Rand's Rants

A collection of short-short stories born from a few minutes of string-plucking.  ---   Jane was picking at a faded scar on her right pinky. Her eyes remained constant. “The notes sound different lately.”  “How so?” asked the woman across from her. A dixie cup with a stir-stick sat abject on the table between them.  “Does it matter?”  “It’s a conversation, Janey. Questions are meant to be asked.”  “It’s probing.” Jane stopped, her hands still. “They sound… full.”  The woman inhales, slowly. Awaiting. Jane exhales, annoyed.  “What does full sound like?” The dixie cup is reached for, but again, abandoned. There’s only a sip left, anyway. Jane’s moved on to the tattered table wrap, picking at its soft cotton underbelly. “It sounds like him. And her. It sounds like Friday nights and Sunday mornings. It sounds like laughter, but in stereo.” Jane tears through the thin membrane of the table wrap, another hole in the broken canvas. “It sound...

  I’m an advocate for blurry vision. That may sound like a plea for imperfection. It may sound like I’m championing something that is inherently suboptimal. To the detractors of my statement, let me ask you: What’s so nice about crystal-clear? I’ve made analysis my selling point. I notice details that stick out; constantly searching for flaws in others’ hard work. "For the love of a god, end this run-on sentence!" "This is not a proper noun and thus should not be capitalized." "Why do you insist on not using an Oxford comma?" Semantics, but if they jut out to me they most certainly will to the public.  I scan, I pore over, I examine detail by detail . And then I do it all over again before I can say “good enough.” Communication, when done correctly, must be transparent. So long as I have my glasses on, or my contacts in, everything I analyze can be made clear.  Why, then, is there a relief to walk around a city you know inside-and-out without perfect visio...

During 2021, I’ve kept a list of films that have been able to release on my Letterboxd account. I dubbed the list, “2021 Ranked, Unless Another Pandemic Hits”. While there have only been variants of the damn virus, the world is now ready to return to the movies and the theater doors have opened. After a year and some change of their closure, I’m overjoyed to see that people haven’t given up on the cinema, and are willing to see the big screen and taste the movie popcorn. 2021 may have been a rough year for many, but the theater has brought so many together again, and I don’t think there’s anything more important than that sense of comradery. The cheers, the tears, and the beers at Smitty’s before heading to our seats has made 2021 a great year for myself, and has me excited for what’s to come in 2022. That being said, here are my top 10 films that were released this year, and my brief thoughts on each.  10. A Quiet Place Part II The first movie I went to see in the newly opened ...

  I was really looking forward to Last Night in Soho . Known for his comedies, director Edgar Wright opted to make a dark, horror-adjacent film instead. Of the main cast is Anya Taylor-Joy, an actress I’ve loved since her performance in The Queen’s Gambit . Last Night in Soho had so much going for it, and for the most part, it succeeded! I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the film, but it slowly turns into an unsatisfying and fairly muddled conclusion with an obtuse message about nostalgia. Or about men. Or about mental illness. Or about confidence. It could have been about any one of those things, and that’s where I think the movie fails to be anything amazing. It couldn’t decide what it was trying to get across.  I can’t give away too much of the plot, as the movie is best experienced without knowing a lot going in. I will give a primer though: Thomasin McKenzie is an aspiring fashion designer who gets the chance to attend a fashion school in London. As she’s in Lond...

     It’s been a tough year for movies. Delays upon delays, most movies hitting streaming services just to survive their budgets, and a fairly lackluster lineup has left the movie theater fairly unappealing to a lot of people. I totally get that. Throughout this pandemic, I’ve questioned whether I really enjoy movies anymore. Me, Randy McLeod, the movie guy. But it’s true. I realized that I need that theater excitement, I need the countdown towards a new release. Above all else, I need that buttery popcorn. But the more I look ahead, the more I realize that movies are back, and are picking up steam. This fall/winter lineup is looking to be non-stop, and I could not be more excited. So, this blog post is going to be a bit different. I’m going to be highlighting upcoming releases that are on my radar, and hopefully can put them on yours as well. Last Night in Soho Last Night in Soho has pure goodwill from me. You may not know the name Edgar Wright, but you’ve probably seen ...

The Multiverse is a concept that, when done well, can branch into some of the most interesting stories that we’ve ever seen. Permutations upon permutations, different variations of the characters and events that we know. Combine that with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and you have a recipe for success. Which was what I thought… until I finished Disney’s What If…? series.  9 episodes of animated fantasies, each more different than the last in terms of structure and story, each of wavering quality. It was nine weeks ago that we were introduced to Captain Carter, an episode that was a safe approach when it came to how different the multiverse could be, but was an enjoyable time nonetheless. Honestly, the first half of the season was a great ride, with great performances from the late Chadwick Boseman in episode 2, a fun genre-bend of a murder mystery in episode 3, and my personal favorite of the season with Doctor Strange in episode 4. It was after this episode, however, that the show...