During an Attempt to Rebuild, a New Threat Rises

Ryunosuke Kamiki in "Godzilla: Minus One"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

With over 30 films in the “Godzilla” franchise, dating all the way back to the ‘50s, it’s safe to say that this sea creature born from the aftermath of nuclear warfare is cinema’s most enduring movie monster.  Aside from the main series of films from Japan, there’s Roland Emmerich’s much-maligned 1998 interpretation, and the flawed, yet entertaining iteration from Gareth Edwards in 2014.  Although I never followed the series as a whole, I did enjoy the original 1954 film from Ishirō Honda.  Other than that one, I’ve only seen the two films from Emmerich and Edwards.

We now have a new Godzilla film in the main franchise with writer-director Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla: Minus One.”  While this is the 33rd film in the main series, it nevertheless proves that, no matter how long a set of films has been running, you can always deliver something huge, so long as you have an engaging story to tell.

In 1946, kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) returns home from war, guilt-ridden over abandoning his duties after many others had perished.  Slowly, he begins to rebuild his life with Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe), who has taken in an abandoned infant.  Soon, Kōichi and Noriko establish a stable life, and the former finds work as a minesweeper out in the ocean.  When Godzilla reawakens and starts wreaking havoc on Tokyo, Kōichi and his seafaring crew must band together with others in order to defeat it.

Kamiki gives an astonishing performance of a man who’s haunted by his actions during the war.  This is the type of emotional, fathoms-deep acting that’s all too rare in blockbuster-sized films these days and is a role that will hopefully introduce as many western audiences as possible to his talent.  Throughout this film, Kamiki exhibits the levels of despondency that he feels at having people look at him as a coward.  Between this and the anguish that he feels over the people in his life that he has lost, Kamiki lets us know that this isn’t going to be a soulless special-effects movie, but one whose performances feel as big as the set-pieces.  We see the intense internal conflict play out in him as he tries to readjust to a society that thinks little of him, all while he attempts to find a way to prove himself when his life and those around him get thrown in the path of danger once again.

All of the supporting characters have impactful chemistry with the lead that results in superb dramatic moments between them.  Just like Kōichi, these other characters feel like real people, all of whom share the same shattering hardships of having to face a threat after just emerging from a previous one.  With Hamabe as Kōichi’s partner, Yuko Yamada, Hidetaka Yoshioka, and Kuranosuke Sasaki as Kōichi’s boat crew, Munetaka Aoki as a former Navy Air Service technician, and Sakura Ando as Kōichi’s kind neighbor, each of them is engaging in their own way, and they all offer so much more than what you’d expect upon first meeting them.

The screenplay by Yamazaki doesn’t allow for the big special-effects set pieces to get in the way of an absorbing human story.  After a heart-pounding opening sequence, we gain further access into Kōichi’s life and those of the people around him.  We have detailed look into how the war has impacted the characters and the ways in which they try to rebuild provides the story with a depth that has you form tight bonds with Kōichi and the others.  Between the stretches of the narrative that concern the human characters, we have Godzilla scenes that absolutely deliver.  These sequences are lengthy enough to help us appreciate the sci-fi scope of the film, but never go on for too long in a way that sidelines the drama.

Just as what was accomplished in Honda’s original film, Yamazaki’s script brings an anti-war story that’s beautifully told through its characters, providing a sweep of emotions that a big special-effects narrative like this deserves.  With this approach to the story, Yamazaki gives us a  movie that’s every bit as character driven as it is special-effects driven. 

As a director, Yamazaki maintains a serious tone throughout the film, never feeling the urge to inject jokes for the sake of it.  He meditates on the sense of loss and uncertainty that these characters feel, allowing us to meditate on how they’re processing what’s happened to them both before the events of the movie and what happens in the present.

As far as the sequences with Godzilla go, Yamazaki stages epic monster scenes that let this famous creature continue to flourish with the help of modern visual effects.  Pairing with  cinematography by Kōzō Shibasaki, who has provided the camerawork for many of Yamazaki’s films, these huge set-pieces capture all of the thrills and devastation for which these films have become known.  In these scenes, Shibasaki and Yamazaki frame Godzilla in all of his terrifying glory, and you’ll be in awe whenever the titular creature fills up the screen to the point of breaking out of it.

Given how much “Godzilla: Minus One” succeeds in the scope of its characters and vastness of its visual effects, this is a film that shows how a decades-old monster still has the power to leave other blockbuster franchises in its shadow.

Grade: A

As War Rages On, a Boy Goes Between Uncertain Worlds

Mahito Maki (Luca Padovan) and The Grey 
Heron (Robert Pattinson) in 
"The Boy and the Heron"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

For a while, the only movies that I had seen from world-renown animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki were “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “Princess Mononoke.”  When his latest film, “The Boy and the Heron,” was announced that it would be released at the end of the year, I figured that was as good of a time as any to marathon through some of his films that I had missed.  Having now seen “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Spirited Away,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “Ponyo,” and “The Wind Rises,” I finally see what I’ve been missing all of these years, with Miyazaki’s films taking me on many journeys that unfolded with boundless imagination.  These are emotional and spiritual adventures that kept me enthralled in their remarkable stories and characters.

After 10 years, we now have his latest and twelfth feature, with his most recent being “The Wind Rises.”  Not only is “The Boy and the Heron” one of the best films of 2023, but the best animated film of the year, and it was worth having this be my first Miyazaki film on a big screen.

In 1943, during the Pacific War, 12-year-old Mahito Maki (Luca Padovan), loses his mother during a hospital fire.  Afterwards, he evacuates Tokyo with his father, Shoichi (Christian Bale, reuniting with Miyazaki after “Howl’s Moving Castle”) and stepmother, Natsuko (Gemma Chan) to live in the countryside.  One day, a grey heron (Robert Pattinson) leads Mahito to an abandoned tower, which brings him through a portal into a world beyond his wildest imagination.

Padovan delivers poignant work as a young boy who must find his way both through wartime Japan and a mystical world where anything is possible.  When voicing Mahito, Padovan brings across his character’s unwavering bravery as he ventures further and further into a beautiful, yet dangerous place to save his stepmother.  Interwoven with this strength is a strong sense of emotion as Mahito remembers the death of his mother, and Padovan brings across Mahito’s sense of loss, with his character using that as a source of strength to take on further hardships that he faces.  Miyazaki excels in building protagonists who are trying to understand and find their way in the world, be it our world or another, and Mahito is the next great addition to a superb lineup of such characters.

With this being Pattinson’s first role in an animated film, he shows a whole new path for his career.  Here, we have a stunning example of what he’s able to do with his voice, seeing as what he does with his vocals makes him sound unrecognizable.  He employs a mischievous and somewhat threatening tone of voice throughout that has this character keep you not just intrigued, but also unsure as to whether or not you can trust this heron.  Pattinson draws us in with this enigmatic air to his character and brings across a deep sense of mysticism to the heron, eliciting a deep sense of a creature who’s been around for a long time and knows his way through the intricacies of the extraordinary places in which he inhabits.

It wouldn’t be a Miyazaki film without a strong roster of supporting characters.  For this section of his cast, there’s Karen Fukuhara as the spirited and helpful Lady Himi, who acts as Mahito’s guide later in the film; Gemma Chan as Natsuko, Mahito’s loving stepmother; Christian Bale as Mahito’s protective father; Mark Hamill as the mysterious Granduncle; Florence Pugh as the tough seafarer, Kiriko; Willem Dafoe as the forbidding Noble Pelican; and Dave Bautista as the intimidating and majestic warrior known as The Parakeet King.  Miyazaki always gives his films distinctive characters that stand out from one other in each story, and those whom he introduces add to the fascination that you’ll feel when moving among the worlds of this movie.

Miyazaki’s screenplay is loaded with fantastical and human elements, combining them in such a way that shows how much of a master he is at giving us fulfilling and challenging stories.  Although the movie is just barely two hours, it feels longer, but that’s not a bad thing.  Instead, Miyazaki uses this languid pace to flesh out his settings little by little, just as he’s done with his other films.  His narrative allows us to get to know the characters of Mahito’s world very well in the first third of the film before he goes on his life-changing adventure.  We’re given a view into Tokyo during the war and in the countryside to which Mahito and his family move, providing enough details for us to care for these individuals.  Miyazaki then unfolds his strange, richly-textured environments with a comprehensive mythology that absorbs you in every scene.  Between the magnetic characters and epic-scale settings, Miyazaki’s story carries an unpredictability that whisks the viewer into a viewing experience that only he can provide.  This is a narrative that’s breathtaking in size and intimate in its poignancy, showing how Miyazaki continues to be one of cinema’s most thought-provoking and heartfelt storytellers.

