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.
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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
Audio Only Podcast
Video
Episode #210: Anthony Calderon
Guest this episode is comedian and commercial actor Anthony Calderon
Video and podcast embeds are below.
VIDEO – Full Episode
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Review – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
PG-13 ‧ Mystery/Crime ‧ 2 Hours 19 Minutes
Directed by Rian Johnson
Written by Rian Johnson
THE CAST
Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista.
THE STORY
(In their own words)
Tech billionaire Miles Bron invites his friends for a getaway on his private Greek island. When someone turns up dead, Detective Benoit Blanc is put on the case.
THE BEST
The BEST things about the film
- The Mystery – It’s unpredictable, which is very ideal in a mystery, but I feel like that has become too hard for films without some supernatural element. This film managed to surprise us with each turn. It’s grounded and real and the motivations all make sense. I will go as far as to say that director Rian Johnson has helped me fall in love with mysteries again.
- The writing is really just exceptional. Well crafted, thought out, wonderful dialogue, and takes us to places we don’t expect. Rian Johnson has a great ability to flesh out characters to be both believable and ludicrous at the same time. He’s definitely a master storyteller.
- Daniel Craig is a comedic gem – Daniel Craig reprises his role as detective Benoit Blanc from the first Knives out film. I was so glad to discover that his comedic chops from that film weren’t a one hit wonder for him. I never expected the man who played James Bond for so long to end up being a fantastic comedic actor, but he is. He’s authentic, natural, specific, focused, puts on the jacket of a character without playing a character, which is the difference between being a character and a real person put into a funny situation.
- Terrific Ensemble – While I am giving special props out to Daniel Craig, the whole ensemble works well together. From top to bottom the cast is full of really talented actors who have great screen chemistry together.
THE WORST
The WORST things about the Film
- There is one scene that has some just awful green screen happening. At this production level, we shouldn’t be seeing that. I get that special effects scenes are expensive, but you’ve gone this far with the production, have it happen with stunt people or something. It just looked silly.
BEST NON-SPOILER LINES
Be careful not to confuse speaking without thought with speaking the truth.
THE LESSON
A friend that “owes you” isn’t really a friend.
THE FINAL WORD
This stand alone sequel to knives out will keep you guessing through the whole film. If you liked the first Knives Out, you will like this one. It is funny, fresh, and inventive in its storytelling. Easily one of the top four most fun films I’ve seen this year. Daniel Craig is a comedic gem. Dave Batista is becoming another ex-wrestler turned actor that when I see them in a film, I know that I’m going to have a good time. Rian Johnson shows again that he is an excellent craftsman in writing, directing, and overall storytelling. He is making me fall in love with murder mysteries again. If you can watch this film with a crowd, but whatever you do, don’t miss it.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery gets a Love It
THE MEME REVIEW
THE TRAILER
THE VIDEO REVIEW
THE PODCAST REVIEW
Watch in theaters for one week starting November 23rd and on Netflix December 23rd. www.Netflix.com/GlassOnion
Review- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
PG-13 ‧ Action/Adventure ‧ 2 H 41 M
Written by Ryan Cooglar And Joe Robert Cole
Directed by Ryan Cooglar
THE CAST
Sars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Dominique Thorne, Florence Kasumba, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, and Angela Bassett.
THE STORY
(In their own words)
The leaders of the kingdom of Wakanda fight to protect their nation from invading forces in the wake of King T’Challa’s death, while a new threat emerges from the hidden undersea nation of Talokan ruled by Namor.
THE BEST
The BEST things about the film
- The Feel – It doesn’t feel like a standard Marvel film. It has so much heart. They take these heartfelt moments and lean into them without the traditional Marvel, “I’m about the have an emotional experience and I can’t handle that as a human with a smart phone, so let’s make a funny quip to diffuse a connection to humanity.”
- The Tributes to T’Challa/Chadwick Boseman are wonderfully done.
- Love the female centric storyline.
- It exceeded expectations. Let’s face it, Boseman’s death made us really skeptical how they would handle the next film, they didn’t just make the best of the situation, they leaned into it and made a fine film.
THE WORST
The WORST things about the Film
- There were some silly unnecessary attempted comedy quips in the beginning that didn’t feel like they worked. It had me worried early on but they didn’t go back to that which was really a relief.
- Final Battle – the numbers didn’t make sense. How many people are there?
- Long. This film is a whopping 2 hours and 40 minutes. There’s a lot of story in here.
THE LESSON
How you handle loss can determine if you are a good guy or a bad guy.
THE FINAL WORD
From the opening credits, we know that we are in safe hands with the director as he pays respect to Boseman’s Black Panther. While the film is long, it is full of new action sequences, weapons, and a formidable, well-motivated nemesis. This film has a refreshingly different tone than other Marvel films, as it has moments of heart that it leans into without cracking jokes, finally allowing us to savor the moments of human feelings they create inside us. This film is a great finish to Marvel’s Phase 4.
THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It.
Really strong Like It, prepared for it to go higher.
MEME REVIEW
THE TRAILER
Episode 209: The Return of Jay Irwin And The Tale Of A Bad Usher
Seattle Theatre Critic Jay Irwin returns to discuss with Silas his latest happenings as a live theatre critic and to listen to Silas’ tale of a bad usher ruining his theatre experience at a recent production.
Listen to the podcast or watch the video
THE PODCAST
THE VIDEO
Review: Pearl
Hey friends and Fans!
Reviews are moving over to the review site “You’re Watching A Movie With Silas Lindenstein.” Check out the review for Pearl here.
Episode #208: The Cast of The Umbrella Men
This week Silas got to sit down with the Cast of The Umbrella Man, a new South African action/comedy/heist film, while they were in attendance at the Toronto International Film Festival.
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