Review: Air

Air (2023)
R ‧ Drama ‧ 1 Hour 52 Minutes

Written by Alex Convery

Directed by Ben Affleck

THE CAST

  • Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro
  • Ben Affleck as Phil Knight
  • Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser
  • Marlon Wayans as George Raveling
  • Chris Messina as David Falk
  • Chris Tucker as Howard White
  • Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan

THE STORY

(In their own words). It is based on true events about the origin of Air Jordan, a basketball shoeline, of which a Nike employee seeks to strike a business deal with rookie player Michael Jordan. 

THE BEST
The BEST things about the film

  1. Viola Davis – She delivers another fantastic performance as Michael Jordan’s mother.
  2. Matt Damon – Damon does a fantastic job as Sonny Vaccaro, possibly the only executive in sports marketing that understood what a tremendous talent that Jordan was going to be. His betrayal was nuanced, thoughtful and full of passion. This is probably one of my favorite performances by Damon. 
  3. The Story – The managed to make a really compelling story about signing Michael Jordan to wear Nike sneakers. I can’t even believe how interested I got in this, it was compelling. And I’m someone who really cares less about footwear. But they had me hooked in from the very beginning
  4. The Writing – Convery’s script is just fantastic. It sucks you in and it’s full of lines that are absolute gems. This is how I know I’ve watched a super well-written script. My biggest excitement for watching this movie again is so I can try and write down all the wonderful lines that were said during the film
  5. Direction – Ben Affleck is just such a fantastic director. I love his ability to bring excitement and find the correct tone for nearly every film he does. I really love the way he crafted this film together. 

THE WORST

The WORST things about the Film

  1. We never see the face of Michael Jordan in this film, and I understand why they thought it would be distracting, but I think it didn’t give the audience enough credit. And it’s a distraction point in the scenes he appears in. It is so obvious that they are trying to not show his face, that’s all I can think about in those moments.

THE COMMENTS

The 80s nostalgia opening was just wonderful to set the tone of what was happening at the time. I feel like it really got us to understand what a different time it was, how different people thought back then about business, especially shoes. I had no idea until this movie that it was unheard of at the time for an athlete to get paid a percentage of royalties if their name was on something. Crazy to think about now.  Or that Basketball wasn’t always the driving force for all of these companies. I didn’t even know that Nike wasn’t always the go to brand for Basketball shoes. 

THE LESSON

Believe in someone so much, you are willing to risk it all for them. 

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Very rewatchable. 

THE FINAL WORD

If you told me a year ago that I would absolutely love a movie about the signing of Michael Jordan to Nike to create the Air Jordans basketball shoe, I would have laughed in your face. But here I am getting dunked on. Air is a thoroughly entertaining and engaging film directed with absolute care and finesse by Ben Affleck, finding a perfect tone for this story to make me thoroughly engaged throughout the film.  Viola Davis plays Michael Jordan’s mom and, as usual, is absolutely incredible. Matt Damon brings to the character a level of passion that just forces you to root for him. I really loved everything about the film; the writing, the acting, the story, I even loved the nostalgia for the 80s that it infused. Nike says “Just Do It.” I say, “Just See It.”

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Air gets a Love It

I’ll say “Just See It”

THE TRAILER

THE MEME REVIEW

Review: The Super Mario Bros. Movie

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
PG  ‧ Action Adventure ‧ 1 Hours 32 Minutes

Written by Matthew Fogel

Directed by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic

THE CAST

  • Chris Pratt as Mario
  • Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach
  • Charlie Day as Luigi
  • Jack Black as Bowser
  • Keegan-Michael Key as Toad:
  • Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong:
  • Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong:
  • Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike
  • Charles Martinet, who voices Mario and Luigi in the Mario games, has various cameos. 
  • Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek

THE STORY

(In their own words). With help from Princess Peach, Mario gets ready to square off against the all-powerful Bowser to stop his plans from conquering the world.

THE BEST
The BEST things about the film

  1. Nostalgia.
  2. About half the time they did a great job translating the world of mario from a game to a narrative.
  3. Visually, sort of stunning. But not surprising. Some things are just really cool to see in a movie setting. 
  4. Jack Black is wonderful in the role of Bowser.