Miyazaki is an animator whose work begs to be seen in a theater.  His movies are absolute treasures of the medium, and “The Boy and the Heron” isn’t any different.  The animation that he’s provided throughout his career is unparalleled, and while watching this movie, you see and feel the amount of work that went into the long wait for this movie.  Even for Miyazaki, this is a new height for him.  Besides the awe-inspiring visuals, he provides stunning amounts of emotion, while also injecting bits of humor here and there, all of which solidifies the connections that you experience with his characters.  Heightening the magical feeling that’s felt throughout the film is a typically gorgeous musical score from Miyazaki’s frequent collaborator, Joe Hisaishi, as well as the beautiful end-credits song, “Spinning Globe.”

Over the summer, we had a couple of wonderful animated films with “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” and this year in animation is ending on an astounding note with “The Boy and the Heron.”  All three of these films have shown how much animation has evolved over the years, and Miyazaki’s latest couldn’t be a better film on which to end this memorable streak in 2023.  This movie is a testament to how Miyazaki is a filmmaker of endless invention who has a tremendous love for bringing his grand ideas to realization, and we’re lucky to have a filmmaker of his caliber working today.  With each movie he makes, we can never guess where he will take us, and that’s the beauty of his adventures.

Grade: A

Left Behind, but Not Alone on Christmas

Dominic Sessa, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and
Paul Giamatti in "The Holdovers"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

When it comes to Christmas movies that focus on family, those stories are mainly about the characters trying to get along with each other during the time of year when they’re all together for a festive season.  There’s some animosity amongst them, and their holiday together may include arguments and pratfalls, but everyone soon overcomes their differences as they settle in for Christmas Day.

However, we get something different in terms of the subject of family and the holidays with director Alexander Payne’s comedy-drama, “The Holdovers.”  With it being six years since his last film, the underwhelming “Downsizing,” we now have a film with heart, humor, and endearing characters, making this a movie that deserves to be evaluated as a Christmas classic somewhere down the road.

In 1970, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is a classics teacher at a New England boarding school.  With the school getting ready to let out for a two-week Christmas break, it’s Paul’s turn to watch over the students who don’t have anywhere to go, one of whom is Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa).  While stuck there, Paul, the students, and a good-hearted cafeteria worker, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), try to get by with as little tension as possible.

Giamatti, who stared in Payne’s 2004 film, “Sideways,” offers a humorous performance as the never-stray-from-the-rulebook teacher who doesn’t hold back opinions when it comes to dealing with his students.  However, he also has a way about him that shows the tough-love that he has for them, the kind of caring, teacherly persona where you understand where he’s coming from.  Giamatti doesn’t present the character as unloving, but as someone who values hard work and doesn’t have time for rule breaking or laziness.  But, once he opens up and begins seeing things on Angus’ level, it becomes a performance of great empathy as Giamatti realizes what Angus is going through and tries to understand him.  When this part of Paul’s character begins to bloom, it’s the start of an emotional evolution from the strict disciplinarian that we saw at the beginning.

Sessa, in his breakout role, gives a performance of terrific depth as a teenager who tries to handle his loneliness with humor and putting people in their place when they deserve it.  The complete opposite of Paul, Sessa shows his character’s exuberance as he tries to do what he wants to do, even when it’s against the rules, and often shows an intelligence that Paul tends to neglect.  Sessa delivers a natural, schoolboy charisma throughout the film, but it’s the drama in his character that we see later on that shows the issues hidden behind his carefree veneer.  It’s later on where we get a deeper reasoning of the rebelliousness that Angus displays, and Sessa shows a wonderful sense of someone wanting to be trusted as the adult that he’s becoming.

Randolph gives a poignant performance as an individual who’s suffering the recent death of her son in the Vietnam War.  While her character has doses of wit here and there, Randolph excels in showing the sense of loss that her character experiences.  Whenever Randolph’s on screen, you feel a pang in your heart because of how much she draws you in with her kindliness and soft sense of melancholy as Mary tries to make it through the toughest time in her life.  Randolph gives us a character who hasn’t had it easy, but does what she can day after day to maintain a strength that you sense pulsing through her in each of her scenes.

The screenplay by David Hemingson crafts a narrative that’ll have you going between laughs and tears.  He takes a story that focuses on three people who are going through different circumstances and paints those individuals as very genuine characters that explores loss, loneliness, unrealized dreams, and what it means to find common ground in those with whom you don’t have anything in common.  Hemingson examines all of these themes in beautiful detail, never making it feel like the sense of focus is overcrowded, but instead making it all connect in a meaningful way that has you feel like you could spend hours with this trio.  He examines these three characters not just with how they interact with each other, but with how they converse with other people when they’re separated during certain scenes.  By doing it these two ways, the narrative opens the characters’ emotional arcs even further as we get to know more about them between what they share with each other and what they share with other people.

With movies like “The Descendants,” “Nebraska,” and now “The Holdovers,” Payne has a talent for handling stories about families.  He brings out a mix of comedy and warmth in this type of narrative, presenting these families with a terrific sense of realness that makes these films engaging to watch.  In terms of visuals, Payne offers rich detail of the time period in such a way that doesn’t call attention to itself, but it still gives you a feel for the time and place, and it’s all paired with wonderful cinematography by Eigil Bryld.  Aside from the period detail, Payne and Bryld provide imagery of the New England area in such a way that lets you get to know the area, both on and off the school grounds.  It allows for a true feeling of spacial exploration as the characters take us around the school, and then as the main trio goes off campus and spends time with each other and with other people.

As a way to get into the Christmas season, “The Holdovers” will help make this time of year as warm as any beautifully decorated house. 

Grade: A

Greed Arrives in a Wealthy Community, and Starts a Deadly Spread

Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in 
"Killers of the Flower Moon"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

One of the most significant aspects about director Martin Scorsese’s filmmaking is how he’s been able to show compelling views of America through many time periods, and this is especially true in his films that are based on real subjects.  He’s covered the boxing career of Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull,” the life of gangster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas,” the Catholic-Protestant feud in the Five Points slums in “Gangs of New York,” the filmmaking career of Howard Hughes in “The Aviator,” the Wall Street years of Jordan Belfort in “The Wolf of Wall Street,”  and the tension between Frank Sheeran and Jimmy Hoffa in “The Irishman.”  With these stories covering many decades of nineteenth- and twentieth-century America, Scorsese has analyzed the country in such a way that has never lost its impact.

His latest film tackles a true story during an especially dark chapter in America’s history with “Killers of the Flower Moon.”  In a filmmaking career that’s stacked up with so many movies that can be considered his best, this is a film that continues this trend and can be considered another high point from one of cinema’s most prolific visionaries.

In the 1920s Osage Nation of Oklahoma, Native Americans gain vast riches after striking oil on their reservations.  During this time, Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns from the war to live with and work for his rancher uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro).  Soon, at the behest of his uncle, Ernest falls in love with a local Osage, Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), whose family owns oil headrights.  When his uncle begins having Osages killed in order to have their riches passed on to him and other white settlers, Mollie tries to keep her family safe, while Ernest is torn between the love for his wife and loyalty to his uncle.

This is DiCaprio’s sixth collaboration with Scorsese, and it further shows how well the two work together, with Scorsese eliciting another mammoth performance from his lead.  DiCaprio presents Ernest as someone who may be somewhat dim, yet noble; but also someone who can be easily corrupted.  He has a simple-mindedness that his uncle uses as a tool.  DiCaprio shows Ernest as someone who tries to be tougher than he really is and wanting to prove himself.  Even when he able’s to command someone into doing something, DiCaprio exhibits a shakiness in Ernest’s newfound assertive nature, and it’s that hesitancy that shows how much of a pawn Ernest is for his uncle, the one who’s really in charge.  Aside from that aspect of Ernest’s character, we see the other factor that makes this one of the most complicated performances of DiCaprio’s career, and that’s the deep love that Ernest has for Mollie.  It’s a love that flourishes, but is then poisoned by the greed that slips into it.  The inner turmoil that DiCaprio gives to his character is seen throughout, and he commands his role as he displays Ernest trying to grapple with this conflict.

