Given a Chance at Life, a Wooden Puppet Explores the World

Geppetto (voiced by David Bradley) and 
Pinocchio (voiced by Gregory Mann)
in "Pinocchio"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Eighty-two years ago, Walt Disney Productions released one of their most beloved animated films with “Pinocchio,” which was based on the 1883 novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi.  With beautiful animation, wonderful voice work, and heartwarming songs, it helped set the stage for the imagination for which the studio would become known for decades to come.  And, despite there being countless adaptations/re-imaginings of this classic story, barely any have been able to capture the magic of the original film, with one of the very, very few exceptions being Steven Spielberg’s 2001 sci-fi drama, “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.”

We now have what could be the best adaptation since the 1940 film, with Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s (the latter of whom makes his feature directorial debut) stop-motion adventure, “Pinocchio.”  With vivid animation and limitless creativity, del Toro and Gustafson not only give us the best animated film of the year, but one of the year’s best films.

In Italy during WWI, carpenter Geppetto (David Bradley) loses his son, Carlo, in the middle of an aerial bombardment.  In his grief, Geppetto carves a wooden boy out of a tree, who then comes to life and is named Pinocchio (Gregory Mann).  Soon, Pinocchio will set out to see what the world has to offer, all while other forces seek to use him for their own purposes.

Mann is wonderful as the title character, giving Pinocchio a boundless energy as he displays his eagerness to explore his village and understand what’s outside.  Meanwhile, Bradley shows the deep fatherly love that Geppetto holds towards Carlo in the film’s opening sequence, followed by the immeasurable sadness of losing a child, and then a sense of joy mixed with a protectiveness as he tries to prepare Pinocchio for a world that might have trouble accepting him.  Geppetto and Pinocchio exhibit a poignant father-son relationship that develops as the film goes on, unfolding with rich emotion that you feel in each scene that they share.

The rest of the cast is just as superb.  Ewen McGregor is charming and witty as Sebastian J. Cricket, an anthropomorphic cricket who acts as Pinocchio’s conscious.  Christoph Waltz provides a humorous wickedness as he digs into the dastardly nature of his character, Count Volpe, a ringmaster who wants to have Pinocchio as his new attraction.  Ron Perlman offers plenty of intimidation as the Podestà, a fascist government official.  And, Tilda Swinton brings her distinctive voice to two characters: the Wood Sprite (this adaptation’s version of the Blue Fairy), who grants life to Pinocchio, and a chimera-like visualization of Death, with whom Pinocchio has several encounters.

The screenplay by del Toro and Patrick McHale presents the story from both well-known and fresh angles.  We have the same basic outline, but the writing duo presents Collodi’s world in the backdrop of fascist Italy, showing new challenges for the classic characters who we’ve known for years.  Using a historical context when telling a story is something that del Toro has accomplished in several of his other films, like “The Devil’s Backbone,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and “The Shape of Water.” And, the beautiful prologue where we see Geppetto and Carlo adds a new depth to Geppetto’s character as we watch him experience a tremendous loss, a prologue that also lets us get to know Carlo and what Pinocchio will be like once we meet him, as the two have the same personality.  The familiar outline and the newer material blend well to create a story that explores themes of fathers and sons, life and death, and learning about your place in the world, all in deep emotional detail.

Del Toro and Gustafson provide the film with gorgeous visuals to match the beauty of the story, presenting an endlessly imaginative adventure that shows del Toro’s talents are just as strong in animation as in live-action, while Gustafson proves to be a fine new filmmaking talent.  They’re able to balance both the darkness and light that will have you go between tears and laughter, bringing you through a world where shadows may pervade, but there’s always hope to rise above them.  The craft they do for the tone within this world is as great as how they present the world itself.  Besides the stunning details that they bring to the settings, del Toro and Gustafson provide memorable creature designs with the Wood Sprite, the chimera-like Death, the whale that swallows Geppetto, and Sebastian J. Cricket.  Accompanying everything is a magical score by Alexandre Desplat, as well as some wonderful original songs, including “My Son,” “Everything Is New to Me,” “Ciao Papa,” and “Better Tomorrows.”  With all of these successful factors, this is a film that viewers of any age will take to their hearts.

Moving, witty, and fantastical, del Toro and Gustafson take a classic tale of a wooden boy who’s granted a life, and end up giving this story a new life all its own.

Grade: A

Homebound and in Ill Health, a Man Travels Emotional Waters

Brendan Fraser in "The Whale"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Having directed “The Wrestler,” Darren Aronofsky isn’t a stranger to crafting a redemption story that can be both downbeat and impactful.  He presents a character who seems too far gone in whichever path he took in life, but is given one last shot to make things right, even if things don’t quite work out in some respects.

He does this once again with “The Whale,” an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s 2012 award-winning play.  And, just like Aronofsky did with “The Wrestler” and Mickey Rourke’s career, he does the same with Brendan Fraser and gives him a start to a whole new chapter in his work as an actor.

Charlie (Fraser) is an obese, reclusive English professor who teaches online courses, keeping his video camera off so no one can see what he looks like.  When circumstances arise that put him back in contact with his estranged teenage daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink,) he’ll try his best to fix their relationship before it’s too late for him.

Fraser delivers a performance of unlimited tenderness, showing intense dedication to the part and showcasing a whole new depth to his acting abilities that brings us into the isolated world of his character.  He shows someone who has a lot of love for the people in his life, displaying a great deal of compassion despite the very limited amount of people to whom he can give it.  Just as in “The Wrestler” and “Black Swan,” this is another Aronofsky film where there’s an intense physical demand for the lead character, and Fraser is more than up for the challenge in what amounts to the best role of his career.  Fraser exhibits the physical strains that his character’s situation has on him, as well as the emotional toll that having been cut off from his family and barely having any friends has on him.  Ultimately, it’s Charlie’s faith in people that they can’t lose the capacity to care for one another that’s his driving characterization, and the understated optimism that Fraser gives his character, despite things looking bleak for him, is enough to carry you through his tough journey.

Hong Chau brings a loving performance as Liz, Charlie’s nurse and friend who’s limited as to what she’s able to do for Charlie, always facing the possibility of having to see her patient and friend die.  Every scene that she shares with Fraser has us experience their friendship that has built up over time, with Liz seeing to be the only person who loves Charlie for who he is.  Chau presents her characters’s intense protection for Charlie, whether it’s concerning matters of his health or making sure he’s not hurt by his family, and it’s a soothing feeling whenever she appears because she always has Charlie’s best interests at heart, even when he might view his situation differently.

Sink delivers a wonderful performance as Charlie’s daughter, someone with pent up aggression towards her dad who shows nothing but sarcasm and contempt in her personality.  When we meet her, Sink makes every one of her lines a punch in the face as she talks down to Charlie and unleashes her anger.  However, as the movie goes on, she exhibits brief glimmers of care towards her dad in between her elongated moments of acidity.  While those quick moments of concern are far and few between, we know they’re there.

The screenplay by Hunter crafts a nearly two-hour movie from a play that’s a little short of 100 pages.  This allows for Hunter to not have to omit anything and let the scenes play out as they do in the stage show.  Also, whatever additions he brings to the movie work to deepen the themes of the film, fitting in beautifully with everything else and making this a faithful adaptation.  There are memorable scenes for all of the characters as they come in and out of Charlie’s life, offering the few personal contacts that are left to him. The interactions, whether they be friendly or intense, open up the characters to us as we watch how they impact Charlie and how he impacts them.  One of the most notable through-lines of the film is the one shared by Charlie and Ellie.  Similar to “The Wrestler,” there’s a heartrending father-daughter relationship at the center of the story.  However, it doesn’t feel like this is a retread from that movie.  Instead, we have a father-daughter pairing that’s going through very different circumstances, but is still every bit as emotional, with the back-and-forth between them having Charlie’s calmness to Ellie’s anger eliciting a great deal of power with the words.

