Infinity Baby (2017)

 Of all the Bob Byington films I've seen this one had the hardest time hooking me, though I did like the ending. 'Infinity Baby' is a surreal relationship comedy built on the hook of a company 'Infinity Baby' tasked with finding homes for 1,200 or so babies that do not age because of a genetic experiment gone wrong. Weird, kind of gross concept, but the movie is less about that then about the personal lives of a group of people associated with the company including Kieran Culkin, Martin Starr and Kevin Corrigan. I thought Trieste Kelly Dunn, who I was not familiar with, extremely cute. Byington's casting is usually very good and he often gives lesser known actresses big parts. Filmed in black and white. **

Ice Station Zebra (1968)

 'Ice Station Zebra' is classic Saturday matinee fair, the kind of movie my father loved. The film got poor to middling reviews when it came out and I wasn't expecting to like it much but wanted to see it because again it is the kind of movie my dad loved, and I like to watch those to remember him, as well as it's being a pretty big title from a solid director (John Sturgess) and boasting a good cast (Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, and Patrick McGoohan in a rarish film role). This is a largely submarine based cold war espionage movie, and is best when it's on the submarine, the scenes before the mission and after the arrival at the titular ice station didn't work as well for me (the production design for the artic set is extremely dated and fake, almost distractingly unconvincing). I don't think there is a single woman in this picture, even in the bar sequence at the beginning of the movie. The film is still good, better then I thought it would be, but it could really use some editing, cutting 15 to 20 minutes off its 150 minute running time would have helped a lot. Still *** 

The Magician (1958)

 'The Magician' is a lesser known Bergman work about a troupe of traveling hucksters in 1846 Sweden who spend a long night and day at the residence of duke, where a local doctor and sheriff attempt to provoke them and many a grievance is aired between characters. Max von Sydow plays a mute. I love drama's of confined spaces and Bergman psycho drama, unusual setting, solid performances. I was lead to believe this was one of Bergman's worst films and the attendant low expectations probably helped in the film in my estimation, but I thought it was really solid. The day I saw it I would have given it 4 stars, thinking on it awhile I'm dropping that down to ***1/2 but its still really good. 

Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk (2017)

 The directorial debut of Eric Stoltz and adapted by Tony DuShane from his novel of the same name 'Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk' certainly has an at least semi-autobiographical quality to it. This is the story of the awaking, sexually and otherwise, of Gabe (a solid, grounded performance by Sasha Feldman, who comes across as a dramatically weightier version of Jay Baruchel) a young JW gowning up in 1980's California. This movie really felt real to me, mostly episodic it feels like it's carrying some real childhood baggage. Of especial interest is it's focuses on the heavy control the Jehovah's Witness organization keeps on its members, and how brutally hard they can clamp down on something as innocent as a boy and a girl holding hands. The relationship between Gabe and his cousin Karen is legitimately... we'll say uncomfortable. I was rather impressed with this. ***

Akira (1988)

 I'm not an anime guy, other then the films of Hayao Miyazaki or the occasional more serious subject matter like the Hiroshima film 'In This Corner of the World' it's not a genera or style that I visit often. I was however aware of 'Akira' a 1988 film that is considered a classic of it's type, so I decided to go to a revival showing at a local theater (making this only the third film I've seen in the theater since March, and the second revival showing). This takes awhile to get going but I was surprised how good it was, especially visually. 

Set in 2019 there is a lot going on here, rival motorcycle gangs, intrigue in the Japanese government, children with telekinetic powers, labor unrest, a religious cult, the aftermath of the third world war and preparations for another ill fated 2020 Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo. The whole thing, but especially the ending is worth seeing on the big screen. Apparently periodic attempts have been made at making a live action version of this story, but I don't see how they could top the visuals, best to keep it as it is, and for what it is it's ***1/2.

Jasper Mall (2020)

 I enjoy those dead mall videos on Youtube especially Dan Bell's, the documentary 'Jasper Mall' (which indecently has been endorsed by Dan Bell) can be considered kind of a longer version of one of those. Unlike the YouTube video's this movie seems to have been made over the course of at least one year and you get something you don't get from the internet video's, you get to know some of the regular patrons, tenants and employees of the mall over a decent period of time. It's kind of like a portrait of a small town. I'm sure that the film makers interviewed more people then appear in the final product but elected to present subjects of focus who had the best 'arc's.'

A 'dead mall' by the way is loosely defined as a mall on its downward slop in terms of business, I'd say any mall that has less then 50% occupancy of it's retail space can probably be referred to as a dead mall. The Jasper Mall is a one story 1980's vintage mall in the smallish town of Jasper, Alabama, the mall manager interestingly is an Australian former zoo keeper. Other recurring 'characters' in the film include a florist who is one of the malls longest surviving tenants, and a young interracial couple who we meet in their senior year of high school and follow through eventual amicable breakup as they both prepare to leave town. I found it a rather pleasant film but it is nitch, if you enjoy dead malls and slower paced character studies you'll probably like it. ***

Feeding Frenzy (2010)

From the folks at Red Letter Media 'Feeding Frenzy' is an homage/satire of those 1980's puppet/monster movies like 'Gremlins' and 'Critters'. Tighter then their later feature 'Space Cop' I enjoyed it, though it's definitely on a tight budget and its certainly nitch in its sensibilities as well as little bit gross. **1/2