Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Arthur the King

Mark Wahlberg is hit or miss with me but I love dogs so I decided to see Arthur the King last night and, for the second night in a row, I needed tissues for another inspirational true story.  Michael Light (Wahlberg) is an adventure racer desperate for what might be his last chance to win after failing to complete his last race.  He assembles a team for the world championships in the Dominican Republic including Chik (Ali Suliman), who was dropped by his former team after a knee injury, Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), who is fighting her own demons, and Leo (Simu Liu), a former teammate stipulated by a sponsor because of his large social media following.  As they begin the grueling race, which consists of trekking through dense vegetation, mountain climbing, biking through treacherous terrain, and kayaking, Michael notices an injured stray dog at a transition station and feeds him.  The dog, who they name Arthur, begins following them and, at a crucial moment, he saves their lives.  Michael bonds with him as he becomes a sort of mascot for the team and this friendship becomes more important than winning.  I really enjoyed this movie because it features exciting action, including an incredibly tense scene involving a zip-line, a compelling character seeking redemption for past failures, and an emotional story about a man and a dog who end up saving each other.  Wahlberg actually does a great job portraying the bond between his character and Arthur and has undeniable chemistry with Ukai (the dog who plays Arthur), especially in a scene where he has to coax Arthur into a crate.  I was very invested in their friendship and I was definitely crying during several emotional moments (I was not the only one).  This is not very deep or groundbreaking but it is a feel-good movie that dog lovers are sure to enjoy!

Friday, March 15, 2024

One Life

Last night I went to see a Thursday preview of One Life, the true story of how an ordinary man did something extraordinary to save hundreds of children on the eve of World War II, and I am glad I brought tissues because I definitely needed them!  In 1988, Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins) is retired and living in Maidenhead, England with his wife Grete (Lena Olin).  She is exasperated by all of the clutter that he has held on to over the years so, while she is out of town, he attempts to organize it and finds a scrapbook from his time helping refugees in Czechoslovakia.  As he thinks about what to do with the scrapbook, the narrative shifts to 1938 when twenty-nine year old Nicholas Winton (Johnny Flynn) visits Czechoslovakia after the Munich Agreement gives Hitler control of the Sudetenland.  He is horrified by the appalling conditions in which many of the refugees, but especially the children, pouring into Prague are forced to live and requests that Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai), the head of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia, help them but she tells him that she must prioritize the political figures facing arrest.  He decides to evacuate the children himself with the help of his mother Babi (Helena Bonham Carter), herself a former refugee.  Nicholas and his mother overcome tremendous obstacles to acquire visas, raise funds, and find foster homes in England for 669 children, most of whom are Jewish, before the border is closed after the German invasion of Poland.  The narrative then shifts back to 1988 after Winton's scrapbook ends up with the producers of the That's Life! TV show.  He is invited to a taping of the show but is surprised to discover that many of the children he saved are in the audience (I loved that the descendants of the children saved by Winton were used as extras in this scene) and has an emotional reunion with them.  This movie is a very conventional British period piece in terms of execution (luckily I happen to love these) but it is elevated by an incredibly compelling and moving story and by wonderful performances.  I loved learning more about this unlikely hero who acts simply because of a sense of altruism and there are several poignant scenes that had me (and most of the audience) crying, especially one where Winton is finally able to express his feelings after repressing his guilt at not being able to save all of the children for so long and multiple scenes where parents say heart wrenching goodbyes to the children they will most likely never see again as they board the trains to England.  I also really liked a scene where the young Winton gives his reasons why a rabbi should trust him with a list of children's names.  Hopkins is brilliant, particularly in the silences, but I really love the way in which Flynn, in one of his best performances, adopts all of his mannerisms and the two of them really do seem like an older and younger version of the same person.  Bonham Carter is also a standout, especially when Babi imperiously tells a bureaucrat to sit down and listen to her and, even though Doreen is not a very well-developed character, Garai portrays her frustration in a very visceral way.  The message that one man can make a difference in the world is a powerful one and I highly recommend this inspiring movie (just bring lots of tissues).

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Io Capitano

Last night I went to the Broadway to see Io Capitano, which was nominated for the Best International Feature Academy Award and won the Silver Lion for director Matteo Garrone at the Venice Film Festival, and I was incredibly moved by this powerful story of migration.  Two Senegalese teens, Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and his cousin Moussa (Moustapha Fall), secretly work construction jobs for six months to earn enough money to emigrate to Europe for a better life. Seydou begins having second thoughts about the dangers involved but Moussa convinces him and they leave without telling their families.  They pay an exorbitant price to be taken across the Sahara Desert during a harrowing journey with a group on foot but they are separated when Moussa is arrested and Seydou ends up in a detention camp in Libya.  Seydou survives the horrors of the detention camp and being sold into indentured servitude with the help of a fellow detainee named Martin (Issaka Sawagodo) who takes him under his wing but he refuses to continue on to Italy with him in order to stay and search for Moussa in Tripoli.  He eventually finds Moussa only to discover that he was shot while escaping from prison.  Desperate to get Moussa to Italy for medical care, Seydou takes the only option available to him which is to pilot a boat, overcrowded with desperate woman and children for whom he feels responsible, in a daring journey across the Mediterranean Sea.  It was sometimes very difficult to watch everything that Seydou and Moussa go through but, even though there are lots of people who ruthlessly take advantage of their situation, there are just as many people who show them kindness and I loved the use of magical realism as a way of coping with the horrors they are experiencing.  Both Sarr and Fall give highly sympathetic and compelling performances but I was especially invested in Seydou's fate because we see everything through his eyes and he humanizes a global problem.  The suspense is almost unbearable in the third act because of how much I had come to care for these characters but I loved the ending because it is cautiously optimistic without minimizing the dangers they still face.  I loved this and would highly recommend it.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Robot Dreams

