Previous December 31, 2024 Next A BITESIZE CHAT WITH DANIELS The directing duo of Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels (Swiss Army Man ), take a moment to chat with us about their upcoming film Everything Everywhere All at Once . BB: I've got to start off with a question about the [in-movie] universes because there were so many incredible ones and they just all blew us away. Were there any universes that you guys designed and came up with that you weren’t able to include? DS: Yeah, just like 40 or 50. DK: *laughs* Every day, we’d come up with a new idea that would not fit. But the one that we actually put in the script from day one... then shot during the pandemic and put in the edit, and it was one of the last things we cut out of the film because our movie was already too long, was the universe called “Spaghetti Baby Noodle Boy.” Michelle Yeoh becomes a long spaghetti in a pot of other spaghettis, and there’s a little macaroni boy who’s like an orphan elbow macaroni. His name is Spaghetti Baby Noodle Boy, and he’s having, like, a crisis of identity because no one else has a hole like he does. So he’s wondering why God would make him with a hole when everyone else is normal. And the premise of that world is that there is a ritual, every now and then, where a spoon comes down and scoops one of the spaghettis out, and they call it “Throwing Day” because it’s the day where one of the chosen spaghetti gets thrown against the wall. If they stick, they become an adult and it’s like a ritual of passage to adulthood. So that got cut. It was going to be voiced by Jenny Slate and it was very stupid. BB: That's amazing. Even though it’s early in the year, this film is already receiving Oscar buzz, both as a film and for Michelle Yeoh's performance. Is that something that, when you guys saw the finished product, you saw as a possibility? Or did it completely catch you off guard? DS: Yeah, we wrote this with the Oscars in mind. We, like, hired a data scientist to analyze what gets nominations and we wrote this... *laughs* Sarcasm is good in interviews, right? DK: The funny thing about this movie is we… with our music videos and stuff like that, we’re used to getting nominated for things, but we rarely win. I think people can appreciate our zeal for overambitious projects, but most people don’t want to award us for it. So, yeah, I never expected any of this. I will say our personal assistant, when he first read the script, he came up to me later and was like, "I think this is going to get nominated for Original Screenplay,” and I was like... DS: We were like, “Shut up. You're fired.” *laughs* DK: Exactly. But, also, he’s GenZ. He's younger. And, of course, the script spoke to him. So, I was like, "you’ll say that, but the Oscar voters are like three times your age." It’s ok. We didn’t do this for that. That all being said, if Michelle Yeoh can win something off of this movie, I will be so proud to be a part of that legacy and be the directors to finally push her into that place where she’s kind of deserved to be for so long. Fingers crossed. We’ll see if people remember this movie... DS: I just want her to do more movies that show everything she’s capable of. And, yeah, awards make me uncomfortable. It is not at all something we aspired to do or expected. The only award I want is auditor of the month. *laughs* BB: Leaving the screening, one moment of the movie that definitely stood out to me - and one of the first things that popped in my head - was the cojones of you guys putting one of the most pivotal scenes set between two rocks in a barren desert. And that reminded me of Swiss Army Man when Hank [Paul Dano] gets over his repression and his self loathing by farting in public. I just want to applaud you for finding that edge between brilliance and insanity... How do you find that edge? And how do you know how far is too far? DS: There's a Kurt Vonnegut quote where he’s like, "out on the edge, there’s so much more you can see. You just gotta be careful not to go over." I think it’s somewhat organic to our process and to our taste that we’re somewhat cynical guys, but we’re deeply romantic deep down. We want to feel feelings, and it takes smushing things together and saying a sincere thing in absurd circumstances to get past our defences, you know? We’re kind of just writing in a way to try to get past our own defences in the hopes that other people out there, who maybe have seen a few too many movies might… like multiple people have said, “this movie made me cry and I thought I was dead inside.” *laughs* I think that’s the sweetest compliment, and I think there’s something about absurdity that sneaks past people’s defences. It's definitely about more than just the laugh of it, you know? DK: There are two of us, so there’s a tension there, a creative tension, so that we make sure we don’t go off the edge. You know, if someone is in love with an idea and it’s going too far, the other person will pull it back. Then, the last thing is, you know, we always want to make our moms proud, so, as wild as our movies are, we always go "ok, the litmus test is ‘would we be able to show this to our parents?’" DS: And we welcome reactions and