When life hands you a scandal and you get fired by Disney, what do you do? Well, if you’re James Gunn, you get an offer from DC to take on any project you want and – despite your tragic opinions about Martin Scorsese (don’t get me started) – you absolutely kill it. No stranger to action and superhero films, James Gunn is here to save the summer with “The Suicide Squad,” a witty, action-packed blockbuster to surprise even the harshest of Gunn critics.
Image courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures
As someone who couldn’t have possibly been more excited for and simultaneously let down by David Ayers’ 2016 “Suicide Squad,” see: Ayers’ complaints about the late stage, post-production madness that Warner Brothers imparted upon his edit; I was pleasantly surprised that my, albeit low, expectations were wildly surpassed. Full of action, witty and irreverent humor, and the most creative title cards I’ve seen in ages, “The Suicide Squad” was the most fun film I’ve seen all year. Bringing the heat with a hilarious rollercoaster of events and never taking itself too seriously, James Gunn brings his unique style to the table to offer up a surprisingly unpredictable new take on “the famous suicide squad.”
The star-studded film included several key players from David Ayers’ “Suicide Squad,” but is not so much a sequel or reboot of the original as it is a fresh take on the characters that we all know and love. Incorporating several “new” characters from the comics, and not being afraid to kill anyone off, Gunn breathed a new life into the DC Universe, immediately starting rumors of spin offs and prequels that I hate to say I’m actually excited for.
While seeing the list of big names included in this film might give you a headache from the jump, rather than getting lost in a number of character’s storylines like Ayers’ “Suicide Squad,” Gunn takes the star power associated with the title and groups them into teams, allowing them to serve a real purpose rather than getting lost in introductions and background storylines that suffocate the plot of the film. The title cards that guide the audience through time and different locations plant themselves so seamlessly within the film that it never seems to demand your attention be in a million places at once in order to try to stay on track. Gunn uses these cinematic tools and a very defined three act structure to guide the viewer through the film, without ever giving away the destination.
After gathering two teams of anti-heroes to complete a mission on a far away island housing a giant alien starfish, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) reminds everyone of the importance of her mission, and the lengths she will go to to ensure its successful completion. The violence that ensues is more than well deserving of the film’s R-rating, but never becomes so intense that it becomes distracting. Gunn uses his signature humor to turn the darker moments of the film around and to remind us of how intrepid, yet seriously dumb, our anti-heroes really are.
Between flowers shooting out of the back of Harley Quinn’s head on one of her infamous shooting sprees, a giant shark snacking on people, and someone’s body being ripped to shreds by helicopter blades – “The Suicide Squad” finds it’s place in the action comedy by integrating the touching lessons of life, love, undying dedication, and sacrifice that are at the heart of any good story. Flipping what we thought we knew about each of the characters on it’s head, Gunn’s take on the squad makes the audience put their former assumptions about the notorious bounty hunters on the back burner.
Never clearly defining the good guys and the bad guys, Gunn takes audiences on an adventure that they’re not soon to forget. Among the most memorable character arcs in the film, “Daddy’s Little Monster” has left The Joker in the dust, for good, and has developed a red flag radar that just might have made her my favorite comic book character to ever exist. While Gunn’s new take on the squad certainly won’t leave audiences questioning their purpose on this Earth, or whether or not their values and morals are valid, “The Suicide Squad” doesn’t waste a second of its 2 hour and 13 minute runtime.
Earning my dad’s generous review: “The Suicide Squad was almost like Fast & Furious bullshit wise, but pretty entertaining;” I’d say “The Suicide Squad” earns an A-.
“The Suicide Squad” is now in theaters and streaming for free on HBOmax.
Matt Damon pulls up to the Sonic Drive-In on 6th Street in Stillwater, orders a Sonic burger, tots, and a cherry limeade, and prays over his Sonic meal to kick off the latest film from Oscar-winning director of “Spotlight,” Tom McCarthy. Matt Damon’s Bill Baker is a performance that is sure to go down in history as an unsuspected, but powerful role for Damon. This character, built upon backyard bbq’s in Marlow, Oklahoma, trips to McNellie’s Pub in OKC, and visits with actual roughnecks across the state; Bill Baker is the quintessential image of Oklahoma’s roughnecks.