Last night I went to the Broadway for an early access screening of Robot Dreams, a nominee for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award this year, and it made me feel all the things.  Dog lives a lonely life in a small apartment in the East Village where he spends his time playing video games, watching TV, and eating microwaved dinners.  He sees an ad for a Robot companion and decides to order one. Soon Dog and Robot are inseparable, riding the subway, roller skating in the park, rowing on the lake, eating hot dogs from street vendors, and watching The Wizard of Oz together.  At the end of the summer they take a trip to the beach and spend a fun day swimming and sunbathing but the water makes Robot rust in place and, when Dog cannot move him, he reluctantly leaves in order to get the tools to fix him.  Unfortunately, when he returns, the beach is closed for the winter and he can't get to Robot.  While they wait for the summer, Robot has a series of hopeful dreams in which he reunites with Dog while Dog goes on with his life trying to find another connection.  Eventually, Robot ends up in a scrap yard and is rebuilt by Rascal the Racoon and Dog buys another Robot named Tin.  When Robot sees Dog on the street he decides not to approach him because Dog has formed a new friendship with Tin and he has done the same with Rascal.  I found the message that friendships sometimes grow apart through no fault of anyone involved to be incredibly moving (and not at all what I was expecting) and it actually brought me to tears.  I loved that this is able to convey just about every emotion imaginable without any dialogue (I especially loved Robot's expression of wide-eyed wonder) and I loved the colorful 2-D animation.  The depiction of New York City in the 80s is perfectly realized with lots of little details that put a smile on my face and the sound design featuring the background noise of the city is very effective. Finally, the use of "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire is a lot of fun in the roller skating scene but it becomes increasingly more poignant and the movie progresses.  I do think that some of the dream sequences go on longer than they need to but I loved this more than I was expecting to and I highly recommend it when it gets a wide-release this summer.

Note:  This would be a perfect double feature with Past Lives (but only if you have enough tissues).

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Perfect Days

Last night I went to the Broadway to see Perfect Days and I absolutely loved it because it reminded me of Paterson (my favorite comfort movie).  Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) is a middle-aged man who lives alone in a modest apartment in a suburb of Tokyo and cleans a group of public bathrooms with architectural significance in Tokyo for a living.  Even though he is a manual laborer, he goes above and beyond what is expected of him and takes pride in a job well done (he even provides some of his own specialized tools).  He adheres to a very regimented routine from the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to sleep (which we see repeatedly portrayed) but he greets every morning with a smile and takes delight in small pleasures such as caring for his greenhouse of plants, selecting the music for the day from his collection of cassette tapes, photographing the patterns he sees made by the trees in the park, and reading from his collection of books (which he adds to every week) before bed.  He seems to be very isolated but he enjoys the random interactions he has with the people he sees during the day (my favorite involves a game of tic-tac-toe).  He appears happy and content but a surprise visit from his niece Niko (Arisa Nakano) hints at a deep sadness and suggests that his serenity is a choice that he makes every day.  This is a slow-moving character driven narrative without a lot of action but I found the message that there is beauty in the mundane to be incredibly moving (much like in Paterson) and, even though it is often very repetitive, it is strangely compelling (watching a man scrub a toilet shouldn't be this riveting but it is).  Yakusho gives a deeply empathetic performance (he won Best Actor at this year's Cannes Film Festival) and conveys everything that Hirayama is feeling with almost no dialogue.  The final scene where his expression vacillates between happiness and despair while listening to "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone on the drive to work is beautiful and cathartic.  Finally, I loved the music because selecting what he will listen to during the day conveys so much about Hirayama's state of mind.  I especially loved "The House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals, "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison, and, obviously, "Perfect Day" by Lou Reed.  This is a lovely and gentle movie that will stay with you long after you've seen it and I highly recommend it.

Monday, February 26, 2024

Dune: Part Two

As a huge fan of both the book by Frank Herbert and the first movie, Dune: Part Two was my most anticipated movie of 2024.  I was able to see it in IMAX at a fan first premiere last night and, after all of the positive reviews from critics, I had unrealistically high expectations but they were more than exceeded! It is a masterpiece!  Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother the Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) join forces with a Fremen tribe led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem) in order to exact revenge for the destruction of House Atreides.  With the help of the Fremen warrior Chani (Zendaya) and the Fedaykin, Paul leads several successful raids against the Harkonnen to disrupt the spice harvest overseen by Rabban (Dave Bautista).  However, it is only when Paul follows his destiny and consolidates both his political power and his religious power that he is able to free Arrakis from the control of the Baron (Stellan Skarsgard) and the Emperor (Christopher Walken) with an epic confrontation with the Baron's nephew, Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler).  Everything from the first movie is expanded upon in the narrative with a deeper exploration of all of the characters.  I was most impressed by Chani's arc because she is Paul's moral compass who warns against the dangers of absolute power and religious fanaticism and Zendaya's emotional performance is the heart and soul of the movie.  A scene between her and Florence Pugh, as Princess Irulan, when Chani realizes that Paul must marry her gave me chills!  Chalamet, too, is incredibly impressive because he portrays Paul's confusion over the true nature of his destiny with nuance but then fully embraces his descent into the darkness with a chilling performance in the final act that left me reeling (I hope Villeneuve is able to adapt Dune Messiah as the conclusion to a possible trilogy because I want to see how Chalamet portrays this version of the character), especially during a highly charged meeting with the Fremen leaders in the south and an unnerving encounter with the Reverend Mother Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling).  All of the other performances are also stellar but Butler, as the psychopathic Feyd-Rautha, is another standout because he is truly terrifying but so charismatic!  The visuals in this are even more stunning than the first movie and I loved the desaturated black and white used to designate the Harkonnen, particularly the gladiator battle, juxtaposed with sun scorched views of Arrakis.  All of the action sequences are epic but when Paul rides the sandworm for the first time I was absolutely blown away because the score by Hans Zimmer during this scene is so immersive that I felt like I was riding the worm myself.   All of the music is very atmospheric but I got goosebumps during the scene where Paul first appears to the fundamentalists in the south because it is so ominous.  The giant IMAX theater was almost full (only the front row and a few scattered single seats were empty) and it was absolutely thrilling to experience it with a such a large crowd because the excitement was palpable.  It may be the greatest experience I have ever had watching a movie and I will be on a high for days!  I loved it so much and I highly recommend seeing it on the biggest possible screen!