criticism. We’re not just in a bubble as we write or make the movie, and that helps too, to kind of be like, "ohh…that was too far. Let’s cut that." There used to be more dildos [in Everything Everywhere All at Once ]. *laughs* We were like, “oh, we don’t have to rub it in their face. We'll do less.” BB: I enjoyed the trend of the googly eyes throughout the film. Was that always gonna play a major factor or did the concept of using the googly eye evolve over the course of the film? DS: It evolved. We kind of discovered it as we were discovering the character of Waymond [Ke Huy Quan], trying to find a visual language for kindness, and there was something about how dismissive, like dismissible, a googly eye is. And the idea of trying to reclaim that and make it pivotal just made us laugh. But, also, it felt truthful. You know, there’s something powerful about trying to put a little joy into life, and that’s what it kind of came to represent. But we also have a soft spot for things that look stupid. DK: Yeah, so, Michelle Yeoh, with a googly eye on her forehead, fighting through bad guys with kindness was just such an absurd image and umm… Yeah, the moment when we realized “oh, the bullet hits her head, she pulls off the bullet, turns it into a googly eye, puts it back on her head,” we were like “ah, there we go. Third eye.” It’s this moment where the kindness and the silliness is the enlightenment. It’s not enlightened in spite of the silliness. Silliness is at the centre of that moment of understanding. It’s always fun to just shake a bunch of stuff together in a box and see what sticks together, and the googly eyes were one of the materials we threw in that box. It took awhile before we were able to see the full arc. BB: I saw that you guys mentioned that this character was written around Michelle Yeoh. Are there any other actors that you have specific stories that you’re waiting to tell? DK: *laughs* DS: So we can put it out in the ether? DK: Trying to get a scoop! There is a movie that we’re working on that may or may not star Rowan Atkinson. [We’ve] been a big fan forever. We’ll see if that happens. DS: That’s another one where, like, that’s who we picture in our heads. DK: We’re doing something that, technically, we don’t have rights to. We’ve already tried to pitch it to the studio twice and they’ve rejected us twice, but we’re still holding on to it. It would star Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. We’ll see if the universe will let us do that again. DS: Another scoop we could give you… With this one, writing it for Michelle, it just ended up working, you know? Like, she was perfect for it in ways we couldn’t even imagine and it happened. And then, other times, you write with someone in mind and it ends up not being the right person. When we started writing Swiss Army Man , we had just done a Tenacious D video, and we were envisioning Jack Black in the part. So we started writing this sort of musical set in the forest, and we’re like, “we know Jack Black now. What if he’s in it?” But as we went on, we were like, “oh, this is a story about a young man, a lonely young man.” It was really hard to admit…”oh, this part is not for Jack Black anymore.” One day, I wanna do a feature film with Jack Black, but I don’t know what it is yet. BB: Awesome. So your experience with music videos… one thing that I’ve noticed about music videos and dance sequences compared to fighting sequences is that they’re both used to inform the story. The fighting sequences you directed in [Everything Everywhere All at Once ] were absolutely brilliant. They looked absolutely gorgeous, and shout out to Andy [Le] and Brian [Le]. [The fight scenes were] one of the funniest things I’ve seen. What techniques or lessons that you’ve learned from your music video experience were you able to apply to the fight sequences? DS: A lot. I do think that we’re just… physical comedy and physicality is a common language that we share. It’s why music videos became such a good launching pad for us because, sometimes, we just communicate with sound effects and dance moves more than big vocabulary words. We’ve kind of learned a visual language and a physical language over the years, whether it’s a fight scene or a dance number or just an action set piece where no one is fighting. We collected every tool that we learned, every little trick we used again [for] this movie. It was such a great bed of resources because we were trying to pull off an action movie for like a tenth of the budget of blockbusters. We wanted to embrace that and keep it scrappy because, sometimes, scrappy movies are my favorite anyway. I think that’s one lesson we learned. You know, whether it was dance or fighting over the years, it was like, “huh, sometimes more people with guns makes for a boring movie.” Sometimes, keeping it small is more interesting. One dancer can be more riveting than 30 if it’s earned, you know? But, oh my God, our coordinators, Tim Eulich and the Le brothers, Andy and Brian, just elevated it, and we were so grateful. They made us look very good. Make sure to check out Everything Everywhere All At Once now in theatres. Interview conducted on April 4th, 2022 by Nick van Dinther. Photo Credits: Banner - Jeff Vespa/WireImage; Photo 1 - Rich Fury/Getty; Photo 2 - A24