“Stillwater” released out of competition at the 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on July 8th and ended in a well-deserved standing ovation that brought the star of the film, Matt Damon, to tears. Damon noted during a press conference for the film the next day that, although it was his 5th return to Cannes, it “felt like the first time… To be in a room with a thousand other people who are strangers, but who are part of the same community ‘cause we all love the same thing. It was such a great reminder of why we do this.”
Initially inspired by the Amanda Knox case and the immeasurable love that a father has for his daughter, “Stillwater” is the redemption arc of a down-home, Oklahoman roughneck father who has failed his daughter for much of her life – being gone on jobs throughout the majority of her childhood, and turning to alcohol and drugs while he was home. Bill Baker’s daughter, Alison, played by Abigail Breslin, is in prison in Marseilles for the murder of her college girlfriend after deciding to leave Oklahoma State University to go to school in France for no other reason than “it was different – far away.”
Damon’s Bill Baker, now clean and sober, tries as hard as he can to repair the relationship with his daughter that he shattered so long ago, feeling guilty for the position that she’s found herself in. Alison’s mother killed herself when Alison was just a child, but Bill still has lunch with his mother-in-law and even tries to help her pay his bills with money that he barely has enough of himself. Bill is on his latest two-week trip to Marseilles to visit his daughter in prison, to do her laundry, and to bring her new pieces of home. The image of a gold “Stillwater” necklace in the airport giftshop serves not only as the film’s title card inspiration, but will become the glue that pieces together the plot at hand throughout a number of twists and turns that leave the audience constantly questioning.
Upon arriving at his trusty Marseilles Best Western Hotel, Bill is met with rowdy neighbors. Camille Cottin’s single mother, Virginie, and young daughter Maya who is played by a scene stealing Lilou Siauvaud are staying in the room next door while their apartment is being repaired. Virginie would soon become Bill’s confidante, helping him to navigate the culture shock of being an Oklahoman in France. After learning about a new piece of intel that might help to find the real killer of Alison’s college girlfriend, Bill is tasked with staying in Marseilles as the lead is investigated. When Alison’s lawyer refuses to look into the tip, Bill moves in with Virginie and Maya, creating a platonic family structure that allows him the chance to be the father that he never could be to Alison – if he can only manage not to screw it up over the months he spends in Marseilles.
A far cry from “Jason Bourne” but mirroring the emotion of his breakout role in “Good Will Hunting,” Damon’s performance, while not career defining, was certainly the honest and intimate role the actor has been looking for. Damon’s Bill Baker feels like the brutally honest roughneck that he aimed to be, never questioning his motives or beliefs; most memorably when Virginie tells him he’s “acting very American,” to which he responds “Good, because I am” and not offering a moment of hesitation when asked by his French counterparts if he voted for Trump or if he owns any guns. Bill Baker is a caricature of the values of the Oklahoma roughneck, without ever becoming too cartoonish or offensive. The months that Damon spent around Oklahoma, studying people and culture, served him well in his portrayal.
The film yearns to address not only on how the French see Americans, but how the “justice” that people think they seek isn’t actually justice at all. Casting a light on broken government systems both at home and abroad without reaching too far into the controversial, political cookie-jar, McCarthy balances his plot along the line of the lengths a father will go to protect his daughter and the way Bill’s growth throughout the film leaves him forever changed.
“Stillwater” challenges the audience’s expectations for the film and leaves golden easter eggs throughout that manage not to distract from the mystery and immediacy of the plot. The twists and turns of the story land on a brutally emotional and unexpected final scene that is sure to leave audiences with the message that was always at the core of the film. The ending offers the characters a chance at a new beginning in a world that Bill Baker no longer recognizes; knowing that he can never again return to the home and the rose-colored vision of the world that he once knew and held so dear to his heart.
“Stillwater” had its world premiere at Festival de Cannes 2021 on July 8th. Focus Features will release it in theaters in the United States on July 30th.