Note:  There are a few changes from the book, particularly with how Alia Atreides is portrayed, but I think they make this adaptation better.

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Drive-Away Dolls

I have been looking forward to Drive-Away Dolls ever since I saw the first trailer (I thought it looked fun and quirky) so I went to see a matinee at the Broadway yesterday.  Unfortunately, I was really disappointed because I was expecting something much better from one of the Coen brothers.  Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) are lesbians and unlikely best friends living in Philadelphia in 1999.  The free-spirited Jamie has just been dumped by her girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein) so she invites herself along when the uptight Marian plans a trip to Tallahassee to visit her aunt.  Jamie suggests getting a car from a driveaway service (where someone is paid to drive a rental car one way to a specific destination) but they are inadvertently given the wrong car, one with a mysterious case inside that is also headed to Tallahassee for a criminal organization headed by the Chief (Colman Domingo).  When the Chief discovers the mistake, he sends his bickering associates, Arliss (Joey Slotnick) and Flint (C.J. Wilson), after the girls to retrieve the case but they have taken various detours to lesbian bars to help Marian loosen up.  Chaos ensues.  Qualley and Viswanathan, especially, do what they can with the material but I didn't like either of their characters (I enjoyed Feldstein, Domingo, and a cameo from Matt Damon so much more) and their actions quickly become tedious because they are so meaningless.  The humor, in my opinion, is very juvenile rather than quirky and I did not laugh even once (no one in my audience did, either).  The editing is an absolute mess with transitions that look like they were created with iMovie and there are also several really strange, and jarring, psychedelic sequences with Miley Cyrus that have absolutely no context until the very end.  The best thing I can say about this movie is that it is only 84 minutes long (I don't think I could have listened to Qualley's obnoxious accent for much longer).  I highly recommend giving this a miss.

Thursday, February 22, 2024

The Boys in the Boat

I was really interested in seeing The Boys in the Boat when it was first released on Christmas Day but then I got busy and eventually forgot about it.  I noticed that it was still at my local multiplex when I was there on Tuesday and decided to see it last night.  It is a very serviceable underdog sports movie based on a true story but, as I am a huge fan of that genre, I absolutely loved it (and even had a tear in my eye at the end).  Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) was abandoned by his family at the age of 14 during the Great Depression and is now fending for himself while attending the University of Washington.  He is behind on his tuition payments and is unable to find work so he, along with hundreds of other students, attempts to win a spot on the men's eight crew because the team offers financial support and a place to live.  Despite having never rowed before, Coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), who is under tremendous pressure from the school and the booster club to win, is impressed by his hard work and determination and gives him a spot on the J.V. boat.  Overcoming tremendous odds, the team has a successful season and the J.V. boat is given the opportunity to compete at the Poughkeepsie Regatta (an Olympic qualifying race) over the senior boat.  They face even more obstacles (so many obstacles!) when they reach the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and I was literally holding my breath when the final race has a photo finish!  This story is told in a very conventional way (there is even the requisite training montage) but it is still incredibly compelling and I was riveted for the entire runtime.  Turner is very appealing (he looks good as a blonde) and sympathetic in the lead role, especially in a scene where is is reunited with the father who abandoned him.  I have never been interested in rowing before but it certainly looks beautiful portrayed on screen, particularly the overhead shots of the oars slapping against the water in unison.  I loved the 1930s period detail in the costumes and production design as well as the stirring score by Alexandre Desplat (one of my favorite movie composers).  This doesn't do anything new but it doesn't have to because it is so entertaining and inspiring.  I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend it now that it is available on VOD.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Bob Marley: One Love

