Joker: Folie à Deux is what happens when a gritty supervillain story decides to toss in jazz hands and show tunes—and you know what? It kind of works. Listen up to Silas in his review of the sequel to Joker and hear what he thinks of Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s performance in this unexpected musical.
Review – Dune: Part 2
Dune Part 2 (2024)
PG-13 ‧ Scifi/Adventure ‧ 2 Hours 46 Minutes
Written by Denis Villeneuve & Jon Spaihts
Based on a Novel By Frank Herbert
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
THE CAST
- Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, the exiled Duke of House Atreides, who is called “Muad’Dib” by the Fremen
- Zendaya as Chani, a young Fremen warrior and Paul’s love interest
- Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Paul’s Bene Gesserit mother and concubine to Paul’s late father and predecessor, Leto Atreides
- Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, the former military leader of House Atreides and Paul’s mentor
- Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen’s youngest nephew and planned successor of House Harkonnen
- Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, the Emperor’s daughter
- Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, the brutish nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and older brother of Feyd-Rautha
- Christopher Walken as Shaddam IV, the Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe and head of House Corrino
- Stephen McKinley Henderson as Thufir Hawat, a Mentat loyal to House Atreides who is forced to serve House Harkonnen
- Léa Seydoux as Lady Margot Fenring, a Bene Gesserit and close friend of the Emperor
- Souheila Yacoub as Shishakli, a Fremen warrior
- Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, head of House Harkonnen, Feyd-Rautha’s and Glossu Rabban’s uncle, sworn enemy to Atreides and former steward of Arrakis
- Charlotte Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam, a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother and the Emperor’s Truthsayer
- Javier Bardem as Stilgar, leader of the Fremen tribe at Sietch Tabr
THE STORY
(In their own words). Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he must prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
THE BEST
The BEST things about the film
- Stunning Cinematography
- Incredible CGI. Sandworms are real, right?
- Its runtime of two hours and forty-six minutes feels much shorter than it is. This is thanks to excellent pacing and an engaging story.
- The actors are great.
THE WORST
The WORST things about the film
- TOO MUCH INFORMATION AND CHARACTERS. I don’t think I should have to watch a movie with a glossary by my side.
- This is very much a Part 2, not a sequel. They just continue the story from the first one, and you need to remember what was going on, or you will be lost. They don’t do anything to help the audience out. I’d suggest watching the first one and then go the next day to finish the story.
- As wonderfully acted as the leads are, the script does not serve Timothy Chalamet and Zendaya. Their relationship does not get the attention it deserves. I kind of left not caring about them.
THE COMMENTS
I feel somewhat like Judas saying how I feel about Dune Part 2. It is undeniably an impressive film. The cinematography, the special effects, the acting, the story. They are all larger than life and excellently done. I feel like I should love this movie, but I don’t. I feel like the main characters, played by Chalamet and Zendaya, had too many time jumps when I wanted to see their relationship grow. I imagine there’s probably a good forty minutes of footage of their relationship on the cutting room floor that I feel was desperately needed.
I didn’t care about the film.
That is so weird because this should be a Silas film if you know me. If you know me, you probably assume this film would be a lock for me. But it wasn’t. There are too many characters that I’m desperately trying to keep track of, too many subplots, too much of everything. I could never relax into the film and get swept away in the sandstorm.
This movie has everything except heart.
THE LESSON
You can either do what is best for your heart or best for the people.
IS IT REWATCHABLE
You kind of have to to keep track of people.
THE FINAL WORD
Dune: Part 2 is beautiful: Stunning cinematography and unbelievably realistic CGI. It is a well-paced epic sci-fi film that deserves a lot of praise. Remember, this is part two and not a sequel. The events of part one immediately precede this film, and it takes zero time or effort to get you up to speed, so make sure part one is fresh on your mind. Dune is the ultimate epic story with loads of characters and even more subplots, which ultimately bog the film down for me. Despite the beautiful acting by Chalamete and Zendaya, I didn’t feel invested in them as a couple. While I liked the film overall, I also didn’t care about it. Maybe I’m just not a Dune guy.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
I give Dune Part 2 a Like It.
