Welcome to 5 Favorites. Each week, I will put together a list of my 5 favorites (films, performances, whatever strikes my fancy) along with commentary on a given topic each week, usually in relation to a specific film releasing that week.

This weekend, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart play the faithful dogs of two prominent DC superheroes. Johnson plays Superman’s heroic sidekick while Hart plays a pet that will become Batman’s Boxer. While these two are the stars of the film, I’ve tackled Hart before and Johnson’s filmography is bereft of terrific films, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle being the exception. As such, I look to their other co-stars in DC League of Super Pets film. The film is stacked with a lot of strong comedic talents, so when selecting the five actors I’d tackle this week, I went with ones that aren’t as often featured in movies that I could highlight full careers on. Keanu Reeves is the exception. Reeves voices Batman in the film. Kate McKinnon plays a hairless guinea pig, Diego Luna features as Green Lantern’s pet squirrel, Marc Meron plays archvillain Lex Luther, and Jameela Jamil voices wonder woman. The latter two are being highlighted in a terrific set of television series while the other three are recognized for their film work. Though Reeves and Luna might ostensibly have their own full articles one day, I suspect the others aren’t going to be able to fill their cinematic resumes sufficiently.

The Matrix (1999)

Although the John Wick films are becoming Keanu Reeves’ most popular role, it was The Matrix that revived his career, which had been fading throughout the 90s when he was unable to translate his presence into box office bounties. The Wachowskis saw something in the stoic, emotion-challenged acting style and put him to use in this now legendary visual effects extravaganza about a distant future where humans have been plugged into a virtual reality, blissfully unaware of what their lives have become in the real world.

Reeves’ stoic style of performance fits perfectly into the character of Neo, the supposed chosen one who is meant to break down the barriers of the Matrix and set its denizens free. Laurence Fishburne is strong as the leader of the resistance while Carrie-Anne Moss employs a similar style to Reeves’ in that her character is all about physical feats of impossible grace with the passivity of emotion that typifies both roles. Hugo Weaving plays a terrific villain as the Matrix’s multiplying secret agents, rooting out the corruptions that risk the stability of the Matrix. Joe Pantoliano and Gloria Foster lend their talents as well.

My Original Review

Milk (2008)

Thanks to the AIDS crisis and the vehement opposition to gay lives throughout history, the 1980s in particular, the number of identifiable and commendable LGBT figures was minimal. Real life’s heroes were castigated to obscurity and the youth of Generation X were left with no role models to look up to. 2008’s biopic of San Francisco politician and gay rights advocate Harvey Milk is at the center of this Gus Van Sant drama about his life, passions, and assassination. This is the first major Hollywood film to give a historical treatment to an underrepresented minority in cinema. Although films in the 1990s finally started dealing with AIDS, there simply weren’t many films that presented gay characters in such a bold and unrepentant light as they do nowadays.

Sean Penn delivers a terrific performance as Milk, giving voice to a figure of tremendous importance to the gay rights movement. While his life and death have now become part of LGBTQ history, this film helped elevate that knowledge beyond the niche audiences who were familiar with the man and his history. Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, and James Franco are all terrific in the film. Although none of them are gay, the movement to encourage the use of gay actors in gay stories was in its infancy, but the gravitas and importance these individuals brought to the roles helped elevate the material beyond the niche theaters and audiences that might have otherwise received such a picture. While they aren’t gay, it is nevertheless interesting that one of the film’s most notorious bigots was played by openly gay actor Denis O’Hare, a sort of nose-thumbing of that despicable politicians infamy.

My Original Review

Ghostbusters (2016)

When Sony Pictures announced they were staging a reboot to the popular ’80s staple Ghostbusters, but with an all-female cast, a small portion of vocal fans threw a fit at the “disservice” that was being done to “their” favorite franchise. Apparently, they forgot just how bad Ghostbusters II was. Suffice it to say, their protestations fell on deaf ears and Sony proceeded anyway. The toxic elements within the fanbase went out of their way to trash the film and denigrate it without seeing it. Had they, they might have actually enjoyed it. Rather than copying that previous film, a new and different ethos developed and although Paul Feig is far more heavy-handed with his comedic influences and styles, it was a rousing success, a wonderful send-up of the original with a handful of small problems.

Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon were put into roles similar to the quartet from the original. McCarthy and Wiig are scientists who co-authored a book on the paranormal. One of the pair disowned it as anti-scientific while the other embraced it. When strange occurrences in a historical house in the city cause them both to re-evaluate their stances, they start a business to thwart ghosts much like the characters of the original. The film is incredibly fun and while it’s a complete departure from the original’s style, it’s no less entertaining. This is thanks to some terrific performances from the cast with Jones and McKinnon stealing the show when Chris Hemsworth isn’t hamming it up as their sexy secretary. It may not be exactly what fans wanted, but it still has value and that’s really all that matters.

My Original Review

The Good Place (2016-2020)

Michael Schur’s creative and hilarious fantasy comedy ran four seasons on NBC. The first season established an afterlife where Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, and Manny Jacinto star as the recently-dead who’ve been brought to the Good Place although their questionable acts of selfishness while alive seem at odds for such an assignment. Ted Danson plays the architect of their particular section of the Good Place and he shepherds them through their new lives. D’Arcy Carden plays an omnipotent automaton who provides whatever they need.

The series progresses from there as Harper’s dreadfully dull philosophy professor attempts to coach Kristen Bell’s pharamaceutical saleswoman in philosophical concepts as she tries to justify her place in the Good Place when she realizes she may have been misassigned. Everyone on the show turned in terrific performances, with Jamil as the noble philanthropist and Jacinto as a larcenous disc jockey. The show plays events close to its chest and ultimately twists the narrative in delightfully unexpected ways. If you can avoid knowing anything about the events of the show before going in, all the better. However, even knowing what happens won’t diminish the wonderful comedy that unfolds.

I do not actively review television shows, thus there is no review available.

GLOW (2017-2019)

Back when professional wrestling was as popular as any other network show, the all-male environment was infused with a unique and empowering all-female alternative called Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling or GLOW. This Netflix series takes audiences back to the infancy of that semi-popular, yet short-lived series and explores its rise to fame. Allison Brie stars as an out-of-work actress looking for a break who finds it on a rinky-dink wrestling program. Betty Gilpin plays her best friend, a working actress, who also gets involved and whose insistence on top billing and egocentric attitude eventually causes a rift between them. The show is filled with bounteous drama, but it’s ultimately about a group of women trying to break into a male dominated world.

Brie and Gilpin are sensationally supported by Marc Maron as a washed-up director and the creator of the program, Chris Lowell as a rich kid wanting to get involved, and a bountiful bevy of talented women: Sydelle Noel, Britney Young, Britt Baron, Kate Nash, Gayle Rankin, Kia Stevens, and Jackie Tohn as well as many others. Although this series fictionalizes the production of the real GLOW, it’s dramatic turns of events are compelling and involving. Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch landed on a series concept that’s invigorating and progressive while also being a great deal of fun.

I do not actively review television shows, thus there is no review available.