Quick Movie Reviews: Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Rocketman, Dark Phoenix

Godzilla: King of the Monsters: Compared to Gareth Edwards' plodding, essentially action-free 2014 reboot, King of the Monsters is a triumph. Michael Dougherty (Krampus, Trick 'r Treat) decided to make a kaiju movie where the monsters actually get a notable amount of screen time and wait for it, actually fight each other! Crazy concept right? Despite atoning for the head-scratching sins of its predecessor, this new Godzilla movie still isn't anything special. Giant monsters are being unearthed constantly throughout King of the Monsters yet the entire affair feels oddly routine. A three-headed dragon emerging from the ice or a pterodactyl-like creature coming out of a volcano should generate more than a "huh, would you look that?" from the human characters-especially since most of them have spent most of their adult lives tracking and studying these creatures. The action sequences are competent and some of the individual shots of the monsters are absolutely stunning, but the final battle in Boston was the only time the movie fully utilized all of the badass creatures it had its disposal-which was really disappointing to see from a "clash of the titans" blockbuster that easily could've been an epic spectacle.
Grade: B-

Rocketman: As lazy and unfair as it might be, comparing Rocketman to Bohemian Rhapsody is inevitable. The polarizing Queen biopic is still fresh in people's minds after a very successful box office run last fall/winter and obviously deals with some of the same themes as Freddie Mercury and Elton John achieved superstardom during an era where being openly gay was viewed as a surefire way to kill your career. Not to mention, Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher was brought into complete the final few weeks of filming on Bohemian Rhapsody following the firing of credited director Bryan Singer.

When it comes to the actual on-screen product, they couldn't be any more different. Where Bohemian Rhapsody was a clearly sanitized, by-the-numbers biopic, Rocketman is a delightfully odd creation that celebrates John's career without glossing over the dark times. The frequent detours into elaborately-choregraphed dream sequences/musical numbers took a little bit of getting used to, but they do a brilliant job of helping explain the origin of many of his deeply personal songs as well as exploring the juxtaposition between his colorful on-stage persona and the toxic relationships and suffocating loneliness that plagued his personal life which eventually resulted in him developing a serious substance abuse problem.

These rapidly fluctuating emotional highs and lows flow so seamlessly in large part due to Taron Edgerton's tremendous work as John. He did a terrific job convincingly portraying the multiple facets of John's personality both off-stage and through his music with a sensational vocal performance that does all of these iconic songs justice.

Kudos to John for being brave enough to put his inner demons out there and bringing in a creative team (Fletcher, writer Lee Hall) that would make sure his story didn't turn into a typical Rockstar biopic. While I doubt that a ton of artists will be willing to follow John's lead, the fearlessness, raw emotion and vibrancy of Rocketman will hopefully lead to a future with more unfiltered biopics.
Grade: B+

Dark Phoenix:  Dark Phoenix's more drama-centric approach has drawn ire from a lot critics and audiences, but I thought it was a nice, well-executed departure from the genre norm. Watching the variety of believable ways each character reacted to Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) turning into a villain with unimaginable power against her will following a mysterious explosion during a space rescue mission was fascinating and having a narrative that deals with the ideas of trauma, family and covering up the truth to "protect" someone you love allows these super talented actors to really sink their teeth into their roles. The more minimalist, emotionally-grounded storyline also turned the few huge action scenes into very impactful showdowns with legit stakes/tension that gave every member of the crew their moment to shine. Ultimately, Dark Phoenix is a satisfying albeit bittersweet ending for this criminally underrated franchise that was responsible for the rebirth of the superhero genre nearly 20 years ago. While not without its misfires, the excellent ensemble casts, massive action setpieces and willingness to actually put its heroes in danger allowed both iterations of X-Men to carve out its own place in an increasingly crowded caped crusader marketplace. These films deserve far better than to be a forgotten footnote in a genre where nothing almost nothing outside of the MCU is viewed as worthwhile and even though I'm excited to see what Marvel Studios does with the property down the road, I'll miss Fox's take on the franchise terribly.    
Grade: B+ 

Concert Review: Coheed and Cambria--Boston, MA-- June 6th, 2019

Lineup: Coheed and Cambria/Mastodon/Every Time I Die (The Unheavenly Skye Tour)
Venue: Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA

Every Time I Die: Seeing a road dog veteran band who usually headlines dingy clubs perform at a fully seated venue in one of Boston's bojueest neighborhoods was super strange- a fact that vocalist Keith Buckley acknowledged multiple times during their set. Venue oddity aside, Every Time I Die was their usual excellent selves. The big stage and lack of a pit didn't prevent them from delivering 40 minutes of energetic, chaotic metalcore that went over surprisingly well with an audience that was at least somewhat comprised of people that didn't come to see them. Hopefully we'll be blessed with a new record and subsequent return to seat-free tours in sweaty 800-capacity rooms by the middle of next year.
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Mastodon: I've been absurdly nervous about seeing Mastodon again since the moment I found about this tour. Their live show is notoriously erratic and since the last time was an absolute doozy of a performance where Brent Hinds' vocals resembled a cat trying to cough up a furball for 90 minutes, my expectations heading into last night were incredibly low. Making matters worse is the fact that Crack the Skye, which they were playing from front to back in honor of its 10th anniversary, is one of my favorite records ever. The slew of negativity I walked in with proved to be nothing but a whole lot of false worry.

Clearly this triumph was much more than a pleasant surprise. Hell, I would've been shocked if I ended up merely ENJOYING their performance. This nearly hiccup-free shit that captured the epic scale and haunting atmosphere that makes Crack the Skye a progressive metal masterpiece basically scrambled my brain. I don't know if it caused by extreme shock or confusion, but it was a feeling that I've never felt before and couldn't possibly put into a suitable string of words. Will my cynical ass bitch about how this show was a bittersweet reminder of the force Mastodon used to be sometime in the near future? Without a doubt, but in the interim, I'm just going to cherish the fact that I saw a band that was crucial in solidifying my love of music put on a hell of a performance at a time where I thought they were no longer capable of doing so.

Coheed and Cambria: Whenever someone asks me to name live acts that have consistently impressed me, Coheed and Cambria is one of the first artists that pops into my mind. Every single time I've seen them dating back to their spring 2006 co-headliner with Avenged Sevenfold has been an incredible experience and that reliable excellence was on display once again here. Everything from the lesser-played songs from their extensive back catalog (“Gravity's Union”, “Mother Superior”) to the staples that have been bringing down the house for over a decade (“Welcome Home”, “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3”) to the plethora of material they played from their great new record The Unheavenly Creatures sounded tremendous. There's not a riff, drum hit or vocal note that isn't either exactly like the studio version or perfectly embellished to get a bigger pop out of the crowd. In my eyes, that's the definition of an exceptional performer. Even among the artists I'd place in the elite tier of live acts, Coheed sits comfortably among the top. As long as they are physically able to perform their songs, their shows will remain a clinic in both musicianship and sending fans home happy.


Grades:
Every Time I Die: A-
Mastodon: A
Coheed and Cambria: A+

Setlists:
Every Time I Die:
Roman Holiday
Glitches
Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space
We'rewolf
Floater
Decayin' with the Boys
Thirst
INRIhab
It Remembers
The Coin Has a Say
The New Black
Map Change

Mastodon:
Oblivion
Divinations
Quintessence
The Czar
Ghost of Karelia
Crack the Skye
The Last Baron
Blood and Thunder
Crystal Skull
Ancient Kingdom
The Motherload

Coheed and Cambria:
Prologue
The Dark Sentencer
Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant
Unheavenly Creatures
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
A Favor House Atlantic
The Gutter
True Ugly
No World for Tomorrow
Gravity's Union
Mother Superior
The Suffering
Old Flames