THE WORST

The WORST things about the Film

  1. Weak character development leading to not really caring whether Mario can save Luigi.
  2. They spent too much time being cute and not enough time working the a story.
  3. Some of the time early in the film where they tried to make the movie look like a game, was just kind of stupid. They did it much better later on. 
  4. The first half of the movie, I was honestly a bit bored. I didn’t active dislike the movie during that time, I just wasn’t engaged with it. 
  5. Really needed more humor. I’ve complaining a lot about the overindulgence of jokes in the superhero genre of films, but I felt like the reverse happened here. This could have been a great opportunity to inject a film full of humor to keep it moving. And while, it was silly at times, and I could see them trying to set it up as a funny scene, they too often just couldn’t deliver on a funny joke. It feels like they thought “hey, wouldn’t it be funny if “ so then created that premise, but never went back to finish the joke. 

THE COMMENTS

I think when the first trailer dropped for this movie, I was so distracted by the casting of Chris Pratt, but I didn’t really think much about what else could go wrong with the film.

I also didn’t really think about how much of a kids movie they would be making. Because Hollywood is making a lot of money right now by making movies on intellectual properties that appeal to my Gen X peers. And we are a group of individuals that have strong nostalgia toward our childhood, and are at an age where we can start to afford to see the movies, buy the merchandise and visit the theme parks with our kids.  So, I thought they would attempt to make this movie appeal to us. In the sense that they filmed the movie full of Nintendo game nostalgia and include a nihilist perky star, I supposed they did. Gen X loves nihilist characters (or does everyone). But in the sense that the plot really being very simplistic and at times boring, lending itself to a Neftlix original kids movie, it wasn’t for us. 

Was I expecting it to be Oscar worthy? I don’t know, with competing animation studios doing some pretty awesome animated films now. Disney has done some rather amazing films lately that appeal to all ages and I shouldn’t only expect that from them. This film would have ended up making a lot more money if it spent less time trying to be cute and more time on the basics of moviemaking. And if you are spending the money to put big movie stars in the film, why wouldn’t you attempt to get adults on board who are more apt to spend lots of money on it, if they enjoy it also?

THE LESSON

Together, anything is possible. 

AFTER CREDIT SCENES

Two. Stay for them both. 

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Maybe with your kids.

THE FINAL WORD

I think when the first trailer of the movie came out I was so focused on the poor casting choice of Chris Pratt as Mario that I didn’t realize he was the red herring to lure my complaints to somewhere else. Visually, its animation is fantastic. It’s like watching a Mario video game on the biggest screen imaginable. And it gives you a chance to smile, yet rarely laugh, at all the nostalgia Nintendo can provide you, as you are reminded throughout the film of all the different video games you’ve played over the years.  It is a cute movie at times, but done at the expense of just focusing on creating an engaging story. They had the plot points that should have made a really good film, but the writers failed to add character development to the hero’s stories. At times I was actually bored, but the second half picked it up a bit for me. Jack Black is a stand out performer voicing Bowser. I didn’t hate this film, as I expected I would a week ago, but I can’t say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I do think my kids will really have a fun time watching it.  

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

I give it a “Like Minus”. If you miss it on the big screen, I would rather just play a mario game than watch the movie. 

THE TRAILER

THE MEME REVIEW

THE AUDIO REVIEW

https://embeds.audioboom.com/posts/8276209/embed/hero#?secret=HO5nHXYDQMTHE VIDEO REVIEW

Review: Dungeons & Dragons:Honor Among Thieves

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
PG-13  ‧ Adventure/Fantasy  ‧ 2 Hours 20 Minutes

Written by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein & Michael Gilio

Directed by John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein

THE CAST

Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Rege-Jean Page, Hugh Grant, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Choloe Coleman, Daisy Head

THE STORY

(In their own words). A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.

Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga and Chris Pine plays Edgin in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE BEST


The BEST things about the film

  1. The Story – It’s a really fun and exciting story.
  2. The Ensemble – The actors really do a great job of giving the sense that these are people who know each other really well. It feels like long-time friendships and a clear loving bond between them all. They do wonderful jobs acting off of one another helping move along the script.
  3. The Humor – I found the film really funny. Played perfectly even within the ridiculous character situations they were put in. They consistently played the truth of the moment and brought on the laughter. 
Justice Smith plays Simon, Rege-Jean Page plays Xenk, Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga and Chris Pine plays Edgin in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE WORST

The WORST things about the Film

  1. There are a couple of predictable elements in the film, but I am largely forgiving of them as they seemed to be inevitable things that had to happen in this type of story. 
Daisy Head plays Sofina in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE COMMENTS

This Dungeons & Dragons film is everything I could have hoped for in an adventure film.  It was fresh, funny, moved along quickly, the acting was really good, the ensemble really played really well off of each other. 

One of the first questions I get from people about the film is “Will I like it if I’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons before?” The answer is yes. I’ve only played it myself a couple of times, despite being a well-known nerd amongst my peers. So I did not notice most of the in-world references they made, but I never felt like I was missing anything, I didn’t even realize I missed little things until I talked to some of my guests at the screening. For our press screening I brought with me three people who in their own life play Dungeons & Dragons as Dungeon Masters, and they filled me in on a bunch of the little “inside baseball” jokes or references I didn’t catch. So, I will say that your experience will be even richer if you’ve played it before, but it’s still an amazingly entertaining movie without that knowledge.

Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga, Justice Smith plays Simon and Chris Pine plays Edgin in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE LESSON

The love that is with you is more important than the love that you look back on. 

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Yes, I can’t wait to see it again. 

THE FINAL WORD

This film is the most fun I’ve had in the theater this year. It is a fast-paced, fun adventure, worthy of the Dungeons & Dragons moniker. Chris Pine leads a stellar ensemble with poise, humor, and foundation of love and friendship for this band of thieves. You do not have to have ever played D&D to enjoy this film, but if you have, you will really enjoy the insider nods to that world. This film has everything I could hope for from an adventure film. I was very much a skeptic that they would ever make a good film in this franchise and I am more than happy to be proven wrong. More action adventure films should be this well-made. 

Sophia Lillis plays Doric in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves gets a Love It.

THE TRAILER

THE MEME REVIEW

Review: Scream VI

SCREAM VI (2023)
R  ‧ Slasher Horror ‧ Hours Minutes

Written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick

Directed by Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin

THE CAST

Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega, Hayden Panettiere, and Courteney Cox.

Ghostface in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

THE STORY

(In their own words). Four survivors of the Ghostface murders leave Woodsboro behind for a fresh start in New York City. However, they soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when a new killer embarks on a bloody rampage.

THE PREFACE

Okay, I have to make a confession before I start this review. I have only seen Scream 1 & 2, and to be completely honest I don’t even remember Scream 2 much. I also have a vague recollection that in some film in the franchise they started doing a thing where they were making a movie about the events in Scream but it was a fictional world within the fictional universe of Scream. But I didn’t know how it went. So I went into this film not knowing a lot of what is going on. I thought,  “A good film should stand on its own and make me just want to go see the films I missed. 

Jenna Ortega (“Tara Carpenter”), left, and Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter” star in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

THE BEST


The BEST things about the film

  1. The thrills. I was thrilled the entire movie. It was just super exciting. I don’t know if it’s because I was in the dark from the past movies, or if it was repetitive, or if there were swerves from the last film that I wasn’t picking on. All I know is that I was fully engaged and riveted the entire film. It works on its own. Having not known about a majority of the cast, I never felt lost. There were times I figured I should know more, but I think they did a great job of keeping the film self-contained while bringing in information that we need to know.
  2. The humor. I was honestly shocked to go back and look and see that none of the previous films are labeled horror comedies.  There’s this element of self awareness and meta humor within it that I was sure it was also a comedy. The creators just identify each of the films as a slasher horror, but this film I really do think has enough humor to get the horror comedy label.
  3. The ensemble. I think this is a pretty terrific ensemble of friends that we get to watch in this film. The acting between each other is nice, they come off as truly having a long term friendship that works well together. The acting across the board is pretty good.
L-r, Mason Gooding (“Chad Meeks-Martin”), Jenna Ortega (“Tara Carpenter”), Jasmin Savoy Brown (“Mindy Meeks-Martin”), Devyn Nekoda (“Anika Kayoko”) and Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter”) star in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