The cinematography by Matthew Libatique, who lensed five of Aronofsky’s six previous films, gives us a full sense of the space within Charlie’s apartment, whether it’s us going through the narrow hallways, or the way in which the camera sometimes moves around Charlie as other characters walk around without issue.  While Aronofsky has worked with bigger canvases, be it a ballet theater in “Black Swan,” a wrestling ring in “The Wrestler,” or a biblical story with “Noah,” he acclimates himself just as proficiently to the limited setting.  Although he had similar circumstances working with a confined setting for his most previous film, “Mother!,” Aronofsky had a whole house with which to work, whereas for “The Whale,” it’s just an apartment.  However, Aronofsky and Libatique make the most of the limited setting by letting us get to know the apartment and the sense of confinement and monotony that Charlie goes through every day.  When the tightness of this setting is paired with the closeups of the characters as they speak with each other, this all adds to how it must feel for them to be in close quarters, talking in these small spaces that make you feel like they can only handle so much dramatic power before the walls come crashing down.

This is a film where we see equal amounts of love and pain, and to see what comes out of this is what makes “The Whale” a film with feeling as deep as the ocean.

Grade: A

2022 End-of-the-Year Movie Catchup

The year is almost over.  So, I decided to do a little bit of catching up on some 2022 films before I finalized the list for my top 10 favorite movies of the year.  With many movies being released at once, there were some that I missed in theaters, and because of how many I had to view, I didn’t have much time to write full reviews.  So, here are some mini reviews for the films that I watched over last two weeks.

Park Hae-il and Tang Wei in
"Decision to Leave"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

1) Decision to Leave - Although the only two movies that I’ve seen from acclaimed writer-director Park Chan-wook are “Oldboy” and his English-language debut “Stoker,” that was enough to get me excited for his latest accomplishment.  This mystery-drama tells the story of an insomniac detective (Park Hae-il) who becomes involved, and soon obsessed, with a woman (Tang Wei), a suspect in his latest case.  The two leads give passionate and enigmatic performances as two lovers who can’t seem to separate.  Their scenes together carry so much mystery that we can’t quite see where it’s all heading, but they keep you hooked into their relationship as it becomes more and more poisonous.  The screenplay by Park and Jeong Seo-kyeong provides plenty of layers that always keep us wondering what each new clue means and how much personal destruction is in store for the two main characters.  Given the film’s two-hour-plus runtime, there are layers upon layers of this dark romantic puzzle as it goes in many directions that you wouldn’t expect.  As any twisty narrative in Park’s filmography deserves, his directorial stylings are once again perfect for his film.  Whether it’s a stunning interrogation sequence that plays with foreground and background in a unique way, or a thrilling rooftop chase, Park knows how to invest you in both the character moments and the thriller aspects.  Being equal parts thriller, detective story, and romance, Park delivers on all three fronts, and also injects some humor that works surprisingly well and doesn’t detract from the serious aspects.  When it comes to “Decision to Leave,” don’t leave this movie unwatched.

Grade: A

Jayln Hall and Danielle Deadwyler 
in "Till"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

2) Till - After writer-director Chinonye Chukwu’s heartrending drama, “Clemency,” became one of my top 10 favorites of 2019, I was looking forward to seeing what she would bring us next.  Her third feature is a movie that’s just as hard-hitting, which tells the true story of Mamie Till-Bradley (Danielle Deadwyler), who sets out for justice after the 1955 murder of her 14-year-old son, Emmett (Jalyn Hall).  Deadwyler gives a galvanizing performance as a mother who will do whatever she can to show a nation what happened to her son.  Through her initial motherly worry of Emmett visiting the south, to her distraught of losing him, to her bravery to defend his honor, to her painfully impactful courtroom testimony in the movie’s finale, Deadwyler delivers one of the best performances of the year.  Meanwhile, the screenplay by Chukwu, Keith Beauchamp (who’s done extensive research over the years of Emmett Till), and Michael Reilly, we’re given an in-depth view into this event, as well as a loving view of the mother-son bond between Mamie and Emmett at the start of the film.  With effective long-takes that focus on Deadwyler’s biggest moments in the film, we feel the power behind what we’re watching as her character contribute to the Civil Rights Movement.  Through it all, Chukwu delivers the raw emotional intensity that such a story needs, showing you a mother who’s life was changed forever and set out to make a difference.  This film can be difficult to watch at times, but you’ll be grateful that you did.

Grade: A

Felix Kammerer in
"All Quiet on the Western Front"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

3) All Quiet on the Western Front - Despite there being countless movies about World Wars I and II, never underestimate the power that the more recent examples can present, which is what director Edward Berger does with this latest adaptation of the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque.  The movie follows a young man (Felix Kammerer) who enlists in the German army during the final stretch of WWI, only to experience the horrors of war and realize that the prospect of wartime glory isn’t what it seems.  Kammerer’s performance is a gut-punch portrayal of the impact that fighting a war has on a person, particularly in a heart-shattering sequence between his character and a French soldier.  The screenplay by Berger, Ian Stokell, and Lesley Paterson explores the futility of war and the monumental costs that are present.  The extended battle sequences are spaced pretty far apart, but that’s not a bad thing.  Instead, this allows us to get to know the different groups of characters in the scenes in between as we view the war from a couple of angles and feel the scope of everything that’s taking place both on and off of the battlefield.  The cinematography utilizes long takes as we go through the gruesome no-man’s-land territories and the trenches as the soldiers fight their way to stay alive.  As a director, Berger makes full use of the film’s scale to capture the devastation that came out of this war, exhibiting the brutal combat and tragic losses.  With his work, he shows the viewer that, just like with the lessons we learn from history, this is a movie whose message will always resonate.

Grade: A

Gabriel LaBelle in "The Fabelmans"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

4) The Fabelmans - Steven Spielberg is one of the most prolific filmmakers of all time, pretty much inventing the blockbuster early in his career, and then reaching newer and newer heights as the years progressed.  He now takes us back to where it all began with his semi-autobiographical drama, which tells the story of Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) as he grows up in post-WWII Arizona and develops aspirations of becoming a filmmaker.  LaBelle gives an impassioned breakout performance of a young man who realizes what he’s meant to do with his life and goes for it.  Meanwhile, Paul Dano and Michelle Williams are terrific as Sam’s parents who try to get through their rough patches while working to keep the family together.  The screenplay by Spielberg and long-time collaborator Tony Kushner gives us a poignant view into Sammy’s life as he tries to make his dreams come true and have his family understand how much film means to him.  To see a celebrated director such as Spielberg bring his life to a movie is one of the best experiences to be had with any film this year.  Although you could also watch HBO’s 2017 documentary “Spielberg” (I highly recommend it), it’s just as invigorating to see Spielberg’s life through the lens of a narrative feature.  Spielberg has given us movies for over 50 years of his life, with "The Fabelmans" being a powerful film that shows the beginning of his life's work.

Grade: A

Two Outcasts Find Love on the Road

Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell in 
"Bones and All"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

The concept of a road movie is something that’s been enticing filmgoers for decades.  The notion of jumping in your car and doing some traveling, whether impromptu or not, has given these films a possibility of showing how endless those possibilities are, and to have these stories unfold like a map to transport you to stunning locales is an experience to have.  Whether it’s a classic example like “Easy Rider,” “Bonnie and Clyde," or “Thelma and Louise,” or a modern examples like “Nebraska,” “Sideways,” or “American Honey,” you go into these films knowing that there are always sights to see.

The latest of such films to come our way takes a very out-there approach with Luca Guadagnino’s horror drama, “Bones and All,” an unconventional romance that brings you on the road and into the lives of two stray humans.

In 1980s Virginia, Maren (Taylor Russell), a cannibal, is abandoned by her father (André Holland) after she attacks a classmate at a sleepover.  Not knowing how to cope with her condition, she hits the road to try and find her mother (Chloë Sevigny), who left Maren when she was young.  Along the way, she meets a fellow cannibal, Lee (Timothée Chalamet), who joins Maren on her journey and helps her adjust to their uncommon lifestyle.

