Because WTF Luke Skywalker (spoilers for Last Jedi)

Carl took the stack of books from the lady and waited for her to hand him her library card. The lady was bent over, talking softly to something below Carl's reach. Carl waited.

    "Can you fucking believe that shit?" Pam said, coming through the door from the circulation workroom behind the desk.

    "What shit?" Carl said.

    The woman shot up with her eyes wide. "Excuse me," she said high and loud.

    "Excuse me, too. Fucking Luke Skywalker was gonna kill somebody for maybe being evil? The same Luke that got over his daddy issues and turned Vader to the light? That ain't the fucking Luke I remember," Pam said.

    The woman said, "Young lady, you can't talk that way in front of Lucy."

    Pam's face blanched and she leaned over the desk. She said, "Oh goodness, I'm so sorry little- what the fuck?"

    The patron said, "I'm going to report you."

    Carl said, "What's wrong?"

    Pam leaned back and pointed to the door. "Get that fucking alligator out of here."

    "I need the name of your supervisor," the woman said.

    "I'ma get my gun and shoot that thing," Pam said and went back through the door.

    The woman left the building, half dragging her pet alligator out the door, her stack of books on the circulation desk in front of a downtrodden Carl.

    "I don't even like Star Wars," Carl said.

The Foreigner (2017) Movie Review: Jackie Chan is Tranquil Fury

There was a Doctor Who episode that asked the question, what happens when a good man goes to war? There's a bunch of poetry folded in on that, but for the most part, if that good man is Jackie Chan, people die. Lots of them.

    Chan plays a restaurant owner in London who, after watching his daughter die from a politically motivated bombing, decides to terrorize everyone responsible using a special set of skills. His main opposition is Pierce Brosnan, a former IRA bomber turned politician, who is trying to sweep the whole mess under the rug. A bunch of twists and turns later and we get a fairly well-done action political thriller that is filled with more grit than laughs.

    I want to give Chan a hug. For decades, he was the action man that never played a villain and who attacked scores of baddies with ladders and stuff. Sometime in the last decade or so, though, the Hollywood machine has turned him into a great dramatic actor, first glimpsed as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid remake that should not be spoken of. He shines in this role of the silent avenger working out his grief on people's faces.

    A surprising movie, this one is a matinee or a rental if you have need for something in the Taken school of film.

The Florida Project (2017) Movie Review: you're a jaded bastard if this doesn't do it for you

We all get by with a little help from our friends. Even if you don't know it, somebody out there has made it easier for you to get through you day. Somebody stocked the shelves, paved the roads, kept the power on. Still, cracks are made to be fallen through.

    Halley and her daughter Mooney are long-term residents of the Magic Kingdom, a run down hotel managed by Bobby. This is the part of Florida that shows up in the paper, where a woman who can't get work as a stripper sells perfume in parking lots and her body while her daughter plays in the bathtub. Still, there is light, in the form of childhood innocence often embodied in the big shining castle of Disney.

    Working with the public in a library, we often see the surface. We see the loud abrasive push back. We see the bravado. We see the need for aid that comes in the form of demands. We see waste and juvenile behavior and the stark reality that some folks just need to get by. The sadness and nobility in the struggle, especially for those with a little bit of kindness trying to keep things afloat for the destructive.

    This movie's a gut punch as well as a quiet look at a world many see and live everyday. The movie succeeds in its utter humanity. That kid is amazing.

Invitation (2016) Movie Review: Because I can't get enough what the fuck did I just watch

Going home is hard. In this life, our new generations has decided that home is an expansive topic and we create our own families bereft of blood. So recreating those cobbled relationships after devastation is frightening as the people we choose choose different paths.

    Will and his girlfriend attend a party given by his ex-wife Eden and her new husband as well as all their friends. The gang hasn't all been together since Will and Eden separated and find it awkward, especially when Eden starts talking crazy cult nonsense and shows a snuff film. Are Eden and her new husband in a murder cult or is Will just seeing an imagined spectral trail of insanity stemming from deep trama?