Tasked with the immeasurable job of packaging over four decades worth of home movies into a two-hour documentary film, Ting Poo and Leo Scott told Val Kilmer’s story of his rollercoaster rise to fame and the depths that followed – Val’s way, in this first-person account of his life. Narrated by his son, Jack Kilmer, “Val” invites audiences to take an intimate look at Val’s life and career from his days growing up on a farm making movies with his two brothers, to his battle with pharyngeal cancer that left him with a hole in his throat and a voice box that he must plug to be able to communicate. “Val” gives audiences a look at the life of an actor – the good, the bad, and the ugly – like it’s a fireside chat with an old friend, reminiscing about the past.
Val tells his story through his decades of home video footage and his son’s voice, telling audiences that he was one of the first people he ever knew to own a video camera. The footage begins in Kilmer’s childhood where he and his two brothers created home movies on Super 8 film, directed by their youngest brother Wesley who would die at the age of 15 after having a seizure in the family’s jacuzzi and drowning. Kilmer attributed much of his successful career to the inspiration he gained from Wesley, who died just after Val left to attend Juilliard, where he would become one of the founders of the first stage acting program at the illustrious school.
The thousands of hours of footage amassed by Kilmer over the years served to give audiences an honest, behind-the-scenes look at the filming of many of Kilmer’s most famous projects from stage to silver screen; including his first major role, which would find him falling to third lead behind Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn in his 1983 Broadway debut in “Slab Boys.” The film dives into his breakthrough role in “Top Secret,” his budding friendship with Tom Cruise in “Top Gun,” one of his most famous and memorable roles as Huckleberry in “Tombstone” alongside Kurt Russell. Val even invites us into his world of method acting for his role as Jim Morrison in “The Doors”- which would play a major role in ending his marriage – his unsatisfying time as “Batman,” his tumultuous experience alongside his hero Marlon Brando in “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” and more. Before the film’s end, the audience is flashed with an image of Val in each of his soirees onto the silver screen, from “Top Secret” to James Franco’s indie film “Palo Alto.”
As much an in memoriam to Kilmer’s vast career as an explanation of who he is, “Val” pulls back the covers on what it truly means to be an artist and to live as unapologetically as possible. The film dives into the struggles he faced throughout his shiny career and the effects these things – the death of his brother, his divorce, his massive debts, the loss of his mother, and the loss of his voice – continue to have on him to this day. Through brutally open and honest monologues, Kilmer lets us into his head about the struggles of his career, his physical and mental health, and what it means to him to be selling the memory of his past to make ends meet. Filled with touching memories of when he fell in love, raising his children, and his successes and failures as an actor; “Val” offers an intimate look into the experiences that shaped Kilmer into the enigma that we’ve come to recognize.
The audience is also taken on a deep dive of Kilmer’s one-man show “Cinema Twain,” which was a passion-project stage production that Kilmer planned to take on a tour of the country. He was hoping he would use the success of this stage tour to finance his directorial debut and turn “Cinema Twain” into a feature length film. After having to postpone a show in Nashville for what Kilmer thought would be “a week or two,” this dream was cut short when Kilmer’s health began to decline. Having always wanted to morph his acting career into one of writing and directing, Kilmer’s dream of telling the story of what it truly means to be an actor took on a new shape and was brought to life through the decades of footage he’d been unknowingly collecting for this exact reason. His archives and the hard work and dedication of directors Ting Poo and Leo Scott came together to finally make these dreams a reality, despite insurmountable odds.
At the premiere of the film at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Scott remarked that from day one of creating “Val,” Kilmer was adamant about the conditions of the film’s premiere and where it would be shown to audiences for the first time. A premiere at Cannes was the only option. Although Kilmer was unable to attend the festival in person, his children Jack and Mercedes were present to accept the well-deserved standing ovation as the credits began to roll.
To even try to begin to describe the impact of this film and Val Kilmer’s incredible career would be an absolute disservice. My favorite film of the festival, “Val” is not only a reminder that fame and fortune do not amount to happiness, but that the beauty of honesty and vulnerability are part of what makes life so meaningful. A magical, raw, and creative collection of mere moments in a man’s life, “Val” is just the medium Kilmer needed to be able to act as himself in the telling of his life story.