Gladstone gives one of the most powerful performances of the year as Mollie.  She presents her character as someone who has a very guarded demeanor as she meets Ernest.  Even when Mollie warms up to him, Gladstone still upholds the protectiveness that her character has for herself.  There’s so much strength to her performance as she exhibits someone who’ll do whatever she can to safeguard whoever she can from being taken from her, showing resilience in the face of constant tragedy.  There’s as much going on in her quiet moments as there are in the moments when she speaks, and this presents Gladstone’s acting abilities beyond what we’ve seen before.  It’s impossible not to be pulled into her performance whenever she’s on screen.  She’s appeared in a handful of independent films up to this point, most notably with a terrific role in Kelly Reichardt’s 2016 drama, “Certain Women,” where she really got to shine.  But, what we see here is a door being burst open as to what else Gladstone is capable of doing.

A major accomplishments of the film is the stunning chemistry that DiCaprio and Gladstone have, especially near the beginning when their characters get to know each other.  There’s a dinner scene that they share, which is one of the best sequences in the movie; and, that’s saying something, given how this film is loaded with memorable scenes.  The way in which they slowly open up to each other, careful in what they say and how they say it, really sets the stage for what’s to come in their relationship throughout the rest of the film.  The connection that DiCaprio and Gladstone share in these few minutes shows you that you’re about to see one of the greatest screen pairings that Scorsese has ever assembled.

De Niro, working on his tenth film with Scorsese, gives an unforgettable and chilling performance as the snake-like William Hale who knows how to work people to his advantage and take whatever he wishes.  In a role that’s understatedly terrifying, De Niro shows Hale’s insatiable need for riches.  He takes what he wants and doesn’t care how many people he has to kill to get it.  De Niro exhibits Hale as an unstoppable force who presents himself as a benevolent community member, only to then unleash his venom on those whom he needs out of the way.  While this destructive determination is seen throughout the film, a highlight of this is a closeup shot of him as he walks through a crowd at a wedding as he marches towards his latest victim, exhibiting the quietly evil intent on his face as he remains fixed on taking out the Osage one by one.  Just like with DiCaprio and Scorsese, this performance is one that reminds you of why De Niro and Scorsese have worked so long together, and that’s because they know how to bring out the best in each other.

Among the rest of the cast, the standouts include Jesse Plemons as Tom White, the methodical BOI (Bureau of Investigation) agent with a looks-inside-your-mind investigative glare; John Lithgow as the committed prosecutor, Peter Leaward; Cara Jade Myers as Mollie’s rebellious sister, Anna; Louis Cancelmi as Kelsie Morrison, a sneaky accomplice of Burkhart and Hale’s; Yancey Red Corn as Chief Bonnicastle, the dedicated leader of the Osage who’ll do whatever he can to protect his people; and Sturgill Simpson as the murderous and cunning bootlegger Henry Grammer.  Similar to Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” we have a cast where, even if someone has just a couple of scenes, they show the fullest dedication to the material. 

The screenplay by Scorsese and Eric Roth, which is based on David Grann’s 2017 book of the same name, captures the sprawling, horrifying nature of the source material.  With a length of nearly three and half hours, this is Scorsese’s second longest film (just a few minutes shorter than “The Irishman”), but there isn’t anything that feels unnecessary.  Between the individuals of the Osage community and the white settlers who try to take their wealth, we see both sides of this conflict in tremendous detail.  The vast insights of Grann’s book are all there, bringing forth a story in its grim good-vs.-evil narrative.  The screenplay takes its time with putting all of its characters and tragic events in place as it builds and builds into pure darkness, showing the scale of this tragedy and everyone that was loss.  Then, once the BOI agents venture to Oklahoma to figure out who’s responsible for the murders, the narrative offers an intriguing and thorough view in how they went about rounding up the culprits.  We spend enough time with this aspect of the story as we get to know this new batch of characters who come in, leading to justice being served to those who chose injustice as their livelihood.

This movie continues to show Scorsese as a master of crafting some of cinema’s finest American epics, exhibiting a level of power from someone who still manages to top himself, even after more than five decades of filmmaking.  Working with Scorsese are those who’ve developed collaborative histories with him.  There’s his long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who’s edited most of Scorsese’s movies and has the film go along smoothly.  You feel the length of the story, but not in a way that has you checking your watch, but in a way that has you feel the scope of the narrative.  The late Robbie Robertson, who passed away in August and has worked with Scorsese as both a composer and music supervisor, provides a first-rate score.  Rodrigo Prieto, who lensed Scorsese’s last two films, captures the scale of the Osage town and oil fields in imagery that transports you to what once thrived on black gold, but is soon overcome by death and moral decay.  However, Prieto’s biggest achievement here is the film’s final shot.  It’s an image that’s at once celebratory of the culture, yet haunting in what it’s endured, and is one of the finest endings of any Scorsese film.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” isn’t only in the running for one of the best films of the year, but possibly one of the best of decade.  The ambition that Scorsese shows isn’t surprising, but you still can’t help but be amazed at how he still finds new ways to astound moviegoers with how he brings a story to life.  We’re fortunate to have a director like him who cares so much about giving film lovers a movie that’ll cement itself in their minds both for its technical accomplishments and harrowing view into an American tragedy.  Once you see this movie, it’s one that you can’t, and shouldn’t, forget.

Grade: A

Decades Later, an Underwhelming Sequel to One of Horror’s Best

Leslie Odom Jr. and Ellen Burstyn in
"The Exorcist: Believer"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Fifty years ago, the late director William Friedkin (who passed away in August) took William Peter Blatty’s chilling novel, “The Exorcist,” and gave audiences one of the most famous movies of the horror genre.  With its unforgettable performances and some of the scariest images ever put to the film, this was a masterpiece of terror, and we haven’t seen anything like it in the five decades since it unleashed its wrath on cinema-goers.

Now, director David Gordon Green, who took a stab at the “Halloween” franchise with his legacy trilogy (2018-2022), takes possession of the “Exorcist” series with “The Exorcist: Believer.”  Just like with his “Halloween” trilogy, this film ignores the two sequels and is instead a direct sequel to the 1973 film and the start of a new trilogy.  Unfortunately, this movie fails to capture even an ounce of the brilliance that came from Friedkin’s film, giving us a tension- and scare-free installment.

In suburban Georgia, Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) is a single dad raising his teenage daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett).  When she and her friend, Katherine (Olivia O’Neill), go missing for three days and are then found, their families are relieved.  However, the two girls begin exhibiting disturbing behavior, and their parents soon learn that they’re dealing with demonic possession.

When it comes to the cast, this is one of those cases where everyone has to do whatever they can with what little they have with which to work.  Odom Jr., Jewett, and Ann Dowd, who plays a nurse, have a little more than others.  However, despite their performances being decent, it’s not  enough to sustain any interest in their characters because of how flatly they’re written.

Ellen Burstyn reprises her role of Chris MacNeil from the original film.  While her acting is obviously good, one of the worst things about this movie is how perfunctory her appearance feels.  With only about 10 minutes of screen time, it all unfolds like your typical legacy sequel going through the greatest hits of what came before, trying to give moviegoers a reason to see this movie.  Given this film’s handling of her character, you don’t feel anything with Chris’ return, which is shame because of how this is the first time in 50 years since we’ve see this iconic character on screen.  

The screenplay by Green and David Sattler suffers the most from its bland characters.  While the original film had a quartet of deep, engaging characters played by Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, and Max von Sydow, “Believer” doesn’t have any.  The biggest flaw comes from the lack of depth between the parents and children at the center of the story.  The child-parent relationships depicted lack the poignancy of what was seen between Burstyn and Blair, the latter of whom played Burstyn’s daughter in the original.  Aside from what we learn about Victor and Angela in the first 10-15 minutes, that’s all we get.  Angela and her father are interesting in the beginning, but they become boring, not having a chance to deepen their loving father-daughter bond.  When it comes to Katherine and her family, they’re dull right from the start and don’t become any better.  As for everyone else, we just get a few one-dimensional details.  Unlike Friedkin’s film, this movie sadly doesn’t bother with fleshing out its characters and their relationships before going into the possessions.  This one just feels like it wants to give impatient audiences the demonic confrontations as soon as possible.  Other than the lack of depth with the characters, we’re given sloppy writing all around and a couple of heavy-handed inspirational speeches.  And, even though the writers make a pretty bold storytelling choice in the end, everything else is so lackluster before that, so this moment doesn’t hit you as hard as it should.

