All Together Now plus Short Takes on suggestions for TCM cable offerings and other cinematic topics

The “Lone-Arranger” Needs Help Herself

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.

                  All Together Now (Brett Haley)   rated PG

Opening Chatter (no spoilers): Before discussing my sole review this week, I’ll begin with offering a belated farewell to superstar-actor Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed a powerful superhero—Black Panther (while also in Avengers stories, his solo movie [Ryan Coogler, 2018; review in our February 22, 2018 posting] implied a great future for this dynamic character)—and other inspirational figures of various segments of society—baseball legend Jackie Robinson in 42 (Brian Helgeland, 2013; review in our April 18, 2013 posting), “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown in Get On Up (Tate Taylor, 2014; review in our August 7, 2014 posting), Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in Marshall  (Reginald Hudlin, 2017; review in our October 19, 2017 posting)—among other roles in a career headed for the performers-pantheon but now sadly dead at age 43 (colon cancer), ironically dying on the day (August 28, 2020) Major League Baseball chose this year for their annual remembrance of Robinson as the first to break the color barrier in "the show" (all teams wear his number, 42, on that day; my Oakland Athletics were scheduled to play the Houston Astros last Friday but all walked off the field in protest—wearing their 42 uniforms, which they continued to wear on Saturday while playing the first game of a doubleheader*—joining many other athletes in major sports in solidarity with demonstrations demanding police accountability in U.S. cities after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was hit by several shots fired at his back by police last week in Kenosha, WI).  While Boseman was an impactful presence on-screen he also showed great heart off-screen; he’ll be sorely missed in both arenas (although those with an access to various movie theaters can celebrate 42 again [scroll way down to Other Cinema-Related Stuff for details]).

*Another setback hit the A’s on Sunday (after losing both doubleheader games) when someone in their group tested positive for COVID-19; they haven’t played since.  And the downbeat goes on … .

 

 In much-more-ordinary-news I found that on Tuesday, 9/1/2020, I’d be going in to have a crown put on 1 of my rear molars, a day I usually spend a lot of time working on this blog, so, not knowing how I’d feel about thinking, typing, or much of anything else after that procedure I limited myself to only 1 review this week so I could get most everything in place by Monday, then post it on Wednesday as usual.  That choice is All Together Now, about Amber, a teenager who’s doing her best to be the hopeful light in others’ lives while her own is under constant challenge (she and her mother sleep in the school bus Mom drives during the day; Amber would love to pursue musical studies at Carnegie Mellon U. but can’t even afford the cash to fly across country for an audition; her little dog needs an $8,000 operation so she prepares to drop out of school to work 70 hrs. a week to raise the cash).  It’s a tear-jerker but one very compelling because of the lead acting by Auli’i Cravalho, no cost on Netflix streaming (if you’re a subscriber or use their 30-day-free-trial-option).  Also, in the Short Takes section I’ll offer suggestions for some choices on the Turner Classic Movies channel (but too much extra text for line-justified-layout like you see here [Related Links stuff at each posting’s end is similarly-ragged], at least to be done by this burned-out-BlogSpot-drone—oh, tedious software!) along with my standard dose of industry-related-trivia. (9/3/20—Crown wasn't that painful!)

Here’s the trailer for All Together Now:

                   (Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate 

                   that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)

If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $.  To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid those important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters like this: 

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

What Happens: Given all the chaos in Portland, OR for many weeks now after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, MN on May 25, 2020, it’s nice to see a peaceful story set (and shot) in this marvelous Great Northwest city even though there’s a lot of personal heartache in All Together Now also.  At first you might think high-school senior Amber Appleton (Auli’i Cravalho) is auditioning for sainthood given all of the selfless activities she’s involved in.  (She appears to be conducting an ESL class for some Korean women at a church, overseen by Father Chee [C.S. Lee], getting them to join in with singing “The Clapping Song”* as a joyous way of applying the language [there’s not even salary as such for this service; she just takes whatever’s put in her “pay what you can” jar]; after her shifts at Annie’s Donuts she takes some leftovers to a retirement home where she also works on weekends, getting warm responses from most of those she encounters except for the sour take on life that always greets her from reclusive Joan [Carol Burnett].)  However, Amber’s living a very fragile existence, illegally sleeping in a school bus with her mother, Becky (Justina Machado), because they have nowhere else to go, can’t yet afford apartment rent (although Amber’s saving all she can toward that goal).  Mom drives the bus on a weekday basis, but at night it just sits in a lot with all the other buses; what extra clothing they have goes into a suitcase put each early morning into the luggage compartment of the bus—where, I assume, no one ever checks.  Amber depends on the bathrooms of others for showers (often claims her hot water’s on the fritz) and the kitchen of classmate Ricky (Anthony Jacques Jr.)—goes every morning to his home, wakes him up, gets breakfast for him (and herself) because his mother, Donna’s (Judy Reyes), a nurse on the night shift (Ricky’s got a great sense for details and puns but may be [unless I’m wrong; if so, my apologies] a bit on the autism spectrum, giving us more reason to appreciate Amber’s compassion).

