Reviews of the Bosch

It’s been another tough year, hasn’t it? As we’ve cycled through another of our increasingly limited revolutions around the sun , there’s not a lot to celebrate or dwell on with much heart. Nor is there much optimistic honesty with which to declare a Happy New Year as we drink ourselves into a stupor long before the midnight bell tolls. But 2023 hasn’t all been gloom for the world at large; there have been bright spots and moments of hope -little joys amidst the pain that has kept life worth living. Indeed in some respects it has been a picnic this year, which I can speak to authoritatively as one whose consciousness this past month was transferred against my will into the mind of a forty-five year old Icelandic physics professor. In the span of a few hours I lived out the whole of 2024 in their life. Here is just some of what I witnessed through their eyes.   January -Following on the heels of several higher profile labour actions in 2023, teachers in Saskatchewan go on strike. In res

“What family doesn’t have its ups and downs?” It’s always hard to get caught up in family disagreements. And I imagine it’s especially hard when that family happens to be arguably the most powerful in western Europe, with the grievances of each member coming with a vast array of consequences that could span multiple kingdoms and  decades. The Lion in Winter is  about one such critical dysfunctional family, that of an ageing King Henry II of England as he debates who of his three surviving sons -two of whom had just participated in a failed rebellion against him with the aid of their now imprisoned mother- ought to succeed him. It is the Succession of the 12 th  century, and it is just as dramatic and subtly funny -especially against the backdrop of what’s intended to be a warm Christmas reunion. The original play by James Goldman (elder brother of William) is not based strictly in fact -although there was an apparent royal Christmas court the prior year to when this story is set; and

The Iron Claw is established right at the beginning of the movie that shares its name. It is a wrestling move, apparently devised by one Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany) that involves grabbing an opponent by the face and thereby subduing them. But it is also the clear metaphor for how he forces his own obsessions onto his sons to disastrous results. At some point in this film, every one of his adult children follows in his footsteps, with the end goal of winning the World Heavyweight Championship Fritz feels was denied him, and for none of them is it entirely of their own will. It’s the kind of story that you find hard to believe is actually real, and while certain points are fudged (there was actually a fifth wrestling brother, a fair bit younger than the rest, entirely cut from the film), the broad strokes of the story of this highly competitive, highly unfortunate family appear to be true. The Texas Von Erichs were a major force of the wrestling world in the 1970s and 80s, managed b

The principal conceit of Yorgos Lanthimos’s  Poor Things  is honestly astonishingly simple: what if Frankenstein , but presented through the lens of feminine sexual agency? What if the Bride existed independently, seeking actualization for herself in a world so bent on denying her that? And presented as Lanthimos does here, through a journey comprising a succession of curious adventures (and carnal experiences), it would seem like such an easy story to tell. Yet there is nothing at all easy or simple about this enthralling, sensational, hilarious, and profound screed of feminist liberation that is one of the best movies of the year. More exuberant and atmospherically intoxicating than any movie Lanthimos has made, and irrepressibly inventive in its script, performances, and visuals. As Frankenstein  variations go, it may be the most captivating. Set in a fantastical approximation of the late nineteenth century, Emma Stone stars as Bella Baxter, a woman who has been reanimated by mad sc

The Doctor Who  Christmas special was something Russell T. Davies started back in 2005 and became an annual tradition for the show for twelve years. In 2019, Chris Chibnall in his effort to change things up, moved it to New Year’s -something that was quite controversial for Doctor Who fans but didn’t bother me much at all. It was rare that a Doctor Who  Christmas special felt all that connected to the holiday anyways, rarer still when they were much good. To the surprise of no one though, the sentimental Davies reversed this back with the start of his new regime. Christmas specials will be a Doctor Who  staple once again. Segregated from the rest of the show, they do occasionally serve a function for the series ahead or the series behind. Three Doctors have exited on holiday specials and three companions have entered. “The Church on Ruby Road” is a fourth, and much like what Davies did with “The Runaway Bride” back in 2006, he structures most of the episode around the introduction and

Bradley Cooper has put a lot of work into reinventing himself as a director. You could make the comparison to Clint Eastwood in terms of his early confidence that comes with his celebrity, though he is more interesting and has better instincts as an artist than Eastwood. Two movies into his career what he may lack though is thematic diversity. With his sophomore feature Maestro , again he is directing himself in the performance of a troubled artist, albeit in a film that tries to be as different from A Star is Born  as possible. While that film was raw and grounded this one is more elegant, more stylistically ambitious. And in its’ bursts of visual ingenuity, its’ signs of passion, it is more rewarding than  A Star is Born  by far. But the sum of its parts hold together less steadily in spite of Cooper’s best and fairly commendable efforts. Produced by (among others) Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg -both of whom were attached to direct at different times- Maestro  is a dramatizati

Willy Wonka has always been far more powerful than the story he comes from. The boisterous and eccentric chocolatier in fact may be Roald Dahl’s most enduring creation, in not insubstantial part due to his portrayal by Gene Wilder in 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory , which changed the name of the original book to better reflect the character’s star status, much to Dahl’s famous displeasure. But that idea of Wonka has outlived him, he is a household name -and so it was only a matter of time before he got the Hollywood reboot treatment. The origin story of Willy Wonka -what a tepid concept. Or at least it might be if it were not in the hands of Paul King, who directed and co-wrote the screenplay with partner Simon Farnaby. King, a director off of The Mighty Boosh , who broke out with his marvellously charming Paddington  movies, was the man to make Wonka  if anyone was. His brand of sincere whimsy combined with acerbic British wit is exactly attuned to a world of confectio

There is a moment near the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King  that has always resonated with me profoundly, apart from the general emotionality that fills out the rest of the movie’s resolutions.  It is when Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry are sitting in the Green Dragon together as some party (as is oft to occur in Hobbiton) is happening all around them. They are at a table with their ale and they simply exchange glances with each other. A year and a month ago, Merry and Pippin at least would have been right up there with all the merry-makers having a grand time. But things are different now, each of them has seen and experienced so much beyond what this little pastoral community can usually imagine –and they are the only ones who truly understand one another. In a series that could play fast and loose with fidelity to J.R.R. Tolkien’s text, here is a moment that feels closer to Tolkien than most other things in the trilogy. Peter Jackson confirmed in the audio commen