Title: Girl You Know It’s True

Director: Simon Verhoeven

Released: December 6, 2023 (Austria)

Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes

Watched via: Peacock

Rob (Tijan Njie) and Fab (Elan Ben Ali) are both unknown aspiring dancers. They’re working as podium dancers when they’re “discovered” by Ingrid “Milli” Segieth (Bella Dayne) who arranges a meeting between them and producer Frank Farian (Matthias Schweighöfer).

Frank decides that Rob and Fab are the perfect fit for his new project. But before they can begin, they need a name. Well, if we’re to believe the film, Milli discovered them and during the name choosing conversation they were eating vanilla ice cream. Put two and two together and that’s how we got the name Milli Vanilli.

True to his word, Frank makes Milli Vanilli overnight sensations. However, things aren’t exactly what they seem.

Rob and Fab have no creative control over their sound. Why you ask? Well, mainly because they aren’t the ones writing or singing the songs. Yep, that’s right. Frank takes obscure songs already in existence and has musicians who are talented but not marketable re-do the vocals. This is where Rob and Fab come in, they are the face of the project. Both are already good looking and able to dance, all that’s left is to learn to lip-sync to the tracks while dancing on stage.

Everyone involved in Milli Vanilli stands to make an absolute fortune. But as we all know, technology isn’t perfect.

So what happens if a track skips while Rob and Fab are out there performing?

Well, you could always blame it on the rain…

Having already watched the Paramount+ 2023 documentary Milli Vanilli, I wasn’t sure why we needed Girl You Know It’s True (2023). The documentary did such a solid job of telling their story, I wasn’t sure what a biopic could add. Well, turns out that it can add a lot of humanity to their story.

Tijan Njie and Elan Ben Ali are both phenomenal as Rob and Fab. The chemistry that they have together is a large part of why this movie works. Their fourth wall breaking narration helps you connect to them as people rather than superstars chasing fortune and fame. Allowing them to break the fourth wall as a way to tell the story was a great choice by Verhoeven. In doing so, he’s able to inject some comedy into what is ultimately a bit of a bleak story.

Usually when you have a movie coming in at over two hours long, you’re thinking of ways it could have been shorter. That is not the case here at all. If anything, I would’ve liked to have seen even more.

Whether you’re a fan of music biopics, the group Milli Vanilli, or are just curious what the hype with them was all about, definitely check out Girl You Know It’s True (2023).

So, if you have seen Girl You Know It’s True (2023), what did you think of it?

Tell me in the comments below or by reaching out on Bluesky!

As always, you can follow me over on Letterboxd to keep up with everything else that I’ve been watching lately.

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Title: Flopsy Turvy

Director: David Scott

Released: March 30, 2018 (United States)

Runtime: 4 minutes

Watched via: Vimeo

When I look at Margot Robbie‘s filmography, there are a few short films in the mix. Since I’ve already covered Peter Rabbit, I figured why not try and find the short film Flopsy Turvy (2018).

Luckily for me, one of the top search results was a Vimeo link. But it gets even better, not only was it actually Flopsy Turvy (2018), but it was uploaded by director, David Scott.

The short focuses on Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. It focuses on their sibling rivalries and how despite these rivalries, at the end of the day they’re always there for each other. It’s a cute little short.

But what is more interesting is the story behind it.

As David Scott explains on Vimeo, the short was originally intended to be a bonus on the DVD release. But there was a catch, “it needed to use existing background plates and dialog outtakes from the Peter Rabbit feature”.

When Sony saw it after it was completed, they were so impressed that they decided to run Topsy Turvy ahead of Peter Rabbit during the final stretch of its theatrical run. Because of this, he was able to get Margot to come in and do the narration for his short.

If you haven’t seen Flopsy Turvy (2018), definitely follow the Vimeo link above and go check it out.

If you have seen it, what did you think of it?

Leave me a comment below or on Bluesky and let me hear your thoughts on the short and the story behind it!

As always, follow me over on Letterboxd to keep up with everything else I’ve been watching lately.

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Title: The Luckiest Man in America

Director: Samir Oliveros

Released: September 5, 2024 – Canadian premiere (Toronto International Film Festival), April 4, 2025 – theatrical release in United States

Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes

Watched via: VOD rental

Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser) is an ice cream truck driver who also happens to be a big fan of the game show “Press Your Luck”. In fact, one day he weasels his way into an audition for the show with a backstory and everything ready to go.

Things seem to be going his way until the real person who had that interview time slot shows up. Instead of kicking him out and banning him from the studio, the executive producer decides to book him on the next day’s show as the lovable underdog contestant.

Nobody could’ve predicted what happened next.

