The Instigators, Twisters, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes(with a side trip to Lianne Dobbs and Catalina Jazz Club)

This month’s movie and TV reviews of The Instigators, Twisters, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes (with a side trip to Lianne Dobbs and Catalina Jazz Club)
Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in "The Instigators," now streaming on Apple TV+.

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s movie and TV reviews of The Instigators, Twisters, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes (with a side trip to Lianne Dobbs and Catalina Jazz Club).

With a cast like Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Ron Perlman, Alfred Molina, and Ving Rhames (to name but a few), and a director like Doug Liman (who directed Damon in the Bourne films), you might expect the resulting film to be released “only in theaters.” However, The Instigators has been released simultaneously (dumped?) in a few theaters and on AppleTV. So my expectations were a bit low but I was pleasantly surprised. This Boston-based caper film has a few bumpy stretches; otherwise, it’s a most agreeable diversion. Damon, Affleck, and a few other hard-luck types are recruited for what they’re told will be a not-too-risky robbery of the campaign headquarters of the corrupt mayor (Ron Perlman) on election night. As you might guess, nothing goes well, from the number of workers present (Affleck: Does anyone come in late?) to the surprising amount of the take—and an unscheduled meet and greet with the Mayor.

Since this all happens in the first thirty minutes, the rest of the film is concerned with how the surviving gents will elude their pursuers, sent out by reps from both Mayor Perlman and Michael Stuhlbarg (who organized the heist). Along the way, there are some good moments, including Affleck and Damon arguing over the possible presence of someone in the back of the armored car they’ve just stolen, a meeting between Damon and Affleck and some none-too-effective henchmen at a deserted house, and some lively banter about Montreal as a possible hideaway. The Instigators will never be confused with an instant classic, it does have enough action, wit, and quirky moments to keep you entertained.

This month’s movie and TV reviews of The Instigators, Twisters, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes (with a side trip to Lianne Dobbs and Catalina Jazz Club)
https://www.twisters-movie.com/synopsis/

There is no need to see the first Twister (1996) in order to enjoy Twisters. In fact, while I saw the first one, the only things I remember (besides the twister) are the flying cow and Jami Gertz’ panicked girlfriend. But there’s no need to recall any of that to have a fun time here—though the constant tornados in the film might cause one to rethink moving to Oklahoma. In Twisters, the tornados come fast and furious, starting with a harrowing opening sequence in Oklahoma involving some young close-knit storm chasers (who are experimenting with how to lessen a tornado’s impact), an underestimated tornado, and an unfortunate outcome. Flash-forward a few years, and the two survivors are still haunted and wracked with guilt by the experience. When Kate (Daisy Edgar Jones), now in NY, is approached by close friend and fellow survivor Javi (Anthony Ramos) to have another go at these twisters (since it is tornado season), she is reluctant—but since this is a movie about twisters and Ms. Jones is the star, everyone knows where she is heading.

Wherein Kate’s motives are sincere, and Javi’s seemingly so, their great tornado hunt (in an unusually busy tornado season) is disrupted by the arrival of tornado wrangler/showman Tyler Owens (Glen Powell, charming and affable, and moving inexorably to blockbuster-ville) and his entourage. Their “meet and greet” follows along conventional romantic tropes, but what the audiences (myself included) are here to see are the depictions of these twisters. Here, cinematographer Patrick Sullivan, director Lee Isaac Chung, and the special effects team create some pretty persuasive twisters, and some sequences (including one at a rodeo) are both visually impressive and have a good deal of emotional impact. Though I hear that Twisters might be streaming soon (continuing a trend where the studios are hedging their bets in theaters for the potentially lucrative money stream that comes of streaming), it’s best appreciated on a big screen.  

This month’s movie and TV reviews of The Instigators, Twisters, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes (with a side trip to Lianne Dobbs and Catalina Jazz Club).
https://www.facebook.com/elizabethtaylor/

A documentary of note: Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes is currently on HBO and streaming on Max. While there have been other looks at Ms. Taylor’s life and career, this one, directed by Nanette Burstein, is narrated by Liz herself, courtesy of these “lost tapes” (mostly from 1964) for a proposed autobiography. In this, she is candid about her life and loves (as she points out, she didn’t date, she just married the men), as well as her films. Other narrators are also on hand (including life-long friend Roddy McDowall who is on the tapes) and besides the well-chosen clips (from Lassie Come Home, National Velvet, The Last Time I Saw Paris, A Place in the Sun, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), there is plenty of footage of Liz with her numerous husbands, as well as her close friends. We hear her railing against the studio choices (mainly MGM) that first kept her as a girl, then elevated her to sex symbol, as well as her eventual artistic successes. We also get her reflections about Nicky Hilton (who was abusive), Michael Wilding (whom she gradually grew to dominate—and was unhappy doing so), Mike Todd (gotta tell you, she seemed most happy during that marriage); and that turbulent period that included Eddie Fisher, Cleopatra, illness, an Academy Award, and Richard Burton. (As the bulk of the narration occurred in the mid-1960s, her take on Virginia Woolf is most welcome.)  If there is a flaw, it’s that the last thirty years are handled rapidly and in a perfunctory manner—but apart from that, the film is a worthy addition to the Elizabeth Taylor oeuvre.Speaking of the 60s (what a segue), if you have never been to the Catalina Jazz Club on Sunset Boulevard, you may want to head over there on Saturday, August 22 to see the fabulous Lianne Marie Dobbs perform The Windmills of My Mind…for Dusty Springfield. I’ve seen this show in its early stages and I suspect it’s even better now, with songs like “A House is Not a Home,” “The Look of Love,” and others persuasively delivered by the lovely Ms. Dobbs (who is also a fine actress with a great turn in the recent season of The Gilded Age). In addition, the Catalina Jazz Club is a lovely space, reasonably priced, and the food and drinks (and the servers) are top notch. See Lianne if you can.