Get a Job (2016)

I don't know how Get a Job ended up on my watchlist —I'm pretty sure though it's because I read a positive review of it— but I know that it's been there for too long so I finally decided to give it a chance. 

The film follows Will Davis (Miles Teller), an idealist young man who has just graduated from college. He thinks he has a job lined up after working his ass off as a summer intern but the firm downsize and he needs to find another job. But it's not easy as the work market is saturated with applications and when he returns to his father (Bryan Cranston) for money, he finds out that his father has lost his job and he too is struggling to find a new one. 

This is a film that deals with one of the biggest issues in today's society, the inability to find a job, whether you are young and just graduated from college, or you've been laid off after working for decades for the same company. At the same time, it also pokes fun of a generation of Americans where every little accomplishment is rewarded —partecipations trophies. Seriously people, what is wrong with y'all?

It had the potential to be a very interesting and thought-provoking film but unfortunately, the writers didn't bother with writing a decent storyline; they just took a couple of important themes and placed them in a frat boy comedy with no plot whatsoever, unless you consider the many stupid and ridiculous moments as plot points.

The characters too are non-existing. They are so thin, underdeveloped and bland, they are not worth rooting for. Not to mention how artificial and little believable as human beings they are. The only character I cared about was Will's father but the credits certainly do not go to the writers, but only to Cranston for giving such a good performance and portraying in a believable way what a middle-aged man goes through when he loses his job and how hard it is to compete with much younger people.

Lionsgate Premier, CBS Films

As for the rest of the cast, Teller somehow manages to engage and entertain you a bit, despite the weak script; the others, they have no idea what to do with this. And that shows in terms of comedy as the film really falls flat in that department. There are scenes, specifically those involving bongs, that are designed/written to make the audience laugh but they come off as bland and boring. Even the stripper scene is dull. I'm not a man and I'm not a lesbian but I'm pretty sure a scene like that is supposed to be dull.

2018 New York Film Critics Circle Award Winners

Yesterday the east coast group voted their annual winners for the 87th edition and seems that there is no visible trend from an independent film award and the two major film critics, as for example Best Film category in Gotham went to The Rider, in NBR to Green Book and the NYFCC to Roma.  Data up-to-this-moment suggests there are high probabilities current award season will again be interesting and perhaps even unpredictable which makes all exercises a lot more fun.

In previous years the call-by-many "harbingers of the Oscars nominations" score have been on the lower side but let's hope for the future of cinema that Roma gets an Oscar nomination and hopefully the top AMPAS award.  It's only then -according to several industry articles- that theaters will start to understand how much films distribution has changed thanks to how audiences -we- consume films nowadays.  I don't want theaters to disappear and well-understand they will not relinquish their power without a strong fight, but what wish would immediately disappear or be totally modify is the window release system.  Let's hope fight doesn't last too-long and industry concentrates more in production issues than in distribution.

American awards season just started but after these results, the clearest trends seems to go to Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress; the rest of categories is a clear blur (lol).

The 2018 winners list

Best Picture: Roma, Alfonso Cuarón
Best First Film: Eighth Grade, Bo Burnham
Best Foreign-Language Film: Cold War, Pawel Pawlikowski
Best Non-Fiction Film: Minding the Gap, Bing Liu
Best Animated Film: SpiderMan: Into the Spider-Verse, Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

Best Director: 
Alfonso Cuarón for Roma

Best Actress: Regina Hall in Support the Girls
Best Supporting Actress: Regina Kin in If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke in First Reformed
Best Supporting Actor:  Richard E. Grant in Can You Ever Forgive Me? 

Best Screenplay: Paul Schrader for First Reformed
Best Cinematography: Alfonso Cuarón for Roma

Special Award: David Schwartz, stepping down as chief film curator at Museum of Moving Image after 33 years
Special Award: Kino Classics box set Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers

Award winners are not yet at official site but soon will be here.  Group announced its winners at their twitter account here. The 84th New York Film Critics Circle Awards ceremony will be held on January 7th, 2019.

DAILY CALL SHEET: NOVEMBER 29, 2018

Deadly Eyes (1982) Fun James Herbert adaptation has wiener dogs in rat suits laying siege to Toronto. Amazingly, they don't even pretend it isn't Canada. TIL: Back-bacon. Yet another reason to be thankful the Church dropped any requirement for the ancient Jewish dietary laws.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Wolf Cop (2014) - "Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases." - John Adams

And finally, The Curt jester contemplates the value of owning more books than you can read. I sure hope he’s right because my own “to read” pile isn’t getting any smaller.

A Street Cat Named Bob (2016)

I really wanted to see A Street Cat Named Bob when it came out, but I also wanted to read the novel book first so I skipped it. It's been two years and I still haven't bought the book and I decided to watch the film anyway. 

As you may know, the film tells the true story of James Bowen (Luke Treadaway), a homeless drug addict busking on the streets of London. After his OD, he is set up in a rundown apartment block by a social worker (Joanne Froggatt). There, he finds a stray ginger cat who he names Bob and the two soon become inseparable as they go busking together and become somewhat of a London legend. 

Whether you are a cat lover or not, this is arguably a very touching and heartwarming story of hope, friendship, love and compassion that shows how animals are true friends, always by your side, even when you are at your lowest point in life. The problem about the film is that it feels off, and the story doesn't have the effect it's supposed to have. It isn't touching, it isn't engaging, it isn't enjoyable, mainly because the relationship between James and Bob is very charming at first but eventually and quickly wears off.