Russell is wonderful as a young woman who’s trying to get a grip on what it means to be who she is.  She displays Maren’s resourcefulness in packing up and starting over, a headstrong quality to her that’s she’s had to built up due to instability in her life.  Despite a quiet personality and a sense of loneliness, Russell exhibits her character’s determination and strength to make sense of everything and not hesitate to be on her own if she needs to.  It’s a beautiful performance of a character growing up and learning about the world and herself.

Chalamet delivers a performance of someone who’s wise to the road and exudes a confidence of how to manage his lifestyle, no matter how gruesome it may be.  He shows a carefulness with going about his business, showing someone who’s done this many times and is merely trying to survive under the given circumstances.  Chalamet plays his character as a rather subdued individual, but also gives Lee a shade of intensity that presents a person who has had to live on the fridges of society with the fear of people finding out what he is.

Mark Rylance provides chilling work as Sully, a cannibal who tries to teach Maren how to be like him, but might not have her best intentions at heart.  He gives hints of the danger lurking beneath Sully’s seemingly benevolent façade, unsettling you in becoming creepier as his performance progresses.  A great deal of the horror in the film comes from him, and the disturbing personality that he brings to his scenes, even when he tries to come off as friendly, brings considerable tension to his scant, yet impactful, sequences.

Michael Stuhlbarg appears in just one scene as Jake, another cannibal whom Maren and Lee meet on their travels.  As a sort of backwoods individual, Stuhlbarg makes the most of his few minutes on screen as a character who’s disturbing in his own way.  There’s more of a lack of the refined sensibilities that we see in Sully, and Stuhlbarg makes us feel the unpredictability and danger of Jake.

The screenplay by David Kajganich is adapted from Camille DeAngelis’ 2015 novel of the same name, capturing the spirit of the source material as it brings her narrative to the screen.  Despite the novel being just under 300 pages and a pretty fast-paced read, there’s still a sprawling nature when you read the book as it takes you through America, and Kajganich accomplishes the same with his screenplay.  Just as the book does, the screenplay allows us to spend enough time with Maren as she tries to acclimate to living on the road and lets us get to know her before she meets Lee.  From there, we see a further evolution of her character as she becomes familiar with Lee and sees how other cannibals make it through their lives.  Much of the film is scenes shared by Maren and Lee, making this movie every bit of a love story as it is a road story, with Kajganich melding the two sub-genres to superb effect.

The cinematography by Arseni Khachaturan presents the American terrain in gorgeous detail as we move all over the country.  Between the beautiful landscapes and the camerawork of Maren and Lee’s car traversing the roads through those regions, Khachaturan shows the spirit of what it means to travel the road, finding out who you are, and sharing that time with someone.  With Khachaturan’s lensing, you feel the expansiveness of the lands through which Maren and Lee are venturing.

Between Guadagnino’s “Suspiria” remake and this, he shows an ability to find beauty in grotesquery and is one of the most artful directors working today when it comes to horror movies.  While DeAngelis’ book mostly shows the lead-up and the aftermath of the cannibalistic killings, the film shows them in more detail.  However, despite the intensity of what was seen in “Suspiria,” Guadagnino doesn’t make the violence too off-putting to the point of detracting from the more emotional beats of the story.

In sticking with what made the novel so great, and mixing that with the talents of Guadagnino and his team, “Bones and All” has it all.

Grade: A

A Famous Chef Serves a Luxurious and Deadly Dining Experience

Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy 
in "The Menu"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

It’s always neat to see films about cooking.  While we’ve had movies like “Ratatouille” and “Chef” that’ve made audiences salivate over what they’re watching, we also had a film like last year’s “Pig” and this year’s hit TV series “The Bear” present a very tense side to how chefs and cooking are presented on screen.  As with any industry, there’ve been changes to how we view dining, with the rise in food bloggers, social-media photos of meals, and trendy restaurants.

Director Mark Mylod uses that as the focus for his darkly comedic thriller, “The Menu,” a film that offers an enjoyable and tense ride that will make you feel the heat of the kitchen.

When Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) and his companion, Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy), get invited with other guests to a high-end restaurant run by celebrity chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) on a private island, they’re given a dinner unlike anything they’ve encountered.  However, as the night goes, it becomes clear that the guests’ lives may be at stake.

Fiennes brings a disturbing performance as the militaristic chef who demands perfection from course to course.  He delivers an uncomfortable sense of serenity as he moves around his restaurant and kitchen, showing someone who’s at one with his surroundings and in total control of the culinary hierarchy.  He never fails to make you quiver as you keep wondering what dastardly tricks he has hidden under his chef’s jacket.  Fiennes carries a piercing look in his eye and a calm voice as he speaks with others, showing a faux friendliness that’s hiding something much more sinister.

Taylor-Joy delivers a fine performance as someone who’s wittily unimpressed with the pageantry of the island restaurant.  As she accomplished in many of her other film roles, Taylor-Joy elicits an on-screen magnetism and confidence of an actress who never feels the need to overdue it when performing, but can draw your attention with the simplest of movements and line deliveries.  Taylor-Joy’s presents someone who’s wise to the façade of pretentious restaurants and is immune to their self-indulgent, complicated dining rituals.

While the whole supporting cast is fun to watch, the two standouts are Hoult and Hong Chau, who plays Elsa, the restaurant’s maitre d’ and Slowik’s second-in-command.  Hoult is entertainingly annoying as someone who’s obsessed with Slowik, doing whatever he can to stay in Slowik’s good graces and impress him with his knowledge of food.  Meanwhile, Chau is unnerving and darkly funny as her character keeps a watchful eye over the guests to ensure that everything happens according to her boss’ liking.

The screenplay by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy loses some of its subtly near the end, but it still offers a funny, thrilling, and disturbing premise that’ll entice you with its sense of mystery as you wonder where it’s all headed and what will become of the guests.  The narrative’s broken into sections, each focusing on a course of the meal, and as we move further into the evening, we’re left to speculate what devilish ideas the writers have planned for the unwitting guests.  Despite the aforementioned heavy-handedness near the end, the rest of the movie is still able to make the characters humorous without going overboard with their obnoxiousness, and the mix of humor and violent shocks within the story keeps you absorbed in the craziness of the situation.   

Mylod keeps the suspense going as we move from one course to another.  With the many pressure-cooker confrontations between the characters and not knowing what a certain course is going to contain, Mylod highlights those interactions with the claustrophobic nature of the film’s setting.  Through this, he makes us feel the growing apprehension that the characters go through as they start to realize that they might not make it out of the restaurant alive.

If your stomach is growling for an entertaining, fast-paced original thriller, “The Menu” has many of the right ingredients.

Grade: A- 

While Recovering, a Veteran Figures Out Her Next Move

Jennifer Lawrence in "Causeway"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

While movies about war are mostly well-known for showing what happens on the battlefield, it’s also important to show what occurs when the servicemen and servicewomen are back home. Classics like “The Best Years of Our Lives” and “Born on the Fourth of July,” and modern examples like “American Sniper,” “Thank You for Your Service,” and “Leave No Trace,” in one way of another, deal with how veterans adjust to life after they serve their tours of duty.

In her feature directorial debut, Lila Neugebauer gives us the psychological-drama, “Causeway,” which provides a nuanced and poignant examination of a veteran planning the transition into a new phase of her life.

Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence) returns home to New Orleans as she continues to recover from a severe brain injury that she sustained while serving in Afghanistan.  As time goes on, she tries to readjust to society, all while facing the choice of whether or not to redeploy.

