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Review: Louis C.K. New Stand Up Special Sorry

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Review: Louis C.K. New Stand Up Special Sorry

The recent and righteous reckoning of men accused of sexual misconduct has caused culture to consider how to handle great artists who’ve done terrible things. Some say it’s possible to divorce artists from their art and still be able to appreciate the work itself, like Kate Maltby, who writes, “No one is continuing to be abused if you download ‘Thriller‘ on iTunes.” Others believe in a stricter assessment of art throughout the centuries, like Hannah Gadsby, who’s said, “Just because it’s been around for centuries, doesn’t mean it’s cool to be a creepy old man. Stop watching women sleeping; stop watching women having baths. Go away.”

Louis C.K. is an interesting example of this, specifically since he’s continued producing material to a devoted audience even after news of his sexual harassment broke. His Grammy, Emmy, and Peabody Award-winning work has fundamentally changed the way people think about and perform comedy, and he created one of the most unique series of the past decade, but he was a powerful man who exposed and touched himself in front of up-and-coming women in his field. He began performing again after a brief hiatus, barely mentioning his past misconduct beyond the fact that it cost him a lot of money. His special Sincerely Louis C.K. is currently nominated for a Grammy, and his new special (and merchandise) has just been released, prompting some to ask if ‘cancel culture’ actually exists.

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This new stand-up special Sorry continues the comic’s constant stirring of the pot; even his promotional advertisement during Saturday Night Live sent Twitter into an angry tizzy. The backlash has continued, with social media’s outrage machine shifting from Dave Chappelle to Louis C.K. fairly quickly. Whether or not someone refuses to watch his special out of principle or supports canceling Louis C.K., it must be said that one cannot accurately assess or criticize Sorry itself without seeing it.

Related: Louis C.K. Returns to Stand-Up Next Week with a Nationwide Tour

Courting Controversy

Louis’ legendary and adored comedy specials from 2007 to 2015 existed in a decidedly different social space. Even though recent stand-up comedy has reflected culture’s evolving sensitivities, Sorry unapologetically retains his old hyper-profane and sexual routine, and never once mentions his scandal. The giant, neon-lit “SORRY” sign perpetually behind C.K. is unabashedly ironic and almost mean-spirited, as the comic seems to go out of his way to upset the politically correct just as much as ever.

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His set is certainly topical (in the most controversial of ways) and it almost seems as if the comedian is locating whatever will offend the most at this particular moment, which seems to be an impulse within most comics. His targets include defunding the police, the coronavirus, protestors, the LGBTQ+ experience, and pedophilia, one of C.K.’s consistently favorite subjects. He jokes about 9/11 being a hoax, does an extended bit about children panties, and does an impression of a black woman (after stating, “I’m not gonna do the black woman [voice],”).

Related: Louis C.K. Comments on Misconduct Scandal in Latest Stand-Up Set

One particular joke is so tasteless and ignorant that it hurts. C.K. discusses how he believes that nobody seems to mind when overweight individuals are judged by society, while transgender people get, through his harsh eyes, special treatment like bathrooms. “You know how many people are fat?” he asks. “About a billion trillion. You know how many trans people there are? Like 38.” This awful comparison is indicative of the comic’s tendency to confuse being hurtful with being provocative.

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If all this sounds like the setlist of a misanthropic member of the alt-right, it’s because it just nearly is. His last specials have been accused of pandering to the alt-right, what with his criticism of the victims of the Parkland shooting, his rants against gender pronouns, and his bitterness toward the ‘woke generation.’ However, Sorry does something slightly different and actually thought-provoking rather than intentionally shocking, and has some truly hilarious moments.

Related: Louis C.K. Has a New Stand-Up Special and of Course People Are Outraged

It’s Subtle But It’s There

Though the material is profane and occasionally vicious, C.K. surprises viewers by adopting interesting perspectives with a kind of dark logic to them. He subverts the expectations of his more conservative or radical fans when he delivers a lengthy piece supporting gender fluidity and the non-binary deconstruction of “the rigidity of identities,” a monologue that may actually change some hearts and minds on the subject.

While he jokes about pedophilia extensively, he manages to point out the problems when society refuses to talk about something; his fear that he might get arrested by merely using a search engine to discover how many children are abused is telling and provocative. His joke about creating childlike blow-up dolls for pedophiles seems crass, but he addresses the twisted rationality of it by asking why creating an inflatable doll seems horrific compared to the alternative of human children being victimized.

