My renewal went through for WordPress, and this seems like a perfect time to soft launch another thing I want to do. going In blind, is something so many people say when they don’t know anything about a movie. Well, I go in blind… to every movie. In today’s Small Screen diaries I didn’t mention any movies, because Going In blind is the film version of that. I hope to always have something to talk about here. I saw three films yesterday, one of them for the second time. this doesn’t mean I won’t be doing full reviews of any films, but it does give me the latitude to not do one for every film, especially non-audio described titles, or titles not in the English Language I was given a screener to. It also should give me more of an opportunity to give fresh thoughts on the audio description for these movies.
Y2K- Kyle Mooney’s new comedy from A24 was something I wanted to see, because I love Mooney’s style of humor, so I rented it from Apple, where it had audio description. I’m happy with just renting it, because the film is good, not great. he seems to perfectly capture my high school years and everything from dial up, to AIM, to how kids wore brands a lot to have clout. The plot centers around a high school party on New Year’s Eve, only at this party, when it turns to the new millennium, everything electronic turns sentient and starts attacking teens. Lots of teens die initially, and we have our little smaller survivor group that is trying to figure out how to stop the apocalypse while also being really silly. A surprise cameo works really well, and the humor is fun when it is there. the movie struggles the most when Kyle Mooney focuses on non-humor, trying to develop relationships, or have more serious moments. Anyone familiar with his style, knows he comes from the Tim and Eric brand, which is why Tim heidecker makes a small appearance. It fits him. The movie is being unfairly tanked on iMDB by the army that hates Rachel Ziegler, but the movie is at least worth a watch for those who enjoy horror comedies. the audio description did a nice job of highlighting all the nonsensical kills, like being attacked by a Tamagotchi, and the gore wherever applied. People lose limbs, heads, but it is all rather silly and never scary.
I’d go Fresh, probably a B+ (as the nostalgia really worked on me), and put the audio description track also at a B+. there could have been a better depth of description with the characters, but I have no idea how diverse the cast is, as I’m unfamiliar with almost everyone.
You’re cordially invited- Amazon’s new straight-to-streaming release stars Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon, and there is no reason this couldn’t have gone theatrical. It isn’t the next romantic comedy classic, but certainly lives in a world where before streamers, we lived with films like this all the time. The Wedding Planner, Two Weeks Notice, No Strings Attached, Just Like Heaven. All probably have fans, and none are remembered for being terrible. other critics likely will put this lower simply because it didn’t go theatrical, but it is a step up from an Amazon release from two years ago, Shotgun Wedding. Ferrell and Witherspoon are reliably themselves, and an ensemble works in a film full of gags. The basic plot is that a Dad (Ferrell) books a wedding for his darling daughter, but the reservation is… lost… and later a TV Producer (Witherspoon) books one for her sister. At the same place. This is a small island that only can do one wedding at a time, but they end up doing both at the same time. Ferrell and Witherspoon butt heads, but by the end, somehow, these single people are ready to mingle. The weakest part is the inevitability that Ferrell and Witherspoon end up together, because they work better as opponents. There are some huge logical leaps, like believing Jimmy Tatro can do a blood transfusion at this event. The audio description let me down a few times, where I could see there was a joke, but the description didn’t support it. One example was a conversation being overheard by Ferrell. Obviously, his reaction is the joke, but the description really only catches him at the end. There’s also a joke about identical suburbans where Ferrell openly wonders how people tell them apart, and I was wondering if there was a visual punchline to that joke, perhaps like vanity plates, or if that joke went nowhere. There’s also not a great depth of character description, though every actor/actress I’m familiar with in the cast is white. Maybe there isn’t diversity to represent? Will, Reese, Jimmy, Celia Weston, Jack McBrayer, and Fortune Feinster all have one thing in common, and with a lot of the cast being related to one of those people, it might just be the whitest cast of the year. The movie is cute enough, the choice of narrator is fine, but I could have used a bit more from the description.
I’d go Fresh, B, and the audio description maybe a B as well.
Cuckoo was my second watch, and i have an existing review. This is just a film that screams (literally) to be watched again, because it is so freaking weird. I love it though, and I had it in my top 10 horror films of the year, and it is in the running to maybe make my Top 25, which is why I rewatched it. Rain Brooks does a nice job on the description here, and there are plenty of times where someone is stretching their face or mouth at unnatural lengths, and the description supports the eeriness. Perhaps the character description could have been a bit more, but I’m also thinking this might be a white cast with no diversity. It isn’t the biggest cast, and it is over in Europe.
fresh, Grade: A-, Audio description Grade: A
My final thoughts for the day come out of the fact that I watch way more horror movies now than I did when i could see. I was a chicken when it came to jump scares and gore. I’ll admit to that. But, hearing something is a lot easier, just like reading it would be. You still get all the mood, but not that image burned into your brain forever. Sighted me never would have seen Cuckoo, would have watched Y2K as a horror comedy, and likely would have enjoyed Your Cordially Invited the same. thanks for joining me on my first Going In Blind. Another new feature I’d been planning, like Quality Check, which I’m continuing.