    I'm not answering that fucking question because the truth is kinda amazing. Director Karyn Kusama has lacked some punch in her previous directorial efforts, especially the high profile and campy fun Jennifer's Body, but man… The suspense and tension in this movie as you wonder what the hell is going on builds and builds. Just a crazy good story.

    Not sure how to end this. Wanna talk about the ending? Well, you see, after everything goes down and all the secrets are

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Movie Review: Hope in a dark ass world, man

What would you do if your daughter was raped and murdered a little ways from home? Then, salt in a wound, the cops do little to help. You sit and wait and wonder why life needs to go on like that. So you put up three billboards asking why.

    That's the central idea behind this acerbic story of justice and growth and getting on after tragedy. Man, I have very little funny to say about this drama that forces you to look at darkness with an unflinching eye.

    The stand out roles here are Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell. And look, there's nobody "innocent" in this movie. Nobody deserves what they do or do not get. McDormand's character forces an issue that is open-ended. A mystery without a villain. And Rockwell, he plays a racist, misogynist piece of shit that by the end tries to do good. Tries to make some amends.

    There's paragraphs that could be written here about naturalism and purity of characters. Do you shoehorn some folks in or just let them fly? Do you let them say as many fucks as they want or sanitize the whole thing for an audience that wants to bring the family?

    You know what, fuck all that. Sometimes you have to see the world as a dark and broken place and find hope in the fact that there is a thing such as hope in the first place. That's reality sometimes and it sucks.

    Also, go on dates with Peter Dinklage and have sex with your partner in the woods. Cause you never know.

Every Christmas Has a Story (2016) Movie Review: Hallmark has refuged into audacity

Ever said something you wish you could take back and then a small town tries to get you to solve its problems by making you an indentured servant? That happens in this holiday shit show.

    Lori Loughlin stars as Scrooget, an on air personality sorta like Ellen if Ellen was unlikable. One day, Scrooget lets it fly to the nation that she hates Christmas. Because ratings are king, she's forced to go with her producer to a small town to see how they get Christmas spirited.

    Oh, you think it's as simple as "she gets some small town values and learns to love again?" Fuck you, you simpleton.

    Scrooget has a bunch of problems, rivaled only by the town that calls her to its broken shores. First, her dad left her years back after her mom died (or something, I forget) and that's why she hates Christmas. Second, her producer (the likable Colin Ferguson who was awesome on Eureka) is also her ex-boyfriend who she dumped a long time ago and still holds a torch for. Finally, there's some weird thing about the tree in the center of town being missing. Mystery Time!

    Here's how all those stories get wrapped up: Her dad shows up and she freaks out but forgives him. They get trapped in the snow and fall back in love because you saw that coming. And the tree is missing because (this will be a long sentence) the man whose family used to send the tree to the town is in a depressive spiral and no longer celebrating Christmas after his wife and child died in a car accident last Christmas which is why the town decided to call up Scrooget and get her to "learn about small town Christmas" AKA "show on the tv that our town loves Christmas and wants the depressive widower to come back to them."

    Don't read that all out loud without taking a drink first. To say that this "movie" takes some weird ass turns that are way dark for a Christmas movie is to also say that drinking drain cleaner is a bad idea. It's bonkers with a scheme worthy of a crack addicted Batman villain.

HOLY SHIT. I just learned that the depressive guy is Willie Aames. I take it all back to get a Charles In Charge alum back here. Besides Scott Baio because, well, just no.

The Disaster Artist (2017) Movie Review where I kinda lose it because I loved it so much

When going into The Disaster Artist, there's a few things you must know. One, a man named Greg Sestero helped his weird and very rich friend Tommy Wiseau make a horrible movie called The Room (2003) that if famous if only because it is. Two, you will never learn anything about Tommy Wiseau. There's more, so much more, but why spoil yourself.