THE TRAILER
THE MEME REVIEW
Movie Review: Wish
Wish (2023)
PG ‧ Fantasy/Musical/Animated ‧ 1 Hour 35 Minutes
Written by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore
Directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn
THE CAST
Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, Victor Garber, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Harvey Guillén, Evan Peters, Ramy Youssef, and Jon Rudnitsky
THE STORY
(In their own words).
Young Asha makes a wish so powerful that it’s answered by a cosmic force, a little ball of boundless energy called Star. With Star’s help, Asha must save her kingdom from King Magnifico and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen
THE BEST
The BEST things about the film
- Nostalgia – It is an Easter egg-filled, Nostalgia-laden, Disney-fest.
- Songs – Very catchy, perfect tone for the film, sung from moments where words are not enough to express the feelings.
- Animation – There is a perfect blending of an older animation style with a new technology that simultaneously makes it feel familiar and like something fresh.
- Voice Acting – The voice actors did a tremendous job throughout the film. Chris Pine is probably the most recognizable voice. I prefer when I can get lost in the film and not think about the actor voicing the script. Most of the time, I think – “hey, that’s Chris Pine.” Which I will say I find distracting.
THE WORST
The WORST things about the Film
- Predictable – There wasn’t much in the film that went in unexpected directions.
- Villain – The villain of the film is pretty flat. I could have enjoyed seeing him fleshed out more as a character.
THE COMMENTS
There is a lot to Disney’s newest animated feature, Wish. The more time I have to think about the film, the richer I realize it is.
Wish is about a King who “takes” and “protects” people’s wishes like they are collectible Pokemon cards. The wishes live in little bubbles in a castle room. The people then forget the wishes they had and can move on with their lives until/if the king grants them the holy blessing of making their wishes come true.
Wish is fast-paced.
Wish is full of memorable music, which is exceptional for me as someone who takes a while to warm up to musicals.
Wish is a love letter to all past Disney animated films.
Wish is an origin story to all the Disney stories we’ve come to love.
Wish skillfully blends what we love about past Disney films while moving the stories forward to modern audience sensibilities.
Wish made me feel good.
Wish made me care.
Wish felt like it’s always been there. It fits so perfectly into the Disney catalog that I wondered how it didn’t exist before. I can see it fitting perfectly into Fantasyland in Disneyland. I can see the songs being sung during the parades.
We’ve all made wishes and experienced the hope that comes from that. Hope is relatable.
I wish more films made me feel the way Wish did.
THE LESSON
Your wish belongs to you.
IS IT REWATCHABLE
Yes. And if you have children, you’ll probably see it thirty times.
THE FINAL WORD
Wish is delightful, fast-paced, and entertaining. Wish is a love letter to all other Disney animated features. Wish is the most meta of all Disney movies. It’s an ultra-Disney movie. The only way this film could be more Disney is if Walt Disney himself had appeared in it. Wish’s music is first-rate. The music takes you on a journey where the words alone aren’t enough to express your feelings. If you are a fan of the Disney animated film catalog, you’ll easily add this into your collection and will be delighted with multiple viewing, picking out all the Easter Eggs they spread throughout the film. Wish doesn’t disappoint in any way. You’ll wish they had come out with this sooner.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
Wish gets a very strong Like It.
THE TRAILER
THE MEME REVIEW
Review: The Marvels
The Marvels(2023)
PG-13 ‧ Action/Adventure/Superhero ‧ 1 Hours 45 Minutes
Written by Nia DiCosta, Megan McDonnell, Elissa Karasik
Directed by Nia DiCosta
THE CAST
Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Samuel L. Jackson
THE STORY
(In their own words). Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. However, unintended consequences see her shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with two other superheroes to form the Marvels.