“Val” premiered at Festival de Cannes 2021 on July 7th and will be released in theaters by Amazon Studios on July 23rd. The documentary will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video on August 6th.
Ari Folman takes another dive into animation with his latest film “Where is Anne Frank.” More than a decade in the making, Folman’s latest was created at a number of studios across the globe after being commissioned by the Anne Frank Fonds Basel in 2009. Anyone familiar with Folman’s previous animation projects (“Waltz with Bashir” and “The Congress”) will recognize the artful ways in which Folman wraps questions of morality in a cartoonish box, making the obvious lessons accessible to audiences of all ages. This track record was just what The Foundation was looking for, hoping to make the story of Anne Frank, and so many others, relevant for younger generations as deniers of the Holocaust continue to rise across the globe.
“Where is Anne Frank” is a modern retelling of the Holocaust story we are all taught in the 8th grade, bringing Anne Frank’s treasured diary back to life through a new lens, the personification of her dearest imaginary friend Kitty to whom her diary was addressed. “A year from now,” as a terrible storm rages over Amsterdam and the building where the Frank family, along with four other people, hid from the Nazi’s from July 1942 until they were taken to their first work camp in August 1944, at the beginning of the end of the war. As hundreds of tourists line up in the pelting rain, lightning strikes and a crack of thunder shatters the glass case containing Anne’s diary. As if the pen were crying for Anne, a drop of ink lands on the diary before the words magically lift from the pages and dance into the form of Anne’s best friend, Kitty.
Kitty, a 13-year-old, freckled girl, with Anne’s smile and curly, bright red hair is standing in the lobby of the Anne Frank Museum, invisible to the guards and the museum’s curator who insists that they put Anne’s diary in her room because “it will look like it belongs.” Kitty sits on Anne’s bed, invisible, curious of the voyeurs invading Anne’s personal space and reading her diary. Kitty is soon parading the streets of a near-future Amsterdam before realizing she dissolves back into ink if she strays too far from the diary.
Kitty, believing that if she’s still alive, Anne must be too, begins her hunt across the Netherlands for her best friend. While searching for Anne through the streets of Amsterdam, Kitty discovers that upon leaving the museum she is no longer invisible and meets a man enjoying a smoke at a local café who asks her if she’d filed a missing person’s report for her friend. Refusing to speak to German police, Kitty is pointed to the Dutch police, and meets a refugee child Awa who, along with her family, later ends up in a refugee camp. The chief of police, finding it hilarious that someone named Kitty would be looking for her best friend Anne Frank, is reminded by another officer what an impact the young girl had on the people of Amsterdam and how not only many young girls, but also nearly every surrounding bridge, library, and theater are named after Anne Frank. Thus begins Kitty’s journey to find Anne.
The first friend she meets is a pickpocket that she spotted earlier in the museum, Peter, who runs a camp for refugees that have traveled their way through Europe searching for asylum but are facing deportation. The same camp where Kitty will meet Awa and her family again. These refugees hold a mirror to the threat faced by the Jews during the rule of the Third Reich and bridge the gap between the genocidal ideology of 1940s Germany and the lack of possibilities for freedom and protection of the children forced to flee their brutally violent countries today.
Through a series of flashbacks, we see Anne confiding her deepest secrets, hopes, and desires to her best friend Kitty from the beginning of the war to the day that Anne, her sister Margot, or both – “does it even matter?” Anne remarks – is called to the children’s “work camps.” The Frank family is forced to pack their things and go into hiding, beginning the more than two-year stint in an attic and trips to two concentration camps that only Otto would come to survive; Anne, her sister Margot, and their mother Edith dying at the Bergen-Belsen extermination camp, only days before the Allied forces would win the war. The Frank family was on the last train that would ever deliver passengers to the Bergen-Belsen camp, along with hundreds of others including both of Ari Folman’s parents, who would be among the few that were lucky enough to survive the camp.
One of the most poignant scenes of the film is when Anne is describing to Kitty what it means to be Jewish stating that “Being Jewish means making a decision that you’ll take on the Jews’ destiny and their history.” Kitty accepts these terms, and Anne insists that she is not Jewish because she hoped Kitty would be like her in every way except for those that mattered. Kitty demands that Anne gives her the freedom to make the choice for herself, reminding the audience more than Anne that we are all in some way tasked with remembering the history of the Holocaust and the lessons that must be learned.