    The real big question is: Should you watch The Room before you see The Disaster Artist? Hell, man, you might as well ask me why we should know what the sun is before an eclipse? Isn't it enough that the thing is out there and could cause people to delve into madness if they think too hard on the subject?

    James Franco and his brother Dave star as our pair of nuts at the center of the hurricane. Along for the ride are just about everybody, including the How Did This Get Made podcast, mostly there I assume as a blatant lampshade on the whole affair. How the hell did any of this get made?

    To be fair, man, I loved the movie. It's funny and strange and open in a way a lot of movies are not. If Tommy Wiseau was a character from someone's brain, this mess would play out like Borat or the quaint imaginings of Wes Anderson. However, the whole thing is based in fact and therefore a work of genius.

Lady Bird (2017) Movie Review that dared to fellate Sacramento and tell a story

Question: How much does this movie love Sacramento? Answer: So much. Almost too much that it's distracting.

    Lady Bird follows the life of the self-named "Lady Bird," a seventeen year old kid who is about to have an entire high school experience in two hours. She joins a club, gets friends, loses friends, gets a boyfriend, gets laid, gets drunk, gets high, gets all the things and more. Also her mom is up her shit and they are just not a happy family.

    But they love each other, right?

    I don't really know. Honestly.

    I think the problem is the Sacramento stuff. The Big Tomato (is that really Sacramento's nickname?) stands in thematically for that every hometown that people escape from and then look back on fondly. But it's just a little too… Sacramento. Before this movie I had never thought this hard on Sacramento and now I feel like I would recognize places there while driving around and that kinda misses the "everytown" theme.

    I liked the movie. Go see it. It's Rushmore meets Juno and all the shit with Molly Ringwald. You could say that Lady Bird's dyed hair is a commentary on Mrs. Ringwald. Think about it.

Hats off to Christmas! (2013) Movie Review and holy shit ahahahahahaa I'm insane

Get this shit: Haylie Duff works in a store in a smallish town that sells exclusively Santa hats. The place has a fucking warehouse and everything. She thinks because she worked hard, she's going to get put in charge some day. However, the boss somehow did not jump on the Santa hat boom of the 2000s hard enough so has invited his business Son to run the company.

    You want me to go on? Fucking okay.

    Son gets the job, cause he's a businessman, and Duff has to train him how to run a Santa hat store. Then he starts befriending her son.

    I know.

    Just as we think Son is not a bad, slicked hair business man with a heart of coal, he stands up the kid for the big pumpkin carving contest. Did I mention this kid is in a wheelchair?

    We are told this is a hellish thing, but Son gets another chance to prove to Kid he's worthy to be a… dad? Friend? Duff and Son are not going out or really very romantic until the script says they have to be. Anyway, the last chance is a soap box car race.

    Wheelchair kid in a soapbox car race. I'm done, Hallmark. You win. Way to Photoshop out the cleavage on the poster, btw.

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) Movie Review that will charm the Dickens off you. The Dick-ens.

Charles Dickens, master storyteller, has a little money trouble due to his dad being a jerk and his books not selling. Then he has an idea, one that will change the world and make people the world over complain about the phrase "Happy Holidays." That idea is to set a story during the Christmas season and base it around family and the morality of an old bastard. Thus we have A Christmas Carol.

    I was on board from jump. What is basically a sequel to Shakespeare in Love (1998, the movie that didn't deserve Best Picture but was a solid story), The Man Who Invented Christmas is a masturbatory act of a screenwriter showing how much trouble it is for a writer to write and the inspiration that the world can bring to genius blah blah blah. I like to write things and I like to see the creative process in the act, even if it is twenty feet tall with its Dickens in its hand.

    Yeah, I'm a child and love that Dickens joke.

    The movie is charming with just enough real life to make the drama "matter." We know the dude wrote the story and that he was a little crazy with his family. What matters is the people and the characters, something the story draws out with pure empathetic emotions.

   Plus, Christopher Plummer as Scrooge is a must see. Just damn good.

