The Dog Stars
Film
The legendary Sir Ridley Scott is back in the director's chair for his 30th feature film, and his 13th book adaptation in The Dog Stars. The only downside to Scott's absolute disdain for the idea of retirement is that he hasn't made a great film since 2021's The Last Duel which was promptly seen by nobody thanks to a nonexistent marketing campaign. If we want to get really nit-picky, Scott hasn't fully realized his filmmaking talents from top to bottom since 2015's The Martian. Is it a coincidence that I'm referencing an Andy Weir adaptation in the same year that Project Hail Mary also comes out and is terrific? Maybe. But, for the man who's made films that have had seismic impact in the cultural zeitgeist, I'm talking about Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, and Thelma and Louise (I'd also make a feverish argument for Prometheus and Alien: Covenant but you're not ready for this smoke) and for how great of a director he is, he can only do so much. If a film has a terrible script, or terrible performances, or nonsensical editing, then Scott can only take it so far. Sadly, that seems to be the norm with his recent films and that trend continues with the utterly confounding The Dog Stars. A fantastic movie is hidden somewhere in the muck of Scott's latest film but it, alas, is a slog to find and I still have yet to find it.
Based on Peter Heller's novel of the same name, The Dog Stars is a quintessentially post-COVID hellscape where a fictional unnamed flu wipes out society. Cities are reclaimed by nature with scavengers running amok, and the countryside is where "normalcy" fights tooth and nail for existence. Hig (Jacob Elordi) is a former mechanic who, along with his adorable dog Jasper, survives, although somewhat reticent to do so, with a pragmatic survivalist Bangley (Josh Brolin). The oil and water ideals between the two men, and how one should survive at the end of society is the most potent and pivotal examination of Mark L. Smith and Christopher Wilkinson's screenplay. While Hig has an overly optimistic, and possibly naive worldview, Bangley possesses a strict survivor's code of killing those who encroach on their land no questions asked. Hig's hopeful romanticization of a world filled with relationships and trust that no longer exist contrasting with Bangley's doomsday bunker aesthetic is one of the highlights of the film, and ironically, one of its shortest-lived moments.
As Hig grapples with personal tragedy, he takes his Cessna that he uses for supply runs, in an attempt to reach another town that he picked up a radio signal from. Hope once again endures, against all odds, at the end of the world. However, this journey introduces him to Pops (Guy Pearce) and Cima (Margaret Qualley), and completely flips the tone of the film, reducing this gritty survivalist drama that had some fantastic commentary on toxic masculinity, hopeful idealism and loss of innocence, into somewhat of a mechanical romance, that collapses into what I can only describe as terrible and forced dialogue. Qualley and Elordi's chemistry is just as forced as their conversations which yields more confusion than intimacy, more annoyance than empathy, especially as their individual tragedies could've been greater driving forces. Instead, and this applies overall as well, we get outrageously underwritten characters that feel hastily slapped together. Their interactions feel like checking a box more than emotionally driven engagements.
But, as I mentioned, there really is a great movie in here somewhere! Hig's tragic past interjected with split second cut scenes, the loss of his wife and unborn child, are the lone moments of indelible character building. It's also the one part where Elordi's stoicism works perfectly. Outside of that, I found his performance to be quite bland and static, unfortunately making me believe his inclusion here is strictly workwear propaganda. There's absolutely no reason the lead of this post-apocalyptic film should look that good in a cropped Carhartt jacket, I mean come on. Anyways, Hig's past fueling his hopeful idealism working perfectly against Bangley's survivalist realism paints a wonderfully stunning picture of two roads humanity can take when things go off the rails. Their almost bucolic lifestyle, emphasized by Hig's delivering medicine and goods to Aaron (Benedict Wong) and his settlement of Mennonites, strip away bells and whistles of modernity and embrace a, borderline fantastical, world of hope, romance, and humanity shrouded in a new world. Harry Gregson-Williams' score feels like a country-string tinged accent piece to some of the most stunning aerial photography you can see in a film, delivering some tremendously beautiful and breathtaking moments that even Hig has to stop and appreciate.
Yet, these moments of emotional realization are few and far between. Yes, Scott's orchestration of action is unparalleled and continues here. Delivering some incredibly tense moments that once again Gregson-Williams' score and cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt elevate to new levels. But the end is the sum of the parts, and let's just say it doesn't add up. Brolin and Pearce try their best to bring what they can to the table, but they have nothing to really work with and it's unclear if Scott's notoriously laissez-faire approach to performing really brought the most to the film especially with me now doubting Elordi's leading chops and Qualley's own contributions. Sadly, The Dog Stars will end up as yet another confusing addition to Scott's filmography, burying a legendary director's work with another layer of sediment that we'll have to scrape to the side to get to gorgeous remnants of old. I'm not quite ready to write off Scott as incapable of making another superb film, but his latest string of films makes it hard to keep hanging on to the hope that this film tries so hard to replicate.
Froth
Opting for something a little bitter and funky to spice up an otherwise meh experience brought me to Stoup Brewing's collab brew with Brick West Brewing, Pump Tantrum. A West Coast IPA that's as crisp as it is flavorful, the Pump Tantrum possesses a mean amount of passionfruit, orange, and general citrus flavors while packing in a solid amount of bitterness, smoothing out the profile. It isn't an overwhelming amount of bitterness, but it delivers enough funk to make for an interesting all around brew. Weighing in at 6.8% ABV it has enough oomph to pack a punch, maybe even call it a tantrum, but its overall easy to drink and oddly incredibly refreshing.