Now that Lawrence is finished with franchise films, it’s great to see her get back to the intimate kind of drama that propelled her to stardom over a decade ago with her work in “Winter’s Bone.” She portrays a similar kind of character in “Causeway,” an individual who has a fierce independence and a method of moving about in the world.  In the film, Lynsey goes from thousand-yard stares into eventual looks of intense contemplation as she tries to figure out a future purpose.  There’s a resiliency that Lawrence brings out that’s as admirable as it is heartbreaking because, as much as you applaud Lynsey’s desire to get by on her own, you want her to get the help that she needs and not feel like she has to go at it alone, and Lawrence finds that balance of someone who knows what she’s doing, but is also lost.  She gives one of her finest performances that thrives on hard emotions delivered in low-key ways.  

Brian Tyree Henry gives an equally great performance as James, a mechanic who befriends Lynsey and who’s trying to overcome his own traumatic past.  His friendly, understanding personality is a solace that brings us through this uncertain period of Lynsey’s life as she travels through rough terrain to do what she needs to do, and at the same time, Henry displays a relief of having Lynsey as someone with whom to talk.  Henry gives his character a laid-back charm of someone who will help you and talk with you, but is also weighed down by a troubled past.

The screenplay by Ottessa Mosefegh, Luke Goebel, and Elizabeth Sanders has the whole narrative take place in the U.S., with us only receiving accounts about Lynsey’s tour of duty as she describes it to others.  This is an uninterrupted view of Lynsey’s character, with the screenplay having her being in every scene and showing her time as a civilian.  It all offers an intimate study of how trauma impacts someone, with the narrative showing us scenes of both Lynsey by herself and with people, exhibiting how she manages herself in both cases.

Throughout the story, we’re given tidbits about the trouble that Lynsey had growing up in her household, and it’s just enough to go by without losing track of what’s important in the story. Although we get a couple of meaningful scenes between Lynsey and her immediate family, the movie doesn’t forget that this is about Lynsey readjusting to the life she left behind, not so much confronting her past as it is about focusing on her present and future.

Neugebauer often frames Lynsey against out-of-focus backgrounds that emphasize the fogginess of her mind following the injury and to place us in the disconnect that she feels with her home and the people around her.  With this type of cinematography by Diego García, we remain in Lynsey’s headspace as she tries to navigate civilian life and consider the next stage of her life.  The way in which Neugebauer and García have the camera follow Lynsey has us feel the displacement that she experiences as she tries to reacquaint herself with her hometown.

In a film about overcoming a painful past, “Causeway” shows that how, even after we’ve been through the worst, there’s always a way back.

Grade: A

A Father-Daughter Vacation Brings Some Baggage

Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal 
in "Aftersun"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

While a vacation is meant to be a time of relaxation and fun, movies have shown us that there’s also a chance to contemplate on your getaway and try to work out any issues that might have built up between you and your loved ones.  What writer-director Charlotte Wells does with her feature filmmaking debut in the mediative drama, “Aftersun,” is bring us on a trip to observe the deeper layers of the father-daughter relationship at its center.

Calum (Paul Mescal) is a divorced father who, along with his 11-year-old daughter, Sophie (Frankie Corio), travels to Turkey for a vacation.  Twenty years later, an older Sophie (Celia Rowlson-Hall) reflects on the time she spent  with him and ponder the sides of her father that he was hesitant to reveal.

Mescal delivers a tender performance that shows a loving and attentive father, but also displays something that’s quietly heartbreaking that allows us to wonder what’s troubling his mind.  Throughout the film, Mescal gives moving work as a parent who tries to provide his daughter with some time away and does his best to connect with her.  However, throughout the first half of the film, there are faint traces of melancholy in his demeanor that expand into something deeper in the second half, showing us more of Calum’s brokenness and leaving us to ponder what’ll become of his and Sophie’s relationship as he keeps everything bottled up for her sake.

Corio is wonderful in a breakout performance as a young girl who shows hints of adventurousness as she takes in the foreign surroundings, sharing her father’s eagerness to explore and attempt new things.  Corio shows Sophie as someone who tries to bring herself across as mature for her age, occasionally showing a desire to go off on her own once in a while to be with others, sometimes hanging out with people a little older than her so she can exhibit her maturity.  It’s a maturity that’s rooted in something that’s a little more poignant than expected, all in a character who tends to make decisions for herself and handle things on her because she knows, as if on some deeper level, that her father won’t be around forever.

Although Wells’ screenplay is more character-driven than plot-driven, which causes it to meander a tad from time to time, Wells combats this by inserting some details here and there that hint at what’s going on behind the scenes in Calum’s life.  When we have the fleeting glimpses into the future, it doesn’t feel like we’re short changed from not seeing more of that side of the story.  Instead, having only the briefest of views in the future allows more room for speculation, letting us save most of the analyzing power for the timeline in the past to see clues as to what might cause the tension that we see in the quick glimpses of the future.

As a director, Wells offers some understated work in having us experiencing the figurative distance from the characters, all with the help of cinematography by Gregory Oak.  In order to emphasize the ambiguity of what’s going on in the lives of Calum and Sophie and what they’re keeping from us, Oak and Wells sometimes have us view these characters through a glass barrier (such as a phone booth or a sliding balcony door) or through a TV screen as a video camera hooked to the TV films them as they record vacation videos.  Other times, there won’t be any sense of separation, with us getting closeups of Calum and Sophie being together and having us analyze them in those spaces, or viewing them separately to see how they experience time on their own.  We get the feeling of being both opened to and closed off from the characters, going back and forth between those sensations and feeling absorbed in what we try to learn about Calum and Sophie.

In the case of “Aftersun,” the beauty isn’t just in the locales, but in the characters and the look into their lives.

Grade: A-

One Afternoon, Friends No More

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in 
"The Banshees of Inisherin"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

When you walk into a movie from writer-director Martin McDonagh, you know to expect a film that’ll mix humor, shades of darkness, bits of startling violence.  It’s a confidence in these accomplished tonal shifts that have resulted in his terrific films like 2008’s “In Bruges,” 2012’s “Seven Psychopaths,” and 2017’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”  You have wit and bleakness bouncing off each other at a stable rate, and it’s the presence of such shifts that add to the unpredictability of his films.

McDonagh takes us to Ireland for his latest comedy-drama, “The Banshees of Inisherin,” a film that brings you into the lives of it’s two complicated characters and slowly introduces you to the world around them.

Set in 1923 during the Irish Civil War on the fictional island of Inisherin, the story follows Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell) who’s told by his friend, Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson), that he doesn’t want to be friends anymore.  Not knowing what he did wrong, Pádraic tries to find out the reason behind their broken friendship and try to mend it.

Farrell, who starred in “In Bruges” and “Seven Psychopaths,” does an endearing portrayal of someone with whom you could just sit down and have a friendly chat.  Even from his opening scene, with him smiling and enjoying his walk to invite Colm to the pub, it’s difficult to imagine why Colm will end up breaking their bond just seconds later.  The way in which Farrell shows his character to be confused and saddened by this unexpected turn of events gives you a pang of heartbreak as you see a pleasant, everyday man feel at a loss for what’s going on.  However, through the affable personality that Farrell brings forth in his character, he helps us feel some optimism that he might be able to fix this relationship.  

Gleeson, who started in “In Bruges” and McDonagh’s 2004 short film, “Six Shooter,” exhibits someone who has a rather somber personality and is difficult to read.  He shows Colm as a person who seems to be immovable from their decision to cut some ties and move on with his life.  He’s not one to raise his voice, but adamant in the route he intends to take.  The mixture of calmness and sternness that Gleeson brings to his character has you wonder about the sincerity behind some of the more threatening things that he says, leaving you to wonder where his character’s going to end up as the movie goes on.

Although all of the characters get their moments of humor, Barry Keoghan offers the film’s funniest performance as Dominic Kearney, a dim-witted yet kindhearted Inisherin resident who hangs around with Pádraic.  Whenever Keoghan’s on screen, he never fails to make you laugh and fall in love with his character.  There’s a roll-with-the-punches attitude to him (figuratively and, sadly, sometimes literally) that makes him someone for whom you feel sympathy and who, just like Farrell, only wants to have someone with whom he can talk and share some free time.