While Green’s “Halloween” trilogy had its ups and downs, he nevertheless showed his capability as a horror filmmaker during those high points.  For his latest film, there isn’t anything to make you quiver.  Whatever tension this film has can be found in dribs and drabs with some of the camerawork.  Cinematographer Michael Simmonds, who first collaborated with Green on “Halloween” and lensed the whole trilogy, showed in particular with the first of Green’s “Halloween” films that he has a talent for shooting interiors in an unsettling way, and he does so in “Believer.”  Other than that, this film looks and feels like every demonic-possession movie from the last 20 years and will just make you want to rewatch the 1973 “Exorcist” to get this one out of your mind.

No one was expecting this latest entry in the series to be on the same level as the original, but it should’ve at least been good so that it could honor the lasting impact that the original has had in horror cinema.  Instead, it misses the mark entirely.  The next installment of the trilogy, “The Exorcist: Deceiver,” is already slated for April 2025.  However, given the emptiness of “Believer,” you wouldn’t be blamed for losing your faith in Green’s trilogy at this early stage.

Grade: D+

A Failing Company and a Game-Changing Event

Paul Dano in "Dumb Money"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Given how many factors go into the stock market, it’s a marvel how any movie can juggle everything that such a concept involves.  With movies such as “Wall Street,” “Margin Call,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and “The Big Short,” each of them has provided a story that takes a look at this financial entity and the people within.  It’s one of those concepts where, if you don’t know much about it, there’s some fascinating viewing to be had as your eyes become open to the complex inner-workings of stocks.

Director Craig Gillespie decides to visit the stock market for his latest film, “Dumb Money,” a humorous and thrilling account of an underdog story from the labyrinth of finance.

In early 2021, financial analyst and YouTuber Keith Gill (Paul Dano) lives in Brockton, Massachusetts, and posts videos that help everyday Americans know which are the best stocks to buy.  When he and his viewers buy shares in the downtrodden GameStop video-game company and turn it into one of the most popular companies in the world, the higher-ups on Wall Street do what they can to turn the market back in the favor.

Dano offers an inspirational performance as a man who’s trying to help the little guy find his way in the tumultuous world of stocks.  He brings out Gill’s enthusiasm for his knowledge of the financial trading system, showing an individual who has the know-how to succeed and finds joy in seeing other struggling Americans achieve the same.  There’s an abundance of energy to Dano as we see his character going through the thought process of trying to decipher what’s going on with GameStop, figuring out his next move as he attempts to get his best advice out to the public.  While all of this takes place, Dano also brings out an understated emotional side to Keith as he continues to grapple with a recent personal loss, all while trying to maintain the bond with his family and care for them anyway that he can.  This presents a compassionate side to him that shows Keith is more than an online personality, and Dano brings both of those aspects to his character with typically superb effect.

Backing up Dano is a terrific array of supporting performances, particularly Pete Davidson as Keith’s brother, Kevin; America Ferrera as Jennifer Campbell, a nurse and frequent viewer of Keith’s YouTube channel; Anthony Ramos as Marcos, a GameStop store clerk; Shailene Woodley as Keith’s wife, Caroline; and Seth Rogen as Gabe Plotkin, founder and chief investment officer of Melvin Capital Management.  These performances offer a fine view into how this major financial event impacted different groups of people, and each of these cast members has a chance to make an impression in this finance-world tapestry.

The screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, which is based off of Ben Mezrich’s 2021 book, “The Antisocial Network,” may at times feel like it’s trying to be “The Big Short,” but it nevertheless offers a fascinating view into what happened during the GameStop short squeeze.  Even with its lean 105-minute runtime, the movie shows plenty of factors to this event.  Between showing this story through multiple angles, from Wall Street head-honchos to middle-class working Americans to college students, we see this story reach through several classes of people.  It’s a narrative with several intriguing layers that look into how average people bested those at the top, and how those at the top tried to stay there.

Gillespie, who directed the fantastic, irreverence-laced true story chronicle, “I, Tonya,” follows a similar laugh-out-loud approach to this film.  He does wonderful work with balancing the humor in the middle of the eye-opening details that come to light as the as the GameStop stock becomes hotter and hotter.  He maintains the tenseness and energy of the story with snappy editing by Kirk Baxter and a dynamic score from Will Bates, all of which help to keep you hooked as the film brings you through this surprising chapter of American finance.

While based-on-a-true-story films are always enticing, there’s a little more intrigue when the events of the film happened recently.  And, if you’re looking for a movie such as that, “Dumb Money” is a terrific story of everyday people beating the professionals at their own game.

Grade: A-

Once Again, John Carney Successfully Plays Your Heartstrings

Eve Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 
"Flora and Son"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Ever since writer-director John Carney made the luminous musical-drama, “Once,” he’s built up a strong reputation when it comes to giving you a film that provides beautiful songs, memorable characters, and an uplifting experience.  He’s consistent in making sure that you leave the theater in a state of elation.

Carney finds this kind of success for the fourth consecutive time with his latest film, “Flora and Son,” bringing you on a journey of the characters’ self-discovery as he meshes his signature love for music and film.

In Dublin, Flora (Eve Hewson), is a single mother who’s trying to keep her son, Max (Orén Kinlan), out of trouble.  With the intent on finding him a hobby, Flora salvages an old guitar and brings it home for him.  As Max intends to pursue music in his own way, Flora takes an opportunity to learn the guitar.  When she begins taking online lessons from a Los Angeles-based guitar instructor, Jeff (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Flora will find a passion for music that she never knew she had.

Hewson gives a superb performance as a mother who exhibits the tough work that goes into raising a child.  We see the hard exterior that her character has developed as she does what she can to get by and try to keep her son on a respectable path.  Aside from the emotional aspects of her character, Hewson also displays a lot of humor with Flora, exhibiting terrific comedic delivery with some of the film’s funniest lines, no matter the character with whom she interacts.  It’s an inspirational performance that shows how newfound talent can come out of hard work, with Hewson expressing the dedication and appreciation for this art form.  Over the course of four movies, Carney hasn’t reused any of his leads, showing that he can get a fine performance out of anyone with whom he collaborates, and his work with Hewson adds another engaging performance to his repertoire.

Gordon-Levitt couldn’t be better as Flora’s instructor.  The way in which he interacts with her shows so much of who he is.  While a lot of his screen time involves him being on Flora’s laptop, everything he says and feels comes through, as if he’s right there in the room with Flora.  In these scenes, Gordon-Levitt has several impactful moments where he explains the techniques of music and guitar-playing to Flora, and even though he shows a teacher-ly patience, we still feel that intense connection that he has to music and how much it means to him.  However, there are some moments when he’s there with Flora, mostly when they sing together as she imagines him there with her, and the way in which they’re able to connect through music shows their strong chemistry.

Although the songs from Carney and Gary Clark (who collaborated with Carney on the songs for “Sing Street”) aren’t quite as memorable as those found in Carney’s other films, Carney’s screenplay offers a narrative that’s presented in typically uplifting fashion.  Just as he’s done in his previous movies, Carney finds a new angle from which to present the familial and romantic bonds that can be found within a common love for music.  He has a talent for writing endearing interactions between his characters that really get you invested in what they’re trying to accomplish.  He gives equal amount of dramatic heft to both the family story and the love story, all while including some insightful views about music, which offer some of the most memorable dialogue that can be found in any Carney film.  As Carney has done in his other movies, he makes sure to offer enough time in between the songs for his characters to talk with each other and let us learn about who they are and who they want to be.

While Carney has shown an immense talent for staging energetic musical numbers, this film just has a couple, with the songs “I’ll Be the One” and “High Life” being the big song performances.  However, given the tone and story of the movie, the rest of the singing is appropriately more low-key and intimate throughout the rest of it.  With these kinds of moments, which are usually between Flora and Jeff, Carney uses this approach to absorb us in the growing connection between them as they practice their musical craft.  For the other parts of the film, Carney has a substantial handle on the humor and hardship that goes into Flora’s journey as she tries to find a balance between developing her creative side and maintaining her commitment to Max’s well-being.

Given how it’s been a little over seven years since we’ve had a film from Carney, it’s wonderful to have him back.  And, with “Flora and Son,” you’ll see that his penchant for heartfelt storytelling is still very much in tune.