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Whether this is enough to redeem his material is up to the viewer. C.K. has excelled at providing dark thought experiments and harsh but hilarious social commentary throughout his career, and some of that is certainly present in Sorry. It’s clear that nothing is off limits here, and the question of whether some things should be has haunted comedy for ages. Regardless of one’s opinion of political correctness, censorship, and ‘cancel culture,’ the world is clearly entering a moment of backlash from comedians, politicians, and the voting populace. Louis C.K. could be grouped in with the aforementioned Chappelle, Bill Burr, John Cleese, Ricky Gervais, and others who are especially concerned that by making certain subjects off-limit society is censoring free speech.

Related: Louis C.K. Banned by Denver Comedy Club Following Intense Backlash

Sorry, Not Sorry

The special can be very funny in between its aggressive opposition to political correctness, though it is somewhat top-heavy, with most of the best material occurring in the opening half-hour. His timing and delivery are impeccable even when the jokes slog or become monotonous, and his mastery of the craft is clear from the start. He directs and produces practically all of his material now, and his complete control of the special allows the editing and direction to synchronize with the stand-up in smooth and effective ways.

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It would be easy to suggest taking Sorry on its own terms and evaluating it based on its comedy, but society is in a moment wherein the appreciation of a comedy special is contingent upon a person’s politics, ethics, level of outrage, and Twitter feed. Ultimately, whether people even consider watching this special is determined by their relationship to political correctness and evolving social norms. If one does end up watching it, though, they’re almost sure to laugh, at least when they’re not cringing.



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Bullet Train Review: A Wickedly Funny, High-Octane Thrill Ride

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Bullet Train Review: A Wickedly Funny, High-Octane Thrill Ride

Brad Pitt leads a wickedly funny ensemble in a high-octane actioner loaded with twists. Adapted from the 2010 Japanese novel by Kōtarō Isaka, Bullet Train has a bevy of disparate assassins manipulated by a mysterious criminal mastermind. Stuntman turned action director, David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde), stays true to form with unrelenting bloody and flamboyant violence. The codenamed characters get downright verbose before beating, stabbing, and shooting each other to bits. The loquacious banter tends to run long, but the narrative always bounces back with sharp reveals. Strap in for a helluva ride.

Ladybug (Pitt) boards the overnight bullet train to Tokyo with a newfound sense of self. He’s chock-full of philosophy after recovering from a near fatal ambush. Ladybug ignores his unseen handler’s advice to take a gun. Surely any issues can be resolved peacefully. The job seems straightforward enough. Steal a briefcase with a sticker and exit at the next stop.

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Also on board are Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) and Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), ruthless “twins” known for their brutal methods. Lemon is obsessed with the British children’s show “Thomas & Friends”. He reads people by comparing them to the anthropomorphized trains. The twins are escorting the previously kidnapped son (Logan Lerman) of a powerful gangster, the White Death (Michael Shannon).

None of the hired guns are aware of the Father, aka Yuichi Kimura’s (Andrew Koji), mission. He’s out for vengeance but foolishly runs into a deceptive figure. The Prince (Joey King) has a score to settle with the White Death. Meanwhile, the Wolf (Bad Bunny) joins the fray after his truly horrific Mexican wedding. He’s also ready for serious comeuppance. Ladybug quickly realizes they’re all unwitting pawns in a dangerous game. Someone has packed the train with killers for an unknown purpose. He desperately wants to get off but can’t seem to escape the carnage.


Related: I Love My Dad Review: Patton Oswalt’s Delightfully Cringeworthy Catfishing Comedy

Cast of Bullet Train

Bullet Train introduces the cast with splashy entrances that flashes back to their dark pasts. The murderous montages are informative but don’t fill in every gap. The script doles out more critical information as the bodies pile up. Alliances bounce back and forth as everyone wonders who’s actually pulling the strings. The whodunit element works well as the audience becomes embroiled in a series of betrayals. You don’t have a sense of the plot’s true trajectory until the third act. The film builds to a showdown that delivers a huge action payoff.

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Bullet Train has complex characters that each contribute slices of devilish humor. Brad Pitt preaching self-help and understanding is an effective gag throughout. Brian Tyree Henry’s constant comparisons to Thomas & Friends aren’t as comical but play an important role in the story. There are a lot of moving parts. Leitch, who worked as Pitt’s stunt double for years, is clearly fond of his players. He gives everyone a chance to babble incessantly. I would have trimmed the dialogue to be more incisive.


The action scenes are worth the price of admission. Leitch has a great eye for mixing stylized set pieces with intimate fights. He knows when to go big and small. You never feel let down by his pacing. There’s always the right amount of adrenaline to keep your pulse pumping. Bullet Train is another feather in a skilled filmmaker’s cap. Watch out for A-list cameos and a mid-credits scene.