American Made (2017) Movie Review and Tom Cruise didn't do that

I have a problem. I had the same problem in Valkyrie. I like Tom Cruise. Whatever personal shit he deals with, he's a likeable actor who always delivers. As Tom Cruise. I call it Movie Star Syndrome. Tom Cruise will always be Tom Cruise no matter if he's a super spy or a janitor. I can't buy Tom Cruise as a Nazi or a drug smuggler, though.

    Barry Seal was a real guy that the CIA used as a pilot. He made a lot of money because while taking pictures and running guns to contras he also ran cocaine and other illegal crap for the South American drug cartels. It caught up with him in the end and we know about the man because of declassified intelligence.

    Tom Cruise plays Barry Seal but Tom Cruise was never Barry Seal. He's charismatic and open, running around as a family man and a small town businessman. He should have been a real scumbag, though, and I just can't see it in Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise saves the day, he doesn't get shot in the face.

    For the overall experience, the movie is good. Stunts and writing are on point. The acting is well done and the story holds together with a feel of realism that never made the outlandish things feel fake. However, it just kinda drops near the end with a payoff that doesn't work.

    And he's always Tom Cruise.

Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017) Movie Review that f*&king cheated, that silly old bear

When do you let a movie get away with shit? We all like a twist ending, right? Something that redefines a movie and the characters in context. Even a bad twist ending makes a movie memorable. But at what point do we call bullshit?

    A.A. Milne has a bunch of problems. He came back from the Great War with his head all crazy, he has a wife that's a bit on the materialistic side, and the kid they had to save their marriage is just a pain. So his wife ditches him in the woods with the kid and Milne has to play "make-em-ups" to entertain the kid. Those "make-em-ups" turn out to be Winnie-the-Pooh, an international sensation that ruins the kid's life.

    So where does the cheating come into play? The movie starts with a military man delivering a letter and Mama Milne crying. Spoiler alert: The kid is fine. When the story flashes back and catches up, turns out the kid walks home from World War 2 like a boss. Except he's annoying now.

    Really, though, that's just the second worst part of the story. The worst is the grown up Christopher Robin. To be honest, even he's not bad. The acting is solid, the movie is charming, and I really did enjoy my time. Check it out when you want a slow drama.

Kingsman: Golden Circle (2017) Movie Review that made just as many ass jokes as I thought they would

Kingsman opens up where we left off our favorite band of poncy super spies. The main guy has his girlfriend, the realm is at peace, and Mr. Darcy is dead as shit. Then a drug kingpin lady comes along and blows everybody to hell.

    The central theme of the second one of these movies is to make a second one of these movies. Blow some shit up. Be as British as you can be while also trying to be both fast and furious with as many guest stars as possible. For the most part, it works.

    The spy vs spy stuff is just over the top enough to work. Add in all the cameos (I'd shame Elton John but he just made me smile) and you have a fun action flick.

    I hate when people say "it doesn't take itself too seriously." Yes it does. That's why the jokes work. Everyone acting tricked me into believing this nonsense is real, which is why Fast and the Furious and the OG Point Break work while whatever Leslie Nielsen was doing at the end failed. Leslie stopped being a part of the joke and became the joke.

    Should you see this piece of shit? I dunno. Look deep in your soul. Do you smile at the sight of orange flames and red blood? Then yeah, sure. And there's an ass joke or two that's subtle enough for grandma.

Justice League (2017) Movie Review and how I began to love the bomb

There's a point in Justice League when I started to say, "Hey, this ain't my little brother's Superman."

    Full disclosure, I don't have a little brother and never had that point. I just wanted to say that and now I feel a little ashamed.

    Batman has a parademon problem and thinks he's gonna need some buds to help him out. He gathers Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and zombie Superman up and they get to punching shit. That's about it.

    If you come to these superhero movies looking for anything other than two to three hours of explosions then brother or sister, you need to shut the computer and take a walk. Even Christopher Nolan could not move this genre out of the "punch it until it's ideologically sound." If you say different, well, I'm happy for you.