Grade: A-

Realizing Who You Are When Facing a Monster

Megan Suri in "It Lives Inside"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

One of the most interesting things that the horror genre can do is focus on different cultures and express the genre through that lens. Whether it be the society or the politics within those cultures, it’s intriguing to see how filmmakers who have close ties to those backgrounds can use their experiences to shape a seemingly simple horror tale and weave it into something that has greater meaning, both on the surface and under it.  This allows us to not only enjoy a good horror movie, but also learn a few things that we might not have known about a culture.

This is the case with writer-director Bishal Dutta for his feature directorial debut, “It Lives Inside.”  Given Dutta’s close connection with the material, we have a horror movie that shows its director’s full vision and a promising start to a career.

Samidha (Megan Suri) is an Indian-American high-school student who tries to maintain a typical lifestyle at school, while also trying to respect her parents wishes to embrace her culture.  When a demonic spirit known as a Pishach latches onto Samidha’s old childhood friend, Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), Samidha must do what she can to defeat the monster and save her friend.

Suri gives a wonderful performance as a young woman who’s constantly being torn between her family’s culture and high-school culture.  She shows the strain of having to please her parents, and also having to put on appearances with her friends when Tamara comes back into her life and causes her to become more involved with her culture.  While Suri’s performance is terrific as a whole, it’s the scenes where her character grapples with her background that act as the heart of the movie.  Here, Suri brings out the emotional hardship of trying to fit in between two groups of people, and this heightens the rest of Samidha’s journey as we understand the dramatic fuel behind the horror that she faces.

Neeru Bajwa, who plays Samidha’s mother, Poora, provides beautiful work as her character tries to understand her daughter, but also wants to make sure that Samidha doesn’t forget her culture.  Bajwa has us see the love behind the strict nature of her character, exhibiting a parent who sees herself as doing right by her daughter, and then as to realize that her daughter has to forge her own path.

While Dutta’s screenplay follows a framework that we’ve seen before, the overall story is a fascinating one as we’re given a view of Samidha’s home life and school life, all while providing a look into Hindu culture.  The thematic crux of the story is how the main character struggles with embracing her culture and has to suppress it to feel less like an outsider, and this ties intelligently into the horror aspect of the narrative.  As the story goes on, there are some clever visual and verbal subtitles in the development of Samidha’s character and situation, further adding depth to the plot.  Dutta creates a fascinating character whose journey is every bit as chilling as it is dramatic, and his script shows a filmmaker who’s heavily invested in the story that he wants to tell.

As a director, Dutta constructs some nail-biting horror set pieces (particularly one on a swing set), and takes advantage of ways to have the monster mostly concealed for a lot of the runtime until the finale.  Whether working with lights and shadows, keeping it out of the frame, or keeping it invisible, Dutta and cinematographer Matthew Lynn have us on edge as we wait to see what we’re in for.  While doing so, Dutta utilizes chilling sound effects, and later on some neat creature design for the finale, to have us know how menacing this demon is both when see it sparingly, and then in the flesh.  In between the horror sequences, Dutta allows for some impactful emotional moments that show the tension and love between Samidha and her mother, letting the audience’s apprehension abate from time to time so we can further understand the dynamics between these two characters.

Now that we’re getting into the swing of Halloween season, I’m sure you’re trying to get your seasonal movie-viewing in order, be it in theaters or at home.  If you’re looking to include a newer movie with smart and creepy thrills for your lineup, look inside this film.

Grade: A-

From the Gamer’s Seat to the Driver’s Seat

Archie Madekwe in "Gran Turismo"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

The filmmaking career of Neill Blomkamp has been a strange one, to say the least.  After his feature-filmmaking debut in 2009 for his stunning sci-fi action film, “District 9,” it seemed like cinema had an exciting new visionary when it came to the genre.  He stuck with the genre for his follow-up in 2013 with “Elysium.”  Although the premise showed a lot of promise, it presented an underwhelming sophomore effort.  In 2015, he gave us “Chappie,” which again, looked like it had potential, but was even more of a disappointment than “Elysium.”  He then ventured into supernatural sci-fi with his negatively reviewed very-low-budget film, “Demonic,” which I haven’t seen.  Fourteen years after his first feature, we’ve been waiting for another movie that displays the filmmaking talent that Blomkamp showed in “District 9.”

For his latest film, he takes a break from sci-fi and goes into something different.  Now, he ventures into sports cinema for his biographical film, “Gran Turismo.”  While not quite the full comeback we’d like from Blomkamp, it still presents a step in the right direction for his career.

In 2011, as part of a marketing promotion, Nissan invites skilled gamers in the “Gran Turismo” racing simulation to take part in a contest to win a spot in the GT Academy, which will train the winning contestants to be race-car drivers, and one of them to be chosen to begin a career in the sport to represent Nissan.  When Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) earns a spot in the academy and then wins the coveted chance to race for Nissan, he’ll brave the dangers of the sport in order to realize his dream.

Madekwe delivers a great feature breakout performance as a young man who’s determined to take his aspirations to the highest level, displaying the courage that it takes to go for such an accomplishment.  Madekwe shows the physical, and later on, the psychological toll that this has on his character, giving Jann some emotional moments that engage the viewer.  Despite the familiarity of this type of story, Madekwe remains committed to his role and keeps you invested in his character’s journey as he faces challenge after challenge in the academy, and soon in a professional sport where others don’t see him as anything more than a gamer.  He elevates the material that he’s given and provides work that offers enough drama to make up for the story’s shortcomings.

As for the supporting performances, David Harbour has good chemistry with Madekwe, portraying Jann’s trainer, Jack Salter.  His character arc follows the mentor-to-the-underdog archetype without any surprises, but just like Madekwe, he does the best job that he can within the limits of the screenplay to present someone who demands the best from his student.  Meanwhile, Djimon Hounsou has a few memorable scenes as Jann’s father, Steve, who can’t seem to understand his son’s obsession with racing and only wants what’s best for him.

The screenplay by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin, who’ve dabbled in biographical screenplays with “American Sniper” and “King Richard,” respectively, follows your typical underdog-story template, exhibiting the beats and dialogue that one would expect from such a movie.  There’s an over-familiarity from a storytelling perspective, but it makes up for that by giving us enough time in the three portions of the film where we learn about Jan and his home life, his time at the academy, and his time as a professional racer.  And, throughout the academy portion and afterwards, the narrative builds a connection between Jann and Jack that makes you care about them, despite the clichéd story. 

As a director, Blomkamp breaks out of his sci-fi comfort zone quite nicely when he gives us the racing sequences.  Whether it be during the academy section of the film or what comes after with Jann as a professional driver, editors Colby Parker Jr. and Austyn Daines (the latter of whom edited Blomkamp’s “Demonic”) and cinematographer Jacques Jouffret bring an energy to the races that’ll help the film appeal to fans and non-fans of the video game.  Thanks to the thrilling views from both inside and outside of the cars, we experience the intensity of the races as Jann ventures further and further into his profession as a driver.

With this film, we see that maybe what Blomkamp needed for his career was to take a break from the sci-fi genre and try something new.  It’s still going take more for Blomkamp to really wow us again, but if “Gran Turismo” is any proof, his comeback looks like it’s on the right track.

Grade: B

A Lost Alien Crosses Paths with a Lonely Senior

Jane Curtin, Harriet Sansom Harris, Ben
Kingsley, and Jade Quon in "Jules"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

When it comes to movies about aliens visiting our planet, one of the definitive films to focus on that is Steve Spielberg’s masterful “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”  Telling the story of an alien befriending an alienated boy, Elliot, it was a humorous and deeply poignant story that showed a wonderful metaphor for their journey of trying to reach their loved ones, whether it be literal in E.T.’s sense, or figurative in Elliot’s.

It’s impossible for think of something coming close to what Spielberg has done on an emotional level.  But, if a movie from today handles a story like that, we can’t hold it up against the standard of what Spielberg accomplished.  I mean, it’s Spielberg; he’s on a whole other level.  However, if you want a sweet, low-key movie that features humans interacting with an otherworldly visitor, you’ll get that with director Marc Turtletaub’s “Jules.”

In a small-town suburb, Milton Robinson (Ben Kingsley) is a 79-year-old widower who lives alone, going through his life attending town meetings and doing household chores.  One night, an alien (Jade Quon) crashes in his yard.  Realizing that the alien doesn’t mean any harm, Milton and his friends decide to name him Jules and help him find what he needs to get back home.