PRESUMED INNOCENT Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ruth Negga, Peter Sarsgaard, Bill Camp, Elizabeth Marvel, Renate Reinsve, O-T Fagbenle, Chase Infiniti, Lily Rabe, Nana Mensah, and Kingston Rumi Southwick Creator: David E. Kelley QUENTIN Overall, as a legal thriller, Presumed Innocent more than satisfies. The performances, the pacing of the case, and the twists and revelations keep things very compelling. However, there is something about the two main characterizations that is a little…incredulous? First, Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal), the defendant, is painted as a selfish idiot and a brilliant lawyer. It’s hard to be both. I was often thinking, “bro, what are you doing?!” Second, Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard), the prosecutor, boasts mustache-twirling douchebaggery that is excessive. Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard are both great, but the way their characters are written results in a tiny strike. Still a winning series, though. PRESTON There are some shows that require us to reflect on how seriously we should consider renewing our subscription to a streaming service that will allow us to enjoy it when any new season releases; Presumed Innocent is one of those shows. Jake Gyllenhaal plays an attorney that is accused of a crime that he would normally be the one to prosecute. His life is upended and he walks a masterful, thin tightrope that will keep you guessing what really happened while on the edge of your seat the whole time. Enjoy your new on again/off again relationship with Apple TV+. PAIGE In Presumed Innocent , Jake Gyllenhaal excels in his first starring television role. Despite this legal drama already having a film adaptation, I still found myself engrossed in this mystery thriller. The story's skillful tension-building draws you in and keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. It's pacy, but I really enjoyed how it keeps you guessing throughout as new things unravel within the case. Is Gyllenhaal’s character Rusty actually capable of this crime or not? That’s for you to tune in to find out, as this is the type of genre that Apple TV+ thrives best in. SHADAN Add Presumed Innocent to Apple TV+’s growing list of underrated TV shows. I admittedly stepped away from it after the first few episodes, but I’m glad I gave it another shot. I should’ve known better than to doubt a courtroom drama from David E. Kelley because it delivers a compelling second half with solid twists and a more than memorable ending. Jake Gyllenhaal may be the marquee name here, but Ruth Negga’s performance is what propelled me to keep watching. For my money, Defending Jacob remains the streamer’s best legal thriller, but Presumed Innocent is a compelling enough series to add to your watchlist.

SURFACE: SEASON ONE Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Stephan James, Ari Graynor, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, François Arnaud, and Millie Brady Creator: Veronica West QUENTIN Surface is the type of soapy schlock made for Basic Bs who celebrate Wine Wednesday by drinking moscato out of their “Wine is Cheaper than Therapy” glass, except it doesn’t even have the decency to deliver the outlandish twists, trashy thrills, or erotic sensibilities that usually make this type of show watchable. Despite Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s best efforts in a role that I’d bet money was first offered to Nicole Kidman, this series is built on poor and lazy writing, an uninteresting mystery, and thinly drawn characters. Honestly, everyone involved deserves better than Surface , even you.

OUTER RANGE: SEASON ONE Starring: Josh Brolin, Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, Tom Pelphrey, Lewis Pullman, Noah Reid, Shaun Sipos, Olive Abercrombie, Tamara Podemski, and Will Patton Creator: Brian Watkins NICK Throughout its first season, Outer Range tends to play things close to the chest - so much so that it doesn't really start providing answers until its final few episodes. However, the mystery it tells is enthralling, which makes the journey worthwhile. On top of that, there isn’t a weak performance to be found. Josh Brolin will deservedly get the headlines, but each supporting cast member deserves props for rounding out this universe in a believable manner. Whether it’s the writing, editing, or cinematography, it’s airtight on a technical level. This is a glowing example of what a series like Under the Dome could have been. QUENTIN Outer Range , which is like Yellowstone if it came from the mind of Alex Garland or Denis Villeneuve, does a great job of setting up puzzle box mysteries that immediately rope you in. Sadly though, it doesn’t seem too interested in answering many of the questions it presents. It just keeps stacking mysteries on mysteries without giving you much in the way of closure by season’s end. Truthfully, the acting is fantastic and I’m very engaged, but if Outer Range isn’t renewed for a second season, I’m going to be sooo pissed. I can’t genuinely recommend it without knowing if Season Two is coming.