*Here’s a portion (incomplete) of how this boisterous tune is used within those opening credits of All Together Now, but you might like a fuller version as done by Shirley Ellis with her 1965 hit single.

 While she’s at it, Amber also makes a fried-egg-sandwich each morning in Ricky’s kitchen for another classmate, Ty (Rhenzy Feliz), who picks them up on school days in his van (along with siblings Chad [Gerald Isaac Waters] and Jordan [Taylor Richardson], minor players in this narrative) because Ty’s the only one of them with access to a vehicle (his family’s more well off than the rest of this group; Ty’s generosity especially helps wheelchair-bound Chad), has to get up earlier than the rest of them for his chauffership so he benefits from Amber’s egg-kindness, which only enhances their mutual attraction (more overt on his part) although she denies he’s an actual boyfriend as she wants no obligations (nor anyone knowing the truth of her homeless situation), even brags she’s the only teenager in the country without a cell phone.  What she would like, though, is to attend Carnegie Mellon U. (clear across the country in Pittsburgh, PA) because her now-deceased-Dad went there (she still has his hoodie), bequeathing to her a strong musical talent (she’s a great singer as we get to witness in "Feels Like Home," accompanied by Ty on the piano, during the progress of this tale).

 With her unstoppable “can do” attitude, Amber’s also the organizer of her school’s annual Variety Show which she says this year should be to raise a few thousand to replace the marching band’s stolen tuba (the girl who played it still oddly marches along) because without that instrument the band can’t accompany the football team as they head to playoffs toward the state championship.  The downside of Amber’s life, though (beyond her logistical limitations), is her alcoholic-Mom’s periodic backsliding into drinking, especially at the Copper Kettle bar with Oscar, a guy they lived with until he got violent, still wants them to return which greatly tempts Becky (she has no other choice) even though Amber’s dead set against it (in an early scene Mom’s late getting back to the bus because she was with Oscar, brings Amber a slice of cheesecake for “dinner” which initially angers the daughter until she eats it, makes up with Becky).  Where things go wrong for "getting' by on getting' by"*-Amber is when someone reports the bus sleeping so Becky's fired, has a couple of despair drinks, decides they should go to Oscar which Amber rejects enough to go off on her own to sleep on a park bench; when she wakes up everything except her bike and her little dog, Bobby, has been stolen so she has no cash, extra clothes, schoolbooks with her frustration enhanced when using the school computer at her drama club hangout (run by teacher Mr. Franks [Fred Armisen]) she learns of an audition at Carnegie Mellon but has no idea how she’ll come up with the money for plane fare (in her stance of determined independence, Amber rejects both Mr. Franks’ offer of school funds for students in need and Mom’s plea to use the cash saved toward an apartment).  Things get worse when she visits Donna, hoping to stay with her, but Becky’s called over; she insists they move in with Oscar, Amber refuses, causing a break with Mom, so Amber does sleep on Donna’s couch after all.  ⇒Then the tragedy quotient really picks up in school when Amber’s called to the principal’s office where police tell her Becky and Oscar, drunk, were killed in a car wreck.  Amber blames herself, pushes everyone away, then somehow she manages to get enough cash together to fly to Carnegie Mellon for the audition, in desperate hope she can somehow pull her life back together.⇐

*Referring to a song about off-the-cuff-strategies on Jerry Jeff Walker’s 1973 ¡Viva Terlingua! album.