Encore:
The Pavilion (A Long Way Back)
Welcome Home

2019 NFL Position Rankings: Top 35 Defensive Ends

35.Marcus Davenport (Saints)
34.Jonathan Allen (Redskins)
33.Carl Lawson (Bengals)
32.Michael Brockers (Rams)
31.Alex Okafor (Chiefs)
30.Robert Quinn (Cowboys)
29.Mario Addison (Panthers)
28.Henry Anderson (Jets)
27.Ezekiel Ansah (Seahawks)
26.Shaq Lawson (Bills)
25.Jabaal Sheard (Colts)
24.Derek Wolfe (Broncos)
23.Everson Griffen (Vikings)
22.Yannick Ngakoue (Jaguars)
21.Leonard Williams (Jets)
20.Frank Clark (Chiefs)
19.Mike Daniels (Packers)
18.Carlos Dunlap (Bengals)
17.Michael Bennett (Patriots)
16.Cameron Wake (Titans)
15.Danielle Hunter (Vikings)
14.Justin Houston (Colts)
13.Olivier Vernon (Browns)
12.Myles Garrett (Browns)
11.Cameron Heyward (Steelers)
10.Dee Ford (49ers)
9.Joey Bosa (Chargers)
8.Jerry Hughes (Bills)
7.Melvin Ingram (Chargers)
6.Trey Flowers (Lions)
5.DeMarcus Lawrence (Cowboys)
4.Brandon Graham (Eagles)
3.Calias Campbell (Jaguars)
2.J.J. Watt (Texans)
1.Cameron Jordan (Saints)

The Best and Worst of Tye Sheridan

“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography of “Dark Phoenix” star Tye Sheridan.

Films starring Tye Sheridan that I've seen:
The Tree of Life
Mud
The Forger
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse 
X-Men: Apocalypse 
Ready Player One

Best Performance: Mud (2013)
Sheridan's breakout performance remains my favorite of his by a solid margin. As a bored, poverty-stricken Arkansas teenager who along with his best friend (Jacob Laofland) develops a friendship with a mysterious yet noble fugitive (Matthew McConaughey) after stumbling upon the abandoned houseboat he's hiding out in, Sheridan brings a sizable amount of heart to this gritty, grounded drama.

Worst Performance: Ready Player One (2018)
In a movie where Ben Mendelsohn puts on a clinic in cringeworthy overacting, the poor efforts from everyone else are kind of hard to notice. While it lacks the unintentionally comedic theatrics that Mendelsohn fills every scene with, Sheridan's performance as the film's protagonist is similarly stinky. By bringing nothing but a whole lot of blandness to the table, Wade Watts ends up being the complete antithesis of the vivid digital world he spends most of his time in.

Best Film: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Both generations of Fox's X-Men saga have spawned some really excellent and subsequently very underrated superhero flicks. The most recent installment Apocalypse is one of the top dogs in that exclusive camp.  While it represents a step back from the epic scope of Days of Future Past,  Apocalypse boasts terrific action scenes, an imposing villain that serves as a legitimately formidable opponent for the titular heroes, some legitimately emotional moments and of course, a great ensemble cast that elevates the material at every turn. 

Worst Film: The Tree of Life (2011)
Terrence Malick's mediation on the "meaning of life" epitomizes insufferable arthouse cinema. This piece of meandering, self-congratulatory indie trash that operates under the guise of exploring the many high-and-lows of human existence is about as enjoyable as getting kicked in the balls with a steel toe boot for 3 straight hours. Even entertaining the thought of watching this repulsive auteur masturbation session again makes me physically ill.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Men in Black: International” star Tessa Thompson. 

Album Review: Denzel Curry-ZUU

Last July's TA1300 looks like it could end up going down as the project that launched Denzel Curry into stardom. By adding more conscious, soulful influences to his arsenal without losing the raw edge that gained him a cult following in the hardcore/industrial hip-hop community, the 24-year old  received the most critical acclaim and commercial success of his career thus far. This wave of buzz helped Curry land slots on several high-profile US festivals (Lollapalooza, Governor's Ball, Boston Calling) as well as serve as the opener on pop's latest megastar Billie Eilish's current headlining tour, which should introduce a ton of new audiences to the distinct stylings of the Black Metal Terrorist. Curry kicks the traction he's built up over the last 10 months into warp speed with his latest LP ZUU, a fiery, efficient collection of trunk-knocking trap anthems that are begging to be played at a high volume all summer long.

