Movie Review

Dystopia meets dysfunction in fun The Mitchells vs. the Machines

There are few filmmakers working today who are more versatile than Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Together, the duo has written, directed, or produced some of the most inventive and funniest films of the last decade or so, including the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs series, the 21 Jump Street series, The Lego Movie series, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Their latest film, this time as producers, is The Mitchells vs. The Machines, an animated film that takes our increasing reliance on smart technology to apocalyptic extremes. The Mitchells – dad Rick (Danny McBride), mom Linda (Maya Rudolph), daughter Katie (Abbi Jacobson), and son Aaron (co-writer/co-director Michael Rianda) – are kind of a disaster as a family unit, as they’re rarely on the same page and can’t seem to find time to spend together, especially with Katie about to head off to college.

Rick aims to fix this with a family road trip to take Katie to campus, a journey that just so happens to coincide with a complete technology takeover by Pal (Olivia Colman), everyone’s favorite virtual assistant. As Pal and her robot army proceed with a plan to imprison the entire human race and ship them off to space, the Mitchells are somehow the only ones to evade capture. It’s up to them and their dysfunction to find a way to defeat the robots and bring order back to Earth.

Co-written and directed by Rianda and Jeff Rowe, the film explodes with energy with its focus on Katie and her creative output. Katie has made films since a young age, and her unique vision is seen not only in the films she makes but also in the film we’re watching, as all manner of symbols and images pop up on screen to emphasize certain scenes. The result is chaotic and kinetic, showing off a sense of fun that rarely wanes in the film’s almost two-hour running time.

The film isn’t short on heartfelt emotions, either. Pains are taken to show how Rick and Katie’s relationship has changed over the years, a dilemma with which many parents and kids grapple. However, the concentration on that bond gives somewhat short shrift to Aaron and especially Linda, who remains mostly a cheerleader for the majority of the film.

The revolt by technology is a concept that’s been imagined in a variety of stories for decades, so the film doesn’t break any new ground here, especially with its monolithic robot army. The filmmakers do score points by offering up a few fun robot voice cameos along the way, including Conan O’Brien, Blake Griffin, Fred Armisen, and Beck Bennett.

The seasoned comedic voices of Jacobson, McBride, and Rudolph make the Mitchells a funny group throughout the film, although Rianda gives himself some of the best bits as Aaron. An extended bit about the Mitchells’ neighbors, the Poseys, being the ideal family is humorous more for the visuals than for the fact that real-life married couple John Legend and Chrissy Teigen play the husband and wife.

Pixar has rightfully held the crown for best animation studio over the last 25 years, but Lord & Miller continue to show that their influence in the field should be as respected as anyone else. The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ theatrical release was a victim of the pandemic, but it’s a boon for Netflix, which now boasts another great animated film on its service.

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The Mitchells vs. the Machines is streaming exclusively on Netflix.

The Mitchells in The Mitchells vs. the Machines.

The Mitchells in The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Photo courtesy of SPAI

The Mitchells in The Mitchells vs. the Machines.

Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."

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