LOOT: SEASON ONE Starring: Maya Rudolph, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Joel Kim Booster, Ron Funches, Nat Faxon, Meagen Fay, Stephanie Styles, Olivier Martinez, and Adam Scott Creators: Matt Hubbard and Alan Yang AMARÚ Loot is a show that is carried on the back of its cast. Some jokes land only because it’s Maya Rudolph (Molly), and when she can’t salvage them, her co-stars’ response will make you laugh, smile, or fill up with glee. They’re often accompanied with embarrassment, but standouts like Ron Funches (Howard) and Nat Faxon (Arthur) are so likable that it works. Really, the entire cast is spot on, and even though there are jokes for jokes’ sake, it’s their individual talent fully utilized to bounce off each other that makes Loot funny, witty, and charming. ADRIANO I genuinely wonder if Loot would have been as watchable as it is without the hilariously committed Maya Rudolph. Her spine is probably split in two from carrying this show on her back because she sells even the worst jokes successfully. In all fairness, the show's entire cast is pretty funny, but it really is her show. That said, a lot of the jokes can feel slightly one-note, and I guess the story is fine. I can’t say it’s a bad show by any stretch of the imagination, but without Maya, I don’t think it would’ve worked even this well.

MOON KNIGHT Starring: Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke, May Calamawy, and F. Murray Abraham Creator: Jeremy Slater AMARÚ Moon Knight is a perplexing, bonkers ball of greatness with highs in the upper echelon of Disney+ content. Oscar Isaac’s performance is as award-worthy as Lupita Nyong'o's horrifyingly snubbed Us performance. The first episode is my favorite MCU series premiere, and the world-building, introspection, and mind/genre-blending storytelling of the season's latter half is engrossing. But man, the lows could make Lil Jon hop on some theme music (I hope you understood that reference). The action is mostly lifeless, and too many episodes meander through uninspired exposition. Thank goodness Isaac’s unending acting chops delivers us through this rollercoaster to a solid finish. JACOB Were it not for Oscar Isaac’s note-perfect performance (as well as a compelling turn from Ethan Hawke), Moon Knight may have been the MCU’s most underwhelming series. That’s not to say it isn’t interesting – the show is full of ambition and some pretty out there material – but it’s not terribly sound on a structural level. Some episodes are downright fantastic, especially in their editing, while others are pure exposition dumps. Unfortunately, both contain a severe lack of clarity regarding the action sequences. A second season could have helped rectify many of these issues; regrettably, there is no plan for one. QUENTIN As far as storytelling goes, Moon Knight ’s biggest strength is also its greatest weakness. Namely, that it seemingly has no connection to the broader MCU. On one hand, it’s fresh and exciting because it’s not beholden to what came before it. On the other hand, it assumes viewers know more than they do because there aren’t twentysomething movies of backstory. As a result, it’s easy to feel lost, especially early on. Still, Oscar Isaac gives one of the best MCU performances to date (Ethan Hawke is no slouch either), which makes this Fight Club meets Stargate , MCU outlier a bold swing that mostly connects. ADRIANO Initially, I wasn’t invested at all in Moon Knight . I thought some of the action was cool, but it sort of felt like it was stalling for time. By the fourth episode, however, it got super weird and I was eating up every moment. This show would have completely fallen apart if Oscar Isaac wasn’t good in the lead role, but, thankfully, he absolutely delivers by nailing the dual performance. Moon Knight is both a mind-boggling and visually interesting adventure series, but its greatest strength is its ability to stray away from the Marvel formula.