Glittered with the humor of arguments over cabbage and Madame’s farts at the dinner table and a reminder that dentists are in fact sadists, Folman’s “Where is Anne Frank” is designed with enough mystery and magic to appeal to young children without traumatizing them with the horrendous fate faced by Anne and more than 1.5 Million other children throughout Europe during the events of World War II. Folman’s towering 15 foot tall, cloaked and masked Nazi soldiers goosestep through the streets during Anne’s flashbacks, reminding us of the fear and oppression that Jews faced as they were being driven out of society; but Folman artfully dances between the trauma of the reality of the times, the hope that Anne had and the magic that she found in her imagination through her diary, and what these things mean for the situations that we’re seeing in society today.
Certainly aware of who his audience is, Folman avoids the gut-wrenching severity of Anne’s end, instead focusing on the fact that Kitty’s friend is never far because she lives on through the memories of millions. Scenes of teenagers glued to their phones during a stage production of the Anne Frank story, Kitty’s public outbursts that snap everyone to attention, high speed ice skate chases, and a heartwarming love story as Kitty truly comes to life in more ways than one, come together to set the scene for Folman to teach his lesson by telling a story that is sure to resonate with audiences of all ages.
A deeply introspective film that focuses less on the content of the diary itself and more on what life would be like were we all to forget the lessons that Anne left us, “Where is Anne Frank” is sure to become a staple in education across the globe. A cartoon that makes the importance of remembering the holocaust digestible and modern without being condescending or overtly political, this film is a reminder that Anne’s hope and imagination can be an inspiration for change even today. This film is a reminder of how important it is that we continue to be reminded of the terrors that so many innocent Jews faced because of their religion and continue to fight so that we can protect marginalized and oppressed populations from ever facing a similar fate.
“Where is Anne Frank” premiered at Festival de Cannes on July 9th and is currently seeking distribution in the United States.
The much-anticipated rock opera from Leos Carax, “Annette,” fell short with audiences after it’s opening ceremony debut at the Cannes Film Festival on July 6th. A collaboration with Sparks, hot off the tail of Edgar Wright’s documentary “The Sparks Brothers,” – a prerequisite screening both for lovers of Sparks and anyone unfamiliar with their work – “Annette” was set not only to be a summer blockbuster, but was expected to set the tone for the 74th edition of the festival; eyeing not only the Palme d’Or, but a run in the Academy Awards. Despite the nearly 10-minute-long standing ovation received at the end of the film in which Adam Driver could be seen smoking a cigarette, audiences and critics alike have fallen into a discourse around the film that I could only describe as a bad trip, bookended by hilariously uniting and satisfying opening and closing numbers.
The film begins with a Carax voiceover demanding audiences to “hold your breath until the show is over,” but as so eloquently put by Indiewire’s Eric Kohn, audience’s breath is instead “held hostage until the credits roll.” Audience members that stayed in the theater for the entirety of the film, that is. A moody and self-indulgent story, “Annette” kicks off with Carax, the Mael brothers of Sparks, and the main characters of the film strutting through the streets of Los Angeles, asking the audience permission to begin the film, and arriving to their characters through the film’s opening number “So May We Start?” Defying the rules of the musical genre, “Annette” pairs a raucous and ego-driven stand-up comedian Henry McHenry (Adam Driver) with the beautifully elegant opera singer Anne (Marion Cotillard), who mysteriously fall in love in a whirlwind romance, get married, and have a child, Annette. Oh yeah, and she’s a marionette doll. Off to a strong start.
For a film that begins by so blatantly demanding the audience’s attention, “Annette” seemed to drone on through the repetitive nature of Sparks seemingly never-ending musical numbers. More than half of the film’s dialogue being sung, the story is told both through the Sparks simplistic lyrical style and the odd lens of Carax’s war on classical cinematic form. The avant-garde style of filmmaking implemented through Carax’s style leaves much to the viewer’s imagination, so much that I’d journey to say this film was more of a “make your own adventure” article than a musical – lacking the substance and context needed to be able to deconstruct the director’s intended meaning of the film.
