Happy Saturday From Sophomore Year

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Happy Saturday, all. Feels like we’re getting back into a bit of a normal routine with school resuming this week. Nic just started 10th grade. In the next few months, he’ll be driving. We’re already planning college tours. How did we get here? All the cliches about the passage of time are true: It feels like forever, and yet also the blink of an eye. Who, me? I’m not crying. It’s just allergies.

Movies go on no matter the season, and we’ve got some surprisingly good ones here at the end of summer. Here’s what we reviewed this week on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast.

• HONEY DON’T! Alonso and I really don’t agree on Ethan Coen’s latest solo effort — his second away from brother Joel, and the second film in a planned trilogy of “lesbian B-movies.” (The first was “Drive-Away Dolls,” which he also wrote with his wife, Tricia Cooke.) The Coens are probably my favorite filmmakers, along with Paul Thomas Anderson, but their individual output reinforces how much they need each other. Margaret Qualley is a delight, though, as a wisecracking private eye investigating a fatal car crash in Bakersfield. In theaters. (I also reviewed “Honey Don’t!” for Ebert, if you’d like to read some more in-depth thoughts.)

• SPLITSVILLE. This was a lovely surprise. Director Michael Angelo Covino and co-writer Kyle Marvin, who made the 2019 cringe comedy “The Climb,” reunite here for another movie that explores the awkwardness and vulnerability of male friendship. They also co-star alongside Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona, who are both great as the women in their lives. The writing is really sharp — it’s pleasingly mean in an understated way — and “Splitsville” takes lots of twists and turns as these two couples’ lives get intertwined in increasingly complicated ways. In theaters.

• DEVO. If you love Devo, you will love this documentary about the pioneering, post-punk, new wave band. Director Chris Smith, who did the better of the two Fyre Festival documentaries that came out in 2019, explores the group’s origins and influences en route to creating their signature look and sound. It moves really well, there’s a ton of fascinating archival footage, and interviews with band members including Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale are totally entertaining. Devo has been right about everything all along, and of course, the music is so great. Streaming now on Netflix.

• KPOP DEMON HUNTERS SING-ALONG. I also did a quick little out-of-the-theater reaction after seeing the sing-along version of “KPop Demon Hunters.” Netflix did an early screening this week, so of course I had to bring Nic, since he’s the one who introduced me to the phenomenon. As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the streaming hit is going to be in theaters this weekend only, Aug. 23 and 24, and is expected to dominate the box office. It’s on 1,700 screens and is selling out everywhere. We had a blast hearing those insanely catchy songs with great sound and seeing the gorgeous animation on a big screen. Find out here if “KPop Demon Hunters” is playing near you.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! So much to talk about as summer winds down and fall festival season begins, including Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” the trailer for the dog-centric horror movie “Good Boy,” a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion, and the sorry state of film journalism (more on that below). Plus, we remember the legendary Terence Stamp, who died this week at 87. (We’ll honor him at our Patreon with our September Off the Menu poll, so keep an eye out for that.) No news next Friday because we’re taking the week off, but we’ll see you back here on Sept. 5 at Noon Pacific.

I also had the pleasure of reviewing these movies and many others on FilmWeek With Larry Mantle on LAist 89.3. This time, I shared the air with Claudia Puig (who agreed with me that “Devo” is great) and Charles Solomon (who did not agree with me that “KPop Demon Hunters” is great). Take a listen! It’s also available in podcast form.

Over at our Patreon, we’ve begun recapping season 2 of “Peacemaker.” It had been 3 ½ years since season 1 ended — so long, that when I went back and watched our recap of the finale, I didn’t remember a single thing about it. Who are these characters? What’s the deal with the cow? Thankfully, a lengthy “previously-on” preceded the season 2 premiere to get us up to speed. Now that James Gunn has taken over DC Studios, this feels more like a continuation of his “Superman” in some ways than a second season of television. John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland and the rest of the team return for more raunchy mayhem, but they’re struggling to find their purpose as the season begins. New episodes come out Thursday nights on HBO Max, and we’ll recap them on Fridays.

Michael Phillips, the longtime, legendary film critic for the Chicago Tribune, announced this week that the newspaper had eliminated his position and he was taking the buyout he’d been offered. This is an enormous loss. Michael is one of the most knowledgeable, insightful critics I know. We’ve been friends for about 15 years — we first met as part of various versions of a “Siskel & Ebert” reboot — and he’s always been someone I’ve turned to for his wit and wisdom. Plus, he’s just a wonderful guy. With Richard Roeper no longer at the Chicago Sun-Times, this means there’s no film critic at either of the city’s major newspapers — an insane idea in a place where movies are such a huge part of the culture. Last week, we learned that Vanity Fair had let lead film critic Richard Lawson go as part of a round of layoffs. He’s also brilliant.

So what does all of this mean for the future of film criticism, and arts writing in general? It’s a bummer, of course. An emphasis on influencers has resulted in a dumbing-down of the discourse. Ty Burr, former film critic for The Boston Globe, wrote about this trend this week in his Substack. I left The Associated Press in 2013 when they started chipping away at my job and it became clear that they no longer wanted me to function as a full-time film critic. All these years later, they still don’t have one.

But increasingly, places like newsletters, podcasts and Patreon are where we’re finding ourselves if we want to write and talk substantially about movies. So many of us are piecing our careers together. I joke that I have six jobs and I have no job, which is probably pretty clear if you’ve been reading my weekly missives. So go support the intelligent people whose work you appreciate — and please know that I appreciate you for taking the time to be here with me.

That’ll do it for me this week. For my latest Saturday adventure with Nic, we’re doing a beach clean-up near the Manhattan Beach Pier with the Surfrider Foundation. Can’t imagine anywhere I’d rather be on a hot, late August day. Just a reminder that we’re taking next week off at Breakfast All Day, but we still have a few goodies in store for you. And if you’ve enjoyed my newsletter, I’d be honored if you’d pass it along to the movie lovers in your life. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.