Previous Next At the halfway point of the year, the Bitesize crew has put their brains together to compile Bitesize Breakdown's consensus Top Five Most Anticipated for 2022. Each writer ranks his or her top 15 films or series in the category. Those lists are then weighted on a reverse point system. After all the points are tallied up, the entries with the most total points make up the Bitesize Top Five. 5. BABYLON Director Damien Chazelle has always had a knack for telling soulful stories, whether that means a drummer busting his ass to appease his monster instructor, a man seeking to accomplish something no one has done before in space, or two lost souls seeking dreams over realism. A truly singular talent, his upcoming Babylon , which follows Hollywood from the silent era to the talkies and stars two of Hollywood’s surest things in Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, is sure to amaze. - Jacob 4. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Honestly, with a cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, Jason Isbell, and Sturgill Simpson…all being directed by Martin Scorsese…the plot is somewhat irrelevant. I don’t care if it’s four hours of DiCaprio eating spoonfuls of mayonnaise in front of the others while shitting his pants – sign me up. The fact that Killers of the Flower Moon is actually the true story of a 1920s murder investigation – sign me the fuck up, please. - Quentin 3. NOPE A spectacular cast, writer/director Jordan Peele, an original concept, and aliens?! Nope has it all! Peele has changed the horror genre through his great efforts at minority representation, and I can’t wait to see what this sci-fi horror film brings. I hope it’s just as loaded with meaning and social commentary as Peele’s previous work. - Joseph 2. BULLET TRAIN With an Oscar in hand, Brad Pitt leads an all-star cast with director David Leitch, an industry vet known for action packed films like Atomic Blonde and Hobbs & Shaw . Bullet Train promises plenty of brutal fights, a bloody mess of action, and lots of bad luck for Brad Pitt’s character, all while boasting a vibe similar to John Wick (another Leitch joint) but with added humor. All aboard because you won’t want to miss this train! - Paige 1. GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY Another murder mystery featuring a spectacular cast of characters led by the enigmatic Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig)? Yes, please! This is not only one of the most highly anticipated sequels of 2022, but one of the year’s most highly anticipated films , period. I’m so glad to hear that there will be a theatrical release before it’s available on Netflix too because the twists, turns, and Craig’s accent deserve the big screen. - Amarú HONORABLE MENTIONS DON'T WORRY DARLING BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING HALLOWEEN ENDS PREY Photo Credits: Photo 1, 2 - Paramount Pictures; Photo 3 - Universal Pictures; Photo 4 - Sony Pictures Releasing; Photo 5 - Netflix

DARK MATTER Starring: Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Connelly, Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, Oakes Fegley, and Dayo Okeniyi Creator: Blake Crouch QUENTIN Dark Matter is tough to review because, as I binge-watched it, I mostly enjoyed the exploration of “the road not taken” and ideas surrounding the many-worlds theory, even if the pacing is somewhat lethargic. However, now that I’ve had a day to process it, I don’t think I liked it quite as much as I thought I did in the moment. Characters and plot points are introduced only to be unceremoniously abandoned, and I would have liked a deeper view of the multiverse. Lastly, while the ending makes sense, it still left me wanting. It’s good enough, I suppose, but maybe don’t overthink it. PAIGE After a slow start, Dark Matter immerses viewers in an engrossing journey that explores the various directions our lives can go depending on the choices we make. Even though its pacing is a little too all over the place for its ambitious ideas, the limited series' main takeaway that life isn't necessarily greener on the other side is what will stick with the audience. All in all, the series would’ve benefited from more chaos and fear, but if you enjoy sci-fi drama-thrillers, Dark Matter is a decent multiverse-based show worth checking out.

Previous Next As we approach 2025 and the end of the 21st century’s first quarter, we wanted to look back to see which actors, actresses, directors, and movies have stood the test of time. With that in mind, for the rest of the year, the Bitesize Top Five will be giving a consensus view on what we think are the Bests of everything since 2000. We are only looking at work released since January 1, 2000, so don’t get mad because your favourites of the 90s didn’t make it. As always, each writer ranks his or her top 15 in the category. Those lists are then weighted on a reverse point system. After all the points are tallied up, the entries with the most total points make up the Bitesize Top Five. 5. THE PLANET OF THE APES FRANCHISE If you told me a famed Batman director was going to make this list, my money would have been on Christopher Nolan. Instead, we get Matt Reeves, who is no less deserving. Reeves' Apes trilogy (now a quadrilogy with Wes Ball's continuation) is one of those series where everyone has a different favourite installment, and every opinion is justifiable. Rise tells a story of compassion from a human side, Dawn tells a story of compassion from a primate side, and War tells a story where neither side exhibits much compassion. These all come together to create one of the greatest origin tales we've seen in cinema. - Nick 4. THE WIZARDING WORLD Like many, the Harry Potter films were a huge part of my childhood. The first film was released when I was a toddler, with the last one dropping when I was just shy of becoming a teenager, so the adventures of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) had a