Bullet Train is a production of Columbia Pictures, Fuqua Films, and 87North Productions. It will be released theatrically on August 5th from Sony Pictures.

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Bullet Train Review: Brad Pitt Has A Blast In The Silly And Badass Action Comedy

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Bullet Train Review: Brad Pitt Has A Blast In The Silly And Badass Action Comedy

If orchestrated properly, with adjusted stakes, tone, and atmosphere, there can be a beautiful, symbiotic relationship between intense action and comedy. A hero pulling off a rapid and vicious series of blows against an opponent can be savage and dramatic in one context, but it can also be so deliriously awesome that an audience’s first reaction is to laugh. Fast paced martial arts can be used for wonderful physical humor (see: the legendary career of Jackie Chan), and the best examples provide dual layers of entertainment: you marvel at the skill in all the ass-kicking, and cackle at the creativity in the choreography.

This is a sweet spot that filmmaker David Leitch knows well. After peppering funny moments in John Wick and Atomic Blonde at the start of his directorial career, he brilliantly utilized the action/comedy weapon that is Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool 2, and crafted some excellent physicality with the unique styles of Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. His latest, Bullet Train, is another effort that takes aim at that particular tonal target, this time with his most expansive ensemble yet, and it’s another success. With a sensibility that could be described as early Guy Ritchie with more specific action focus, it’s a movie that is both silly and skilled and inspires its primary star in particular to do energetic and engaging work.

Based on the novel Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka, the film weaves multiple narrative threads through the cars of the titular bullet train as it speeds through the country of Japan – all of the protagonists being killers with their own particular reason and motivation for being aboard. Ladybug (Brad Pitt), for example, is a hired gun who has been tasked by his handler (Sandra Bullock) to perform what sounds like a simple job: find a briefcase marked with a train sticker and steal it. What he doesn’t know, though, is that said briefcase belongs to a pair of British hit men named Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) and Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and that the contents include the recovered ransom for the kidnapped son (Logan Lerman) of a powerful crime lord known as The White Death.

Meanwhile, Kimura a.k.a. The Father (Andrew Koji) is on the bullet train because he is on a mission of vengeance – hunting down the person responsible for nearly killing his son by pushing the boy off of a building. What he doesn’t expect is that the individual he is looking for is a young woman identified as The Prince (Joey King), and that she has purposefully gotten him on the high speed rail with the intention of forcing him to execute an assassination attempt.

And while five killers sharing the space would be enough for most movies, Bullet Train actually has even more that pop in and surprise throughout the film’s runtime – and their roles are worth keeping as a secret pre-release.

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Bullet Train has a chaotic storyline, but the pieces properly connect as a fun puzzle.

Narratively speaking, Bullet Train is a messy movie to put together, as focus briskly ping-pongs between the different players, but everything stays in harmony as the film persistently finds ways to build on each protagonist’s arc. This is particularly cool later in the movie as different characters are drawn together from individual angles and instant conflict is generated from their simple interaction.

The film is at its best when it keeps things simple, but it does let things go off the rails at times (if you’ll pardon the pun). This is especially true as it gets into the third act and it tries to pull off stunts like one of the leads leaping from a platform on to the back of the train as it leaves a station; it’s both a problem for the “rules” of the universe and in its strained use of visual effects. The movie also frequently tries to get a bit too cute and Tarantino-esque with what are admittedly familiar-but-not-quite-stock characters – the most prominent example being an ongoing and quickly tiresome gag with Lemon explaining that he understands people through the lens of Thomas The Tank Engine.

Primarily, though, it’s a movie that is able to generate its entertainment with engaging and quippy dynamics between the members of the ensemble, both when they are talking out their issues and trying to kill one another.

David Leitch puts a lot of exciting and weird fights in a confined space, and is at its best when working with a “less is more” philosophy.

Coming from a stunt background, both as a performer and a coordinator, David Leitch’s bread and butter remains deftly and specifically choreographed action sequences, and Bullet Train proves to be a terrific challenge and opportunity for his skills. Regardless of where you are in the titular transport, space is not a luxury, and the best fights in the movie are those that are being fought only between the characters, but against the limitations provided by the location.

There are guns, knives and explosives in the mix, but Bullet Train also has some terrific “found item” moments that add spice and humor to the various showdowns, whether it’s a pocketed cell phone saving a character’s life from a blade, a laptop making for a solid cudgel, a water bottle making for a useful projectile, or a venomous snake showing up at a perfect moment.