Kingsley gives a wonderful performance as a man who just wants to not be ignored by the community because of his age.  Visiting town hall meetings week after week, Kingsley shows his character’s love for his community, always making the same suggestions, but being shrugged off by the officials.  There’s a loving nature to his performance as he houses Jules and experiences a connection that’s been lost with other citizens in his elderly age.  Kingsley creates an endearing character who isn’t a get-off-my-lawn caricature, but is instead someone who’s trying to maintain old bonds that he seems to be losing, while also embracing the new ones that appear in his life.

Accompanying Kingsley are some humorous and warm supporting performances from Jane Curtin and Harriet Sansom Harris as Melvin’s friends, Joyce and Sandy, respectively.  They have great chemistry with Kingsley, be it comical or emotional, and they’re all great to watch together as they help their intergalactic visitor.  Meanwhile, Quon gives a terrific performance where her character doesn’t have any dialogue, so she must use her body movements and facial expressions to show Jules trying to absorb the details his strange new environment.  It’s an engaging performance as you see him try to grasp aspects of human life, and then eventually understand what he examines. 

The screenplay by Gavin Steckler hinders from time to time with an awakened tonal shift, but other than that, it manages to be an unexpectedly moving look at aging and needing to connect when it seems like others are brushing you aside.  There are affecting layers to the characters that aren’t overplayed for emotional impact, but rather feel organic in how they’re portrayed.  Aside from that, there are a couple of instances where the story evades our expectations when it comes to what might be focused on in terms of plot strands, showing that even though this type of story seems familiar, it still has some other things in mind in terms of what to expect, or not expect.  Excluding the occasional odd change in tone, there are other instances where the film’s subversion of expectations ends up helping the narrative leave an impact, which makes this movie a little deeper than you’d believe.

Turtletaub handled emotional isolation in his 2018 drama, “Puzzle.”  Just as he did with that film, he looks at a person’s need to connect without making it cloying.  He does it in such a way that exudes a feeling of warmth as you view the characters when they handle loneliness and try to create bonds with others.  This is a small-scale story, but Turtletaub gets equal amounts of humor and emotion out of the narrative and manages to get things back on track in between the couple of awkward tonal shifts.

With its look at growing older and the importance of maintaining relationships later in life, “Jules” is a heart-warmer that shows how, sometimes, some of the strongest connections are the ones between totally different beings.

Grade: A-

From the Sewers and Up to the City, Four Turtles Leave Their Shells

From left: April O'Neil (Ayo Edebiri), 
Donatello (Micah Abbey), Raphael (Brady Noon),
Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.),
and Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu) in 
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 
Mutant Mayhem"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Growing up, I wasn’t a fan of the Ninja Turtles, which started as a comic from Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, and then branched out into other forms of media.  Not that I found anything wrong with them, but when you’re a kid, there are so many cartoon characters trying to get your attention, that the famous crime-fighting turtles didn’t quite break through to me.  Despite learning a few details of the TV shows and movies over the years, I haven’t seen any of them.  Although I never felt out of touch not being interested in them, it was fun having a recent opportunity to see on what I missed out.

That chance came with director Jeff Rowe’s kinetic animated film, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.”  With fun characters, stellar animation, and clever humor, this is a movie that can be enjoyed by adults every bit as much as children.

In New York City, ninja turtles Donatello (Micah Abbey), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Leonardo (Nicholas Cantu), and Raphael (Brady Noon) have been living in the sewers with their mentor and guardian, Splinter (Jackie Chan).  Having lived underground their whole lives, the turtles set out to accomplish acts of heroism, while still trying to be seen as normal teenagers.  When an evil mutant known as Superfly (Ice Cube) and his fellow mutants threaten to destroy the city, it’ll be up to the turtles to bring them to justice.

The voice cast for the turtles exhibits a wonderful dynamic, and it helps that the film cast teenagers in the roles, unlike the other movies.  Not only do they obviously sound like teenagers, but they also have dialogue that sounds like what a teenager would say, and the four voice actors go through their interactions with an energy that exhibits how much their characters have come to bond over the years that they’ve spent together.  This absorbs you in their adventurous spirit as they travel the city streets and do what they can to protect its citizens.  Aside from their humorous banter, they also provide some poignancy as they think about how they want more out of life after spending most of their time in hiding.  This provides the film with some heartfelt moments that show how this movie does what it can to make sure it isn’t an emotionally empty rehash of a well-known cartoon, but something that has something a little more to offer.

Other than the turtles, there are many great supporting characters, when many of them share the screen and only get a couple of words in at a time.  Ayo Edebiri gives a witty performance as high-school journalist April O’Neil; Jackie Chan provides terrific work as Splinter; and, Ice Cube exhibits a humorous tough-guy persona as Superfly.  Then, there’s Superfly’s gang, which includes John Cena as Rocksteady, Seth Rogen as Bebop, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Natasha Demetriou as Wingnut, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, and Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog.  Just like the fun chemistry that’s seen amongst the turtles, the same thing happens with Superfly and his crew as they populate the screen and offer an abundance of laughs with their personalities.

What’s great about the screenplay by Jeff Rowe, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit is that, despite having several writers, everything coalesces and doesn’t feel like several ideas cobbled together.  Although the turtles are familiar characters to many people, the narrative spends plenty of time setting them up and showing a care for how their presented, establishing their connections to each other, to Splinter, and the above-ground world in which they long for acceptance.  There are some nice emotional beats as the turtles show how much they care for each other, but also want to leave their home and get to know others.  Once the turtles meet the other mutants, we get enough time to see the turtles interact with Superfly and his crew, having the turtles go through a conflict of trying to choose between siding with the mutants who accept them, or protecting the humans who see the turtles as menaces.  What’s more is that, even though this is a children’s movie, there’s clever humor that audiences of all ages can enjoy, humor that also has just the right amount of Rogen’s edginess.  Although the villain’s motivation is something we’ve seen a couple of times before, there’s still a lot to like in the story.

As a director, Rowe works with animation that has a sort of griminess to it that emphasizes the rough nature of the city in which the turtles live.  Not only is it superbly detailed, but it also does great work in blending 2D and 3D animation, especially for the 3D design of the turtles.  With this animation, these well-known characters are presented in a whole new way that reinvigorates the mythology of Eastman and Laird’s creations.  There’s a significant amount of energy to the fight scenes, employing inventive visuals that burst off of the screen as the turtles take action to save their city.  The fight sequences are backed up by a thrilling score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, heightening the excitement as the creative designs of the characters and settings fill up the screen and immerse you in this new interpretation of the TMNTs.

Given how often these characters have appeared in television and film over the last few decades, the fact that this movie does whatever it can to seem fresh is one of the best cinematic treats of the summer.  Whether you’re already a fan of these characters or are experiencing them for the first time, you’re sure to have fun exploring the city with this crime-fighting quartet.

Grade: A-

Out of the Dream House and Into Reality

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in
"Barbie"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

When it comes to making movies that are based on toys, there’s always the risk that the film will just come off as a cheap way to market those products to moviegoers.  Warner Bros. has proved to have the magic touch when it comes to these types of things.  They had lots of luck with “The Lego Movie” and “The Lego Batman Movie,” giving us two films that managed to not be soulless toy commercials, but rather creative and beautifully animated adventures that offered a whole lot of fun.  Even “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” despite being a box-office disappointment, was still a critical success.  

The WB studio has now taken another enormously successful toy brand and made it into a flashy, splashy comedy with director Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”  Boasting enjoyable performances, a heartwarming story, and rich production design, this is a movie that’s guaranteed to offer a good time.

Barbie (Margot Robbie) lives an ideal life in Barbieland with all of the other Barbies and Kens.  When she begins to have thoughts that she never had, an existential crisis has her and Ken (Ryan Gosling) travel to the real world to figure out their further purpose in life.

Robbie absolutely flies with a role that was tailor-made for her.  When we’re introduced to her, Robbie gives her character an endless sense of radiance as she goes about her daily life, waving to and greeting her friends with a nothing-can-go-wrong attitude.  While Robbie maintains her character’s humorous side throughout the film, some of her most memorable work in the film comes in her scenes where she begins to have experiences where she feels human for the first time.  There’s a beautifully bittersweet moment as Barbie sits in a park and watches those around her, seeing people display different emotions and making her feel them for the first time.  There are other moments like this towards the end of the film, so I won’t say much to give anything way, but I’ll say it’s material that Robbie presents in an understatedly emotional way that paints her portrayal of Barbie as more than just a globally recognized doll, but a character who’s something approaching desperately human.

