FILM REVIEWS:
AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Toby Jones
AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK begins with a timer warning that states that the film begins 3..2… 1 second(s). This review also begins with a warning… this warning! This reviewer brings his dog, Lucy, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, to the dog park every single day, so there is an affinity the reviewer would have with the film. A positive affinity! But the film is not so much about dogs but about how AJ tries together his dog park back by becoming the new mayor of the city,
The film begins with the protagonist being interviewed by someone no less than his father. (After the interview, the protagonist tells his interviewer that he will see him later at dinner.) Such is the rather odd but rather fresh style of humour that primes the audience as to what to expect, or rather not to expect, from this dire comedy of sorts.
The film is directed by Toby Jones, NOT the short, famous British actor. Toby Jones’ directorial debut proves him to be a force to be reckoned with in this oddball comedy.
If the beginning is as pleasant a surprise as one could expect, the film lives up to its expectations.
The film centres on dog parks. A dog park is a park for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners. Dog parks have varying features, although they typically offer a 4-to-6-foot (1.2 to 1.8 m) fence, separate double-gated entry and exit points, adequate drainage, benches for humans, shade for hot days, parking close to the site, water, pooper-scooper to pick up and dispose of animal waste in covered trash cans, and regular maintenance and cleaning of the grounds. Dog parks may also offer wheelchair access, a pond for swimming, and a separate enclosure for small dogs. The dog park this reviewer brings Lucy to has all these features. And so does the dog park featured in the film.
In humdrum Fargo, North Dakota, an ordinary man named AJ (AJ Thompson) wakes up on the right side of the bed every day. Content with his mundane existence, his simple routine consists of buttering cinnamon toast for breakfast, eating dinner with his married best friends, and visiting his favorite dog park with his beloved chihuahuas, Diddy and Biff. AJ rejects any interruption to his tranquility, including a promotion at work –offered by his boss, who happens to be his dad, but still. Unfortunately, the despotic local mayor has converted his dog park into a “blog park” –where happy dog walkers have been replaced with corporate stooges hunched over their laptops. Thus begins a chain reaction that completely upends AJ’s existence as he trains to embark on an unforgettable odyssey to fight, fish, scrap, scrape, and sap things back into place. Toby Jones(Regular Show, OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes!) brings the zany, gag-driven joy of cartoons to this surreal, no-budget testament to the average Joe.
The director has mentioned that his friends have always been obsessed with a good gag. Growing up in Fargo, North Dakota, they had spent weekend after weekend creating videos – be it a local access show or a miniDV feature – with the sole purpose of making each other laugh. Nothing was ever as satisfying as coming up with something impossibly absurd and putting it on tape, regardless of our complete lack of resources. The act of making something completely unchecked, with no concern for appealing to anyone other than ourselves, felt like a rebellious and cathartic act. The last sentence summarizes the film. The film is all over the place, though it is occasionally extremely silly AND funny, and one thing that has to be said is that the film is fresh, original and one-of-a-kind.
Toby Jones is an Emmy and Annie-nominated writer, director, and cartoonist from Fargo, ND, currently living in Los Angeles. He has worked as a writer and storyboard director on Regular Show, an executive producer on OK K.O.!: Let's Be Heroes, and a writer on Shape Island. He has also recently done work for Dreamworks, Netflix, and WB. This is his first feature as director.
Trailer:
ANGELA’S SHADOW (Canada 2024) **
Directed by Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin
Toronto at the Carlton Cinema starting July 25th. AGELA’S SHADOW features a remarkable Indigenous cast that includes Toronto-based Sera-Lys McArthur (Outlander) and Koostachin’s son Asivak Koostachin, who currently stars in JJ Abrams new HBO Max series Duster. Asivak was named alongside Jules by Variety in their 10 to Watch. Angela’s Shadow also stars Matthew Kevin Anderson (Never Let Go, Woman of the Hour) and Renae Morriseau (The X Files, North of 60).
