To fully accept the societal and emotional terrains of Hikari’s outstanding dramedy Rental Family, one is required not so much to make an enormous leap into a lurid scenario, but rather, let’s say, a long step. You will need a stretched lunge forward that closes the typical arm’s length of observational distance from something you don’t entirely know or accept. That gingerly-taken step merges you into a different comfort zone than your own
Read MoreFor their 98th episode, two mammalian film critics, better dads, and statistically overweight school teachers Will Johnson and Don Shanahan welcome back returning guests Lauren Knight of L.A. Knight Consulting and Barbara VanDenburgh of USA Today to blow out all the brine, foam, and emotions that come with Darren Aronofsky's The Whale. Featuring Oscar nominees Brendan Fraser and Hong Chau, this movie splashed enormous reactions within this pod on a pod.
Read MoreThanks to Chau’s protective involvement, there’s a rock-solid, heart-crushing version of The Whale that would be just these two and no one else. They have enough painful and resurfaced history for two movies. Instead, outside factors in Hunter’s screenplay and tonal choices from Aronofsky sully the potential of those good graces becoming their own simpler, standalone core.
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