Once again we see David Leitch work a special magic turning dramatic and comedic actors into badasses with slick and stylish moves, and while everyone shows off some terrific skills, it’s very much the Brad Pitt show at the end of the day.

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Brad Pitt’s joy in the role of Ladybug is palpable.

At the nexus of everything good in Bullet Train is Brad Pitt, who very clearly had a blast reuniting with David Leitch (who performed the actor’s stunts in films including Fight Club, The Mexican, Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Troy). He’s a joy to watch in action not just because of the talented craft he demonstrates in his physicality, but how he channels the psychology of the character. As we meet him, Ladybug is reluctantly getting back into his business following a number of important breakthroughs with his therapist, and Pitt does a fantastic job conveying that he doesn’t ever want to choose violence as a first answer – both via verbal pleas and defense-heavy moves. Action/comedy is a genre he should revisit a lot more often.

Bullet Train doesn’t aim to revolutionize hitman movies, but instead plays with a tongue-in-cheek vibe that lets you recognize the tropes and appreciate how the film plays with them. It’s a slick/goofy action movie that is both contained and wild, and a satisfying late summer release.

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Luck Review: A Spectacular Debut Film from Skydance Animation

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Luck Review: A Spectacular Debut Film from Skydance Animation

The world’s unluckiest woman enters a magical land to change the fortunes of a fellow orphan. Luck will make you smile and possibly shed a few tears. The big-budget, CGI animated fantasy shines a spotlight on needy children while telling a truly original story. An assortment of lucky critters and creatures dazzle in a spectacular setting. The highly imaginative narrative gives age-old superstitions a dynamic new spin. Luck is a brilliant first film from Skydance Animation.

Sam Greenfield (Eva Noblezada) reaches her eighteenth birthday with trepidation. She’s finally aged out of the foster care system. Sam never found her “forever family”. She spent her entire life living in orphanages. It doesn’t help that Sam has the worst luck. Everything she does or touches ends in abject disaster. Her only thoughts are for young Hazel (Adelynn Spoon), Sam’s roommate at the girls home. Sam has been set up with a job and tiny apartment. She has to stay in school and employed to remain housed.

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Sam’s first day at Marv’s (Lil Rel Howery) floral shop goes exactly as expected. She sadly eats dinner sitting on a sidewalk. Sam learns that Hazel’s weekend trip with a foster family was canceled. She gives half of her sandwich to a curious black cat. It scampers away but leaves a strange penny behind.

The following day is a revelation. Sam’s lucky penny changes everything. Her ecstatic mood sours when she loses the penny in spectacular fashion. Stewing on the sidewalk, Sam’s surprised when the black cat returns. She’s astonished when Bob (Simon Pegg) asks for his penny. The “travel penny” is the only way a creature from the Land of the Luck stays safe in the human world. She follows an unnerved Bob back through the portal to the Land of Luck. Sam has to find another lucky penny to help Hazel. Bob reluctantly agrees, but they have to be careful. Misdeeds end up in banishment to Bad Luck.

Related: Bullet Train Review: A Wickedly Funny, High-Octaine Thrill Ride

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The Land of Luck

The Land of Luck is an absolute joy to behold. Leprechauns, cats, pigs, and rabbits, lucky creatures, are the bureaucrats tasked with spreading good fortune. Bringing Sam in such a place is a recipe for absolute chaos. Bob, and his leprechaun assistant Gerry’s (Colin O’Donoghue), efforts to contain Sam’s bad luck will have audiences in stitches. I’m still chuckling at Sam’s “Latvian leprechaun” disguise; their harebrained excuse for why she’s so much bigger than everyone else.

Luck’s serious themes are artfully addressed. Sam’s lonely childhood, and her desperate efforts to change Hazel’s, brings a melancholic touch to the narrative. The film reminds us to not take love and family for granted. Every kid deserves care, nurturing, and a safe place to grow. It shouldn’t take luck or chance for a child to find a “forever home”.

Insert sigh here. Recent headlines concerning John Lasseter (Toy Story, Cars) will undoubtedly cloud this film’s release. The genius storyteller and animator behind Pixar’s success left to head Skydance Animation after awful “Me Too” allegations. He’s brought his incredible talent to Luck, and it shows. This wonderful film deserves to be judged on its own merits. Sometimes we must divorce ourselves from art and the personality of the artist.

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Luck is a production of Skydance Animation and Apple Original Films. It will have an exclusive Apple TV+ premiere on August 5th.

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