Kerry Condon, who plays Pádraic’s sister, Siobhán, displays a steadfastness in watching out for her brother to make sure he stays out of trouble and provides him with some sense.  Condon gives her character an attitude of someone who’s built her life and home on hard work, making sure to provide warmth for those who need it.  She’s there to help you through a tough time, but has the tell-it-like-it-is energy of an individual who’ll let know you when you’re being thickheaded.

The screenplay by McDonagh is richly detailed in how it presents its characters.  Not only do we get the intimate and powerful interactions between Pádraic, Colm, Dominic, and Siobhán, but we also see them talk very often with the other citizens of the region.  This provides us with a wonderful look at how the people of this village talk, think, and feel, making you come away with a sense of knowing the smaller characters every bit as much as the bigger ones.  Along with the rift between Pádraic and Colm, there’s stress between other pairs of characters as well, whether it’s seen in detail or briefly, it adds up to a poignant theme of the difficulties of moving on when a relationship is broken.  This theme is layered with an emotional parallel with the Irish Civil War that happens in the background (we sometimes hear explosions in the distance on Ireland’s mainland).  This parallel never becomes ham-fisted, but is rather an effective symbol for what’s going on in the foreground, with people who thought themselves to be friends now being at odds with each other.

Other than the work that McDonagh gives to his characters, he allows his story to bring us around the village and absorb the setting.  He constructs a familiarity with the community to let us see how it plays into the lives of the characters, be it a church, a bar, a village shop, a lake, or docks on the oceanic shore.  With the help of cinematographer Ben Davis, who provided the camerawork for “Seven Psychopaths” and “Three Billboards,” offers gorgeous shots of Inisherin.  Whether it be cozy, candlelit homes, the church as it’s backlit by the sun, a peaceful lake amongst the hills, aerial views of the lushly green fields, or the sandy shores near the cliffs, we experience every ounce of beauty that Inisherin possesses.

As a director, McDonagh’s ability to mix lightheartedness with darker aspects is as strong as ever.  It isn’t any surprise when his movie gets into some gloomy territory, but there’s an effectiveness to be felt when you’re laughing for a sizable portion of the movie, only to be feeling something very different later on.  The expert blend of dread and hopefulness keeps you on your toes as you wait to see if or how Pádraic and Colm will resolve their differences.

There’s a moment in the film where a character (I’m ashamed to say that I forget which one) mentions how maybe banshees aren’t the spirits that the people think they are, specters that scream and portend death.  Perhaps, those spirits just stay in the background and observe what happens to the characters.  That’s what “The Banshees of Inisherin” asks of us, and you’ll be moved by what you witness.

Grade: A

A Conductor Has a Famed Career, Then a Long Fall from the Podium

Cate Blanchett in "Tár"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

The opening scene of writer-director Todd Field’s psychological-drama, “Tár,” makes a promise as to what kind of movie this is going to be, and delivers on it.  Unfolding as a lengthy Q&A segment between renowned composer-conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) and “New Yorker” staff writer Adam Gopnik (playing himself), we’re shown that this is going to be a film that’ll dive right into the mind of its main character and provide you with an unfiltered look at who she is.  Right from that introductory scene, it’s impossible to not want to know more her.

The story follows Lydia as she prepares her orchestra for a live recording of Mahler’s 5th Symphony.  When some unsettling allegations come to light about Lydia, she must face what’s being said about her as her life and career begin to fall apart.

Blanchett gives a career-defining performance as Lydia Tár.  In another fall-from-grace performance that calls to mind her work in “Blue Jasmine” (although two VERY different stories, Blanchett shows Lydia's troubled conscious as she tries to hold on to what she’s built for herself when the truth about her past begins to surface.  She gives Tár an unsettling blend of an obsessive need to be knowledgeable and a need to be controlling, showing an individual who might be more unstable than she lets on.  Blanchett also provides Lydia with an authoritative and intimidating presence for the first half of the movie when her character’s life is still on track.  This is an original character, so we don’t have prior material that shows how this person might portray herself.  However, as we get to see who she is, we remain a bit on edge.  This is evident in a segment early on in the film, about which I’ll go into a little more detail later on, which is a long take where Blanchett is shown to have memorized her lines and movements in such a masterful way.  It’s a scene that plants us right into Lydia’s headspace, and is a sequence that proves once again why she’s one of the modern greats of screen acting.  

Nina Hoss gives an emotional performance as Lydia’s concertmaster and wife, Sharon.  She exhibits her character as someone who loves Lydia and shares her passion for music, which makes it all the more painful when Sharon begins to feel a distance growing between them, only to then feel an intense betrayal of trust when she realizes the kind of person Lydia really is.  Hoss shows the heartache that such a betrayal has on her, and you feel the life that they’ve made come crashing down as Sharon must figure out how to move on.

Noémie Merlant provides equally great supporting work as Lydia’s assistant, Francesca.  Merlant displays her character’s unwavering attentiveness to her job, while also showing hints here and there of what could be resentment towards her boss.  Oftentimes, Merlant seems as though her character’s holding back her true feelings for the sake of staying on good terms with Lydia.  However, once she finds out about Lydia’s past, Merlant exhibits her character’s disillusionment as she starts to see her boss as a very different person, offering a compelling turn for Francesca that has you ponder in which direction this professional relationship will go.

Field’s screenplay offers many scenes that play out for pretty extensive lengths, oftentimes being discussions between two characters that offer tremendous detail into their knowledge of music or their inner selves.  It’s sequences like that this that sink you right into the characters’ lives and are significant discussions that fit into a much, much bigger picture.  What’s remarkable is how Field’s narrative’s able to allow us to learn so much about Lydia without the story feeling the need to offer large chunks of backstory.  Instead, he allows us to absorb what’s going on in Lydia’s present and glean from that the details from past events.  By keeping the whole story linear, this helps maintain the momentum of the course of the film as we experience Lydia’s decline becoming more and more intense.

The cinematography by Florian Hoffmeister uses factors like mirrors, darkness, and the cavernous spaces of Lydia and Sharon’s apartment to unsettle us and invite us further into Lydia’s state of being and her ongoing unraveling.  He also often uses long takes to allow the camera to explore spaces uninterrupted, or let layered discussions unfold without edits, so that we see constant movement from the characters.  One such scene where this technique stands out tremendously is an early scene in which we see Lydia teaching a class at Juilliard.  The camera follows her around as she talks with her students, a scene that leads to her and one of her students having a disagreement.  The tension builds into what’s one of the best scenes of the film and keeps you wondering what the next two hours have in store for you.

This is only Field’s third film as a director after 2001’s “In the Bedroom” and 2006’s “Little Children,” so it’s impressive to see his ability to construct a two-and-a-half-hour character study that maintains an epic feel with its length, visuals, and deep dive into its titular character.  He keeps a persistent tension as we experience everything falling out of place in Lydia’s life, and her scramble to keep it all together, as well as some effective creepiness as Lydia’s psyche begins to show cracks.  The full command that Field has on display when working on this level of dramatic scope has you bear witness to another example of a filmmaker who, despite having not directed many films, clearly knows what he’s doing when trying something different.

“Tár” is the best film of the year so far, being a blazing example of a filmmaker and actress working together to push their talents further, with Blanchett as the first chair, and Field as the conductor.

Grade: A

An Interview with Documentary Filmmaker David Hoffman

B.B. King in "Sing Sing Thanksgiving"
Photo Credit. BurnsFilmCenter.org

With Thanksgiving around the corner, the Jacob Burns Film Center has a special event planned for the community, a commemoration the 50th anniversary of David Hoffman and Harry Willand’s 1973 documentary, "Sing Sing Thanksgiving," a film that chronicles the preparations and performances for a concert for the inmates of Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York.  The JBFC will host a Q&A with director David Hoffman, moderated by documentary filmmaker Ryan Miller on November 3 at 7:00, which will be presented in partnership with the Sing Sing Prison Museum and community partner Hudson Roots.  I was offered the opportunity to speak with Mr. Hoffman about what the film meant to him and how it all came together.  Click here to read the interview!