 ⇒On the morning she’s to leave for Pittsburgh, though, Bobby’s quite sick so instead it’s off to the vet to find out he has some sort of growth that needs to be removed, costing $8,000.  (This is no fictional-exaggeration; over the years I've spent that much on sick pets.)  By now Amber’s about lost all of her “life will be awesome”-glow, pushes Ty away, makes plans to drop out of school, work 70 hrs. per week to get Bobby’s money in a few months, with her future maybe destined for nothing but embracing donut-diversity.  Actually, she has no sense of the future at all, just wants to have the dog healthy again, when Ty shows up on the night of the Variety Show to take her there; she objects, says she has to work, but her donut-shop-boss says he’s closing early tonight so off she goes.  When they arrive she finds Ty (and Amber’s other friends) have changed the nature of the fund-raising—after an anonymous donor already bought the needed tuba—to raise the money for Bobby so Amber can get back in school.  Most everyone we’ve met by now (except Amber and Donna, who sit together in the front row [photo just below]) does a performance of some kind as Ty keeps tabs on their fund-raising from the community on a video screen where we see the total’s up to about $6,300 just before the final act which turns out to be the marching band’s rendition of “The Clapping Song,” fronted by the Korean ladies.  When they check the totals again there’s a shocking $206.8 thousand, easily enough to take care of Bobby, get Amber to Pittsburg, seemingly get her and Mom into an apartment; we find out a bit later it came from Joan, soft-heart-under-stern-exterior, who apparently has more money than she needs, generously shared it with Amber (who’s finally beginning to show her affection toward Ty, inspired by how much he obviously cares for her).  As our story ends, she’s at Carnegie Mellon being called in for her audition, without us knowing for sure what will come of it, but given the direction this plot takes as Amber gets it all together (now), we have reason to believe she’ll be accepted at this fine school, supported by a scholarship or further generosity from Joan.⇐

So What? After finding what I saw as a rather dismal set of streaming options, I was encouraged by a very positive review of All Together Now by Mark Kennedy (in the San Francisco Chronicle but pulled from the Associated Press) so it became my choice; after watching, my first response was this movie could have been on the Hallmark cable TV network given its overt sentimentality, constant march toward tragedy, followed by an astoundingly-upbeat finale.  (Oh, was that a spoiler?  If so, my apologies again, but, really, with a storyline of Amber’s almost-unbeatable-spirit, the clear indication of a willing support group [even when she tries to dismiss them], and a title implying a collective triumph [plus a peppy trailer] I doubt you’d think this ends in tragedy [well, maybe if made by Ingmar Bergman’s grandson, but in reality screenwriter-director Haley’s past work includes I’ll See You in My Dreams {2015; review in our June 10, 2015 posting}, The Hero {2017—must have missed it}, Hearts Beat Loud {2018; review in our July 4, 2018 posting}, and he’s set to direct the upcoming Grease prequel, Summer Lovin', so it’s unlikely to expect tragedy from this guy]).  However, despite the romanticized (in the full, flowery sense of that term, not just referring to relationship-linkups) nature of All Together Now, I must say I enjoyed it, just not quite as much as Kennedy (“Actually, asking for more is at the very center of this film. The concept that allowing someone’s help is a gift to that other person is a lesson that Amber learns. If it inspires us to reach out a little more, so much the better.”)  

 Ultimately, we don’t know what happens in Amber's audition (Damn!  Is this yet another spoiler?  But I didn’t say when it occurs or what comes of it—at least outside of my blue-warning-text—so maybe there’s a lot more here in Pittsburgh [Or maybe not; are you interested enough to find out or will you just cheat and read my blue lines?  If you decide to actually see the movie, though, let me know; I might send you one of Annie’s donuts!]) so we don’t have a fabulous-Flashdance (Adrian Lyne, 1983)-type-finale, which is just as well because at 93 min. this little story does a successful-enough-job as it is just conveying what happens with resilient-Amber as a lesson in facing up to adversity (also learning how to accept as well as provide), giving us a chance to verify what a marvelous singer Cravalho is (as an Hawaiian, she appropriately provided the voice/vocals for the title character in Disney’s animated feature, Moana [Ron Clements and John Musker, 2016; review in our December 15, 2016 posting]), adding the additional pleasure of seeing Carol Burnett on screen again, plus reminding us of how soothing just being in Portland can be with my hopes the residents there will soon be able to return to living in a violence-free-city where people can celebrate being as generous as Amber and her friends rather than facing the burden of those downtown confrontations.