Set in the 1930s, the film stars Sera-Lys McArthur as Angela, a pregnant woman who travels with her husband Henry (Matthew Kevin Anderson) to a remote Cree community to visit her former childhood nanny Mary (Renae Morriseau); after being threatened by a shadowy figure, she learns the truth about her own previously unknown Cree heritage, and begins to deal with the impact of Henry's racist response to the prospect that his child will not be racially "pure" Credit goes to the filmmakers in creating an indigenous story adapted into a film. Indigenous films have made a comeback in recent years with even Hollywood heavyweights like Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro lending their hands with FLOWERS OF THE KILLER MOON. But ANGELA’S SHADOW lacks the maturity of the said film, as well as other Indigenous films. Though impressive in parts in the way indigenous practices are portrayed on film, the film is at times all over the place with a lack of focus on whether to give weight to the colonists or to the Cree Indians.
At best, the film touches on issues such as survival, defiance and ancestral power.
But the blend of sci-fi, drama, supernatural and thrillers does not particularly work. Though the indigenous stories are timeless, vital and have the power to reach beyond our own, the power fails to come across on screen.
The film swings between positive and negative looks at the Indigenous practices and beliefs. At one point, when the boys are asked to take Henry hunting again, this time for geese, one of them remarks: “But he is so white.” Also, the Cree practices, especially summing up the spirit, is looked down at a whole from a general perspective. The spirit appears at odd intervals, creating a spooky horror movie feeling. On the positive side, the film harshly criticizes the residential schools practice, especially claiming in the story that Angela’s sister was murdered there.
The film contains some magnificent views of Northern Canada, where the Cree live. Everything is natural and largely untouched.
Finally, at the 1-hour mark of the film, Henry, after experiencing troubled visitations by the spirit, tells his wife that they are leaving and heading back to Ottawa. The audience cannot determine if that is the right or incorrect move to make. The film’s message is unclear, unless it is meant to be that way, and one wonders which side the director is taking or what message he is intent on delivering to his audience.
Trailer:
THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (USA 2025) **
Directed by Matt Shakman
THE FANTASTIC FOUR has had a bad spate of bad film adaptations, beginning with the first Roger Corman film that was never released but made for odd reasons. The FANTASTIC FOUR’s most notable adaptation is the one with Miles Teller in 1995, directed by Josh Trank, which everyone hated. It was catered and watered down for a younger audience. This new version has got rave reviews so far, but this humble critic failed to feel the excitement that the other critics felt. This critic found this latest exercise terribly boring (I had a terrible time trying to stay awake, jet lag not helping) and a ridiculous story and events that make no sense. Yes, I have my reasons, and fair if one does not agree with me.
The basic premise of the Fantastic Four attaining their cosmic superpowers after travelling through space remains unchanged. This latest film has the two celebrating the arrival of a new baby.
The film opens with the digits 828 appearing on screen. One assumes, and rightly so, that that is the year of the story's initial setting. But this is obviously not the case as a following scene has a television on display and television was not invented then. One assumes then that 828 refers to 828 am where the two have breakfast. The reason for this state is a point of mystery.
On Earth-828, four years have passed since Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm gained superhuman abilities from cosmic ray exposure on a space flight and became the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four. During a family dinner, Reed and Sue reveal to Grimm and Johnny that they are expecting a child. A few months later, the Silver Surfer suddenly appears to announce to the people of Earth that their planet has been marked for destruction by the planet-devouring cosmic being called Galactus. After studying numerous anomalies involving the disappearance of planets, the team decides to try and negotiate Earth's fate with Galactus.
One could likely link the negotiation of Earth with Galactus with Trump’s tariffs for some humour, but the film does not use the potential. Why would Glactus want the baby? This point is never explained. The addition of the new baby into the superhero story makes little sense, though one might assume that the scriptwriters intended to bring in some human emotion into the story.
Performances are all right, with my favourite actress Vanessa Kirby (THE SON) - I could watch her forever - delivering a solid performance, as does Pedro Pascal in the title role.
There is a little clip that appears halfway through the closing credits that hints at the next FANTASTIC FOUR movie. That is perhaps the best thing about this otherwise terrible new version of the FANTASTIC FOUR film.