After Many Years, One of Cinema’s Most Famous Final Girls Has Her Final Fight

Jamie Lee Curtis and Rohan Campbell in 
"Halloween Ends"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Forty-four years after John Carpenter’s masterful slasher film, “Halloween,” hit theaters in 1978 and became an iconic film in the horror genre, we’ve reached the end of the era of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers.  After director and co-writer David Gordon Green delivered an enjoyable legacy sequel with “Halloween” in 2018, it was hard not to get excited when considering how he would continue the franchise.  When the second film in his trilogy, 2021’s “Halloween Kills,” failed to bring anything new to the series, you had to wonder if he’d be able to get back on track to bring us the conclusion that Laurie’s saga deserved.

He manages to do so with the latest installment, “Halloween Ends.”  It’s an entry that’s certainly not going to be to everyone’s taste, but it’s hard not to admire the strange routes that it takes to bring us something different.

Four years after the events of “Halloween” and “Halloween Kills,” Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her granddaughter, Allyson (And Matichak), are living a quiet life in Haddonfield, Illinois, having gone those years without another appearance from Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle).  When some troubling events take place that cause Michael to re-emerge, Laurie will face him in a final confrontation towards which her life’s been building.

More than four decades after becoming one of the cinema’s most memorable scream queens, Curtis brings it in her final performance as Laurie.  Near the beginning, Curtis exhumes the peace that Laurie always wanted, showing the relaxed side of her that we haven’t seen since her carefree first hour of Carpenter’s original film.  However, she also still expresses some of the pain that has come with years of living in fear.  Once her face-to-face with Michael arrives, Curtis evokes Laurie’s I’m-fed-up-with-this energy and once again shows us the bravery of her character facing her monster, unleashing the fighter that she’s become in preparation for her battle with fate.

In his first major film role, Rohan Campbell delivers a terrific performance as a new character, Corey Cunningham.  I can’t go into too much detail about him for fear of spoilers, but Campbell offers engaging work as a Haddonfield resident with a troubled past who has the town turned against him.  He’s a character who adds a new layer to the Laurie-Michael saga, and Campbell embraces the air of mystery that Corey has whenever he’s on screen.

The screenplay by Green, Danny McBride, Chris Bernier, and Paul Brad Logan makes some pretty bold creative decisions to veer away from the “Halloween” slasher formula, and those choices are going to divide fans.  However, after the lackluster job that was done on the previous film, it’s hard to deny that the new directions in which this movie goes are refreshing, which becomes evident right from the unsettling opening scene.  The narrative shows the aftermath of a Haddonfield that’s been beaten down by Michael’s carnage, examines the nature of evil from a couple of angles, and puts a lot of focus on Corey’s arc, a plot thread that brings a welcome dose of unpredictability to the story.  Although it feels at times like the screenplay’s trying to do too much by bringing in these factors, while also trying to stage the final meetup between Laurie and Michael, this results in a bit of a lack of focus.  But, with this being the final “Halloween” movie for Laurie’s character, some diversion from the usual franchise fare is welcome.

Green showed promise as a horror director with his first “Halloween” film, and he brings that back to finish his trilogy.  Although this movie has its share of blood, Green thankfully tones it down from what we saw in “Kills,” where the bloodshed came close to what we saw in Rob Zombie’s 2007 “Halloween” remake and its sequel.  He doesn’t feel the need to go all-out for the finale, instead keeping it closer to the levels of the 2018 film.  Aside from the slasher set-pieces, Green uses his experience from working on his more dramatic films to focus on the growing relationship between Allyson and Corey in the first half of the film, as well as the meaningful interactions between other characters.  Doing this allows us to build up some investment in these individuals before the more horror-oriented second half begins.  

Whether or not we get new installments of this series without Curtis is anyone’s guess, but we can at least know that “Halloween Ends” offers a satisfying sendoff to this chapter in horror-movie history.

Grade: B+

A Disturbing Expression Holding Terror and Trauma Within

Sosie Bacon in "Smile"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Over the last few years, it seems like the horror genre has been at its best when in the realm of independent film.  However, despite this year having some indie gems like “X,” “Pearl,” and “Crimes of the Future,” 2022 has also proven to be an uncommonly strong year for mainstream horror.  We were given “Scream 5” as early as January, and since then, we’ve had films like “The Black Phone,” “Nope,” and “Barbarian.”  Now that we’re three quarters of the way through the year, I can say that given the terrific offering from both indie and mainstream studios, 2022 has been a scary good year for the horror genre, and there’s still “Halloween Ends,” “The Menu,” and “Bones and All” waiting in the wings.

However, until then, we have the latest horror movie to kick off the Halloween season, and that’s writer-director Parker Finn’s feature directorial debut, "Smile,” which he adapted from his 2020 short film, “Laura Hasn’t Slept.”  Despite the movie being similar to some other horror films, there are still many legitimate scares to be had.

One day, therapist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) meets with a new patient, Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey), who says she’s being terrified by an evil entity.  Not long into the session, Rose witnesses Laura kill herself.  Afterwards, Rose begins to have experiences that become more and more disturbing, leading her to believe that she may be haunted by the same supernatural force as Laura.

Bacon delivers a powerful lead performance as someone who’s trying to keep herself together while facing traumas that are both old and new.  As an individual who starts out as a caring doctor willing to help others, Rose morphs into someone who’s becoming damaged by the horrors that become worse with each day.  As the emotional core of the movie, Bacon exhibits a full commitment to role as she adds depth to her character with having you feel how much of a psychological toll is weighing on Rose as she tries to figure out the true nature of this deadly force.

While the performances of the supporting cast provide good work, it’s Stasey who’s the standout.  In her only scene, she provides a sense of how crippling the horror is that she’s been facing in the days leading up to the events of the film.  With this performance, Stasey gives a window into what Rose will start to become as the movie goes on, offering an additional layer to this unsettling interplay.

Although Finn’s screenplay has some likenesses to other horror films like “The Ring” and “It Follows,” it’s still able to bring a bit of freshness to this similar premise by exploring it through the lens of trauma.  Given the film’s nearly two-hour runtime, the movie has plenty of time to scare you, however, it’s not all about the frights.  In between the horror, the narrative uses its runtime to flesh out Rose’s character as a means to show us the mental hardship that she has faced in the past and what she’s experiencing during the events of the movie, having the two blend in such a way that gives us a view into her thoughts and feelings.  Also, by having this length, we’re able to experience the passage of time in the film more potently as the clock ticks little by little with the limited time that Rose has to conquer this entity.

The cinematography by Charlie Sarroff helps in creating much of the film’s tension.  One of the most notable ways is how he uses empty or expansive indoor space to put the viewer on edge.  There’s a scene in the first half hour that does such a thing when Rose is in her kitchen late at night, but it’s really noticeable in the disturbing opening scene where Rose meets with Laura.  With the almost unnatural-looking emptiness of the room in which Rose and Laura have their session, Sarroff uses this to elicit a sense of unease and maintain that to build on the film’s foreboding tone.

For his feature debut, Finn shows that he doesn’t need to rely on jump scares that cheap, but instead shows an ability to time them well for a more effective impact.  Just like writer-director Zach Cregger with his film “Barbarian,” Finn isn’t afraid to let a mainstream horror movie get a little weird, whether it be with the framing or whatever might be portrayed within the frame.  He shows an ambition that we’ve seen in other first-time horror directors in the last few years, presenting the start of what could be a memorable career in the genre.

This Halloween season, “Smile” will present you with the next everyday thing that will creep you out.