Now that I have seen all of the new releases at my favorite art house theater I decided to see Bob Marley: One Love last night and, even though I am am only a casual fan, I liked it.  The narrative follows Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) for two tumultuous years from 1976 to 1978 and is book-ended by two concerts in Jamaica.  Political turmoil, which brings Jamaica to the brink of civil war, prompts Marley to organize a free concert promoting peace.  However, he, his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch), and another band member are shot in an attack that is thought to be politically motivated and, even though they recover enough to perform at the concert, Marley and the Wailers soon flee to London.  While there he is inspired by his situation and records Exodus, widely regarded to be his most popular and influential album, and embarks on a successful European tour.  It is only when he is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer (which eventually ends his life) that he is able to face his fears and his past to return to Jamaica for another peace concert.  This is little more than a surface level exploration of Marley's life and music because, even though there are brief flashbacks to his difficult childhood (Nolan Collignon portrays Marley as a child), his early relationship with with Rita (Quan-Dajai Henrique portrays Marley as a young man and Nia Ashi portrays Rita as a young woman), his introduction to Rastafari, and his early days with the Wailers, I really wanted to know more about all of the above.  The biggest positives for me are the performances of Ben-Adir, who disappears into the role and nails Marley's physicality on stage, and Lynch, who is incredibly compelling as the only character who really challenges Marley.  I always enjoy seeing a musician's creative process so I really loved the scene where Marley and the Wailers improvise an early version of "Exodus" and the scene where he plays "Redemption Song" for his children and tells Rita that he has been writing it his whole life is incredibly moving.  The use of Marley's amazing music is also a highlight (I am really happy that my favorite song, "No Woman, No Cry," was included and I especially loved that it was performed live).  This could have been more comprehensive but I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

The Taste of Things

The second foreign film in my double feature at the Broadway last night was The Taste of Things.  I was really excited to see this because of everything I had heard about it and it certainly didn't disappoint.  Dodin (Benoit Magimel) is a French landowner in 1885 who meets regularly with a group of his fellow gourmands for a meal he prepares with his cook Eugenie (Juliette Binoche) with whom he has been having an affair for over twenty years.  She refuses to eat these meals with him and his friends and refuses his frequent proposals of marriage.  When Dodin and his friends are invited to an elaborate eight hour meal prepared by the distinguished chef of a visiting prince, they are all disappointed because they prefer the artistry of Eugenie's cooking and Dodin makes plans to invite the prince to his chateau for a simple meal consisting of a pot-au-feu.  However, Eugenie begins having fainting spells that worry Dodin so, while she rests, he prepares an exquisite meal for her after which she finally accepts his proposal.  This is a beautiful and moving story about how the purest form of love is preparing food for someone!  The vast majority of the runtime involves the meticulous preparation of gourmet meals featuring many different courses followed by people eating them with pleasure and there is very little dialogue (and no score beyond the sounds of nature from the open windows) but these scenes are absolutely captivating because the food looks amazing and you can almost smell the aromas through the screen.  Binoche (who is luminous as always) and Magimel give lovely performances because, not only do they have insane chemistry with each other (this is one of the most romantic movies I've seen in a long time), but they also really seem to be cooking all of the food!  The cinematography, whether the camera is panning over simmering and sizzling pots or the sun-dappled garden where many of the ingredient are freshly picked, is simply gorgeous.  I loved everything about this delightful film and highly recommend it.

The Teachers' Lounge

Last night I decided on a foreign film double feature at the Broadway and I began with The Teachers' Lounge.  I had an almost visceral reaction to several scenes because I am a former teacher and this is an incredibly accurate portrayal of what teaching sometimes feels like.  Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) is an idealistic first year teacher in a middle school that has been experiencing a series of thefts.  When one of her students (who is Muslim) is accused, she objects to the way in which her superiors abuse their power to single him out and decides to investigate the thefts herself.  She surreptitiously gathers evidence that seems to lead to an administrative assistant as the culprit but her accusation puts her at odds with the administration, her students (especially the son of the accused who is in her class), the parents, and the other teachers.  What I found fascinating is that Carla is initially very well-liked by her colleagues and is a great teacher with a lot of participation and engagement from her students but, as an unintended consequence of her well-meaning action, they all quickly turn against her and events spiral out of control.  The school becomes a microcosm of society where everyone is looking for someone else to blame and misinformation abounds.  All of the action takes place within a few areas of the school and this really heightens Carla's sense of claustrophobia when she finds no support.  The tension slowly escalates until it is almost unbearable and a scene where every student in her class refuses to comply with her directions gave me a panic attack.  Benesch gives a brilliant central performance, which is enhanced by an unnerving score, and I often found it very difficult to watch.  My only criticism is that the ending is a bit anticlimactic after all of the build-up but I highly recommend this thought-provoking film.

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Madame Web

The second movie in my double feature yesterday was Madame Web and, after reading some horrible reviews, I really wanted to give it a chance but it is just so bad.  Cassandra "Cassie" Webb (Dakota Johnson) is an antisocial paramedic who gains the ability to see into the future after a near death experience.  While on a train she has a vision of an attack on three girls, Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor), by a man with spider-like abilities.  She rescues them before the attack can happen and then recognizes the man as Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), an explorer who was in the Amazon with her mother when she was researching spiders right before she died (this meme-able line from the trailer is not actually in the movie).  It seems that he stole a rare spider with healing properties from Cassie's pregnant mother and he can see his death at the hands of the three aforementioned girls in the future and wants to kill them before they can do the deed.  After another attack on the girls, Cassie reluctantly takes responsibility for them, learns her backstory and why she has this strange ability, and finally faces Sims in a fiery confrontation.  Much like the Venom movies (which I disliked) and Morbius (which I didn't even bother to see), this is another attempt by Sony to create a full-fledged narrative about a side character in the Spider-Man universe and it doesn't really work on any level.  The story is often nonsensical even though there are plenty of clunky exposition dumps in the dialogue.  The action sequences are not very interesting because the writers and the director have no idea what to do with a character whose power is mental rather than physical (she tells the girls to get down a lot) and the editing is so disjointed that it is hard to even see what is going on.  The villain is not very compelling or well developed (I have so many questions) and Rahim's ADR is some of the worst I have ever seen or heard.  Johnson can be a great actress (I love her in Cha Cha Real Smooth and The Lost Daughter) but she needs good material to elevate her performance and, in this mess, she seems completely disengaged from what is happening.  Sweeney gets the most screen time out of the three girls (I have lots of questions about them and their powers, as well) but she is incredibly bland.  Ugh!  The best part of this movie, in my opinion, is Cassie's partner Ben Parker (Adam Scott) who becomes an uncle (wink wink) during the final confrontation.  Even with very low expectations I was still disappointed with this movie and I highly recommend giving this a miss.

