The title of the entry says it all: here are some movies and shows I haven't reviewed yet.
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Big Mouth
Big Mouth is such an excellent, top-shelf show, it boggles the mind that some people have yet to watch it and, further, don't want to watch it because it's animated. I kind of get it because I don't watch animated movies for the most part (my knee-jerk reaction to them is "that's a kid's movie"). But trust me, Big Mouth is different. Created by Nick Kroll (and others), it's a show about the horrors and wonders of puberty. Kroll voices about half the characters on the show, with John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jenny Slate, Jordan Peele, Jason Mantzoukas, and Maya Rudolph rounding out an excellent voice cast.
Kroll voices Nick Birch and Mulaney voices Andrew Glouberman--7th graders and best friends going through puberty at different rates. Andrew is constantly bothered by the "Hormone Monster" (also voiced by Kroll), who pesters him to jerk off pretty much all the damn time. Meanwhile, Jessie (Jessi Klein), Andrew and Nick's friend, is bothered by the Hormone Monstress (Rudolph, doing hilarious voice work here), a female version of the Monster who insists that Jessie yell at her mom, steal lipstick, and cry a lot. Are you thinking that this show sounds bizarre and annoying at best, wildly inappropriate at worst? Well, you are super wrong because it is a GODDAMN GOOD show. And very sex positive. There's an episode dedicated to consent! And another dedicated to Planned Parenthood!
Big Mouth is easily one of the best comedies I've seen in a long time. It's stupidly raunchy, but in a nice way, which is the sweet spot for my sense of humor (case in point: The 40 Year Old Virgin remains one of my favorite comedies). It's also absurd, yet strikingly accurate in its depiction of the turmoil of growing up. Do yourself a favor and watch at least a few episodes of this wonderful show. But not with your parents or your children, ok?
Grade: A+
***
Operation Finale
I saw this movie a long time ago, so forgive me if I'm fuzzy looking back on it. Directed by Chris Weitz (yeah, the same dude who directed the original American Pie movie), Operation Finale is based on the true story of a group Israeli spies who, in 1960, tracked down, captured, and brought to justice Adolf Eichmann--the "architect of the Holocaust" and high-ranking Nazi official who managed to escape justice by fleeing to Argentina after the war.
Operation Finale is a serviceable, if not particularly memorable, film with strong performances by Ben Kingsley as Eichmann and Oscar Isaac as Peter Malkin, the leader of the group of Mossad spies who are tasked with bringing Eichmann to justice. There's much more talk than action as Malkin tries to get to know and earn the trust of Eichmann in order to get him to sign a confession to be transported back to Israel to face trial.
I'd recommend this movie to WWII buffs and anyone who loves a good Nazi-brought-to-justice movie, but otherwise it's not a must-see. Kingsley is, unsurprisingly, excellent as the sly, unrepentant Eichmann who is cruel even in his most helpless moments. And Eichmann's trial resulted in one of the most seminal books on WWII and the nature of human cruelty: Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt.
Grade: B-
***
Halloween (2018)
Most things stay dead when they die. But of course, that's not true for Michael Myers, the masked killer who made his debut in John Carpenter's classic 1978 horror film. There's a reason the actors who play Myers are billed as "The Shape" in the credits of Halloween (2018): Myers is no simple serial killer. He is the Bogeyman. And in this reboot of the classic film, directed by (of all people) David Gordon Green, Myers is both a legitimate threat and also a symbol of trauma that refuses to die.
I'll say it right out the gate: Halloween (2018) is not that great of a movie. It takes everything excellent about the original film and...copies it. The tropes and cliches are reliably revisited, including the "babysitter-in-peril" and the "sexually-active-teens-are-doomed", and in some cases scenes from the original are essentially re-shot with a few twists to keep it fresh. Jamie Lee Curtis is back as the haunted Laurie Strode. Laurie is the world's most badass grandma who has been preparing for Michael Myers' inevitable return, much to the chagrin of her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer, always a delight). Karen is angry that she was raised to be paranoid and constantly afraid by her mother who lives in what is basically a compound, filled with guns, ammo, and a secret entrance to a basement. Karen's daughter and Laurie's granddaughter, Allyson (newcomer Andi Matichak), tries to bridge the gap between the two stubborn women while also navigating the social bullshit of high school and boyfriends.
When Myers breaks out of police custody on (of course) Halloween--specifically on (OF COURSE) the 40th anniversary of the events of 1978, Laurie is prepared. But are Karen and Allyson? Myers is not just out to get Laurie: he makes multiple pit stops to kill many unsuspecting people and to give the audience a bit of a thrill before the final showdown at Laurie's fortress of a house. But when he gets there, he not only faces his old nemesis...but three badass generations of Strode women. Points for feminism, I guess.
Halloween (2018) is a decent horror flick, but it's nothing special. Fans of the Halloween canon (?) will for sure love it and folks who are hard-core horror fanatics will likely also want to check it out if for no other reason than to see Jamie Lee Curtis kick ass. But other moviegoers are free to give this one and pass and focus on more original, scarier movies out this Halloween season.
Grade: C+
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