In the first round, Michael has a rough go of things. He answers questions incorrectly and as he finally gains some momentum he lands on a Whammy, wiping out his winnings and resetting him back at $0. Though when round two starts, Michael goes on an absolute tear. The rate at which he is piling up winnings has everyone backstage convinced that Michael is somehow gaming the whole system.

Without being able to definitively prove that Michael is cheating, will Michael’s luck ever run out?

I was not at all aware of the story behind The Luckiest Man in America (2024) prior to watching it. Despite that, I still feel like I was able to understand what was going on throughout the movie. This happens to be a scenario where you don’t necessarily have to do homework before watching. If you know the actual story, great you’ll have a point of reference. But if you don’t know anything about the story, you won’t be lost or left scratching your head by any means.

I am a big fan of Paul Walter Hauser and love when we get to see him in more than just a straight-up comedy. He has some dramatic chops and doesn’t have a problem displaying them when needed. What’s really impressive is if you look up the real Michael Larson, Hauser was able to match his gestures and mannerisms to a tee.

One thing I loved about the film is how it refuses to spoon-feed the audience. It doesn’t steer us toward liking or rooting for anyone in particular. There’s no obvious hero or villain. It lays out the story and challenges us to make sense of it on our own, just like the backstage employees.

While this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, The Luckiest Man in America (2024) is definitely worth at least one viewing.

So, have you already seen The Luckiest Man in America (2024)?

If so, leave a comment below or reach out on Bluesky and let me know what you thought of it!

Curious to see what else I’ve been watching lately?

Give me a follow over on Letterboxd where you’ll find 1-2 sentence thoughts on every film I watch.

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Title: The Adventures of Prince Achmed

Director: Lotte Reiniger

Released: September 3, 1926 (Berlin)

Runtime: 1 hour and 6 minutes

Available to stream on: Kanopy and The Criterion Channel

What makes The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) impressive is that it is the oldest known feature-length animated film. That’s right, take a seat Disney, the honor belongs to Lotte Reiniger and the silhouette style of animation we get here.

This is a silent film based on the Arabian Knights stories. An African sorcerer conjures up a flying horse and rides it to the Caliph. When he lands, he refuses to sell the horse for any amount of gold. Desperate to get his hands on the horse, the Caliph decides to offer up any of his treasures in exchange. The sorcerer winds up choosing the Caliph’s daughter as his treasure. Her brother, Prince Achmed, is vehemently against this but the sorcerer convinces Achmed to just give the horse a test run.

Having no idea as to what he’s doing, Prince Achmed is at the mercy of the flying horse. By the time Achmed figures out how to control the horse, he is landing on the magical island of Wak-Wak. There he falls in love with a woman named Peri Banu and the pair fly away to China. What Prince Achmed isn’t aware of is that the entire army of War-Wak demons is hot on his trail.

Will Prince Achmed be able to save both the woman he loves and his sister?

The fact that we’re even able to view The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) is wild. At the very beginning of the film we learn that there are no original negatives or copies of the original German version of this film in existence anymore. What we see is based on a fragmented nitrate copy from London’s National Film and Television Archive, then the original German captions were inserted.

While the story itself isn’t anything revolutionary, it is a solid Arabian Knights-style story. But let’s be real, the animation itself is the real star here.

Not only did Lotte Reiniger write and direct, she was also responsible for the silhouette animation. Lotte accomplished this by cutting out the cardboard silhouettes and stringing them together with thread. In a sense, it is almost a form of stop-motion before stop-motion.

What makes it all the more impressive is that despite not having faces and there being no dialogue, the silhouettes are able to convey a ton of emotion and feeling through just their movements and actions. I can only imagine how impressive this had to be to see and experience nearly 100 years ago.

If your local library uses Kanopy, definitely seek this out. If it doesn’t, sign up for a free one week trial to The Criterion Channel and give The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) at least one viewing.

So, if you have seen The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), what are your thoughts on it?

Leave a comment below or reach out to me on Bluesky and let me hear it!

As always, you can follow along with every movie that I watch over on Letterboxd.

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Title: Fast Charlie

Director: Phillip Noyce

Released: December 8, 2023

Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes

Available to stream on: Hulu

Charlie (Pierce Brosnan) is a “problem solver” for mob boss Stan Mullen (James Caan). He’s aware that his career is in its twilight phase and agrees to give a kid by the name of Blade (Brennan Keel Cook) an opportunity.