    I say that to say this: DC has produced the bottom of the barrel of content. Wonder Woman is the exception that proves the rule. Given her screen time here, I hope you saw the acting talent Snyder gave her ass.

    So when I say that this movie is passable as a hungover Sunday indulgence, I do not say that lightly. A few jokes land, you can see the action at times, and the plot is pretty straight forward.

It Follows (2014) Movie Review wherein I was bored for a while then while getting milk I was like, brrrr, that would be creepy

The idea is simple: you have sex and a thing chases you until it gets you and you die. Maybe. Nothing's really sure in what people have been calling the best horror movie until Get Out got out.

    On the surface, I'm down. Good premise. Nice looking kids doing their all to thwart a being hell bent on killing… one of them. And that's it. Don't fuck Jay and you're safe.

    That's the issue, right? As far as we know. The director/writer came out recently and said there's more to it. The rules we learn are formed by the characters in the movie, so the It might have more to It.

    That's the basis for good horror. A nameless shapeshifting thing is coming to fuck-murder you for no apparent reason other than it seems to dislike fornication. Or really like it. The unknown is the cornerstone of great horror.

    Unfortunately, this mumbly movie kinda just makes its way along. Everyone is realistic and with this monster, that's kinda dull.

At least it wasn't cute and named The Strange or anything like that.

Casablanca (1942) Movie Review in which I mean, what the hell, go see it

I don't want to be the one to tell you, but if you haven't seen Casablanca you are a broken, unfulfilled person. The simple love story of Rick and Elsa with the backdrop of WW2 should be on everyone's "to watch" list.

    Humphrey Bogart stars as Rick, a man without a country in the land of Casablanca where life is cheap and getting out is expensive. In comes a couple of problems, some illegally obtained letters of transit and Ingrid Bergman, the person who broke Ricky's heart and now needs to get out. Oh, and she's got a man with her. Add in some Nazis and some unscrupulous folks and this soup is done.

    Still, what else can you say has been around for damn near a century and still works? And with film, that's doubly hard. Effects get dated, themes get lost, overall ideas are faded by the memory of time.

    Casablanca has not faded because the timeless ideas of love and loss and good and evil and even the vast shades of gray still hold up. The music and the acting and the sets are just so damn good. And the lines…

    I'm rambling, but I will leave you with the one moment I still dislike: the Tango Delle Rose part. I just don't like it and after nearly 20 years of watching this movie it is nails on chalkboard.

Lego Ninjago Movie (2017) Movie Review and the dreams I had while I slept through it

Five minutes into the Lego Ninjago Movie I fell into an deep and infintiely more exciting dream. In the dream I myself was a ninja, but I worked at a library. A library ninja, if you will. I was going about my normal library tasks but dressed as a ninja.

    I woke up to see a cast of plastic, Toy Story (1995) inspired creatures jumping and yelling and doing fuck all if I could tell. Someone once said these Lego movies were a mash up of Airplane! (1980) and Avengers (2012). Fuck that person right in the ear with a plastic interlocking brick.

    If you like the Lego games, good. Great for you. Same about the movies. In my opinion, the first Lego Movie (2014) was a delighful suprise. Lego Batman (2017 holy shit that came out this year? Thanks Trump for extending my life with an unending sense of dread) was crap. Shiny crap, but just too much. This movie extends on that crap by taking out the Batman and leaving all the stuff I hated.

    I don't know shit about Ninjago and after sitting through this movie, I care even less. I fell asleep three more times, continuing my ninja librarian dream. I helped a patron photocopy, found the paper in the book drop, and craeated a library card, all while wearing a ninja mask. And I was super bummed every time I woke up.

Last Flag Flying (2017) Movie Review that has Steve Carell at his most vulnerable.