Note:  Don't even get me started on the product placement...

Lisa Frankenstein

Yesterday I decided to spend the day at my local multiplex for a double feature starting with Lisa Frankenstein.  I had so much fun watching this monster movie/romantic comedy mash-up!  It is 1989 and Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) is still traumatized by the brutal murder of her mother and is struggling to adjust to her cruel new stepmother Janet (Carla Gugino) and popular stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano) while trying to fit in at her new high school.  She would rather spend all of her time at a cemetery and, after an unfortunate incident at a house party, she returns there to her favorite grave of a young Victorian man.  When she wishes that she was there with him, his corpse is reanimated, albeit with a few missing parts, during a lightning storm and he finds his way to her suburban house.  She hides the Creature (Cole Sprouse) in her closet but, when he begins killing those who have wronged her, she uses their body parts to stitch him back together and creates her perfect boyfriend.  The story about a misunderstood teen looking for someone to acknowledge and appreciate her is a familiar one and, honestly, it is the weakest part of this movie but it doesn't matter because I loved everything else!  The production design is an over-the-top pastiche of all of my favorite 80s teen comedies and I especially enjoyed the use of a tanning bed to produce the necessary electricity for the Creature's transformations.  The absurdist tone balances the horror with the humor really well (think Heathers) and I was laughing out loud during a particularly grisly and blood-splattered scene in slow motion with the song "On the Wings of Love" in the background.  Newton is hit or miss with me but I think this is her best performance to date because she nails the quirkiness of the character in one fantastic Madonna-inspired outfit after another.  Sprouse gives a hilarious physical performance (he has almost no dialogue beyond grunting) and Gugino steals every scene she is in (I laughed so hard when she lamented the destruction of a Precious Moments figurine).  This is a silly and campy good time that teens and those of us who were teens in the 80s are sure to love!

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Out of Darkness

I was very intrigued when I saw a trailer for Out of Darkness so I decided to see it last night.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story of survival set 45,000 years in the past.  A group of prehistoric humans, including the leader Adem (Chuku Modu), his mate Ave (Iola Evans), his son Heron (Luna Mwezi), his younger brother Geirr (Kit Young), a wise elder named Odal (Arno Luening), and a "spare" named Beyah (Safia Oakley-Green), leave their home and tribe to escape a famine and travel across the sea to a new land.  However, the landscape is barren and inhospitable so they become weaker and weaker from lack of food and shelter, especially Ave who is pregnant.  They begin to suspect that there is something demonic stalking them in the darkness and their fears are confirmed when Heron is taken in the middle of the night.  Soon everyone is in danger from the mysterious threat but the greatest danger comes from their growing distrust of each other.  The dialogue is in the completely invented language of Tola, which is really cool and adds to the authenticity, and the characters, based on archetypes, are very compelling with committed performances from the relatively unknown cast.  The action, once it gets going, is tense with some incredibly unnerving moments enhanced by immersive cinematography, eerie lighting, menacing sound design (the sound of footsteps during a particularly fraught moment is almost unbearable), and a pulse-pounding score.  I was genuinely scared several times but it was more for what I didn't see than for what I did so, once the monster is revealed, it is a bit anticlimactic even if the message about the origin of hatred for others who are different is powerful and thought-provoking.  I would highly recommend this atmoshpheric thriller, especially on the big screen.

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Argylle

I finally had the chance to see Argylle last night and I really enjoyed it until it was completely derailed by the third act.  Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the anxiety-ridden author of a series of books based on a spy named Argylle (Henry Cavill).  In her latest novel, Agent Argylle is searching for a computer drive that implicates a secret agency known as the Directorate but she is suffering from writer's block and can't finish the final chapter. She decides to visit her mother Ruth (Catherine O'Hara) with her cat Alfie but she encounters a real spy named Aidan Wilde (Sam Rockwell) on the train.  He saves her from a group of assassins and then informs her that her novel is eerily similar to his current mission to expose the secret agency known as the Division run by Director Ritter (Bryan Cranston) and that he needs her to finish the final chapter to help him find the computer drive before Ritter does.  This premise is initially very intriguing and the big twist about Agent Argylle's real identity actually worked for me (I somehow avoided all spoilers).  Rockwell and Howard are a great comedy duo with lots of chemistry as opposites who are thrown together by circumstances.  The action sequences on the train and in a flat in London are a lot of fun, especially the scenes from Elly's POV that show Aidan and Argylle fighting interchangeably.  However, there are so many twists and turns in the third act that the narrative becomes overly convoluted and it is hard to keep track of (or even care about) who is double-crossing whom and Rockwell and Howard's performances become less compelling (and even cringe-worthy) as their characters' motivations change.  In addition, the action sequences in the final act are laughably bombastic and look terrible (I think I groaned out loud at one point) with lots of messy slow-motion choreography and obvious CGI.  It is especially ridiculous when Aidan and Elly recreate the opening sequence performed by Argylle and a femme fatale named LaGrange (Dua Lipa).  I found this to be incredibly disappointing because it started out so well and I definitely recommend giving it a miss.

