Quick takes on Parallel Mothers and other films

My wife will sometimes say I watch too many high-brow movies, and while I do enjoy the classics and watch a lot of foreign flicks, occasionally I do like to turn my brain off and laugh at some dick and fart jokes. There are plenty of those (literally) in Jackass Forever. All of the originals are back except Ryan Dunn (who tragically died a few years ago) and Bam Margera (some politics behind the scenes cut nearly all of his footage). Since all these guys are now pushing 50, they brought in some “fresh meat” (so to say) for the first time ever, and there are a handful of younger daredevils, including the team’s first woman. There’s nothing to write about here to let you know what this movie is about; you already know what it’s about. A bunch of idiots doing stupid stunts, which sometimes gets them hurt. But damn, if it isn’t funny. I’m not a huge Jackass fan. There are some people that can sit and watch it all day, and while it does wear on me after awhile, a 90 minute film is just about perfect for a silly (stupid?) diversion. ★★★

The Cabin in the Woods isn’t a newer film, but I’m late to the party and just stumbled upon it. Directed by Drew Goddard and written by him and Joss Whedon, who knew each other from their Buffy and Angel days, it came out in 2012. Only three recognizable faces in front of the camera: Bradley Whitford, Richard Jenkins, and a pre-breakout Chris Hemsworth (Thor had just come out, but he certainly wasn’t yet a household name). The aforementioned acting vets play Gary and Steve, who are working in some sort of underground facility getting ready to look over a group of college kids arriving at a remote cabin for a weekend of fun. The men are overseeing some kind of weird, twisted project in which the teens will call forth an ancient evil, which will then try to kill them. Apparently these experiments are going on all around the world, in a ritual that goes back for time out of mind. Once the evil comes out, in the form of zombies this time, the film pokes fun at itself and all the other tropes you find in these kinds of hack-and-slash gorefests. It obviously doesn’t take itself too seriously, so maybe the viewer shouldn’t either, but it isn’t a bad way to spend 90 minutes. It is just entertaining enough to pass the time. ★★½

7 Days is a romantic comedy for the COVID era. Ravi and Rita are set up on blind date with each other just as COVID is hitting, a date arranged by the parents in typical Indian custom. Ravi wants a traditional Indian wife badly and already has his future planned out to most minute detail, but Rita is a more modern Americanized woman. The date does not go well, but before they can go their separate ways, COVID lockdowns hit and the couple is forced to quarantine at Rita’s nearby house. Stuck on the couch for a few days until he can get a rental car and get back home, the two are forced to reconcile and take a hard look at themselves, to see if their lives are going the way they want. The film stars Karan Soni as Ravi and Geraldine Viswanathan (who’s been in several films I liked and one I didn’t, though she was still good in that one too) as Rita, and while they do their best to entertain, it’s really just an average romcom. A few chuckles here and there, but nothing that sticks to you once the credits roll. ★★

Parallel Mothers is the latest from Pedro Almodóvar, a director who I’ve quickly grown to love (and love!). It stars Penélope Cruz and Milena Smit as Janis and Ana, two single women who meet in a maternity ward while giving birth. Neither have the baby’s respective fathers in their lives, and while Janis is excited (she’s pushing 40 and this may be her last chance to be a mother), the younger Ana is feeling the pressure from her parents. They have their babies on the same day and go their separate ways. Janis reaches out to the father to see if he wants to be involved, and when he sees the baby, he proclaims it isn’t his, that he knows in his heart that he is not the father. Over a couple months, as the baby develops and begins to look less like Janis, she too begins to suspect that her and Ana’s babies were swapped at the hospital. A DNA test confirms her suspicions that she is not the mother. When Janis runs into Ana one day and learns that Ana’s (in reality, Janis’s) baby has died of SIDS, Janis decides to bring Ana into the family as an au pair. Their lives get very much twisted up by the end of the film. Cruz is fantastic as Janis; Almodóvar always seems to get the best out of her. Unfortunately the movie doesn’t have the enveloping story of Pain and Glory or Volver, the lyricism of Talk to Her, nor the emotional whirlwind of Julieta. It’s just an average film with stellar acting. Maybe I’ve grown to expect homeruns from this director every time out. ★★½

Jockey follows a, ahem…, jockey, as the end of his racing days are quickly approaching. Jackson (Clifton Collins Jr, in a knock-out performance) has been doing this his whole life. As is the story of many jockeys, it is a family business and he is following in footsteps. He hears early in the film that some numbness in one arm is due to the hard life of a jockey (3 broken backs not the least of it), and he starts to see the writing on the wall. He keeps the news to himself, especially when trainer Ruth Wilkes (Molly Parker) brings out a new, promising young thoroughbred who could win it all. Ruth and Jackson are long-time friends and he has always ridden for her. Into this environment comes Gabriel (Moisés Arias), a young wanna-be jockey who claims Jackson is his father. At first, Jackson doesn’t want to believe it, but he sees similarities in how Gabriel handles himself around the horses, and takes him under his wing. As the big race approaches, can Jackson keep it together long enough to go out in a blaze of glory? I’m an admitted horse racing fan (I’m lucky enough to live near a track and hit it a few times a year), but even so, this is a great, emotional film on its own. Yes, there are peaks inside the business that I found fascinating, but the story too is top notch. I’m really surprised Collins Jr didn’t get some award circuit love this past season, it is that good. ★★★½

• TV series currently watching: Schmigadoon! (miniseries)
• Book currently reading: Dragons of Winter Night by Weis & Hickman