For a while now, the role of the “one man wrecking crew” who takes on a corrupt town, corporation or what have you has been the cinematic domain of Jason Statham.  As an established badass, we know that anybody who gets in his way are idiots who will soon be lying in a pool of their own blood.  Which is what makes Bob Odenkirk’s encroachment on Statham’s territory so interesting.  No one would ever mistake Odenkirk for Statham, who looks more like a kindly grandpa than a killing machine.  Odenkirk’s a square peg that’s wedged himself into the action/revenge genre hole, and the mismatch is what makes Normal so much fun.  Odenkirk may look like a kindly old man, but watch out when he gets riled up.

Like its eponymous character, The Life of Chuck contains multitudes and is difficult to categorize.  It’s by turns apocalyptic, fantastical, nostalgic and horrific.  Broadly speaking, it’s an existential treatise disguised as a heartwarming coming-of-age tale that ultimately works because its charm and amiability.  Recommended. Continue reading The Life of Chuck

Humans are strange creatures.  Instead of getting rid of what makes us miserable, we hold onto it.  This is the focus of Sentimental Value, a movie about two artists, a father and his daughter, who keep what hurts them close at hand.  One explanation provided is that those hurtful things inform their art.  (He’s a director, while she’s a theater actor.)  Revisiting their pain makes what they create more honest and true.  However, it also prevents either of them from leading fulfilling lives, artistically as well as personally.  The movie explores this commingling of art and trauma with a level of maturity, sensitivity and empathy that forced me to look at myself in a way that I’d avoided for, well, most of my life.