Gosling gives a hilarious performance as the arrogant, dimwitted, eager-to-impress Ken.  It’s a role that continues to show Gosling’s every bit as superb at comedy as he is in drama.  With pretty much his only other two comedic performances having been from “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and “The Nice Guys,” his work here will hopefully give him more laugh-out-loud work.  One of Gosling’s finest moments in the film, and possibly his career thus far, is his performance of the film’s original song “I’m Just Ken,” where Ken grapples with his own existential crisis.  Although Robbie’s fantastic in her role, Gosling’s the main source of laughs in the film, relishing every scene in which he appears and delivering bursts of witty energy that we rarely see from him, but will hopefully see more of after what he accomplishes with this performance. 

In the film’s huge supporting cast, the standouts include Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie, the reclusive figure of Barbieland who gets Barbie started on her journey, and Michael Cera as Ken’s friend, Allan.  However, the real standout comes from Rhea Perlman as the spirit of Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie.  Although she only has a couple of scenes in the film, there’s a great sense of warmth that comes from her screen time with Robbie, helping Barbie gain an understanding of the real world and figure out what she wants out life.

The screenplay by Gerwig and husband Noah Baumbach tends to go between cleverness and heavy-handedness with the handling of its message about the roles of men and women in Barbieland versus the real world.  However, when it comes to the material about Barbie trying to determine the newfound complexity of her life, that’s where a lot of the emotion takes center stage.  Because of this, the sequence in the park and the couple of scenes between Barbie and Ruth Handler are some of the best portions of the film.  It’s these moments in particular where you really see how Gerwig and Baumbach didn’t choose to just rely on audiences’ nostalgia for Barbie, but instead wanted to honor the time that people have enjoyed with these dolls and give those characters something meaningful to say.  Both Barbie and Ken deal with their existential dilemmas in their own way, with Barbie’s going a more emotional route, and Ken’s going the more comedic route, but the way in which the writers have both journeys coalesce in the end really pays off.   

As screenwriters, it’s more than clear that the duo did their research when it comes to all of the different kinds of Barbies and Kens that they include.  With the many versions of Barbie and Ken, as well as lesser-known characters in the Barbie universe, there are plenty of fun interactions between the individuals of that world as they engage in an abundance of witty dialogue that opens the audiences to how these characters mingle during their squeaky-clean day-to-day lives.

Just as how Gerwig and Baumbach make sure to do right by the well-known characters that they present, Gerwig puts in just as much effort when it comes to exhibiting her vision of Barbieland.  Working with set designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer, they give the sets a plastic look that calls to mind the textures of typical Barbie accessories and dream houses.  The use of these sets immerses the viewer into entertaining scenarios of which they could’ve only thought while playing with their toys when they were younger, but can now see that imagination projected on screen.  And, the costumes from Jacqueline Durran, who worked with Gerwig on her previous film, “Little Women,” makes sure that no two Barbies or Kens are dressed the same.  The colors pop as the characters make their way across the screen, and you try to scan the frames as much as you can to catch all of the details of the clothing.

From an indie production like “Lady Bird” to a lavish production like “Little Women” to a big-budget production like “Barbie,” Gerwig displays a filmmaking ambition where she wishes to challenge herself with each movie.  Whatever she does next, the possibilities are as sunny as a day in Barbieland.

Grade: A-

After Contacting the Dead, a Group of Teens Must Face the Horror at Hand

Sophie Wilde in "Talk to Me"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

When it comes to horror storytelling, the concept of campfire tales or urban legends is an enticing part of the genre.  Given how every culture has their own selection of such stories, there’s a wealth of horror to be had across different backgrounds.

A new horror release that has a campfire/urban legend quality to it is the Australian film, “Talk to Me,” from directors Danny and Michael Philippou, which marks their feature-filmmaking debut.  With an intriguing angle and some very effective scares, this is a chiller that will satiate your horror hunger as we go through the back half of summer.

Mia (Sophie Wilde) is a high-school student who’s still trying to handle the loss of her mother from two years ago.  While at a party, she and her friends use an embalmed hand that has the ability to contact supernatural forces.  When their experiment goes too far, they’ll be faced with a terror they never could’ve imagined.

Wilde gives a terrific breakout performance as someone who’s life is upended by horrors from another realm.  Wilde has a superb naturalism about her as she interacts with her costars, bringing us a character who’ll make us care for her and then fear for her safety when she makes contact with the dead.  Throughout the film, she brings across the sense of loss that Mia’s experiencing, while also showing someone who loves to have a good time with her friends in the first third of the movie before the spirits appear and wreak havoc.  Wilde gives Mia a personality that’s both emotional and fun-loving, helping us become invested in her life as she goes from trying to get over a painful loss to enjoying time with her friends to going through an existence invaded by malevolent forces.  Wilde exhibits a well-rounded character who’s both flawed and brave, bringing to life a horror protagonist who must save her loved ones from the unthinkable.

While the screenplay by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman falters a bit in the last half hour when the rules become a tad murky as to how the spectral forces work, the story nevertheless offers an eerie setup for what becomes a frightening descent into spiritual terror.  Before they bring us the scares that soon permeate the characters’ lives, Philippou and Hinzman take time to build up the emotional stakes as we get to learn about Mia and the relationships that she has with her father and friends.  We only get a small look at the possibilities of the mysterious hand when the friends first use it, but once we get about a third of the way through and the friends continue using it, it’s then that Philippou and Hinzman really show us the horrific heights that the cursed object can go.  And, as we learn a little more about Mia and her background as we go on, the screenwriters imbue their story with some clever symbolism and foreshadowing that show how much thought went into this film in between the scares, offering some depth to the overall horror experience and adding layers as to what the characters are going through emotionally.

One of the best things that a modern horror movie can do these days in the midst of CGI overload is utilize practical effects, and this one sure knows how to make them effective.  This is done the best when it comes to the makeup.  The appearances of the spirits when they breach the world of the living will make you squirm in disgust, but also recoil in fright as they haunt the characters and become more menacing as the film goes on.  With this being the Philippous’ first movie, it’s amazing to see what they’re able to pull off with practical effects, and this shows how committed they are to going the more challenging route in order to make things seem more real.

The Philippous also offer some great jump scares and sound design.  By doing so, they nail the otherworldly atmosphere as it seeps into the natural world, creating a strong sense of dread as the spirits become more threatening as the film goes on.  When it comes to the scenes of possession early in the movie, the Philippous make you feel the twisted sense of fun that the friends have as they record each person when they’re under the influence of evil, while also making you tense up at the danger with which Mia and her friends are playing.  The directors strike an enjoyable, yet ominous tone during these scenes, and then give you the full force of the terror at the film’s turning point when the hand’s disturbing nature becomes much more potent.

If you’re looking for a horror movie to add some scares to your late-summer moviegoing, “Talk to Me” will grab you by the hand and pull you there.

Grade: A-

From World War II America, a Real-Life Prometheus

Cillian Murphy in "Oppenheimer"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

As we’ve seen over the years with writer-director Christopher Nolan, he’s one to do things the hard way.  Being rightfully obsessive about his filmmaking craft, such as shooting on film and emphasizing practical effects over CGI whenever possible, you can view him as a strict, determined genius who knows what he wants and goes for it, no matter how challenging the process may be.

This background of his is what makes him the perfect fit for his latest film, the biographical epic “Oppenheimer.”  Focusing on the intense commitment that the title character has with bringing his scientific vision to the forefront, Nolan does the same with bringing Oppenheimer’s story to the big screen, in what amounts to one of the director’s biggest achievements yet.

The story follows J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), a theoretical physical who spearheads the development of atomic weapons during World War II.

Murphy has appeared in several of Nolan’s films in supporting roles, but now, he’s given the chance to be front and center in the biggest role of his career, thus far.  In the part, Murphy displays his character’s deep intellect in regards to the possibilities of his scientific field.  He first exhibits someone who starts out as seeming to be really unsure of himself, only to then realize of what his mind is capable.  He presents a mind that’s racing to make his ideas come forward; however, as the film goes on and he comes closer to seeing his scientific possibilities show their potential, we see an individual who then must come to terms with the destructive ripples that’s he’s placed at that point in history.  As Oppenheimer grapples with the morals of his work later in the story, Murphy really goes deep into the psychological complications that his character faces, using his gaunt features whose expressions leave lasting impressions on the viewer.  While that’s true in the Los Alamos storyline, it comes even more into focus in the 1954 and 1959 plot threads.  In this two segments, especially in 1954, Murphy shows a tense Oppenheimer as he’s questioned by those around him, trying to justify his actions but also establish regulations of such destructive weapons.  There’s a rich complexity to Oppenheimer as the effects of his invention become more and more apparent to him, and Murphy displays that inner turmoil right up to the shattering closing minutes.