As you’d assume, Blade earned his name because of his skills with a knife. Except this time around, Blade wants to show he’s more than a one-trick pony. Rather than stabbing the target, he placed a blasting cap into a box of donuts. It was successful, but also problematic as it blew the target’s head clean off. This leads Charlie to the target’s ex, Marcie (Morena Baccarin). He needs her to identify the target’s body in order to prove that the job was completed.

Meanwhile, the new player in town, Beggar (Gbenga Akinnagbe), has requested a sit-down with Stan to discuss business. While Charlie agrees to pass along the request, what he doesn’t expect is for Beggar’s crew to take out Stan and his entire crew.

Now Charlie’s one last job has become a revenge tour, but can he pull this off on his own?

Look, let’s just go ahead and address the elephant in the room, Brosnan’s accent is certainly a choice that was made. I couldn’t tell if he was going for Foghorn Leghorn or Tom Hanks in The Ladykillers, either way it didn’t work. I was able to look past it but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t distracting.

As long as you’re able to get past the accent, there is a lot of fun to be had with Fast Charlie (2023).

Despite the accent, Brosnan’s charm, charisma, and quick humor still shine through, making it easy to get onboard with Charlie. He and Baccarin also have good chemistry together. They play off one another and deliver a believable evolution of their relationship over the course of the film. Also, though he had very limited time on screen, seeing James Caan in his last performance was a touch emotional, especially since you can see just how frail he is.

When it comes to the action, Fast Charlie (2023) also manages to deliver. It isn’t over the top and absurd but it also never makes you wait too long between action sequences. Director Philip Noyce is no stranger to the genre and it shows. While he doesn’t reinvent the wheel, Noyce also elevates things just enough to avoid falling into a “paint-by-numbers” trap.

Combining it all together gives us a lean and mean story packed with enough action to keep your attention, delivered in a tight 90 minutes.

If you have yet to see Fast Charlie (2023), consider this a recommendation to give it a watch.

So, if you have already seen Fast Charlie (2023), what did you think of it?

Let me know in the comments below or by reaching out to me on Bluesky!

As always, you can follow me over on Letterboxd to see what else I’ve been watching lately.

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Title: Dreamland

Director: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte

Released: April 13, 2019 – Premiere (Belgium – Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival), released theatrically on November 27, 2019 in Italy.

Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes

Watched via: VOD rental

Eugene Evans (Finn Cole) is a teenager growing up in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. His mother, Olivia (Kerry Condon), and step-father, George (Travis Fimmel), are struggling to hold onto their home and farm. Eugene helps out where he can, but he longs for a more exciting and fulfilling life.

Meanwhile, Allison Wells (Margot Robbie) is a notorious bank robber who is on the run. Legend has it that not only is she a bank robber, she’s also a cold-stoned killer. Unfortunately, her most recent robbery went sideways. Things escalated into a shootout, her partner took a bullet, and a young girl was killed in the crossfire.

As she is driving through the middle of nowhere to evade the police, Allison realizes her partner is dying from his wound. She takes off on foot, ditching the car, and her partner. Eventually she finds refuge in a barn. The same barn that just so happens to be on Eugene’s family farm.

Eugene is the one to discover her and immediately is faced with a choice. He can turn in Allison and collect the $10,000 reward for her capture, or he can agree to help Allison get to Mexico in exchange for $20,000.

Either way, there is a lot of money on the table.

What will Eugene do?

Do you ever walk away from a movie having enjoyed it but still feeling frustrated by it?

Well, that’s what I felt after finishing Dreamland (2019).

Here’s the thing, it wasn’t bad by any means. The cinematography from DP Lyle Vincent is stunning. He is able to capture the New Mexico landscapes in a way that makes you feel like you’re in the Dust Bowl. Additionally, the way he shoots the horizon, displaying just miles of nothing but open landscapes, helps you understand why Eugene, being the teenager that he is, wants a more exciting life.

Speaking of Eugene, I rather enjoyed Finn Cole in this role. He has this innocent charm about him that makes him a perfect fit here. Because of his innocence, he’s able to play Eugene in a way that makes the naivety of the character believable.

As for Margot, she rarely misses and that is true here as well. I mean this in the most positive of ways, imagine Harley Quinn as a bank robber in the 1930s and you have Allison Wells. She bucks traditional trends and uses her own charm to get out of sticky situations. Not a knock on Margot at all, but I just wish we dove more into her character.

That speaks to my main issue, and why I walked away feeling frustrated. Everything is surface level. The relationships, the backstory, it all lacks the depth necessary to elevate this from a “good” movie to a “great” movie.

Despite that, it is still a good movie. Dreamland (2019) is beautifully shot and features two strong performances. If you ever stumble upon it on streaming, definitely give it a watch. If you own a copy, give it a rewatch and see how it holds up.