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

The Promised Land

Last night I went to the Broadway to see the epic historical drama The Promised Land and, since that is one of my favorite genres, I absolutely loved it!  Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen), the illegitimate son of a Danish nobleman and a maid, spends twenty-five years working his way to the rank of captain in the German army and, when he is discharged, he petitions the King of Denmark for permission to build a settlement on the barren moors of the Jutland peninsula.  The only compensation he requests for successfully cultivating the land is a noble title.  However, the local landowner and magistrate, Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), claims that the land belongs to him and initially tries to bargain with Kahlen for control but, when he refuses, he lures his workforce away.  Tensions escalate when Kahlen hires two of Schinkel's indentured servants, Johannes and Ann Barbara Eriksen (Morten Hee Andersen and Amanda Collin, respectively), who have broken their contract and run away and when he begins a relationship with Edel Helene (Kristine Kujath Thorp), Schinkel's cousin and betrothed.  Even though he overcomes numerous challenges and a harsh winter through sheer determination, Kahlen must eventually face Schinkel in an epic confrontation with stakes that might be too high to bear.  The story, which is a fictionalized version of real events, is incredibly compelling and I was very invested in the fate of Kahlen and all of the people who become a surrogate family for him (especially a young orphan girl played by Melina Hagberg) because the characters are so well developed and the performances are outstanding.  I even had to stop myself from cheering out loud during one dramatic scene because Bannenbjerg does such a good job of making the audience hate Schinkel!  The closeups on Mikkelsen's face show every emotion he is feeling and it is a highly nuanced, yet powerful, performance.  The cinematography is gorgeous and, while I was impressed by the sweeping shots of the desolate landscape, I was just as blown away by a closeup shot of a budding potato plant.  The costumes and production design are very effective at immersing the audience in 18th century Denmark and my attention never wavered during the two hour runtime.  This is one of the best historical dramas I've seen in a long time and I highly recommend it!

Friday, February 2, 2024

Origin

Last night I went back to the Broadway for an early screening of Origin, a film by Ava DuVernay based on the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson which draws parallels between the treatment the Dalit, or "Untouchables," in India, the Jews in Nazi Germany, and slaves in the American South and argues that they are victims of caste, a structure based on the idea that one group of people is inherently better than another, rather than racism.  This is more than just an adaptation of the book because it puts Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) in the middle of the story as she writes it.  She formulates her thesis and conducts research while experiencing the deaths of her husband (Jon Bernthal), mother (Emily Yancy) and cousin (Niecy Nash).  Much of her research is dramatized as it is uncovered and I found it very compelling and emotional (I cried several times), especially a study conducted by Allison and Elizabeth Davis (Isha Blaaker and Jasmine Cephas Jones, respectively) and Burleigh and Mary Gardner (Matthew Zuk and Hannah Pniewski, respectively) on segregation in the South and the work of B. R. Ambedkar (Gaurav J. Panthania) advocating for the rights of the Dalit in India.  I also found much of her research to be very eye-opening and thought-provoking, particularly a document from the German archives about the Nazis using Jim Crow laws in America as the inspiration for codifying the persecution of the Jews.  Ellis-Taylor gives an incredibly powerful and affecting performance but I think this may have worked better as a documentary because I found it difficult to connect the meandering vignettes depicting Wilkerson's grief to her specific research on oppression and subjugation.  I walked out of the theater wanting to read the book to learn more.  I didn't love the structure but I would definitely recommend it because the topic is so important.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

The Zone of Interest

The Academy Award nominations were announced last week and the only nominee for Best Picture that I hadn't seen yet was The Zone of Interest (click on the titles for my commentaries about American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, and Poor Things) so I decided to see it as part of my double feature at the Broadway last night.  It is one of the most unsettling movies I have ever seen because it is about the mundanity of evil.  Rudolf Hoss (Christian Friedel), the commandant of Auschwitz, lives an idyllic existence with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Huller) and their five children in a large house next to the camp.  Hedwig is able to ignore the sound of trains, screaming prisoners, gunshots, and furnaces (the sound design in this movie gave me so much anxiety) because she is living in her dream house and enjoys having prisoners as servants in the house, being given her choice of all of the prisoners' belongings, and working in her extensive gardens and greenhouse.  Her mother (Imogen Kogge) is initially impressed by her daughter's status when she comes to visit but is horrified by the flames from the crematorium and soon leaves.  Rudolf is able to speak dispassionately about the death happening all around him because he sees his efficiency in disposing of the prisoners as a means of gaining advancement.  He is so numbed by death that he casually calculates how much gas it would take to kill the officers attending a party.  The scenes of the family going about their daily life with picnics by the river, birthday celebrations, and parties by the pool are disturbing because there is always a hint of the horrors taking place in the camp just out of sight.  However, I was most disconcerted by the scenes of janitors blithely cleaning the gas chambers, ovens, and museum displays at Auschwitz in the present because this serves to emphasize how easy it is to become accustomed to evil in plain view.  Both Friedel and Huller give chilling performances that convey so much without a lot of dialogue and the haunting score emphasizes the unease.  I was very unnerved by this movie (people in my audience sat in silence long after the credits finished rolling) and I know I will be thinking about it for a long time to come.  It is very difficult to watch but I recommend it because it is so powerful.