Where TAB1300 was a dark, deeply personal record that covered a lot of different musical and thematic ground, ZUU is a collection of bangers from front to back that strictly serves as a nostalgic love letter to Curry's hometown of Miami. Even when this 29-minute ragefest explores the darker side of Curry's upbringing in Carol City ("We carry hollow tips 'cause it reflects what's in my soul" on album closer "P.A.T" was the most poignant of all), ZUU is largely driven by a sense of vibrancy and fondness for what the city and its music means to him. As confident of a performer as he's been since the days of Nostalgic 64, he's arguably never sounder more at ease then he does creating hooky, energetic tracks behind speaker-rattling bass, distorted vocal samples and drum machines that hit like a cannonball. These club-ready tunes that gracefully combine real life grit with larger-than-life playfulness is what Curry grew up on in America's most underrated hip-hop hub, and it's evident when listening to this record that honoring and adding to South Florida's rich history was a big deal to him.  

Adding to the laid-back party atmosphere of this record is the loose composition style it utilizes.  ZUU comes together in such an organic manner that it feels like it was crafted in real time on a stoop or a bus going to/from work or school instead of a recording studio.  How did Curry achieve that seemingly spontaneous feel? By freestyling the whole damn album. That's right, every bar on here came to him once the red light turned on. To be honest, that is borderline unfathomable to me. The tremendous collection of hard-hitting beats he had to work with may have helped kickstart the creative juices, but making every verse sound as tight as something that was pre-written is just silly and adds yet another item to the long list of reasons why Curry is so good at what he does.

ZUU is a highly enjoyable listen that is yet another impressive showcase for Curry's exceptional mic skills and rare dynamism. There's seemingly no style within the hip-hop scene that he's unwilling to try his hand at, and that fearlessness and success when it comes to experimentation makes him a very exciting artist to follow. If he wasn't already in the conversation before last summer, the powerhouse, polar opposite combo of TA1300 and ZUU should be enough to solidify his case to be considered one of the best rappers in the game right now.

Grade: B+
Standout Tracks:
1.BIRDZ (feat. Rick Ross)
2.RICKY
3.P.A.T. (feat. PlayThatBoiZay)

2019 NFL Position Rankings: Top 30 Defensive Tackles

30.Dalvin Tomlinson (Giants)
29.D.J. Reader (Texans)
28.Steve McClendon (Jets)
27.Mike Pennel (Patriots)
26.David Onyemata (Saints)
25.Da'Shawn Hand (Lions)
24.Malik Jackson (Eagles)
23.Sheldon Rankins (Saints)
22.Javon Hargrave (Steelers)
21.Sheldon Richardson (Browns)
20.Brandon Williams (Ravens)
19.Linval Joseph (Vikings)
18.Eddie Goldman (Bears)
17.Michael Pierce (Ravens)
16.Shelby Harris (Broncos)
15.Lawrence Guy (Patriots)
14.Marcell Dareus (Jaguars)
13.Gerald McCoy (Panthers)
12.DeForest Buckner (49ers)
11.Ndamukong Suh (Buccaneers)
10.Kawann Short (Panthers)
9.Kenny Clark (Packers)
8.Jurrell Casey (Titans)
7.Geno Atkins (Bengals)
6.Grady Jarrett (Falcons)
5.Damon Harrison (Lions)
4.Chris Jones (Chiefs)
3.Akiem Hicks (Bears)
2.Fletcher Cox (Eagles)
1.Aaron Donald (Rams)

Culturesport Kickstarter

Hello all,
A friend of a friend is working on a sci-fi anime project called Culturesport and needs some help in order to get it off the ground. You can watch the pilot episode and read the full story outline for this trippy, visually distinct planned series of shorts/donate to the Kickstarter below. Here's the official synopsis of this teaser episode that's entitled "Rotterdam 1995": The seas are rising. A reclusive engineer has come to town, promising to invent a new system of dikes and dams, using a computer that harnesses the power of dreams. A pair of twins are selected for the study- gabber kids from the local hardcore scene. But as they get suckered deeper into a digital dream world, they realize the inventor's true goal isn't to protect Rotterdam at all.  

Animation is an incredibly lengthy, involved process that requires a lot of resources to pull off and it would be a real shame if they didn't get the opportunity to put their fully-realized vision into the world. I wish the entire Culturesport team the best of luck in the final week of their fundraising efforts.

-Chris Maitland


Donate here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/culturesport/culturesport-season-1?ref=br8k3z&fbclid=IwAR3SVj7suBS9B2Q4lse24-f0a8mw5ncW-lloTRlTKvQVN-KDTvgSNj8zDXI