaus (J.K. Simmons) to provide toys to the children of Smeerensburg where two rival families have been at odds for generations. While Jesper’s (Schwartzman) motives are originally selfish in terms of bumping up the post office’s numbers to earn a trip back home to the good life, his actions lead to a dramatic change in the town’s children, and eventually their parents.

The pair’s attempt to deliver presents sets the precedent of Santa coming through the chimney, lumps of coal, and a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Klaus works well as a holiday film where both our selfish protagonist and the bizarre city he finds himself exiled to discover the meaning of Christmas. Even the lonely Klaus is helped by Jesper’s schemes, although the story flounders a bit in the final act where Jesper’s motives behind the town’s changes are put into light prior to the inevitable conclusion to the story. Klaus is currently available on Netflix.

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