significant impact on me, to the extent I feel like I grew up with the magical trio. Adapted from the immensely popular fantasy novels by J.K. Rowling, each film is impressively distinct, meticulously crafted, and a hit with audiences and critics alike. Let’s not forget the series boasts iconic performances from some of Britain's finest acting talent too. For more than a decade, the films brought witchcraft and wizardry to life in such captivating, creative, and exciting ways that it became one of the highest-grossing media franchises ever, behind the MCU and Star Wars , whilst having an unprecedented cultural impact, resonating with both children and adults. Plus, with a TV series destined for a 2026 release on Max, the Wizarding World still has more magic to conjure up. - Katie 3. THE MIDDLE EARTH SAGA In terms of genre blockbuster franchises, it's my humble opinion that there's never going to be anything that tops The Lord of the Rings . Peter Jackson's original trilogy is not only a marvel for the time it was released, but it holds up incredibly well thanks to the magnificent crafts on display and storytelling that elevates these films into something special. The trilogy was an Oscar juggernaut, with Return of the King winning all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture, and it has only grown in influence. Our first foray into Middle Earth was followed up years later with The Hobbit trilogy, and while it didn't live up to the gargantuan standards of the original trilogy, they were still great films in their own right. Then you have the vastly underrated Prime series The Rings of Power . The Middle Earth Saga is beyond special to most film-lovers, and deservedly so. - Adriano 2. THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE FRANCHISE There aren’t many franchises that have had the same longevity and consistency as Mission: Impossible . Each movie operates with unique and distinct elements, following Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the IMF team as they fight global threats all over the world, while simultaneously raising the stakes and somehow getting bigger and more action-packed with each installment. This is mainly due to Cruise’s appetite for doing his own stunts well into his 60s, which has made the action sequences the defining hallmark of the M:I movies, whether he’s dangling on ropes to break into a secure facility, scaling the Burj Khalifa, or literally hanging on to the side of a flying plane. Without question, after more than 20 years, this franchise remains one of the most ambitious and exciting spy sagas to ever appear on screen. - Paige 1. THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE To quote former Bitesize writer Darryl, I unequivocally and irrevocably agree that “the MCU is absolutely wonderful.” It was when it started in 2008, and it still is to this day. There has been nothing in the history of cinema that has had the same impact. Yes, there are more impactful individual movies, but nothing that changed the landscape of cinematic language, franchises, and character work like these 11 years of connected movies that range from pretty good to all-time great. And that’s just the immaculate “Infinity Saga.” More importantly, though, the ability for a near-bankrupt movie division to become a full-blown movie studio with flops, blockbusters, Oscar nominations, movie stars, and iconic characters is something I’m not sure we will ever see again. No, superhero movies are not dead, and they will never die because the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a wealth of stories, characters, genres, and themes that will always resonate to a large number of people around the world. - Amarú HONORABLE MENTIONS THE JOHN WICK FRANCHISE THE BREAKING BAD UNIVERSE CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S BATMAN TRILOGY THE X-MEN UNIVERSE THE OCEAN'S FRANCHISE

DOPE THIEF Starring: Brian Tyree Henry, Wagner Moura, Marin Ireland, Amir Arison, Nesta Cooper, Kate Mulgrew, Ving Rhames, Dustin Nguyen, and Liz Caribel Sierra Creator: Peter Craig AMARÚ Brian Tyree Henry's and Wagner Moura’s charisma are the sole reason I continued watching Dope Thief . This crime drama is set during Covid years, and it feels like it was made during them, too. Henry’s character is set up as a careful hustler, then subsequently makes dumb decisions that, admittedly, allows his comedic timing with Moura to flourish, but this story isn’t set up to be funny. It’s written as the dark cat-and-mouse game we see in Marin Ireland’s B-plot, which feels like an entirely separate show. I wanted to like this so much more, but its weird construction never cohesively puts together its disparate parts. QUENTIN Dope Thief is a middling series despite Brian Tyree Henry’s best efforts to make it something more. The biggest problem is that you’re forced to root for two small-time loser criminals as they run from faceless big-time criminals, which is a proven formula but almost exclusively in comedies. Thief plays it too seriously to earn complete buy-in, including several subplots that don’t add much (Marin Ireland’s Mina is wholly unnecessary) and shallow character traits that mistake “descriptions” for genuine depth (making Wagner Moura’s Manny an addict, for example). Still, as usual, Henry holds your attention, but it’s probably for the best that this is a miniseries. ROBERT The best word I can use to describe Dope Thief is meandering. It simultaneously takes itself too seriously, yet not enough in crucial parts that call for a change in attitude. With a show like this, where low-level thieves get caught up in a larger conspiracy, you must suspend disbelief. However, thinking about how often Brian Tyree Henry’s Ray is bailed out of life-or-death situations, you question whether this should’ve been sustained for even eight episodes. The performances and dynamics between actors are good, and the music is top-notch, but Dope Thief is a middle-tier Apple effort.

