Entertainment Binge

By Isaac White

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

Not to be overly dramatic, but I think giving you fair warning this week is the right thing to do. I watched a movie recently that has stuck in my head. The film is quite intriguing. My wife and I enjoyed it very, very much.

The issue is that it’s quite a sensational film. It’s also quite gory and has many adult themes I’ll say. And while I am going to talk about my general thoughts on the film, I will not go into painstakingly graphic detail. When I speak about my general thoughts on the movie, it will be evident why I don’t give the nitty gritty details.

But this film is a bit of a conundrum to me. The picture deserves to be talked about. I think that in my capacity as a writer, I do my best to offer insightful and honest takes on all things entertainment. While I appreciate that some subject matter should not be discussed, it’s limiting for me, and you as readers, to hide from works that some won’t touch with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole. I salute all of you who know and appreciate that reference. To ease your mind, yes, I have that song running through my head now. If it gets stuck in yours, that’s just a reminder how impactful my writing is. I’m kidding, I’m kidding.

So, I appreciate that there is material that shouldn’t be discussed in detail here. I also think that I’m lacking integrity as a writer if I never speak about projects that either touch upon, or outright live in, material that is objectionable to some. I’m not going to sit here typing away portraying myself as some big deal writer who has a responsibility to the world to give my two cents about tv and movies. Even my ego isn’t that large. I think anyway.

Simply put, I stand by my prior words regarding this issue. If you disagree, I kindly ask you to let me know and we can discuss it. Other than that, I’m going to jump into the meat and potatoes of this thing.

Before we get into the heavy stuff, I want to talk about a show that I touched upon lightly in a previous article. Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens consistently provided great content. The show is smartly written, the acting is great, and the overall feeling of the show was usually awesome.

I say WAS because this current season, the third, is and will always be subpar. I know when I mentioned the show, I’m going to use an acronym because I refuse to type the whole thing out every time. AINFQ. Geez, that’s almost as bad as typing the whole thing out. That acronym does not type out naturally on the ole board.

I still have great affection for the show and there’s no denying that the first two seasons are excellent. Disappointing as this past season was, I know there is still greatness that can be accessed from Awkwafina, the writers, and others who make the show fun and funny.

One of the highlights of the show to me was Grandma. The relationship between Grandma and Nora was delightful. The love between grandmother and granddaughter was evident throughout the first two seasons. There were also high levels of hilarity between the two. The relationship didn’t feel the same this season.

The show seemed hollow this season. I think that’s the best way for me to describe this offering. Nora seemed to be walking around in a cloud of despair. And not funny despair. Well, if there is such a thing. I guess you’d have to make that judgment for yourself. Personally, I think there are times when despair can be turned funny. If you have good writers and actors who can convey both pain and humor simultaneously. That isn’t easy to accomplish.

But Nora had done that. Her life was a comedy of errors. She is a pothead who still lives at home while approaching 30. And not in a “I’m living at home so I can save up money for a down payment on a house, and oh by the way, I have an awesome career too.” This was more the near-pathetic situation that you typically see in tv and movies.

Nora was different. She was hilarious. When she was down, she would find a way to get back up. She never seemed to fully relent. Nora is smart and is very self-aware. She understands her life is a mess. In her own way Nora also seemed to have an unwavering confidence that while she didn’t know exactly what her path in life was, she knew she had something.

When it’s decided to do an alternative reality introspective episode, try to make sure they don’t come off as just strange and out of place. If you’re breaking down that fourth wall, you better be sure it is worth it. When we see the real-life Awkwafina talking to Nora about her life, it felt so obviously manufactured. I can’t abide by not saying something about that. It was terribly done and missed the mark completely in my view.

Overall, I still love the show. I can overlook a bad season if they come back with a vengeance in the fourth. At this point, we’re not sure what is going to happen. I hope the show doesn’t end on the low note of the third season. That would stink to high heaven.

I’m going to jump into the film that I prologued in the opening. Bones and All is directed by

Luca Guadagnino who directed some highly praised films before this current offering. Call Me By Your Name is pretty widely loved. I’ve never seen it but after watching Bones and All, I’ll give it a shot along with his other major film, Suspiria.

Bones and All stars Timothy Chalamet as Lee and Taylor Russell as Maren. Up front, I had basically no knowledge of either the lead actors going into this movie. Yes, I know that Chalamet has starred in some very big movies. I just hadn’t seen them, and I didn’t know who he was until it was playoff time in the NFL.

He had that Apple TV commercial that I saw far too many times. I had to ask my son who he was if that gives you any clue to my familiarity with Chalamet. After being schooled by my 17-year-old son on Chalamet, I forgot about him. Then I saw a trailer for Bones and All. If you haven’t seen any of the official trailers for this film, you would understand after seeing them why I was intrigued.

Again though, the material in this movie is quite disturbing for many people. With good reason if I say so myself. Cannibalism is not what I’d call light in terms of subject matter. Yes, this movie is about cannibals. And I’m not going to detail those parts of the film. I just want you to understand why I gave fair warning.

Now, while the main characters are cannibals, this is also a love story. Lee and Maren are outcasts. As are the other characters who cannibalize their fellow man. Understandable I think, even logical. They find each other after Maren is abandoned by her father. Not to spoil too much but Maren’s father has known she was a cannibal since she was three years old.

I don’t want to ruin the movie. Let’s just say her father caught her doing something when she was three that alarmed him. With good reason. So, he kept her away from people as best he could. He even locked her up in her bedroom. By the way, when my wife and I were watching the film, early on we see her father lock her into her bedroom.

We naturally thought the father was some sort of freak. Then you see Maren at a slumber party and she has to leave abruptly. Following her exit from that situation, you can understand why her father would use Maren’s bedroom as her cell essentially.

Following this, Maren’s father leaves her. I can’t say that I blame him. If you were dealing with what he was, I don’t know that you’d be able to handle it. The only thing he really could do would be institutionalize her and it seemed he just couldn’t do it.

So, Maren is on her own. She links up with Lee eventually and they hit the open road, making their way through the world as only cannibals can. Yes, Lee is also a cannibal. So, these carnivorous lovebirds trek the roads, looking for meals in all the wrong places.

I will end it here. I don’t think that I can fully go into the film without the risk of offending people. Yes, I know that may seem incongruent with my job, but I think it’s a good thing to have talked about the film at all.

If you can handle a disturbing movie, you should watch this. It’s really beautifully shot, the acting is amazing, as is the writing. I don’t know how this movie was dreamed up. Quite frankly I don’t think I want to know because the inner workings of that mind may be a hellscape I don’t want any insight to. I think I’m overdoing it there, but you get my drift.

This is one of the most creative and original movies I’ve ever seen. Hands down one of the best films I’ve watched in the last year plus. If you can handle it, I say go forth and view this film. If you’re not big on subject matter that is so gory, stay away from this. If you need a recommendation for something that isn’t gory, I watched Cha Cha Real Smooth. That’s got some heavy dramatic themes but nothing close to what Bones and All is.

But the real winner is Bones and All. Again, DO NOT watch this if you can’t handle a movie about cannibals. For those of you who can handle it. It’s brilliant. Just brilliant.

Thanks for reading and until next week…..