Month: May 2024
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The American Society of Magical Negroes review, not quite magical
The American Society of Magical Negroes is a satire meant to demonstrate how ridiculous white people are about race. It was trying to do something comparable to Dear White People, but it didn’t quite work. Maybe that comparison is unfair because Dear White People had a movie and several seasons of TV to make its…
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Bodkin review, podcasters in for a surprise
Bodkin is full of surprises. This review will avoid revealing any spoilers or surprises, because they are the secret sauce in this comedy about a podcaster looking for a story in a small Irish town near the sea.
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Love, Divided review: Spanish remake of a French rom-com
Love, Divided (Pared con pared) is a Spanish rom-com about two feuding neighbors who fall in love through a wall. It’s a remake of the French version of the story, called Blind Date. I remember seeing Blind Date a few years ago. The new version was written by Marta Sánchez and directed by Patricia Font.…
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The Girls on the Bus review, women power takes a ride
The Girls on the Bus takes four different women journalists and puts them on a bus following after a candidate for President. The political aspect of the story forms the background for the central relationship between the women.
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The Tattooist of Auschwitz review, memories of surviving real horrors
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is Lali Sokolov’s story about love and survival in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. As an old man, Lali told his story to Heather Morris. She made his memories into a book. This six part television series is based on the book.
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The Idea of You review: this rom-com’s a little different
The Idea of You is absolutely a rom-com. Yet it manages to feel more substantive than the usual fluffy romance we are flooded with of late. Maybe it felt more grounded to me because the plot is about a woman of 40 who falls for a man of 24.
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Turtles All the Way Down review, excellent mental health story
Turtles All the Way Down is a careful and well done exploration of mental illness in a teen girl played by Isabela Merced. It’s a story of friendship, budding romance, grief, love, and obsession.
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Unfrosted review: silly fun from Jerry Seinfeld
Unfrosted is all the comedy things: satire, parody, double entendres, physical nonsense, word play, exaggeration, topical visuals, and an abundance of cameos from well known comic actors. It was co-written by Jerry Seinfeld and is his first time as a director.
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Anyone But You review: working the tropes and getting laughs
Anyone But You is a rom-com loosely based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. It uses similar character names, silly misunderstandings, a few quotes from the Bard plastered about the sets, and very broad humor. It’s been modernized to include a lesbian wedding, mixed race couples, lots of skin, and koalas.
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We Are Lady Parts, season 1, four Muslim women in a punk rock band
We Are Lady Parts from creator and director Nida Manzoor brings comedy to punk rock. Set in England, four Muslim women and their manager join together in a band called Lady Parts. Amina (Anjana Vasan) tells the story. She plays lead guitar. All the actors actually played their own instruments in this. It’s very much…