Steve Carell sitting in a metal folding chair, holding a folded American flag will haunt me for a good long while. The scene around it has Bryan Cranston yelling and Laurence Fishburne giving us his cool stare, but Carell in that chair…

    Carell plays a man who has just learned his son has died in service so he goes and gets his two old army buddies to bring his boy home. Essentially a road picture, Last Flag Flying is an examination on the nature of brotherhood in service and war in general. Where it lands is often on the side of the people, a good side if there is one where most sides end up with dead children.

    I had no idea what I was going to see. I saw the actors and the flag on the poster and thought, "well, I've got two hours even if this does end up being some commercial for the military." Two hours later… Well, Steve Carell in that chair.

Coco (2017) Movie Review: Fun flick with lots of murder. And where's Hitler?

Let's not talk about the Frozen short, shall we? Better left unsaid. Years from now, people will tell the story of the short that came before Pixar's latest film with an unbelieving tone. Can you believe someone was stupid enough to pair a twenty minute Josh Gad holiday monstrosity in front of an actual story with weight and meaning, not just as a story but for an underrepresented minority?

    Coco is the story of Miguel, a boy whose family won't let him play music, the thing he's born to do. Lucky for him, his story coincides with the Day of the Dead, the one day when the dead and the living intermingle. Miguel and his family learn important lessons about togetherness, history, love, and murder.

    Oh, did they not tell you Coco's base story included some murder? Like, hardcore stuff man. In fact, without spoiling too much, you could compare the story to that of another Pixar movie, Up…

    Okay, spoilers. Sorry. Whatever, I got to work some shit out. Go see the movie and come back.

    So the hero of this story goes to a magical land, finds his hero, realizes his hero is a murderer, and through the help of newly acquired friends defeats the bad guy… Yeah, kinda like Up. I mean, except with less guns and more poison. How did De La Cruz have that poison at the ready to kill Hector, anyway? He was planning on doing that all along, right?

    And the dog turning into a helper animal, I've seen that before too, huh? And not just the caterpillar in Bug's Life getting those shitty wings.

    Oh, and fuck that grandma for busting the guitar. I know this is a heightened reality and all, but what the hell? That's abusive and wrong. Hit the kid with a shoe or whatever, but don't go John Belushi on his past time just because you have issues. And not even you, your grandma had issues.

    And when was this movie set? It seemed like present day, but the kid uses VHS and nobody has a cell phone. I mean, that's cool, it didn't impact the plot, maybe it's the 90s or something or Mexico is a technological wasteland. Just weird.

    And what happens to all your stuff when you finally fade away as a dead person? Seems like that guy, the one with the cans and whatever, his crap was up for grabs. If there's a nuclear war, do all the dead people vanish en masse?

    And where was Hitler and Charles Manson? The really bad guys people remember? The movie didn't seem to divide things into Heavens and Hells, so there's some pretty bad dudes who are still remembered running around, right? I bet some asshole out there is putting their pictures on shrines, so you know they get to run around. And before you say stuff, Ernesto was a straight up murderer rather people knew it or not, so the afterlife does not have a catch-all judgement system.

    That's it. I can't think of anything else.

Talking Dahmer at the Circ Desk

The cart was filled with books from the book drop. The library assistant wheeled it to the circulation desk and watched the stack teeter.

    The second library assistant, Carl, watched Pam and the books. He said, "I saw that movie, the one about Dahmer?"

    Pam pulled a few books from the middle of the stack as if playing a giant game of Jenga. "Yeah?"

    "Yeah. It had this scene in it where Jeffrey Dahmer starts making noise in the library, like acting out to be funny, and I wondered how many of our patrons are gonna become serial killers," Carl said.

    "I could name one or two," Pam said.

    "I'm serious," Carl said.

    Pam reached for more books from the pile, but they fell on her, crushing her under the weight. She gasped and the weight bore down and pushed the breath from her lungs. Carl watched as the life drifted from Pam's eyes. He waited, seeing the inner light fade to a distinct nothing. Then, per the library handbook, he began collecting the books lest they become haunted by Pam's eternal soul.

    "Anyway, it was a good movie," Carl said.