Review: Vengeance and My Old School
Listen on Apple Podcasts
B.J Novak makes his feature directorial debut with Vengeance and still seems to be channeling Ryan the Temp (which is not a good thing here). Meanwhile Alan Cumming stars in the documentary My Old School about a fascinating Scottish mini-scandal.
Listen on Apple Podcasts
More about Vengeance:
Ben Manalowtiz is an aspiring New York podcaster in search of a story. When the body of a woman he’d been hooking up with is discovered in a West Texas oil field, he stumbles onto exactly the sort of true-crime tale that could make his career. Launching an investigation into her death in collaboration with high-powered producer Eloise, the confident Ben finds himself in over his head attempting to navigate a wildly unfamiliar culture. As he grows unexpectedly close to the young woman’s eccentric family and encounters figures like the enigmatic music producer Quentin Sellers, he’s forced to confront his own shortcomings and preconceptions. At the same time, he’s drawn into an ill-considered plot to avenge the crime.
Starring: B.J. Novak, Issa Rae, Boyd Holbrook, Ashton Kutcher.
More about My Old School:
In 1993, 16-year-old Brandon Lee enrolled at Bearsden Academy, a secondary school in a well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. What followed over the next two years would become the stuff of legend. Brandon had been privately tutored in Canada while he accompanied his mother, an opera diva, on tour before her tragic death. The preternaturally bright student surprised teachers by blazing toward his goal of entering medical school, displaying a wealth of knowledge beyond his years. Brandon found friends despite his initial awkwardness, taking bullied students under his wing, introducing classmates to seminal retro bands, and even starring in the school’s production of South Pacific. But then his unbelievable secret was revealed. Filmmaker Jono McLeod returns to his old school for a nostalgic look at the strange but true story of his former classmate, Brandon Lee.
Starring: Alan Cumming