Wednesday, October 01, 2025
Urchin
“Urchin” is the sad story about a poor homeless guy who gets a second chance but struggles to put his life back together. Mike is living on the streets barely scraping by, begging for money, & resorting to stealing. He has anger issues. After he gets arrested, he gets some counseling in rehab, a place to stay, & a job. However, life’s stresses & his addictions sends him into a downward spiral. There is not much meaningful from the dialog & the scenes are rather mundane. It is a dull show layered in between artsy images that seem to have little connections to the storyline. Mike is an unlikable character that seems to do little to improve himself. He is a hapless loser that is hard to watch him self destruct. Also, the film seems to find excuses to show Mike shirtless or butt naked. The film’s highlight for me was the pet snake feeding scene.
Alien gives it ½ “You don’t get lunch. You bring your lunch” star out of 4.
One Battle After Another
Are you a right-winger or a left-winger? Or maybe somewhere in between?
“Ghetto” Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) & Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) are lovers & members of a far left political revolutionary group. On a mission to free detained immigrants held at a detention camp, they encounter camp commander Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) who will come back later to haunt them. When Perfidia turns up pregnant & delivers a baby girl, this changes Pat’s priorities & he wants to settle down to raise their family, but Perfidia wants to carry on as a radical & leaves. Jump ahead 16 years & Pat has been hiding under the name of Bob, single, stoned on alcohol & drugs, behaving very paranoid, & raising his daughter now named Willa. Facing that actions of his past, Lockjaw resurfaces to threaten Bob & Willa. These characters take audiences on an intense thrill ride. DiCaprio & Penn give outstanding performances. Benito Del Toro & Regina King are terrific in the supporting cast. Filmed in Northern California, see if you can recognize any familiar landmarks. I️, for one, learned another way to navigate downtown Sacramento during rush hour gridlock traffic. See who wins & loses in this one battle after another with the French 75, a sanctuary city, the Sisters of the Brave Beavers, & the Christmas Adventures Club. Viva La Revolution!
Alien gives it 3½ “counter-sequences” stars out of 4.