All of Us Strangers

A few movies on my list came out in wide release while Sundance was going on so I decided on a double feature at the Broadway last night to get caught up.  I started with All of Us Strangers and I loved this moving portrait of a man who must reconcile with his past in order to move forward in the present.  Adam (Andrew Scott) is a lonely screenwriter living in an almost uninhabited new apartment tower in London.  He meets Harry (Paul Mescal), the only other inhabitant of the building, who drunkenly flirts with him one night but, even though he is desperate for a connection, he is too uncomfortable to let him in.  When he finds some photos of his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy), who died in a car accident when he was twelve, he is prompted to visit his childhood home where he finds them alive at the ages they were when they died.  He is able to interact with them so he comes out as gay to them and tearfully recounts his struggle to find a sense of belonging as a child.  He begins a tentative relationship with Harry (who is charismatic and outgoing but also feels a crushing loneliness) and, as his parents express their pride in him and love for him, it grows stronger and he is able to see a future with him.  However, there is a heartbreaking twist (while "The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood plays) that left me absolutely devastated.  I also cried in a beautiful scene where Adam remembers a happy moment from his childhood and his parents sing along to "You Were Always on My Mind" by the Pet Shop Boys and during a scene where his parents tell him to let go of his grief and be happy (this is probably not the best movie to see if you have recently lost both of your parents).  There are some incredibly powerful themes, including identity and the search for acceptance, unresolved grief, and the need for connection, as well as some intriguing metaphors throughout (I want to see it again if I can bear it).  The needle drops are highly effective at conveying both a feeling of nostalgia for the 1980s and a feeling of longing in the present.  Finally, all four performances are absolutely brilliant but Scott is simply amazing, especially in a highly nuanced scene with Bell.  I highly recommend this but it will probably make you cry.