Grade: A-

Facing Threats to Their Kingdom, a Royal Army Fights Back

Viola Davis in "The Woman King"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

There are several fun aspects to watching a historical film.   You can get intrigued by seeing a world-changing event about which you know a lot play out on screen; you can watch it play out and have it reveal certain things that you didn’t know about it; or, you can watch a film that focuses on an aspect of history about which you’re not familiar with anything.

I had the experience with the latter for Gina Prince-Bythewood’s historical epic, “The Woman King,” a thrilling piece of entertainment that’s heightened by a reliably superb performance from Viola Davis and wonderful action sequences.

From the 17th to 19th centuries, an all-female group of warriors, known as the Agojie, protects the West African kingdom of Dahomey.  The story follows General Nanisca (Davis), who, in the 1820s, is tasked with training the next generation of warriors to fight their community’s enemies.

Most of Davis’ filmography is made up of more dramatic work, and although she’s had roles in films like the heist thriller “Widows” and the superhero film “Suicide Squad,” her characters in those movies didn’t require a lot of stunt work.  However, with her performance in “The Woman King,” Davis shows a whole new side to her acting abilities by displaying the ferocity of Nanisca.  When Davis is on the battlefield, she elicits a take-no-prisoners toughness that heats up the screen as the fight sequences unfold.  When she’s not fighting, Davis brings out a sort-of stoicism to her character that still manages to speak to Nanisca’s years as a fighter and her painful past.  Davis is able to meld the emotional drama of her character, a dramatic shade that we’ve seen many times to great effect, and mixes it well with this newly viewed action aspect of her talents.  Davis has given us many great characters over the years, and her work as Nanisca offers us a chance to experience the joy of seeing something totally different from one of film’s biggest actresses working today.

Thuso Mbedu offers a superb film debut as Nawi, a young woman who shows bravery in joining the Agojie and avoids the unfulfilling life that her parents planned for her.  While Nawi begins with feeling intimidated and expressing some naïveté in terms of what the Agojie expect from her, she soon evolves into the fighter she was always meant to be, and Mbedu lets loose her character’s inner warrior as she plunges herself into battle.

The supporting cast includes wonderful performances from Lashana Lynch as Izogie, a top warrior who carries a strong fighting know-how and a light sense of humor as she takes Nawi under her wing; Sheila Atim as Amenza, Nanisca’s right-hand woman and a fellow warrior, showing the fierce loyalty of someone who’s been side-by-side with Nanisca for years; and John Boyega offers an aura of regality and authority as King Ghezo of the Dahomey.

Although the screenplay by Dana Stevens doesn’t need the love story between Nawi and slaver-turned-ally Malik (Jordan Bolger), it doesn’t factor too much into the overall narrative.  Before the story shifts to the slavers about a third of the way in, the film provides plenty of focus on the Dahomey and how they go about their lives and protecting their kingdom.  We get to learn about how their community operates and how they try to make changes to improve the ways that they thrive.  By doing so, once the slavers show up, we know how much is at stake for the Dahomey as they plan to take down their opposers.

In between all of this, we get to know the characters and the growing relationships between Nawi and her fellow warriors as she assimilates into her new lifestyle.  With a balance of character work, historical context, and thrilling battle scenes, Stevens’ screenplay is able to handle the expansive canvas that this story requires.

While most of Bythewood’s filmography consists of dramas, she isn’t any stranger to action, having directed the 2020 superhero film, “The Old Guard.”  Now, with the help of cinematographer Polly Morgan and editor Terilyn A. Shropshire (who worked with Bythewood on “The Old Guard” and “Beyond the Lights”), Bythewood crafts well-choreographed action scenes that show you the Dahomey’s intense battle skills.  She matches the epic scale of the action with the grandness of the technical aspects that are on screen that invest us in the majesty of the Dahomey’s kingdom, with Bythewood showing us colorful and detailed costumes by Gersha Phillips and Akin McKenzie’s gorgeous production design.

With an exhilarating, big-scale craft on display and strong performances, “The Woman King” reigns supreme.

Grade: A- 

An Accusation Has a Mother Question Her Son

Paul Mescal and Emily Watson in
"God's Creatures"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

The opening shots of directors’ Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer’s psychological drama, “God’s Creatures,” shows an Irish fishing village at the cusp of dusk.  We hear the oceanic waves and the wind as the town gets ready to begin a new day.  However, as the sun comes up and we’re introduced further into the community, we’ll see a village that’s about to be broken.

The story follows Aileen O’Hara (Emily Watson), whose son, Brian (Paul Mescal), returns from Australia.  For a while, she’s overjoyed.  Later on, when he has an allegation of assault placed against him by a local girl, Sarah Murphy (Aisling Franciosi), Aileen covers for him, thinking she knows her son and that he didn’t commit the crime.  But, as time goes, she’ll begin to think she’s made a mistake.

Watson delivers a quiet, yet searing performance as a mother who wants to believe her son is good, but must face the overwhelming evidence that continues to stack up against him.  She shows the grief of someone who begins to think that the son who went away isn’t the son who has come back.  Although you don’t see the inciting incident, the movie makes it obvious that Brian is guilty early on, so this movie isn’t all about Aileen trying to defend her son, but defending him for a short while until she begins to face the fact that there’s a much darker and dangerous side to him.  Watson’s able to convey plenty of emotion in the scenes where she doesn’t have any dialogue as much as she does in the scenes where she speaks, showing an ability to display her character’s tortured self in different ways as she goes from experiencing a happy return of her son to having it turn into an unbearable realization of the kind of person he really is.

Pascal is very unsettling as a character who doesn’t feel remorse for what he’s done, but goes about his life as if nothing’s happened.  He gives his character a calmness throughout the film, seeming like Brian is confident in being able to get away with what he’s done, offering another layer of danger to his character as we worry if he’ll commit a similar offense as he did against Sarah.

Franciosi provides a heartbreaking performance as a young woman who experiences betrayal from Aileen, a coworker and friend of hers who’s hesitant to believe Sarah’s side of the story.  She displays the psychological toll over what has happened to her, yet still exhibits little by little that she intends to stand up for herself, no matter who might see her as a liar.

Toni O’Rourke, who plays Aileen’s daughter, Erin, makes the most out of her scenes as her character starts to question her mother’s ethics and distance herself from her.  She becomes part of the losses that Aileen experiences as her decision to cover for Brian starts to backfire, and just like Aileen begins to wonder if she knows her son, Erin shows the pain of feeling like she doesn’t know her mother.

The screenplay by Shane Crowley makes it known early on that Brian is guilty, so the tense nature of the film doesn’t come from us trying to find out if he’s innocent or guilty, but knowing that he’s guilty and wondering when and how Aileen is going to face this harsh reality.  This presents one of several angles of the story exploring the theme of self-preservation as the characters try to survive in their own way; and, in Aileen’s case, it’s her wanting to believe that her son is the harmless person that she once believed he was.

The accusation doesn’t happen until about a third of the way through the film.  Before then, we’re providing with the opportunity to get to know the characters, their day-to-day lives, and the setting, so that by the time this turning point occurs, we’re invested in everything that the narrative has presented to us and understand the greater sense of the weight that’s being pressed upon this community.

The cinematography by Chayse Irvin creates several long takes as we watch characters interact, absorbing you in everything that they say and giving you a view into how members of this community talk with each other.  However, some of the most-effective long takes are the ones where there isn’t any dialogue, where we instead watch a character’s emotions play out in their facial expressions, such as a scene where Aileen paces around her kitchen in a state of confusion and nervousness as she tries to understand what’s happening in her life.

Davis and Holmer do accomplished work when inviting us into Aileen’s village and maintain the disquieting atmosphere.  With ominous music from Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans, terrific sound design, tight closeups, and some confined settings, Davis and Holmer give us heavy doses of unease as we’re taken through an unfamiliar community and come to know its inhabitants.  Through the way that they present everyone and everything within the village, we feel as though we come out with a better understanding of what this community holds within its borders.