Also, the story is a bit sugar-coated. Although I haven't read the book, I checked some fact and turns out Betty, the girl who befriends James, was a recovering drug addict herself. In the film, she is the light at the end of the tunnel that helps James to get clean. I guess the filmmakers wanted to make the film more family friendly but can really a movie about a drug addict be family friendly? I don't think so, especially if you decide to include the harsh realities of the drug addict's situation, and A Street Cat Named Bob does that and it does a nice job too.

The acting, on the other hand, is solid. Although I kept thinking about Mr. Mercedes's Brady all the time —his twin Harry plays him in the series—, Luke Treadaway gives a convincing performance as James. His acting leaves something to be desired at times, but overall he's believable as the man who has lost everything and the conveys the struggles of an addict very well. The supporting cast is kinda weak though.

Sony Pictures Releasing

There's something about A Street Cat Named Bob that was beyond annoying for me, the camera work. I can get past the shaky camera, it's in line with the film's theme after all, but when it tries to show the world from the cat's perspective, I really hated those shots.

Thursday Movie Picks: Television Edition: Adapted from a Non-English Series

November too has come to an end which means it's time for another Television Edition for Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. This month we have to pick series that are remakes of non-English language series. Without further ado, here are my picks

The Good Doctor (2017- )

Based on the South Korean series of the same name, it follows Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore), a young surgical resident with autism and Savant syndrome. I started watching this only recently —last summer— but it was love at first sight. Sure, it isn't perfect and it is completely unrealistic but it's enjoyable and entertaining. 

Jane the Virgin (2014- )

Based on the Venezuelan telenovela Juana la Virgen, it follows Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez), a young, Christian woman who has decided to stay a virgin until marriage. Her vow becomes complicated when a doctor (Yara Martinez) accidentally inseminated her during a checkup with the sperm of a married man who happens to be the doctor's brother as well as the owner of the hotel where Jane works and the guy she had a crush on as a teenager. I used to love this series, but then I felt like the writers didn't know what to do anymore —ridiculous plot after ridiculous plot— so I stopped watching. 

Ugly Betty (2006-2010)

Based on the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea, it follows Betty Suarez (America Ferrera), a smart, hardworking, wannabe writer who gets a job at a fashion magazine. She isn't your typical fashion girl though and because of it everyone makes fun of her but she doesn't let this stop her. This was one of my favourite series growing up.

The Holiday Calendar Movie Review

The Holiday Calendar (2018)

Watch The Holiday Calendar on Netflix
Written by: Carrie Freedle, Amyn Kaderali
Directed by: Bradley Walsh
Starring: Kat Graham, Quincy Brown, Ethan Peck, Ron Cephas Jones
Rated: TV-PG
Watch the trailer

Plot
A struggling but talented photographer inherits an antique holiday advent calendar, the contents of which seem to predict the future. Will this magical calendar lead her to love this holiday season?

Verdict
If you want a Hallmark channel type Christmas movie that asks very little while providing a predictable story. This is it. It's not a good movie, but it does achieve the goal of being a holiday movie that you can miss large portions at a time and not be lost.
Skip it.

Review
Just in the introduction this crams a lot of Christmas tropes into a very short time.


Abby is a photographer that wishes she was chasing her dream, and Josh is a childhood friend and travel blogger back in town. Josh's hair is an intriguing style choice. At first I thought it was a slicked back middle part like gangsters from the '30s and '40s but it's actually a middle part braid that wraps around his head. He also has a strong affinity for cookies. The movie frequently highlights Josh eating cookies for no discernible reason.

While the movie frequently tries to make it seem like Abby is hard up, she has a seemingly good job and she has a very nice apartment.

Grandpa gives her a special advent calendar. He wanted to be secretive about it which seems difficult when it's three feet tall.

While Abby doesn't notice at first, the calendar seems to foreshadow what will happen during the day. This really seems like a fortune cookie/horoscope scenario that the toys in the advent calendar are so general that you'll find some magical link regardless. The movie actually supports this idea and undercuts the them of the movie, when Abby later reinterprets the meaning the toys had with an even looser connection than the first time.

The most magical thing about the advent calendar is that none of the toys rattle around inside when people carry it. It also lights up with no power source and only opens on prescribed days.

Abby meets a potential love interest when a Christmas tree falls off the roof of his Audi. I have to wonder how he got a tree home previous years. The advent calendar seems to support the connection. There are lots of coincidences, but that relationship goes South when he questions the magical advent calendar.

There's the love triangle, occupational ups and downs, it all works out in the end. You will be able to guess exactly what happens in this movie five minutes in. One question I have is whether the town can support to portrait studios. I'm guessing not.

DAILY CALL SHEET: NOVEMBER 28, 2018

Dreamaniac (1986) Dour debut from DeCoteau has yet another rocker selling his soul for success. Doesn't anybody just practice? TIL: Rock isn't always the Devil's music. Like any art form, it can be done to the glory of God, Satan or, most often, just the artists themselves.

Your daily dose of culture courtesy of Dracula's Dog (1977) - "Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet." – Colette

And finally, over at The National Catholic Register, Matthew Archbold settles in ringside for the battle of the ages. It’s Frank Capra vs. the Devil!