The film’s director, Matt Shakman, is best known for the series WandaVision, which was very good.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR FIRST STEPS cost over $200 million to make and is a complete mess and a waste of money. It is time to put Marvel superheroes to rest, even though the box office needs them. The film opens everywhere in theatres this weekend and should make enough money to cover costs and deliver Disney a tidy profit.
Trailer:
HAPPY GILMORE 2 (2025) ***
Directed by Kyle Newacheck
HAPPY GILMORE is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, produced by Robert Simonds, and starring Adam Sandler in the title role. The film is crass, childish and funny to some, costing $12 million to make and grossing $41 million, which means that it was highly successful. So, Netflix and Sandler create more of the same in HAPPY GILMORE 2 in 2025, almost 30 years later.
HAPPY GILMORE 2 is a 2025 American sports comedy film, this one directed by Kyle Newacheck and written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler. It is a sequel to Happy Gilmore (1996).
Twenty-nine years after winning his first Tour Championship, retired golfer Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) returns to the sport to pay for his daughter Vienna's (Julie Bowen) ballet school.
Also appearing in the film are Eric André, Jim Downey, John Farley, Marcello Hernandez, Oliver Hudson, Scott Mescudi, Haley Joel Osment, Kelsey Plum, Margaret Qualley, and Nick Swardson, with an uncredited Steve Buscemi doing a cameo.
The magic question is whether HAPPY GILMORE 2 is funnier than the original. Number 2 is as crass, childish and funny to some, just like the original. Better than the first is the question up to Sandler fans to decide. HAPPY GILMORE 2 is, as they say, it is what it is, and those who expect a cussing Adam Sandler bumbling comedy will get what they expect.
HAPPY GILMORE 2 opens for streaming on Netflix this week.
Trailer:
MONSTER ISLAND (Original title: ORANG IKAN) (Singapore/Indonesia/Japan/UK 2024) **
Directed by Mike Wiluan
The film is set in 1944. WWII rages across a world divided. Sailing across the sea, a Japanese Hell Ship transports prisoners of war (POWs) to occupied territories for slave labour. On board the ship is Saito, a traitor to the Japanese who is being sent back to the motherland to be sentenced to death. As further punishment, Saito is shackled to another POV, a British soldier named Bronson, who holds nothing but hatred for Saito because of his Japanese nationality. When the Hell Ship is torpedoed by Allied submarines, Saito and Bronson are thrown overboard and wash ashore a deserted island. A bit of irony appears, as the torpedo attack occurs just the ship’s commander says that the prisoner has been abandoned by God. But they are not alone. Bronson and Saito are hunted by a monstrous creature- the Orang Ikan- who will stop at nothing until both men are dead. Bronson and Saito must put aside their hatred for one another to survive the island and kill the creature before it kills them first. The film, which is supported by the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), started production in October 2023 at Infinite Studios in Batam, Indonesia - one of the largest production service facilities in Southeast Asia and in West Java.
The film hails from 4 countries as the ‘country (countries) of origin - Singapore, Japan. Indonesia. UK and Japan, and with reason or reasons. The famous Singapore director Eric Khoo (MEEPOK MAN) serve as one of the film’s producers. The film is based on Malay folklore, and Indonesian Malay is spoken in Indonesia. The two protagonists featured are Japanese and British.
The film, with its stunning landscape, was shot in Indonesia. Outdoor locations across Sukabumi Regency, West Java — including Curug Sodong waterfall and broader areas within Geopark Ciletuh — offering dramatic cliffs, caves, jungle, rivers, and waterfall vistas used during exterior scenes. But most of the action sequences are shot in the dark, with the result that it is difficult to see what is going on.
The film’s original title is ORANG IKAN, which is the Malay word for Human Fish (orang is Malay for human and ikon is Malay for fish), which is what the monster in the film looks like. The monster also resembles the one in THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and is an actor in a monster costume. The film is directed by Indonesian director Mike Wiluan, who specializes in horror films.
Two enemies forced to work together, stranded on an island, is a premise also used in the John Boorman film HELL IN THE PACIFIC, in which TWO ENEMIES, a Japanese soldier (Toshiro Mifune) and an American (Lee Marvin), are stranded on a deserted island. It takes half of the film to establish the settings before the film becomes a monster vs. two prisoners film. But there is hardly anything fresh in the film, which ends exactly as one would have expected.