THE BEST
The BEST things about the film
- Character/Actor Chemistry: The main three characters of Kamala, Rambeau, and Captain Marvel have great chemistry together.
- I liked how we just got dropped into events. Too many movies lately spend a lot of time introducing characters’ backstories so that we know every detail about them before they get into the story. I liked that this film trusted us to figure out what was happening or that maybe I didn’t need to know the minutiae of each moment. While my experience was enriched by seeing the origin story of Ms Marvel and Rambeau, I didn’t need to see those to figure out what was happening.
- I like that they spent time developing the good guys in this film and letting us see the origin of this “team.”
- Film length – Finally, a director confident enough to tell a superhero tale in a brief hour and forty-five minutes. It moved quickly; it was funny, told a good story, and gave me long enough to get invested in all three characters.
- Story: It was nice seeing a superhero film back to the basics of fighting some cosmic world-ending threat, but it is still mostly about the characters coming to terms with something in their lives. Too often, these films want to be so grandiose that they forget the little things that bring us back to each film. We want to see why a relationship got broken and how they will mend it. It’s important to see that superheroes are also still human.
- It’s possibly the best post-credit scene in a very long time.
THE WORST
The WORST things about the film
- The villain. The villain, Dar-Benn, is not very developed, resulting in us not having hard feelings about them other than a surface-level, “let’s stop that evil woman” type of feeling. I’ve often said that you need a great villain to have a great superhero film.
- Inconsistent tone. Sometimes, the film felt like it should be on TV, and then it would get grand for the big screen.
THE COMMENTS
What helps this film is the same thing that hurts it. The villain, Dar-Benn, is too underdeveloped for the audience to get huge stakes into seeing how the film turns out. However, by removing the time to develop Dar-Been, director Nia DiCosta has room to create a visible relationship between the three main characters of the film, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Captain Rambeau. Seeing the discomfort between Captain Marvel and Rambeau through the film’s first part makes us realize this is about far more than just stopping a villain.
Where The Marvels succeeds is making a fun story that just happens to star three women. Their gender doesn’t play much of a role in the film, which is the perfect choice. I think it is the perfect fight against the misogyny of criticism this film is receiving before anyone has seen it. There are people worried that Marvel is trying to send agenda messages by casting a film full of women and non-white actors. Then you see the film and realize the only agenda was making a good story.
A big question people have is whether they need to have watched Ms Marvel or WandaVision to enjoy the film, and the answer is no. Yes, you have to pay attention to the movie. But all the info is there for you to receive directly or to infer. I liked how they dropped us into the story without feeling the need to over-explain every detail about each character’s relationship. The answers are there, whether directly said or between the lines. Sure, I think it’s even better if you know the full Ms Marvel story, but we get enough to enjoy this film.
What else can be said about this film? It has great special effects, it’s funny, and possibly even the humor is on the younger side, but I think that is appropriate as this film might be the closest we’ve seen to handing the torch to the younger Marvel characters.
THE LESSON
Don’t let embarrassment over your actions stop you from keeping your word to your family.
IS IT REWATCHABLE
Yes.
THE FINAL WORD
A good Marvel superhero film. It’s not outstanding, but it does not stand out as bad. It’s a real shame that it is currently tracking to lose money. It has a nice plot, a good story, funny, and some great surprises in the film. This should be seen as a step in the right direction. It’s probably a lot better from a basic storytelling angle than the last few Marvel films that have come out. The first and only, post-credit scene is as simple as ‘must stay” for post-credit scene.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
The Marvels gets a Like It.
THE TRAILER
THE MEME REVIEW
Episode #214: Chantel Riley – 7 Questions
Interview with the star of the new film Colorblind, Chantel Riley. She discusses how she got into acting and answers the world-famous seven questions.
Available in video and audio-only podcast.
VIDEO
AUDIO ONLY PODCAST
Episode #213: Tom Danger, Director of Sweethurt
Australian Director Tom Danger joins Silas to talk about his new film, Sweethurt, and to answer the world-famous 7 Questions. Available as a Video and audio only Podcast.