Previous Next July 31, 2024 WRITTEN BY: QUENTIN If you’ve been paying attention, one of the trendier themes popping up over the past decade is the multiverse. You have the MCU, of course, which has banked its entire post-Infinity Saga slate around the idea, but you’ve also got Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once , Star Trek , Dark Matter , the non-MCU Spider-Verse movies, The Flash , The One , Family Guy , Coherence , The LEGO Movie , Russian Doll , Rick & Morty , and many, many more exploring the idea. If you’ve seen any of those titles, you should have a pretty good idea of what the multiverse is, but just in case you’ve been living under a rock, the multiverse is the theory that there is a collection of diverse universes, including our own, that interweave to comprise everything that is possible. For example, somewhere out there is a universe where aardvarks are the dominant species, or where every single movie stars only Nic Cage (what a world!). The possibilities are literally endless. It's with that in mind that I often find myself trying to link two completely separate movies together in a sort of fanfic multiverse. Sometimes the two movies have similarly written characters in different eras, and sometimes it’s as simple as the two movies starring the same actor. For example, can’t you see a universe where Matt Damon’s Will Hunting in Good Will Hunting gets recruited by the CIA once he leaves Boston, then goes on to become Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne? What about connecting the dots to see how Inherent Vice kinda works as a prequel to The Big Lebowski ? Frankly, I love this general idea, and I do it quite often, if for no other reason than as a creative exercise to generate fun movie conversations. Also, it just adds a lot of fun to my movie watching, like a movie-based, plotline-driven jigsaw puzzle I put together in my head. I’ve given you two quick hitters above, but please let me share two of my more well-thought-out multiverse narratives. Sure, they don’t always line up perfectly, but if everything that is possible exists somewhere in the multiverse, these merged storylines are out there somewhere. Plus, it’s just a fun “what if…?” Don’t overthink it is all I’m saying. THE CRUISEVERSE Through soon-to-be eight Mission: Impossible movies, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has saved the world from countless threats, traitors, terrorists, and sleeper cells at great personal cost. For the safety of those he loves, he has been forced to give up his wife and live a relatively solitary existence, not to mention the countless injuries and near-death experiences he has experienced in the name of world peace. The thing is, even as he selflessly risks life and limb for the Impossible Mission Force (IMF), he almost always ends up getting painted as the bad guy, either by expert hackers or a mole within the IMF. What must this man do to get the benefit of the doubt? I mean, after all he has done, he’s still not fully trusted, having been either disavowed or flat-out considered a fugitive several times. At what point do you look at your government bosses and say, “Seriously?! This shit again?! I’ve been a top agent for more than 30 years! Fuck you! Remember when I scaled the side of the world’s tallest building to prevent nuclear war!?” Suffice to say, he’s rightfully pissed. So, in the ninth Mission: Impossible movie…let’s call it Mission: Impossible — GFY …Hunt realizes that he has had enough. He’s tired of living alone and giving his all to a government agency that very clearly doesn’t trust or appreciate him. He’s tired of the meager government salary and knowledge that he doesn’t have a pension or disability payments waiting. He’s tired of being sore, jet-lagged, and constantly trying to out-sprint death. Most of all, my man’s old… he’s just tired of being tired, which is why Hunt decides to break bad. He hatches a plan to escape the spy life by faking his own death and creating a new identity. Once he does that, armed with a brain full of national secrets and a Rolodex holding the names of terrorists, warlords, dictators, rogue agents, and arms dealers, he makes a quick and lucrative sale. Maybe it’s nuclear codes, maybe it’s the identities of undercover agents, or maybe it’s the location of The Rabbit’s Foot in a nice callback to Mission: Impossible III ; whatever it is, all that matters is Hunt is a very rich man now, not beholden to anything or anyone, and able to retire from the constant stress and gunfire of the IMF. As the credits on Mission: Impossible — GFY start to roll, the currently unnamed spy formerly known as Ethan Hunt sits on a private island, attempting to live happily ever after… …until the mid-credit scene, which is where we see that happily ever after isn’t going as planned. One year later, he’s bored and rudderless, lacking in structure and purpose. He misses the rush of being an IMF agent: the adrenaline, the power, the control. Even worse, he needs it. It was the drug that kept him