MONSTER ISLAND or ORANG IKAN opens on Shudder, the horror streaming service, on Friday, July 25th.
Trailer:
A NORMAL WOMAN (Indonesia 2025) ***
Directed by Lucky Kuswandi
When MILLA (36 years old), a socialite and meek housewife, believes she has contracted a mysterious illness with no cure, she starts to spiral into madness. She is betrayed not just by the mutiny in her body, but also by the disbelief and rejection from her own family. Only when she starts sabotaging the mythical perfection of her rosy life can she finally transform into a healed, new, if impure self.
Indonesia is well known for its horror films. The film begins lightly with the Doris Day song ‘Sue Sera Sera,’ followed by images that make the film look like a horror flick. In a way, A NORMAL WOMAN plays like a horror flick— the way the illness goes across poor Milla.
The ultimate question is whether Milla will return to being a normal woman, and that is left to the end of the film. And another question, at what cost?
A NORMAL WOMAN can be described as a slow-burning thriller, though it comes across as quite stylized, though many might complain about the film’s pace. The story is told from Milla’s point of view, which means it has a feminist slant, which is a good thing, with females being more in the movie industry, but it could be said as one-sided, depending on one’s point of view.
A NORMAL WOMAN opens for streaming on Netflix this week. A slow, haunting, and effective thriller. The film is shot in Indonesian Malay with a little English spoken.
SUNDAY BEST: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ED SULLIVAN (USA 2025) ***
Directed by Sacha Jenkins
Finally, a documentary on Ed Sullivan.
Edward Vincent Sullivan was an American television host, impresario,[2] sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the New York Daily News and the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. He was the creator and host of the television variety program Toast of the Town, which in 1955 was renamed The Ed Sullivan Show. Broadcast from 1948 to 1971, it set a record as the longest-running variety show in U.S. broadcast history. "It was, by almost any measure, the last great American TV show", said television critic David Hinckley. "It's one of our fondest, dearest pop culture memories.” Sullivan was a broadcasting pioneer during the early years of American television.
The doc showcases two main features of Sullivan's work against racism, which are woven into both. One is the reason forces rise to fame, and secondly, his biography. Sullivan was born in Harlem, which could explain his fight for blacks. Sullivan was a twin with his twin brother, who passed away early due to illness. His early life and childhood were kept to a minimum. His rise to fame is curious as he can be described as the most stone-faced of all the hosts ever on television variety shows. This issue was addressed, including the fact that he was almost let go, and also that many people made fun of it. But Sullivan knew how to laugh at himself. He stayed on primarily forth the fact that he was able to select talent, among them, black talent, which many Americans wanted to see, resulting in his shows’ high ratings. Time in 1955 stated that Sullivan resembled "a cigar-store Indian, the Cardiff Giant and a stone-faced monument just off the boat from Easter Island.
The Ed Sullivan Show has been described as the most American of all TV shows. It brings the American audience every Sunday evening to a range of enormous talent, many of whom had their careers launched by the show. I had vexed the show, not in North America, but in Singapore, when growing up as a kid. So, the effect of the many black entertainers featured on the show and how Mr. Sullivan had to fight racism was never ever imagined. What struck me a a kid was the wonderful talent on display on the show.
The doc, therefore, provides a look at the Ed Sullivan Show I never knew. And what an insight and privilege to learn of the man’s stand against racism amidst all the racist whites
insisting on segregation. If Trump were alive then, he would do all in his power to keep segregation.
On display are clips of the Ed Sullivan Show, particularly ones showcasing black performers like Nat King Cole playing the piano, Louis Armstrong, Gladys Knight and the Pips. Dionne Warwick, Ike and Tina Turner and Bo Jangles, among others.
SUNDAY BEST: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ED SULLIVAN is a wonderfully entertaining doc on Ed Sullivan, highlighting his fight against black racism while showcasing the best of these performers. Bring on the nostalgia!
SUNDAY BEST: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ED SULLIVAN opens for streaming on Netflix early this week. The doc is dedicated in memory to its late director, Sacha Jenkins.