Monday, January 29, 2024

Sundance Film Festival 2024

I was so happy to be back at the Sundance Film Festival again this year!  Just like last year I got a Salt Lake City pass and I recognized quite a few pass holders from last year!  I'm usually really wary of talking to people I don't know but, for some reason, I love talking to people at Sundance about independent film and I had so much fun!  I was able to see 21 films (which beats the record of 18 set last year) and I liked almost all of what I saw (I only disliked one).  My first film was How to Have Sex which was one of my most anticipated films because I had heard so much about it.  It begins as a fun and lighthearted look at three young girls on holiday in Greece after taking their exams but then it suddenly becomes more sinister as it explores themes of peer pressure and consent.  I was very impressed with Mia McKenna-Bruce's performance because it is so raw and powerful.  My second film was Eno, an innovative documentary (it uses an algorithm to change the sequence of scenes and the footage used so every screening is different) about the innovative record producer Brian Eno.  I loved the deep dive into his creative process and, as a huge fan of U2, I especially enjoyed his discussion about producing the song "Moment of Surrender" (Bono also wrote about recording this song in his memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story).  My third film was Frida.  This documentary about the painter Frida Kahlo is incredibly compelling because her own words from letters, interviews, and diaries are used to tell her story and I loved the beautiful animations created from her paintings.  My fourth film was Out of My Mind which, as a former teacher, I absolutely loved!  Melody Brooks (Phoebe-Rae Taylor) is a non-verbal sixth-grader with cerebral palsy who fights to be placed in a mainstreamed classroom because, even though she cannot speak, she has a lot to say.  This is such a powerful film that, in my opinion, should be seen by every educator because more often than not the education system fails students who are different.  Taylor, who has cerebral palsy, gives an authentic and affecting performance that moved me to tears at times.  The audience gave her a standing ovation when she appeared on stage for the Q & A after the film!  My fifth film was The Greatest Night in Pop which is a behind the scenes documentary about how some of the greatest pop stars of the day came together to record "We Are the World" to aid those suffering from famine in Africa during the 80s.  I remember when this song was released so this was very nostalgic for me.  I especially enjoyed the contemporary interviews with some participants, such as Lionel Ritchie, Huey Lewis, Bruce Springsteen, and Cyndi Lauper, because they all mention feeling intimidated by all of the talent in the studio!  My sixth film was Thelma and it is both delightful and heartwarming!  When 93-year-old Thelma Post (June Squibb) is scammed out of $10,000 by someone impersonating her grandson, she is inspired by the Mission: Impossible movies to go on a quest to get her money back!  Squibb (who is 94) is so charming as an unlikely action hero and the packed crowd at my screening howled with laughter at her antics!  My seventh film was Love Me, which was another one of my most anticipated films (I’m a big fan of Kristen Stewart).  After humanity has been annihilated, a smart buoy and a satellite make contact and interact as Me (Stewart) and I Am (Steven Yuen).  As they get to know each other, they access the internet to learn what it means to be human and adopt the personas of Deja and Liam, a popular influencer couple, but in order to love each other they both must eventually learn to be their authentic selves.  It features live action, motion capture performances, as well as animation and I think it is incredibly clever.  It meanders a bit but I really dug it!  My eighth film was The American Society of Magical Negroes and this satire is hilarious but also very thought-provoking!  A mild-mannered Black artist named Aren (Justice Smith) is recruited by Roger (David Alan Grier) to be a member of a secret society dedicated to making white people comfortable around Black people (referencing the "Magical Negro" movie trope involving a Black character who only exists to advance the arc of a white character).  However, it is only when he realizes that he has been doing this his whole life that he begins to assert himself.  I was a bit uncomfortable because I recognize the reality being satirized but there were lots of moments when I laughed out loud!  My ninth film was Sasquatch Sunset which I found strangely compelling.  It chronicles a year in the life of a Sasquatch family (portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, David Zeller, and Christophe Zajac-Denek who are very expressive even though they are covered in makeup and fur) as they eat, vomit, defecate, urinate, copulate, give birth, and die (very realistically).  They periodically encounter civilization as man encroaches on their environment and the film ends with a powerful visual.  It was weird (is it even Sundance if you don't see something really out there?) but I couldn't look away.  My tenth film was Presence which is another film I was eagerly anticipating because it is directed by Steven Soderbergh.  A family in turmoil, including Chris (Chris Sullivan), Rebecca (Lucy Liu), Chloe (Callina Liang), and Tyler (Eddy Maday), moves into a suburban house hoping for a new start.  However, their chaotic relationships with each other are not improved when Chloe begins feeling a presence in the house.  This is more of an atmospheric psychological thriller than the horror movie I was expecting (a good thing) and I loved all of the camera work because it shows the POV of the ghost for the entire film.  My eleventh film was Winner which tells the true story of how Reality Winner (Emilia Jones) leaked information about Russia's involvement in the 2016 election to an online publication.  I've seen several versions of this story before but I really liked the use of dark humor in this one.  My twelfth film was Love Lies Bleeding which was the one I was most hyped for because, as a fan of director Rose Glass and of Kristen Stewart, I was excited to see a collaboration between them.  Jackie (Katy O'Brian) is an ambitious bodybuilder who stops in a small town in New Mexico on her way to a competition in Las Vegas and becomes involved with Lou (Stewart), the manager of a gym.  Her life becomes increasingly chaotic when Lou introduces her to steroids and to her dysfunctional family, including her gunrunning father (Ed Harris) as well as her sister (Jena Malone) and her sister's abusive husband (Dave Franco).  This is sexy, violent, and absolutely bonkers and I loved it but not as much as I thought I would because the ending didn't quite work for me.  My thirteenth film was Between the Temples and it was my only big miss at the festival.  Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman) is a grief-stricken cantor who is brought back to life when his former grade school teacher (Carol Kane) comes to him for instruction before her bat mitzvah.  I liked the story and the performances but I hated how it was shot and edited because all of the extreme closeups are incredibly jarring.  My fourteenth film was A Real Pain and I really loved it!  Two cousins, outgoing and charismatic Benji (Kieran Culkin) and uptight and reserved David (Jesse Eisenberg), take a guided tour through Poland to see where their grandmother, a Holocaust survivor who has recently died, came from.  They come face to face with the tragedy of the Holocaust (scenes where they visit a concentration camp are incredibly poignant) but they also feel the pain of realizing that, even though they were once close, they have drifted apart.  Kulkin gives a brilliant performance that made me laugh out loud but a monologue by Eisenberg had me in tears.  This was definitely my favorite of the festival.  My fifteenth film was DEVO and, while it is pretty straightforward documentary, I did learn a lot about a band I loved in my youth.  They formed during the aftermath of the Kent State massacre in an attempt to combine music, performance art, and their philosophy about the de-evolution of mankind and unexpectedly rose to prominence with the song "Whip It" which they say was misunderstood.  My sixteenth film was Your Monster and this screening was the most fun I had at Sundance!  Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera) is an actress in the middle of a cancer diagnosis when her boyfriend Jacob (Edmund Donovan) breaks up with her and gives the part in a Broadway musical that he wrote for her to another actress.  As she wallows in self-pity, the monster (Tommy Dewey) she banished to the closet in childhood appears again to help her find love, and revenge, again.  I laughed and laughed at this musical theatre, romantic comedy, and horror mash-up and so did the entire audience (much to the delight of the producers who were there for the Q & A).  My seventeenth film was Girls State which is a documentary about a program run by the American Legion Auxiliary for high school girls to participate in a week long immersive simulation to learn about the workings of government.  It follows several girls from Missouri and I found all of their stories to be compelling but my favorite was about a girl who investigates the disparity between Boys State and Girls State (Fun fact: I applied to participate in Girls State when I was in high school but I wasn't selected and I am still bitter!).  My eighteenth film was Super/ Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.  I didn't necessarily learn anything new about the actor but I liked the structure because it emphasizes that Reeve became Superman when he was cast in a movie but he became a real superhero after his paralysis.  It includes lots of footage from his personal home movies and it is incredibly moving (lots of people near me were wiping tears from their eyes throughout).  My nineteenth movie, Hit Man, was another one I was really hyped to see!  Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) is a mild mannered psychology professor and amateur bird watcher who sometimes provides technical support for the police.  He is roped into going undercover as a hit man during a sting operation and, because he uses psychology to appeal to the would-be criminal (and some hilarious disguises), he is very successful.  Complications ensue when he falls for a woman who hires him (Adria Arjona).  This is wildly entertaining and I predict it will be a big hit when it streams on Netflix.  My twentieth film was The Outrun which was another one I was excited to see because I am a huge fan of Saoirse Ronan.  Rona (Ronan) is an alcoholic who attempts to get sober by returning home to the Orkney Islands where she is inspired by the beautiful but wild landscape.  The non-linear narrative didn’t always work for me but Ronan gives a brilliant performance.  My twenty-first (and final) film was My Old Ass which I decided to see because I am a fan of Aubrey Plaza.  Eighteen year old Elliott Labrant (Maisy Stella) is restless and eager to leave her small rural town for the big city but, when she is visited by an older version of herself (Plaza), she learns to appreciate the life she has now.  This is a fun YA romantic comedy and I really loved the message about labels.  Whew!  I loved every minute of Sundance this year and I am already looking forward to next year!
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