OKIE

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Before we get started, no, I don't believe there's any relation to Matthew.

Boston McConaughey is the director of ALIEN COUNTRY, a sci-fi horror comedy he co-produced and co-wrote with Renny Grames to kick off their production company.

It follows Everly (Grames), an aspiring singer who's just discovered she's pregnant. First instinct? Get out of Dodge. Her small Utah town seems only conducive to raising shitkickers, Clint Eastwood wannabes and man-children. The third bracket is where her baby daddy Jimmy (K.C. Clyde) firmly resides.

On the way out, though, Everly's car breaks down, and Jimmy's the one to spot her hitchhiking on the side of the road: a double-whammy that normally would seal her fate to spend her life as a bar-crooning stay-at-home mom.

But shenanigans place a glowing orb in the couple's possession. When tampered with (because of course they would), a portal to another world opens, which lets loose a couple of tentacled insect-dog aliens into their small town. Via rules of "you let em out, you put em in," we have a movie!

This is a cartoon, for better and worse, firmly devoted to its influences: ALIEN, THE WORLD'S END, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, SIGNS, WAR OF THE WORLDS - the list goes on. It's got drones, a demolition derby, purple blood splatters, swaths of neon, motorcycle chases - all achieving a similar effect to waving keys in front of a baby to keep their attention.

I can't say I wasn't sufficiently distracted nor failed to crack a single grin but I can't also find myself recommending or remembering this movie two weeks from now.

ALIEN COUNTRY is available now to watch on VOD and in select theaters.
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I interview Kenneth Trujillo, the lead actor of I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE, about the process of becoming a mute ex-con in DW Medoff's horror drama. Through his confident performance, he anchors the vicious downer with empathy and cautious hope.
How does one prepare to be trapped inside a house for six days with one's trauma, manifested via a ghoulish witch? Trujillo says there's a lot of research involved.
We talk about the camera, that total diva. What are the hardest things to do in front of it? How does one craft a performance based on its demands? Is the stage more forgiving? (It's okay. She's not here; Tell the truth.)
Kenneth (Kenny, to friends) is a fun hang: warm, buoyant and thoughtful. Y'all are in for a treat.
I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE is available now to watch on VOD and in select theaters.
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I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE, directed by DW Medoff, is about Richard (Kenneth Trujillo), a mute ex-con whose first job out of prison is to spend six days isolated in a "haunted" house to ensure the removal of its spirits. His realtor boss says the job's as easy as lighting a candle and saying a prayer each night. Has she ever SEEN a horror movie?
Richard's traumatic past blends with local myth to create a disturbing cocktail. In the house, every creak and shuffle is heard. Every noise requires investigation. Richard often catches a glimpse of a masked presence or a putrid hand, the kind of sight horror hounds associate with a musical sting. There's little surprise to these scenes (though I've got to applaud Medoff on one scare that cleverly frames the jump just outside of my eye line).
When Richard isn't searching out sounds, he's plagued by flashbacks to life with his infant son and wife (Katerina Eichenberger), newly post-partum. These scenes, devoid of color, reveal a severely depressed woman calling for help and a husband coping with his inability/unwillingness? to be emotionally present, masking with substance abuse. These affairs are often more painful to watch than the ghost stuff.
I'd be fine with this dynamic but the movie goes down shocking avenues whose tone (...darkly comedic?) takes me out of the movie. Ari Aster's HEREDITARY or Scott Derrickson's SINISTER handle this juggling act better by maintaining a more consistent balance between the vicious family drama and ghoulish scenes. In I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE, the balance comes off as choppy.
Trujillo's confident, nuanced performance keeps most of these troubles at arm's length and I see it doing as such for others. He's carrying six long life-changing years on his back; his gait carries such burden. Richard surveys every space he's in with suspicion, even before he enters the house. The flashbacks reveal a more rash, more easily wounded man whose hedonism offers a false sense of macho security. But throughout the story, Trujillo's eyes remain the same: a tender man who, at his core, wants simply to be a good example, someone worthy of redemption, of hope.
Does this movie work for me? No. The choppy tone combined with a formulaic approach to the horror keep me at arm's length. But I can see how others could cling to it and its descriptions of substance abuse, emotional unavailability, life-altering guilt and pursuit of a life where such pain can be properly managed. I hope, in that sense, it'll never leave someone feeling alone.
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Daniel from 2024 here: Spotify got onto me for playing other folks' songs on the show so I had to cut out the track from the episode. It's fucking with my numbering system, but whaddaya gonna do? I actually can't scrub all of the song, but here's hoping I took out enough that the autobots (not the fun kind) leave me be. In the meantime, let's go back to the inaugural Make Believe Seattle Film Festival where I covered David Farrier's MISTER ORGAN!

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The Make Believe Seattle Film Festival coverage trucks along with David Farrier's documentary "Mister Organ"! Farrier, a New Zealand-based documentarian and journalist (known for 2016's TICKLED), focuses this story on Michael Organ, an enigmatic con man known for forging documents, stealing yachts and serving $760 tickets to folks who park at Bashford Antiques' lot after close. Regarding that last point, he's not a traffic cop or anything. The owner actually hired him to just enforce these exorbitant rules. Add in multiple reports of threatening and violent behavior and Farrier now feels the need to get to the bottom of what makes this douchebag tick.

After Farrier becomes the target of Organ's most recent lawsuit, he falls into the whirlpool of Organ's bullshit. To make matters worse, Organ realizes Farrier is making a documentary about him and decides to involve himself in the story. We're not talking "involved" by way of a simple sit-down interview; Organ ENTRENCHES himself in Farrier's life to creepy and mentally draining effect.

The documentary's definitely a wild piece of pulp, but I'd be lying if I said it was an unflappable piece of journalism. It kinda reminds me of a Netflix true-crime-of-the-week piece. But hey, those things are fun enough! And Organ, as a subject, is definitely weird enough...

--------------------------- Closing Song: "Picasso Baby" - Jay-Z --------------------------- Review THE MOVIES on Apple Podcasts & I'll read it on the next episode! --------------------------- Follow Daniel on: Twitter - @TheMovies_Pod Instagram - @themoviespod Letterboxd - https://letterboxd.com/Daniel_Berrios/

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Maximina Juson comes onto THE MOVIES to discuss her new documentary, ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE? The movie tells the history of the electoral college, the actual Constitutional manner in which the president is elected. Following four Colorado electors during the 2020 presidential election, the movie provides an underseen look at the people who place the official votes for president. When we vote for president, we're really voting to assemble a group of these folks to cast their ballots in the electoral college. Some have been involved in politics for decades, shaking hands with governors, presidents and popes. Some have only been able to vote for months.

Juson and I discuss slavery's influence on the electoral college's creation, the abuses committed through said system in service of nabbing political power and the importance of civic education.

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ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE? is available to stream on the PBS app.

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