Bottom Line Final Comments: The CCAL’s mildly supportive of All Together Now, just not at a level that would likely make you rush to see it: Rotten Tomatoes critics tally 75% positive reviews while those at Metacritic are at their usual lower level with a 63% average score.  In that it’s not playing in theaters I have no idea what kind of income it might be making from Netflix streaming because it’s available for no cost there to subscribers or for those who take advantage of their 30-day-free-trial-offer; nevertheless, I can say it’s easily accessible, may be a useful antidote for all the trauma going on around the country (U.S.A. in my case, but from what I see/read in the news I’ll bet most of you abroad are facing your own traumatic issues) with armed conflicts between vigilantes (some posing as protesters, some posing as sanctioned militia; not “very fine people on both sides” when any of them are burning/looting/shooting) in some of our cities, personal/business devastation from wildfires or hurricanes, political attack ads from all directions, and, of course, the ever-present-presence of COVID-19 taking its deadly toll on health, lives, attempts at financial stability.  As Mark Kennedy implies above, we could all use relief from the natural disasters, political maneuverings, and social ills continuing to make 2020 a year that seems like it can’t end too soon.  All Together Now offers its share of grief as well but encourages us to not only rise above our troubles as best we can but also to be open to help, however it may be offered to us.  Even if you don’t care to see if you can be cheered up by this movie, let me attempt another tactic for your levitation with my standard-review-wrap-up-tactic of a Musical Metaphor, a quite obvious one in this case which would have worked nicely into the soundtrack (but might have been too expensive, given the likely-limited-budget for this work), The Beatles’ “All Together Now” (from their 1968 animated feature, Yellow Submarine [George Dunning, several others]) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM8S4Y7 FPMk (from the very end of their movie, but if you’d like a slightly longer version here’s the one from the soundtrack album) with its easy-to-sing-chorus (even more so than “The Clapping Song”), its simple plea for embracing love (a feeling ultimately abounding in the movie All Together Now), along with its hint of love in a manner not just celebrated in a children’s sing-a-long (Amber and Ty haven’t gotten to the point of “Can I bring my friend to bed?” yet, though I sense that is ultimately inevitable).

 But, after reading so much here about a movie some might dismiss as mere sentiment (just don’t try that approach with my abounding-with-empathy-wife, Nina, or at least be prepared for her vigorous defense of effectively-used-sentimentality [compared to her fervent fascination with the often-more-challenging-tunes of John Lennon she usually considers the more-commercial-sounds—and the unnecessary-red-dye-job on his septuagenarian hair in recent years—of Paul McCartney to be something to prompt changing to another radio station, but even she would say of "Silly Love Songs"-attitudes and movies that touch the heart in a genuine manner, “What’s wrong with that? I’d like to know”] because love, decency, caring are to be treasured, soothing to our troubled spirits: “Love doesn’t come in a minute Sometimes it doesn’t come at all I only know that when I’m in it It isn’t silly, love isn’t silly, love isn’t silly at all”) you might feel you deserve a Metaphor with more length, more impact, so keeping with this ongoing Beatles-inspired-theme—and acknowledging I’d like you to scroll down to Suggestions for TCM cablecasts below to find the fabulous documentary of the 1969 Woodstock festival will be shown on Labor Day—I’ll give you the highly-energetic-version of “With a Little Help from My Friends” (a song originally on the 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album) from Joe Cocker and the Grease Band (a video further energized by being shot from a projection of the Woodstock doc so this camera could bounce around with Joe’s frantic movements [not in the original where there’s already enough unstable action just from Joe]) because the All Together Now movie’s all about getting “by with a little help from my friends,” whether that friend is Amber on the giving end or receiving support from the others she’s touched so well in this story, as there’s no more basic question/answer in human experience than: “Do you need anybody? I just need someone to love” (with yet another hint at a future for Amber and Ty: “What do you see when you turn out the light? I can’t tell you, but I know it’s mine”).  I encourage you to tune in (Maybe you need to turn on first?) to Woodstock (and the other music docs I note below)—even if you have to record it for segmented-viewing given its long running time—but a very nice warm-up would be Amber’s story in All Together Now; Nina would probably encourage that even more than me (I know she’d encourage you to watch Janis Joplin’s show-stopping-performance of “Ball and Chain” in Monterey Pop [TCM, just before Woodstock on Labor Day; let the musicians do the work]).