VIDEO
AUDIO ONLY PODCAST
Review: Chevalier
Chevalier (2023)
PG-13 ‧ Drama/Music ‧ 1 Hour 47 Minutes
Written by Stefanie Robinson
Directed by Stephen Williams
Video and Podcast reviews are at the bottom of the page.
THE CAST
- Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
- Samara Weaving as Marie-Josephine de Montalembert
- Lucy Boynton as Marie Antoinette
- Marton Csokas as Marc René, marquis de Montalembert
- Alex Fitzalan as Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
- Minnie Driver as Marie-Madeleine Guimard
THE STORY
(In their own words). The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Joseph Bologne rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with a love affair and falling out with Marie Antoinette.
THE BEST
The BEST things about the film
- The Story – It’s a story that I never heard of, a fascinating story that is supposedly based on true events and people. It’s engaging, really pulling you into the characters. I really like that they chose to just do a short period of the life of Joseph Bologne. That is a better choice for biopics, in my opinion. When they try to squeeze too much of someone’s life into a two hour movie, it just never feels satisfying.
- The Themes – A drive for excellence. Being unapologetically excellent at something and demanding respect for it. It really resonated with me on a personal level, especially being someone who was involved with the arts for so long.
- The Acting – I think the entire cast did a wonderful job. The scenes between Bologne and Marie-Josephine and between Bologne and Marie Antoinette were just absolutely full of fireworks. So many golden pearls of acting moments. Kelvin Harrison in particular is an incredible actor in the film. I hope that he gets remembered around awards season.
THE WORST
The WORST things about the Film
- Language – I don’t even know if this is that bad but rather really funny….It takes place in France but there’s hardly a French accent. And when someone speaks another language Bologne says, in English, that French is the preferred language. I get…I get it, a mainstream movie audience wouldn’t have gone for a French language film and many of the actors in this movie wouldn’t have been able to do it. But it feels odd how they did it.
THE COMMENTS
There’s so much to this film. Even as I write this review, I keep thinking more about it. It comments on slavery without actually being a movie that depicts it. It is about social class, uprising, about having power over people by birthright. It is about people unable to find happiness because of the people in power. It is about breaking down barriers when you excel at something, but how people will never let you forget where you came from.
THE LESSON
Dare to be excellent.
It doesn’t matter how good you are, some people will never accept you.
BEST LINES THAT DON’T SPOIL MOVIE
“Whatever pleases you sounds like heaven.”
“The greatest evil isn’t what they’ve done to our bodies, it’s what they’ve done to our minds.”
IS IT REWATCHABLE
Yes, absolutely.
THE FINAL WORD
Chevalier is probably the most exciting film about classical music I’ve ever seen. The story is compelling, the acting is terrific, and the writing is music to my ears. This film is based on true events and people, sort of a biopic about Joseph Bologne, but written so that key life events occur over just “mostly” a few months. The filmmaking alone merits seeing the film, but beyond that, this is the story of one of the most gifted violinists in France that was nearly erased from history books. It’s a story of Black-French excellence, which is important to see, and it’s crucial to support stories like this where you also learn something.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
Chevalier gets a Love It.
THE TRAILER
THE MEME REVIEW
VIDEO REVIEW
AUDIO ONLY REVIEW
Episode #212: 7 Questions with Jaci Terjeson
Tacoma and Seattle area comedian Jaci Terjeson answered the world famous 7 questions. Watch or listen to either the video or audio podcast.
Video Podcast
Audio Only Podcast
Comedian Ken Hamlett
Comedian Ken Hamlett drops by to answer the seven questions and to learn why Silas may have to move.
Available in video only on our audio only podcast or on our Youtube Channel. Pick whichever one below
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Episode #210: Anthony Calderon
Guest this episode is comedian and commercial actor Anthony Calderon
Video and podcast embeds are below.
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