So, what about you? Have you seen Dreamland (2019)?

If so, leave me a comment below or reach out on Bluesky and tell me what you thought!

As always, if you’d like to see what else I’ve been watching, you can follow me over on Letterboxd.

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Title: Raw Deal

Director: Anthony Mann

Released: May 21, 1948 (United States)

Runtime: 1 hour 19 minutes

Available to stream on: Kanopy

Joe Sullivan (Dennis O’Keefe) took the rap for his boss, Rick (Raymond Burr), when a robbery went sideways. Rick, along with Joe’s lover Pat (Claire Trevor), comes up with a plan to spring Joe from the joint.

However, both Pat and Joe are unaware that Rick isn’t banking on Joe getting out successfully. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, Rick hopes Joe doesn’t survive the escape. If he isn’t alive, he won’t be able to rat out Rick.

Joe manages to successfully escape and now finds himself on the run with Pat and his legal aid, Ann (Marsha Hunt). While initially hesitant to go along with things, Ann reluctantly goes along with the plan for her own safety.

If things weren’t messy enough, Joe winds up catching feelings for Ann while they’re all on the run. Now he has to manage to escape both the police that are after him and the love triangle of his own making.

Will he be successful?

One thing that stood out almost immediately to me about Raw Deal (1948) is the narration. No, it isn’t uncommon that there is narration in a noir. However, it is uncommon that the noir narration comes from the point of view of the leading lady, in this case Pat. I enjoyed the uniqueness of having the story told from the perspective of someone who wasn’t our main anti-hero.

As far as noir films go, this is fairly paint-by-numbers. Raw Deal (1948) is a lean and mean 79-minutes with a rather straightforward story. While the story and performances are each entertaining in their own right, it’s the lighting from DP John Alton that really elevates things. Alton was able to use both light and shadows in ways that took rather generic set pieces and transformed them into almost their own characters in the film.

Being that the story is nothing that tried to reinvent the genre, the short runtime winds up helping the film. We get exactly what we need to put the pieces together and tell a cohesive story without the film overstaying it’s welcome.

If your library uses Kanopy, and you’re a fan of noirs, definitely give Raw Deal (1948) at least one viewing.

So, if you have already seen Raw Deal (1948), what did you think of it?

Leave a comment below or reach out to me on Bluesky and let me know!

If you are curious as to what else I’ve been watching, give me a follow over on Letterboxd.

And finally, one last note, Livestream for the Cure is this week.

May 16th and 17th some of the best in indie podcasting will be live-streaming on Twitch to raise money for a world immune to cancer. 

If you’d like and are able to, you can donate early here.

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I couldn’t resist.

There isn’t an “official trailer”, but here is a clip from One Week (1920).

Title: One Week

Directors: Buster Keaton and Edward F. Cline

Released: August 29, 1920 (United States)

Runtime: 25 minutes

Available to stream on: Kanopy and if you don’t have Kanopy, it is available on Youtube as well.

A Bride (Sybil Seely) and Groom (Buster Keaton) are newlyweds who are gifted a house by the Groom’s uncle. This isn’t just any house though, this is a portable house that instead of paint-by-number, is build-by-number. As long as you construct it in order, the house should be complete within a week.

Seems simple enough, right?

Well, it probably would have been if it weren’t for Handy Hank. You see, Hank also fancied the Bride and, as you can imagine, isn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of her being married to someone else. So what does he do? Using paint, Hank alters the numbers on the portable house’s boxes.

As the Groom finishes building the last box of his house, he notices that things don’t seem quite right. But without knowing which boxes were mislabeled, how will he ever get his house in order?

If I watched One Week (1920) in the year 2025 and was impressed, I can only imagine what people thought seeing this in 1920. It must have blown their minds.

Yes, it is an incredibly simple and straightforward story. But when you have the likes of Buster Keaton, normal gets elevated to extraordinary. Keaton manages to take everything to another level, from the emotions he is able to portray through expressions, the physical comedy, and even the stunt work.

While probably best known for the infamous window-frame scene, One Week (1920) is entertaining all throughout its brisk 25-minute runtime.

If you haven’t seen it yet, change that. If you have already seen it, well, there’s no better time for a rewatch than right now.

So, if you have seen One Week (1920), what did you think of it?

Leave a comment below or reach out to me on Bluesky and let me know your thoughts!

As always, you can follow me over on Letterboxd to see what else I’ve been watching lately.

Finally, before I go, we are just one week away from Livestream for the Cure. 

May 16th and 17th some of the best in indie podcasting will be live-streaming on Twitch to raise money for a world immune to cancer. 