                

Short Takes

               

Suggestions for TCM cablecasts

         

At least until the pandemic subsides Two Guys also want to encourage you to consider movies you might be interested in that don’t require subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, similar Internet platforms (we may well be stuck inside for longer than those 30-day-free-initial-offers), or premium-tier-cable-TV-fees.  While there are a good number of video networks offering movies of various sorts (mostly broken up by commercials), one dependable source of fine cinematic programming is Turner Classic Movies (available in lots of basic-cable-packages) so I’ll be offering suggestions of possible choices for you running from Thursday afternoon of the current week (I usually get this blog posted by early Thursday mornings) on through Thursday morning of the following week.  All times are U.S. Eastern Daylight so if you see something of interest please verify actual show time in your area for the day listed.  These recommendations are my particular favorites (no matter when they’re on, although some of those early-day-ones might need to be recorded, watched later), but there’s considerably more to pick from you might like better; feel free to explore their entire schedule here. You can also click on that + sign just at the right of each listing to find additional, useful info.

Lots of great upcoming music documentaries but there are some marvelous dramatic narratives too.

Thursday September 3, 2020

6:00 PM Summer of ’42 (Robert Mulligan, 1971) Romantic coming-of-age story set in New England during the U.S.A.’s early WW II years as a teenager (Gary Grimes) becomes fascinated with a young woman (Jennifer O’Neill) married to a soldier who’s just shipped out; she’s nice to the boy but makes none of the advances he dreams of while one of his friends furiously pursues a local girl. What must come next is terribly heartbreaking but I won’t spoil it for you. Won an Oscar for Best Original Score.

Friday September 4, 2020

9:30 AM Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) Marvelous; big hit then now ranked as one of the best, if not the actual top comedy of all time, with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis disguised as women in a nightclub band in Florida trying to escape gangsters after they witness the brutal St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago; also stars Marilyn Monroe, George Raft, and Pat O’Brien (won an Oscar for Best B&W Costume Design). Joe E. Brown’s final line was terrific for its time, now it’s immortal.

11:45 AM The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960) Romantic comedy & satire of corporate immorality as execs at a huge insurance company force a lower-echelon-guy, Bud Baxter (Jack Lemon), to use his place for affairs, including Personnel Director (Fred MacMurray) with Bud’s secret attraction (Shirley MacLaine), then complications arise. Won 5 Oscars—Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay (Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond), Art Direction-Black & White, Film Editing—plus nominated for 5 more.

8:00 PM The T.A.M.I. Show (Steve Binder, 1964) Documenting a concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium bringing together an amazing group of hitmakers: Jan & Dean, Chuck Berry, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Lesley Gore, The Beach Boys, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, The Supremes, James Brown & the Famous Flames (amazing set), and The Rolling Stones, plus The Wrecking Crew (includes Glen Campbell, Leon Russell) as the house band.

Saturday September 5, 2020

2:30 PM Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939) Brought the genre up to a more adult level with themes of East vs. West values, letter vs. spirit of the law, a story elevating John Wayne to the realm of major star (but Claire Trevor, as Dallas the prostitute, got top billing). Wayne’s an escaped (framed) jailbird out to avenge dishonor to his family (Indians aren’t treated well here either). Also stars Andy Devine, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell (Oscar, Best Supporting Actor); Oscar for Best Music Scoring.

4:15 PM East of Eden (Elia Kazan, 1955) James Dean’s screen debut as Cal Trask, a WW I-era young man living near Monterey, CA trying to win the love of his stern father, Adam (Raymond Massey), who gives more support to other son, Aron (Richard Davalos), adapted from the stunning John Steinbeck novel (with its intended Biblical overtones). Even when Cal makes a fortune for Dad he’s rejected so he shames Aron by revealing Mom (Jo Van Fleet) isn’t dead after all but lives nearby, running a brothel.   Won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (Van Fleet); Dean (already dead by the time of the awards) was nominated for Best Actor (as he was for his last, Giant [1956]).

10:00 PM Shine a Light (Martin Scorsese, 2008) Doc of a concert at the Beacon Theater on upper Broadway NYC, this is a fairly typical (that is, highly energetic, filled with famous hits) Rolling Stones show (oddly enough for a Scorsese film, though, there’s no “Gimme Shelter) including, among many others, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Shattered,” “As Tears Go By,” “Just My Imagination,” “Far Away Eyes,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Start Me Up,” “Brown Sugar,” closing w/ “Satisfaction.”

Monday September 7, 2020 (Labor Day)

2:00 PM Don’t Look Back (D.A. Pennebaker, 1967) Documentary about Bob Dylan’s 1965 concert tour of England presents a completely-factual-look at a rock star at the height of his popularity with additional appearances by Joan Baez (about to break up with Dylan), Donovan, Alan Price (who’d just left the Animals), Dylan’s overbearing-manager Albert Grossman, and others; features terrific solo (acoustic) Dylan numbers as well as no attempt to hide some issues of backstage discord.