A parent will do anything for their children, but with “God’s Creatures,” you’ll that this instinct may only go so far.

Grade: A

An Interview with Michael Roemer, Director of "The Plot Against Harry"

"The Plot Against Harry"
Photo Credit: BurnsFilmCenter.org

With the Jewish Film Festival about to take place at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York, from October 6-20, I was given the opportunity to interview Michael Roemer, the writer-director of the 1971 film, "The Plot Against Harry," which will screen at the festival.  Click here to read the interview!

Wanting Fame, a Farm Girl Has Disturbing Dreams of Stardom

Mia Goth in "Pearl"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Back in March, writer-director Ti West gave audiences the throwback slasher, “X,” a fun and tense movie that followed a film crew that puts up shop on a Texas farm for the setting of their adult film, only to then be terrorized by the farm’s owners.  Not only is it the best horror movie of the year right now, but also one of the best films of the year.  After the credits, there was a final surprise: a teaser announcement for the already-filmed prequel, “Pearl,” which sets out to tell the story of one of the killers from the previous film.  What West gives us is a movie that’s as character-driven as it is nail-biting and lives up to what came before.

Pearl (Mia Goth) is a farm girl in Texas who dreams of becoming a star.  However, she’s told by her mother (Tandi Wright) that she has to stay with her to help take care her sick father (Matthew Sunderland).  As Pearl becomes more and more impatient to leave her old life behind for something greater, she’ll do whatever she can to get what she wants.

With Goth having portrayed two characters in “X,” that of the young aspiring actress Maxine Minx and the much older farm owner Pearl, she displayed a terrific range of what she can do with her talents.  She now gets to go even further with the character of Pearl, bringing out the same aspirations for fame that we saw in Maxine and combining them with the hidden rage that we saw in the older Pearl, and then heightening both of them to develop an intense, volatile character whose psyche begins to crack into irreparable damage.  Between “X” and “Pearl,” we see both of these characters’ needs to get away from their lives and search for something more.  However, that ambition is where their comparisons end because this is a performance where, after we see Goth present a seemingly innocent, daydreaming young woman who desires to be discovered, she quickly turns Pearl into someone much, much darker as she realizes she has to do some terrible things in order to get what she wants.  And, to see Goth portray Pearl’s unraveling keeps you on edge as you watch how far her character’s willing to go to see her dreams fulfilled.

Goth’s work in this film reaches a disturbing and poignant highlight near the film’s end where Pearl opens up about the darkness in her mind.  This is done in a mesmerizing monologue that’s done in one long take with a closeup of Pearl, the only time her character will get the dramatic Hollywood closeup that she craves.  It’s a scene that lasts for several minutes that will have your eyes imprisoned to the screen.  If you thought Goth was good in “X,” she finds a whole new depth when portraying a younger Pearl.  With Goth having portrayed the older Pearl in “X,” this allows her to really show her understanding of the character, having displayed Pearl as both a young woman and an older woman and experiencing this character from two time periods.  She takes the sadness of the older Pearl and gives it rich, painful context in her latest performance.

There’s also a great scene about halfway through the film that’s shared by Goth and Wright, where the two characters come to a head about what they’ve had to sacrifice to ensure their survival on the farm.  You see a battle between someone who’s given up her dreams, and someone who refuses to do so.  With a storm pounding outside their home as they have this emotional argument, the way in which they dial up their anger little by little makes for a tense scene that’s one of the film’s most memorable.

The screenplay by West and Goth gives audiences a deeper look into Pearl’s character, expanding on the surprising depth that was given to her in “X.”  In between the tense moments of gruesomeness, West and Goth provide us with extended sequences that are all about the characters and how they interact under what they want out of life and the strains of their hardships.  With the pacing of the narrative, there’s considerable buildup to each moment of violence, so by the time they happen, we’re invested in all of the characters who are involved with these scenes.  This is an origin story done right, not one done to squeeze extra money from the people who saw the earlier installment, but rather a film that has a story to tell that adds to what we’ve seen.

While “X” was written like an old-school slasher, “Pearl” has the vibe of a classic Hollywood production, but maintains the slasher angle.  The film plays out like a demented version of “The Wizard of Oz,” but is still able to tell its own story that has you see the world through Pearl’s eyes.  The homage that’s used in this film allows for West and Goth to get creative with how they utilize the old-Hollywood sensibilities, adding another layer with which to engage the audience and have them spot the screenwriters’ influences.

To further the look of a Hollywood Golden Age film, West re-teams with cinematographer Eliot Rockett, who provided the camerawork for “X” and three other films from West.  For “Pearl,” the look of the film has more of an old-Hollywood, technicolor vibe, like the aforementioned “Wizard of Oz.”  Many of the colors pop off of the screen, a departure from the equally effective grimy slasher look of “X.” 

As a director, West is a filmmaker who knows how to make us recoil in our seats as we wait to see what kind of terror he has in store.  But, his biggest accomplishment of this film is how well he’s able to make the character moments stick with us, often creating as much tension with those as he does with the horror-centric ones.  With these character-driven scenes, such as the turning-point dinner-table discussion between Pearl and her mother, or the scene where Pearl waits to go on stage for an audition, West makes full use of their length and utilizes his directorial prowess to deliver as much apprehension as possible with pretty simple technical approaches.

West is set to continue his series with the recently green-lit, “MaXXXine,” which will be a sequel to “X” and will follow Goth’s character from that film as she tries to establish a career in Hollywood.  If this third installment continues the upward trajectory that has been established by “X” and “Pearl,” we could have another classic horror series on our hands.

Grade: A

A House with Dark Corners and Darker Secrets

Georgina Campbell in "Barbarian"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

With several modern horror movies, we’ve been given films with deceptively simple premises like “It Follows,” “It Comes at Night,” and most recently “X,” but offer much more to their stories than we anticipated.

The latest horror film to pull this off is writer-director Zach Cregger’s “Barbarian,” a tense terror that begs you to go into it knowing as little as possible.

Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) travels to Detroit suburb for a job interview.  When she arrives at the home she’s renting and finds out that it’s been booked by a young man named Keith Toshko (Bill Skargård), the two decide to share it.  Not long afterwards, they find out that the house holds a disturbing secret.

While I don’t want to delve too deep into Campbell and Skargård’s performances for fear of going into spoiler territory, I’ll say that they share a great chemistry as their characters get to know each other.  They exhibit the apprehension of whether or not to trust each other at first, but then begin to warm up to one other as the tension of their situation eases, at least for a little bit. 

Although Cregger’s screenplay has a couple of contrivances that are present for the sake of moving the story forward, what makes up for this is the sheer all-bets-are-off unpredictability of the narrative.  In all seriousness, go into this movie knowing nothing more than the basic premise because, beyond that, you’ll be seated on a scary thrill ride that’ll leave you guessing at every wild turn.  In the middle of this, Cregger’s able to weave in some thematic depth to add to the persistent chills without it becoming heavy-handed.  To say anything else about the story would give too much away, but trust me, it’s not short on surprises.

This is Cregger’s first solo directorial effort, with his first two movies, “Miss March” and “The Civil War on Drugs,” being co-directed with Trevor Moore.  As a filmmaker on his own, it’s clear that Cregger has quite a bit of potential to display.  Right from the beginning of the film, Cregger’s able establish a disquieting setting as we have the initial awkward meeting between Tess and Keith, as well as the assimilation into the area that’s unfamiliar to them.  And, between the scares and the occasional humor, Cregger’s able to balance the two while maintaining the tension throughout as the movie becomes more and more surprising.  When it comes to framing the house’s interior, the cinematography by Zach Kuperstein captures the halls, corners, and deeper parts of the house in unsettling ways, adding to the tension of the unpredictable scenario as you keep wondering if someone or something is waiting near by.

With “Barbarian,” Cregger has shown himself to be a talented director hiding in our midst, and you shouldn’t wait any longer to see what he has hiding from you in this film.

Grade: A-