going. However, he can’t go back after what he’s done, and there are only so many career paths that can provide the rush he needs. He despondently sits at a laptop scrolling the dark web, beard scraggly and eyes lifeless. He gets a random message on behalf of Felix Reyes-Torrena, a known drug lord, offering him a job in Los Angeles. He leans forward with a glimmer of hope in his eye. A small smile forms across his face. This is it, the fix he needs to get back on track. He trims his beard and brushes his now-silver hair, dons a gray suit and crisp white shirt, and tosses his passport into a briefcase. As his passport flies open, we finally see his new name, Vincent. The scene fades to black, setting up the tenth and final Mission: Impossible movie: Mission: Impossible — Collateral . THE McCONAUVERSE In The Wolf of Wall Street , a very green Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) is hired as a naïve and relatively innocent junior stockbroker at L. F. Rothschild. By the end of his first day, he’s a changed man, and it all stems from a lunch he has with senior stockbroker Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey). During this lunch, Hanna unleashes a philosophy that will forever change Belfort. It’s a wild, decadent, free-wheeling approach to life that includes — in the middle of a work lunch, mind you — ordering a stream of martinis that is not to end until one of them “passes out,” doing cocaine at the table , asking his brand-new hire how often he masturbates, and admitting the only two reasons to be a stockbroker are the cocaine and hookers. On top of that, he tells Belfort “fuck the clients,” that he should grab the money and run, and to feed off the client’s addiction of chasing money. Then, he takes him to a strip club. To say that the extremely rich Hanna gives in to his baser instincts while not caring about anyone but himself would be an understatement. Since he has money, it’s a persona that serves him well in the culture of Wall Street. However, a short time later, Black Monday (the stock market crash of 1987) happens. This causes L. F. Rothschild to shut down and foreclose, forcing Hanna out of a job. After that, we don’t see him for the rest of the movie, nor are we told what happened to him. But I think I have an idea… What happens to a wealthy man with seemingly no off-button and a probably addictive personality when he is suddenly broke? He hits rock bottom, often doing anything he can to reach the highs he had previously experienced. You’ve seen the cautionary tales of former NBA stars or lottery winners that end up living on the streets once the money runs out, and I don’t think it’s any different for Hanna. I envision him aimlessly bouncing around, looking for sex, drugs, booze, and “action” wherever he can find them. As a result, he becomes persona non grata in New York, so he runs away to Dallas. Why Dallas? Because it is an economic hub full of big oil money, so it’s a fresh start and a shot to get back in the game. However, he doesn’t have the connections yet and he’s rusty, so he finds himself on the hard-partying rodeo circuit as he continues to fight his demons. If you squint, there isn’t much difference in the level of machismo exuded by someone working on Wall Street (especially in the 80s) and a rodeo cowboy. Different brands of machismo, for sure, but unmitigated machismo, nonetheless. So, Hanna finds himself in Texas, getting drunk, doing drugs, and frequenting prosties, but since he’s no longer rich and wearing Armani suits, he’s operating at a bit of a lower standard. Sadly, before he’s able to work his way back into the financial world, he contracts HIV during one of his dalliances with a lady of the night. After several frustrating experiences with the health care system, Mark Hanna — the rich, selfish prick who likely thought himself invincible — comes face to face with the idea that he’s just another lower-class statistic stuck in the machine. From there, his outlook and story change, and he becomes a compassionate and selfless man who uses his wild-man tendencies to buck the system and help the helpless in The Wolf of the Dallas Buyers Club .

JACK RYAN: THE FINAL SEASON Starring: John Krasinksi, Wendell Pierce, Michael Peña, Michael Kelly, Betty Gabriel, Louis Ozawa, Zuleikha Robinson, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Abbie Cornish Creators: Carlton Cuse and Graham Roland QUENTIN Over the course of its four seasons, Jack Ryan has been a good-but-not-great show. That said, this season - its final season - might be its best overall. I fully admit there could be some recency bias at play, but the fewer episodes allow for a more focused story and sustained narrative momentum. It’s also further evidence that Michael Peña is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood, and that Wendell Pierce and Michael Kelly are among the most underused. All in all, it’s a fitting end to a series that knew exactly what it was: an entertaining, more action-packed, less weighty version of Homeland .