8:00 PM Monterey Pop (D.A. Pennebaker, 1969) First huge-audience, major-stars gathering: 1967 Monterey Pop Festival featuring Scott McKenzie, The Mamas & the Papas, Canned Heat, Simon & Garfunkel, Hugh Masekela, Jefferson Airplane, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Country Joe & the Fish, Otis Redding (terrific, even compared to other triumphs); highlights include The Who trashing the stage, Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar, Janis Joplin’s amazing rendition of “Ball and Chain,” Ravi Shankar doing a stunning 20-min. raga. Most only do one song so the run time’s a mere 79 min.

9:30 PM Woodstock: The Director’s Cut (Michael Wadleigh, 1970) An amazing doc culled from the 

3 days of the original 1969 festival in upstate NY with a lineup too long to list. Some of my favorites include Richie Havens (“Freedom”), The Who (a Tommy medley), Sha-Na-Na (“At the Hop”), Joe Cocker (“With a Little Help from My Friends”), Crosby, Stills & Nash (“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”), Country Joe McDonald (“FISH Cheer”), Santana (“Soul Sacrifice”), Jimi Hendrix (“The Star-Spangled Banner”). This is the 1994 reissue at 224 min (original ran 185), so settle in and hang loose, man.

Tuesday September 8, 2020

1:30 AM A Hard Day’s Night (Richard Lester, 1964) Beatles’ big-screen-debut based loosely on their actual Beatlemania lives as world-sensation-rock-musicians now burst upon the scene. While a bit exaggerated in terms of what the Fab Four’s offstage lives were like, the performances accurately mirror the fan fanaticism of the time, while the overall movie incorporates some French New Wave-inspired looseness with visual approaches, meandering plot lines, taking it to a notably higher level.

If you’d like your own PDF of the rating/summary of this week's review, suggestions for TCM cablecasts, links to Two Guys info click this link to access then save, print, or whatever you need.

Other Cinema-Related Stuff: Some extra items you might be interested in: (1) Actually watching Tenet in a theater (I won’t be able to do that anytime soon);👉 (2) California sets strict rules for theater reopenings; (3) Theater chains will re-release 42 as a tribute to Chadwick Boseman; (4) Disney's Mulan set for September 11, 2020 release in China (will stream on Disney + in the U.S.).  As usual for now I’ll close out this section with Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi" (from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album)—because “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone”—and my reminder of searching many streaming/rental/purchase movie options at JustWatch.

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

We encourage you to visit the summary of Two Guys reviews for our past posts.*  Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our Two Guys in the Dark homepage.  If you’d like to Like us on Facebook please visit our Facebook page. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it!

*Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problems’ been manually fixed so that all postings since July 11, 2013 now have the proper functioning link.

Here’s more information about All Together Now:

https://www.netflix.com/title/80237870 (a minimal official website at Netflix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiCbIjFOpSs (8:56 overview of the movie 

and some background on its notable actors—without spoilers)

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/all_together_now_2020

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/all-together-now-2020

Please note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account (which you can easily get at https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount if you need to sign up) or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post.  You can also leave comments at our Facebook page, although you may have to somehow connect 

with us at that site in order to do it (most FB procedures are still a bit of a mystery to us old farts).

If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work.  (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews-academic-articles about various cinematic topics at my website, https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)

If we did talk, though, you’d easily see how my early-70s-age informs my references, Musical Metaphors, etc. in these reviews because I’m clearly a guy of the later 20^th century, not so much the contemporary world.  I’ve come to accept my ongoing situation, though, realizing we all (if fate allows) keep getting older, we just have to embrace it, as Joni Mitchell did so well in "The Circle Game," offering sage advice even when she was quite young herself.

By the way, if you’re ever at The Hotel California knock on my door—but you know what the check-out policy is so be prepared to stay for awhile (quite an eternal while, in fact).  Ken

P.S.  Just to show that I haven’t fully flushed Texas out of my system here’s an alternative destination for you, Home in a Texas Bar, with Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker.  But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion, lover, and wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"

—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes and wanes over the months/years to come.

               

OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER (although Google Chrome usually is decent also); OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.

             

Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were 9,927 (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers); below is a snapshot of where and by what means those responses have come from within the previous week (with appreciation for all those unspecified “Others” also):

Share this post