Movie Review

The Little Hours plumbs depths in desperate search of comedy

The idea of framing a movie around the centuries-old The Decameron probably seemed like a fun idea for writer/director Jeff Baena, allowing him and his cast to put whatever kind of debauchery they wanted onto a text that’s somewhat familiar for anyone who’s ever taken a literature class. But there’s sometimes a big chasm between idea and execution, as is greatly evident with The Little Hours.

At the story’s center are Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginerva (Kate Micucci), three 14th-century nuns whose words and actions are, shall we say, less than Christian. Their behavior is aggressive in almost every way, from profanity-strewn rants, violence toward those who cross their path, and a lust not normally associated with nuns.

That last trait gets heightened even more when Massetto (Dave Franco), a servant on the run from a local nobleman (Nick Offerman), gets taken into the convent by Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly). Even though Massetto is warned not to speak, his mere presence is a disruption for the three nuns, who each are attracted to them in their own way.

On a surface level, the film can be intermittently fun based purely on the talents of the actors. Each member of the cast — which also includes Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Jemima Kirke, Paul Reiser, Adam Pally, and Paul Weitz — has the ability to elicit laughs solely from his or her delivery. That goes double for Plaza, who’s allowed to go wild in her role.

But as with any film, there’s got to be more than some laughs to make a film fully succeed. There doesn’t seem to be any real point to the plot, with each scene merely serving as a loose connection to the next and characters floating along for the ride. Perhaps those intimately familiar with the source material will find layers that aren’t noticeable to a general audience, but it’s hard to imagine there being a large enough audience like that.

Ultimately, the film doesn’t seem to serve its primary audience particularly well. Those looking for some naughty stuff to laugh at will get a few chuckles, but not enough to sustain them. The funny aspect of having normally staid characters act in a way that's unbecoming of them fades relatively quickly, leaving the bulk of the film to go through the motions.

I’m sure all of those involved with The Little Hours had a blast playing in their own personal comedy sandbox. Maybe next time they’ll actually come up with a decent story as well.

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The Little Hours is now playing at AFS Cinema and Regal Arbor 8.

John C. Reilly in The Little Hours.

John C. Reilly in The Little Hours

Photo courtesy of Gunpowder & Sky

John C. Reilly in The Little Hours.

Sounds Like Austin

4 Austin records share the stage on Paste's top 100 albums of 2024 list

Being Dead

Photo courtesy of Being Dead

Being Dead are looking forward to this "real delicious treat."

Online music and entertainment magazine Paste has released its 100 Best Albums of 2024, and four are by artists from Austin. Being Dead, Good Looks, Hovvdy, and More Eaze are all representing Austin in some way — intentionally or otherwise.

The list, released December 2, was compiled by the magazine's music team, who used staff picks, review scores, and contributor votes to determine which albums would make it, according to an introduction by music editor Matt Mitchell. To be eligible, a record had to be full-length (an EPs list is being compiled separately) and released since December 1, 2023.

There was no genre requirement, but it is immediately evident that the list favors smaller acts. Of course, it had to mention albums like Charli XCX's Brat (No. 6) and Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter (No. 56), but the top album of the year went to Jessica Pratt, who only had her Hot 100 chart debut this year as a feature on ASAP Rocky's single "Highjack." Her winning album was Here in the Pitch.

Many Austinites won't be surprised at all to learn that Being Dead snagged the top spot of all the locals, at No. 46. The band has been skyrocketing in popularity, and their sophomore album, Eels, offers an approachable mix of weirdness, pleasant harmonies, trancey messiness, and just a bit of edge — not quite enough to cut listeners on.

"Opening track 'Godzilla Rises,' for example, has it all: electric guitar chug, male and female voices, unexpected rhythmic shifts, irresistible melodies and a sense of resonance that feels like you’re practically in a bathtub with the band," writes Ben Salmon in the Paste list. "In just under three minutes, Being Dead evoke immersive pop heroes like Neutral Milk Hotel, Animal Collective, That Dog. and the Beach Boys—a touchstone not only for the band’s surf-y foundations, but also their variegated vocal harmonies."

Just two spots behind them at No. 48 were Good Looks with Lived Here For A While, an agreeable indie rock album that Salmon describes as "openhearted." This is also a sophomore album, cementing the group's propensity for an assertive guitar solo. Good Looks — again, intentionally or otherwise, although listeners should note the name of the record — have nailed the vaguely Southern sound that gives listeners a hint of where they're from, without parading around pedal steels or 12-bar blues. Salmon astutely compares them to famous Floridian Tom Petty.

This was also the only write-up that specifically mentioned Austin.

"Across 10 tracks, [Tyler Jordan] sings directly to an ex-girlfriend, his current girlfriend, childhood friends and his family, leaving very little to the imagination," Salmon writes. "Gentrifiers and greedy real estate developers get songs, too, as if Jordan just can’t help himself. He is from Austin, Texas, after all."

Next up was Hovvdy's self-titled album (pronounced "howdy") at No. 61. While Being Dead and Good Looks put forth rock albums, Hovvdy is more stylistically diverse and much mellower, featuring a couple of charming piano tracks, some electronic elements, and vibes ranging from cinematic to lo-fi alt-country — with a heavy lean toward the latter. Fans of Radical Face can get lost in this one.

"Charlie Martin and Will Taylor take chances in their songwriting and recording processes, which gets them the well-deserved attention of their peers, but nothing about the end result is haughty or frosty," writes list contributor Ellen Johnson. "Hovvdy is the perfect showing of their absorbing but approachable product. It takes a ton of courage to write vulnerably about one’s family. The Texas indie-pop pair take this leap not just on one song but many times throughout Hovvdy."

Finally, More Eaze shows up with pardo and Glass on paris paris, texas texas, No. 55. Actually, this placed higher than Hovvdy, but Mari Maurice, a.k.a. More Eaze, has recently relocated to New York City. The three artists came together because they're all on the Florence, Italy-based label OOH-sounds. So now Austin has to share the claim to Maurice's legacy. This grandiose, dreamy, and semi-ambient record certainly sounds like it was inspired by Texas' wide-open spaces, but there's a lot more layered in.

"To listen to 'Le Grand Souffle Céleste' is to expose yourself to calming ambient then pummeling noise in quick succession while Eaze’s voice hovers beyond," writes Devon Chodzin in a blurb that goes a staggering number of evocative and sometimes baffling places. "The conclusion, 'Orris Butter,' has my vote for best closer of the year with its wafting pedal steel and measured strums setting the stage for an acoustic guitar experiment atop a bed of cosmic noise."

Predictably, Austin had the greatest representation of any Texas city. (It's tempting to include Vampire Weekend's Only God Was Above Us, No. 71, which the band announced at the same time as their cool Austin solar eclipse show. But we won't be greedy.) From elsewhere in Texas, the following albums made Paste's Top 100:

Dallas: Minotaur by Tex Patrello
Houston: Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé
Amarillo: Live in Amarillo, Texas by Hayden Pedigo

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If you find an Austin connection we missed, please send us a message.

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