THE WORST

The WORST things about the film

  1. This is pure entertainment. I think the best horrors, the best comedies, the best of filmmaking happens when there is a social commentary being made. To say that this film is trying to get out a message  would be a paper thin argument.
  2. There’s some real twisting of laws of physics and common sense that needs to happen in order to make a lot of points of the film move forward. Suspension of disbelief needs to be pushed really far for this. 
Ghostface in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

THE COMMENTS

I don’t know how this ranks in the series. I need to see the rest of the series. I have no idea how much this film repeats itself from other films. All I know is that what was presented to me was pretty exciting. This film has made me want to go back, watch the original, then see all the ones I missed.

THE LESSON
The past comes back to you. 

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Yes. In fact, I want very much just to see how well the ending works/makes sense. And I will rewatch as I go back to view the whole series.  

Ghostface in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

THE FINAL WORD

A thoroughly entertaining thrill ride. I have not seen the last three films in this series and it made me want to run out and watch them all. It’s a pretty exciting film with a really terrific ensemble of actors. While it certainly has the violence for a slasher label, the film is full of really funny moments. In fact, there are elements that seem so absurd, I was a little surprised to discover it isn’t labeled a horror comedy. I could never have predicted the sixth installment of any horror film would be something I’d have been happy to have seen. But this one got me, it really got me. You scream, I scream, we all scream for Scream VI. 

. 

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Scream VI gets a strong Like It. 

THE TRAILER

THE MEME REVIEW

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

Audio Only

Review – Empire Of Light

Review – The Empire Of Light

Empire of Light (2022)
Rated R ‧ Romance/Drama ‧ 1h 59m
Written by Sam Mendes
Directed by ‎Sam Mendes

THE CAST

Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Monica Dolan, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, Toby Jones, and Colin Firth.

THE STORY

(In their own words) A romance develops in a beautiful old cinema In the south coast of England in the 1980s.

THE BEST


The BEST things about the film

  1. Character Driven – This is a character driven piece. It was very nice examining these characters. 
  2. Olivia Coleman is great. She’s a magnificent actor and her roller coaster of emotions in this film seem spot on. 
  3. Well directed.  The pacing and the moments are really nice. 

THE WORST

The WORST things about the Film

  1. The story feels like it meanders a bit. 
  2. No oomph. There is no feeling at the end of it like we accomplished anything big with the film.

MY THOUGHTS

Most films are about one or two elements. This is really a character driven piece about an unlikely romance between a middle-aged white woman and a college age young black man in the 1980s.  The film seems relatively simple, but I think it’s a lot more complex than most people will give it credit for. This film delved into mental health, workplace sexual harassment, racism, and taboo matters of the heart.  At first it seems like it’s just going to be another film about the joy of cinema, when there’s actually more discussion about how the main character won’t take time to go sit and watch a movie.  The story moves swiftly and your affection for each of the characters grows in complex ways, much like what happens between the characters. 

THE LESSON

If you move fast enough you can’t see the darkness

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Yes

THE FINAL WORD

Olivia Coleman shines as the lead actress is this character driven romance drama set at a film house in 1980s England. Sam Mendes directs this film with much care and attention to careful pacing and tender moments between characters. Very much a character driven piece it is interesting, thoughtful and full of partial explorations of the challenges within a complicated relationship and mental health issues. A well-done film that meanders at times and lacks a huge understanding of why we are seeing this story. Nonetheless, it is worth seeing for Coleman’s performance, insight into the 80s in England, and exemplary film direction. 

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Empire Of Light gets a Like It.

THE TRAILER

THE MEME REVIEW

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

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.