While the film is loaded with terrific supporting performances, the standout is Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a senior member of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.  After Downey Jr. spent many years in the Marvel Studios movies, this is a role that reminds us that he’s a legitimate actor.  He shows his character’s obsessiveness with destroying Oppenheimer’s credibility and accusing him as a communist.  He brings across Strauss’ vindictiveness, which becomes more evident as the film goes on, and the strength of this performance speaks to what kind of work Downey will be further capable of now that’s free of the Iron Man shackles.

As for the rest of the supporting cast, there are many others who get to make an impression in Nolan’s historical tapestry.  There’s Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife, Katherine; Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves, the director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory; Florence Pugh as psychiatrist Jean Tatlock; Josh Hartnett at nuclear physicist Ernest Lawrence; Benny Safdie as theoretical physicist Edward Teller; and David Krumholtz as physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi.  Trust me, this is just naming a few.  The gift of the cast is, even if someone’s only given five minutes of screen time, each cast member makes the absolute most out of their appearance.

The screenplay by Nolan, which is based on Kai Bard and Martin K. Sherwin’s 2005 biography, “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” manages three storylines, one involving the making of the bomb in Los Alamos, another involving Oppenheimer’s security hearing in 1954, and Strauss’ confirmation hearing in 1959.  All three storylines are equally compelling, and with this film being three hours (Nolan’s longest to date), each story’s given enough time for us to view each of these chapters of Oppenheimer’s life.  The Los Alamos storyline provides an in-depth look into what led to the idea of creating the bomb and the work that went into building and securing it.  We’re given a view into the massive scale of this event, and with many character’s sharing the screen, we see a meeting of minds that show how many people and factors were involved in having the Manhattan Project got through.  With the story involving Oppenheimer’s hearing, we shift into something that gives a stricter focus on Oppenheimer himself as he’s in a boardroom answering questions, offering us an even further insight into his psyche as he recounts his actions.  For the story concerning Strauss’ confirmation hearing, we’re provided with a look into the tension between him and Oppenheimer, a plot thread that turns a friendship into a rivalry as the animosity boils over and impacts both of their lives.  In all three storylines, Nolan shapes some his finest dialogue to date, maintaining an abundance of tension as the plot develops and never loses its pace.

Nolan re-teams with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, who worked with the director on his last three movies, “Interstellar,” “Dunkirk,” and “Tenet.”  While those films dealt with big set pieces involving space exploration, war, and time travel respectively, van Hoytema manages to bring that epic scope to a film that garners much of its tension purely from the dialogue.  He offers just as much grand imagery as he does with his other Nolan films, displaying how a sense of scale can be brought to a movie whose bulk of runtime takes place in labs, classrooms, and committee hearings.  Aside from this, van Hoytema gives us some of the most chilling imagery that’s ever been seen in a Nolan movie, leaning into the uncertainty and horror that were felt both in discovering unknown territories of atomic weapons and the implications afterwards.  

Just as we saw with editor Dody Dorn’s work in Nolan’s “Memento” for a backwards timeline and a forwards timeline, and with Lee Smith for different dream levels in “Inception” and juggling three storylines on land, air, and sea in “Dunkirk,” this is Nolan’s latest story that weaves between different settings.  Jennifer Lame, who edited Nolan’s “Tenet,” does superb work in transporting us back and forth between the film’s three storylines and makes sure that the flow and tension are never lost during the transitions between the three timelines.  One of her finest moments in “Oppenheimer” is much later in the film when a pivotal moment happens in the 1954 storyline and 1959 storyline.  The way in which these two scenes build as we quickly shift from one to another and back shows that there’s still as much apprehension to be had in the third hour as the previous two, and what makes this editing job even more potent is the music from Nolan’s “Tenet” composer, Ludwig Göransson, who provides a gorgeous, heart-thumping score that highlights the strain between Oppenheimer and his enemies.

As Nolan explores a different, complex concept with each movie, he intends to give audiences the fullest experience possible.  Even at three-hours, “Oppenheimer” never lags, making you feel the race-against-the-clock nature of the world-altering experiment, as well as the emotional devastation felt by the titular character as he tries to come to terms with the warfare possibilities that he has let loose on warring nations.  Nolan has delivered on a huge scale before, but this is something different, a behemoth of a movie that shows the potential for destruction that humans hold, a potential that we see Oppenheimer embrace, then question, and then regret.  Without exaggeration, you’ll feel every ounce of this film’s power.   

Grade: A

On an Opulent Estate, a Tutor Meets a Master

Richard E. Grant in "The Lesson"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Having spent a lot of free time throughout my life diving into books and movies with equal zeal has made films about writing near impossible to resist.  With movies like “Misery,” “Capote,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” and “The End of the Tour,” to name a few, seeing an author dedicate their time to putting pen to paper is always fascinating to see, every bit as much as it is to see how literature can shape a person, whether they be writer, reader, or both.

The latest of such movies to do this is the feature-film debut of director Alice Troughton for her thriller, “The Lesson,” which offers a pressure-cooker scenario of an admirer and his idol.

In England, Liam Sommers (Dylan McCormack) is an English Literature tutor and aspiring novelist.  One day, he’s given the opportunity to live at the home of one of his favorite authors, J.M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant), and his wife, Hélène (Julie Delpy), to instruct their Oxford-candidate son, Bertie (Stephen McMillan).  However, as Liam’s time at the home goes on, he learns that the Sinclairs harbor some troubling secrets that put the futures of the four of them at risk.

McCormack gives a wonderful performance as someone who has a passion for what he does.  In his first few scenes, you can really sense the love of literature that Liam has as he recites lines of poetry and tries to help Bertie.  It’s later on when McCormack shows Liam’s sense of cunning that he draws us even further into his character’s journey and displays another side of his character’s strong intellect as he tries to figure out what the Sinclairs are hiding from him.

Grant is outstanding as the posh, poisonous patriarch of the family who expects nothing less that his family live up to his expectations.  For every scene he’s in, you experience a cloud of disapproval pervade the space as he looks on/talks with distaste and passive-aggressiveness.  You tense up as he unleashes his psychological cruelty towards those around him, leaving you aghast at how willingly he puts his family through his mental torment.

Delpy turns in understated, yet impactful work as Hélène, a character who’s more than she seems.  Delpy brings out an enigmatic quality of Hélène that has us keep thinking about her, slowly opening up to us as we get further into the film’s mystery.

McMillan is heartbreaking as Bertie, who has heavy expectations placed on him by his parents, especially his father.  McMillan brings across the suffocation that he feels around his home, always seeming on edge when his father’s around.  However, as the film goes on, McMillan shows his character’s hidden layers to emotional effect.

Although the screenplay by Alex MacKeith could’ve done without the prologue, given that it hints at what’s going to happen later on, the story is nevertheless an engaging view of a never-meet-your-heroes narrative.  He offers an enticing mystery that invites us into this world of a successful author, bringing two characters together who share a love of words that slowly becomes something unsettling.  For the most part, MacKeith’s story takes place at the Sinclairs’ estate, and his story utilizes the one setting to an impactful degree.  On the inside, his story brings us through the many rooms of the house and all of its artistic, upscale flourishing.  Meanwhile, other scenes take us through the outside of the house, which employs beautiful landscaping.  For both areas of the estate, MacKeith injects some rich symbolism that adds depth to the characters and the situation at hand, always keeping your mind going as you wonder what certain motifs mean in the greater context of the story.  With just four main characters populating that setting, MacKeith offers plenty of material for each of them to have us ponder as to which paths they’ll take in this potentially destructive grouping.

As a director, Troughton constructs tension throughout as Liam gets to know the family.  She uses the spaciousness of the grounds and house to emphasize the isolation and coldness that permeate the family and reach across to Liam.  Whether it be the apprehensive exchanges at the dinner table, or the sense of detachment amongst everyone when they’re in separate quarters of the house, Troughton’s able to convey the emotional complications of characters, whether it be how they act towards each other, or how they conduct themselves when they’re off on their own.

With wonderful performances, some understated thrills, and an unsettling story, this is a lesson that’ll have your attention. 

Grade: A-