Dog’s Movie House – “Don’t Worry Darling” A Intriguing, Entertaining Misfire!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with a look at Olivia Wilde’s second feature as a director. It’s called “Don’t Worry Darling” and features Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as Alice and Jack Chambers, a young couple living in the late 1950s in a utopian community known sponsored by a mysterious organization known as The Victory Project. Every morning the men drive across the desert to work while the wives do chores, shop and generally cater to their men in what appears to be an equitable partnership. The Victory Project is headed by the mysterious (and slightly sinister) Frank (Chris Pine), who uses his svengali-like influence to command absolute loyalty from his extended “family.” When one of the wives has a breakdown and supposedly kills herself in front of Alice, the latter begins to investigate the truth about The Victory Project and in doing so uncovers a nasty truth that threatens not only her sanity but her very life as well.
Continue readingThe Kenblog: Remembering Joe Turkel
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with some sad news for genre movie fans. Legendary character actor Joe Turkel died today at the age of 94. Starting in the 1950s, Turkel appeared in several films including three movies for the legendary Stanley Kubrick. He also appeared in several television shows such as “The Fugitive” and “Boston Blackie.” But perhaps his most famous roles came in two iconic films in the early 1980s. The first was Kubrick’s “The Shining” as the ghostly bartender Lloyd. Appearing out of thin air when a struggling Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) wants a drink, he’s the sympathetic ear but carries a sense of subtle menace is his bearing that makes him a memorable character. The second iconic role was of a meatier nature as Dr. Elden Tyrell in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner.” Tyrell is the founder of the Tyrell Corporation and inventor of the humanoid androids called replicants. Tyrell meets a memorably grisly end at the hands of his most advanced creation: the replicant Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) who is less than pleased that his creator is unable to increase his four year life span. Both roles are legendary characters that demonstrate Turkel’s talent to do a great deal with very little. He will be missed. So Sayeth The Kendog!
Continue readingDog’s Movie House: “Moonfall,” “Jackass Forever” Slight Movies With Built In Audience!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with a look at a couple of movies releasing in theaters. First we have Roland Emmerich’s latest disasterpiece (heh, see what I did there) called “Moonfall” a well-made but gleefully stupid bit of science fiction cheese. Then we have the fourth (and allegedly final) film in the 20 year Jackass series, appropriately titled “Jackass Forever” in which Johnny Knoxville and his crew of permanent adolescents throw up a whole slew of new ways to mutilate themselves in the name of humor. Both films are what I like to term “critic proof” as they have their own built-in audiences, but I’m gonna give it a try anyway.
Continue readingDog’s Movie House: “The Matrix Resurrections” A Trippy Return To The Matrix Universe!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with a look at a brand new Matrix film. This one’s called “The Matrix Resurrections” and features Keanu Reeves return as the techno-savior Neo for the first time in nearly twenty years. Normally I’d be leary about popping out another Matrix movie, especially since Neo sacrificed himself so handily in finale of the original trilogy. But returning director Lana Wachowski definitely has something in mind for this particular tale and it adds enough new elements to feel like more than a mere rehash of the first film. The result is a trippy, self-aware journey back into the war between humans and machines anchored by excellent performances from Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss.
Continue readingDog’s Movie House: “Dune” Epic Telling Of Frank Herbert’s Sci-Fi Epic. . .Half Of It, That Is!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with a look at the latest cinematic adaptation of “Dune” Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction masterpiece. Combining beloved source material with one of my favorite directors in Denis Villeneuve (“Sicario”) seems to me like a match made in cinematic heaven. Ad an incredible cast and some epic locations and “Dune” should be a work of science fiction genius. Weeeellll. . .not quite. “Dune” is actually quite good and actually amazing in places but it suffers from one problem: It only tells half the damn story! Aaargh! That said, the inevitible “Part II” is coming and hopefully the two films together will make for an wonderful cinematic experience.
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