Odds & Ends (2/7/25)
what's the vibe, friends?
THOUGHTS & VIBES
for the Chicago Reader, I reviewed the new action comedy LOVE HURTS. pretty lousy! Ke Huy Quan deserves a better leading role than this. alas!
for this week’s Cine-File, I wrote about the new documentary NO OTHER LAND, currently the frontrunner for this year’s Best Documentary Feature Oscar. the film doesn’t have any official U.S. theatrical distribution1, but you can catch it in Chicago at the Music Box Theatre. I highly recommend doing so!
RIP William Castle, you would’ve loved Neon’s marketing campaign for THE MONKEY.
the trailer for the new Fantastic Four movie was released this week! this third attempt at creating a Good Fantastic Four movie comes from director Matt Shakman, who famously helmed the TV show “WandaVision,” with the delightful family of four getting their first feature under the MCU banner. it’s often a folly to judge a film by its trailer, but at least from the footage seen here, it looks rather unremarkable. pretty unexciting imagery, the Thing’s CGI looks pretty bad2, just people hanging out in rooms and lots of running around. I get that it’s a teaser and they’re only showing so much, but I was expecting a little bit more. it’s a fascinating year for the once-mighty MCU, after essentially taking last year off (save for the abysmal DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE). I’ll be officially reviewing their latest, CAPTAIN AMERICA BRAVE NEW WORLD, so more words from me on this superhero juggernaut in the coming weeks!
“Oh, Mary!,” the hottest ticket for a new play on Broadway right now, has announced their latest Mary Todd Lincoln starting in March; Tituss Burgess. I sadly haven’t had a chance to venture out to see Cole Escola’s madcap work, but from all I know of the work, this is a truly inspired piece of casting, building upon the queer, feral energy that the role of Mary requires. if anyone gets to see Tituss, report back at once!
I enjoyed this Op-Ed from Hank Azaria talking about the dangers of using AI to replicate/replace voice actors. there is, indeed, a humanity and a soul to voice acting, as with all acting, and using a computer program to do that work is nothing short of computerized necromancy.
the Super Bowl is this Sunday! sure, okay! i am legally required to say; go Eagles!3 whatever commercials do end up airing during the Big Game, my guess is none will be as funny as this one. what a hoot!
more movie discussion this coming Monday! plus, my personal ranking of the best picture nominees coming next week. have a lovely weekend!