If you’d like and are able to, you can donate early here.

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Title: Humanity and Paper Balloons

Director: Sadao Yamanaka

Released: August 25, 1937 (Japan)

Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes

Available to stream on: The Criterion Channel

Unno (Chōjūrō Kawarasaki) is a young ronin who is struggling with the recent passing of his father. Despite his best efforts, Unno has struggled to find consistent work. He’s even tried to get his father’s master, Mouri, to take him under his wing. However, Mouri goes out of his way to avoid Unno, thus leaving Unno to rely on his wife selling paper balloons as a way to try and make ends meet.

Meanwhile, Shinza (Kan’emon Nakamura) lives in the same slum and has decided to go a less ethical route in making a living. Though a hairdresser by trade, Shinza makes his money from pawning items and running illegal gambling rings.

While Unno and Shinza are neighbors with each other, they’re living two very different lives.

But what if there’s paths wound up intersecting?

Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937) is not an easy movie to try and summarize without spoiling much. What you think is lining up to be a super slow burn winds up being just…life. There isn’t some big payoff and to say there’s a “happy” ending would be quite the stretch. Instead, what we get is a scathing look at the class/societal conditions of the era.

What really stood out to me was how this looks. It manages to look and feel like movies that weren’t to come for another 15-20 years. Truly a testament to the vision of Sadao Yamanaka and the work of DP Akira Mimura.

The story peels back its layers as it unfolds. And even with a runtime just shy of 90-minutes, it manages to tie everything up without leaving you with lingering questions. The true definition of getting in and out without wasting a single second.

After watching, I learned that director Sadao Yamanaka died just over a year after the film’s release. Of the 26 or so films he reportedly made, only three remain intact today. There is something about that fact that makes me appreciate my viewing even more.

If you fancy yourself a fan of Japanese cinema, I highly suggest you check this out.

Shoot, even if you’re just a fan of cinema in general, bump Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937) to the top of your watchlist.

Now, if you have seen Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937), I want to hear from you!

Leave a comment below or reach out to me on Bluesky and let me know what you thought.

As always, you can follow me over on Letterboxd to see what else I’ve been watching lately.

Finally, before I go, we are just weeks away from Livestream for the Cure.

May 16th and 17th some of the best in indie podcasting will be live-streaming on Twitch to raise money for a world immune to cancer. 

If you’d like and are able to, you can donate early here.

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Title: Slaughterhouse Rulez

Director: Crispian Mills

Released: October 31, 2018 (United Kingdom & Sweden)

Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes

Watched via: VOD rental

Middle-class teenager Don Wallace (Finn Cole) enrolls into a posh school called Slaughterhouse, against his wishes. As you can probably imagine, Wallace has a difficult time trying to fit in. To make matters worse, the school assigns him to its most disrespected house.

His roommate, Willoughby Blake (Asa Butterfield), does his best to try and show Wallace the ropes. Though, despite Blake’s best efforts, Wallace still learns the hard way that if you don’t come from money, you don’t seem to matter.

In addition to his struggle to find acceptance amongst his peers, there seems to be something off about Slaughterhouse.

Wallace isn’t quite sure how or why the last person who had his bed left Slaughterhouse. Meanwhile, the Headmaster (Michael Sheen) seems to be involved in some shady business dealings.

Is there something sinister brewing at Slaughterhouse?

As I mentioned earlier, Margot Robbie is hardly in this movie at all. She briefly pops up throughout on FaceTime calls as Audrey, the girlfriend of schoolmaster Meredith Houseman (Simon Pegg). Is she good as the long-distance girlfriend who is focused on her work abroad? Sure, I guess. We don’t really see her enough to gauge one-way or the other.

As for the rest of the cast, they do the best they can with what they’re given. That is not a knock on the cast by any means. Unfortunately, it is the writing that lets them down.

While yes, Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018) is entertaining at times, it is also all over the place. We’re given scores of backstory on Slaughterhouse, most of which goes unexplored. It’s also a run of the mill teen horror comedy…that also tries to explore the dangers of fracking…while also attempting to criticize private and/or boarding schools and the system they can foster.

There are a bunch of great ideas here but not a single ounce of focus. As a result, Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018) is a jumbled mess that had potential.

So, what about you? Have you seen Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018)? If so, what did you think of it?

Drop a comment below or reach out to me on Bluesky and let me know your thoughts!

As always, you can follow me on Letterboxd to see what else I’ve been watching lately.

One last thing, we are just weeks away from Livestream for the Cure. May 16th and 17th some of the best in indie podcasting will be live-streaming on Twitch to raise money for a world immune to cancer. 

If you’d like and are able to, you can donate early here.

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