It seems that Carax’s mission with “Annette” was nothing more than providing a vehicle for Sparks to achieve their goal of creating a musical and allowing Carax to question the tenets of the musical genre. Having asked the question “why don’t people have sex in musicals?” when conceiving the plot for “Annette,” Carax answered his own question… three times. Not to say Carax has never experimented with bizarre, avant-garde filmmaking before, he took the music created by Sparks and remixed it with a dose of his own imagination. Saying he initially eyed Joaquin Phoenix for the lead role of Henry McHenry, the tortured comedian themes that mirrored Todd Phillips smash dumpster fire “Joker” found great benefit from Driver’s fresh, whirlwind performance.
Driver’s Henry McHenry, the “Ape of God,” seemingly exists solely to invoke a response from his audience, joking about killing his audience each night, wrapping the microphone cord around his neck to mime hanging himself, presenting a monologue about killing his precious and beloved wife, pretending to be shot in the middle of his set, and basing the opening of each of his soirees on stage around suffocating in a cloud of smoke. Trying incredibly hard to impress the audiences that he has to remind to “laugh, laugh, laugh,” Henry McHenry prepares for each show by eating a banana, smoking a cigarette, and punching an imaginary boxing bag, wearing his most comfortable robe, boxers, and slides – the supreme stage outfit.
McHenry’s bad comedic taste mirrors his disillusionment with the rest of his life, but the laughter he receives continues to stroke his ego, allowing him to forget that he’s bad in nearly every single aspect of his life. As his life descends into jokes about murderous tickle fights, foreshadowing his very predictable homicidal tendencies; Henry becomes unable to even muster the strength to put on a show, his interactive audience asking, “Why’d You Become a Comedian?” to which Henry has no answer. Drunkenly speeding down the highway and through the streets of LA on his motorcycle, McHenry’s “bad-boy” attitude only becomes darker as his stardom begins to fade and as he continues to be overshadowed by his beloved Anne, who he must remind the audience, if not himself, that he loves so much.
Anne, the perfect operatic beauty, dies on stage each night, but always brings her audience to life. It’s obviously questioned why someone like her would be with her perfect antithesis – someone like Henry, who the press and the rest of the world are aware of being nowhere close to deserving of her. Before long, a literal chorus of #MeToo statements against Henry (this is a musical, after all), press statements about his violence and their rocky relationship, and Henry’s alcoholic tendencies overshadow the birth of Annette, and drive Anne’s need to regain control over Henry and their tumultuous relationship.
Annette, a literal marionette for much of the film, serves as nothing more than a puppet for her parents to gain leverage over each other and, eventually, for Henry to gain leverage over his own life. Using her fame and talents to remain relevant in a world that so badly wants to forget him and the fame that they accidentally loaned to him in the beginning of his career, Henry discovers that she’s also magically got a voice exactly like her mother’s, signing only when light shines upon her. Henry, thinking he must be dreaming, initially shrugs off his daughter’s talent until he quickly realizes that she belongs under the spotlight, and how much money this child prodigy could bring for his stalled career. Annette eventually realizes that she is being used as a pawn and eventually exposes her father for the heinous crimes he commits throughout the film, leaving him to wish he’d allowed the world to forget him when he had the chance.
Simon Helberg’s “The Conductor” brings a much-needed humorous break to the largely unconventional and violent film, trying to drive both his character’s exposition and the plot of the film itself during a slam-poetry style monologue that is consistently interrupted by his need to direct the band that sits ahead of him in rehearsal. Explaining how he’s in love with Ann and how Henry stole her from him, The Conductor sets up the tragedy that lies ahead, and brings into question what the audience has already found out, what exactly happened to Ann on that boat trip?
Agreeing to team up with Henry to take Annette on the road because he loves her and Ann and must do what is right for the child; The Conductor becomes Annette’s best friend and pseudo-father as Henry continues to use Annette’s fame as nothing more than a way to serve his need for attention, women, and nights out on the town. After Henry, yet again, allows his violence to take everything from Annette, he decides it’s time to end her career with one final performance. Annette, realizing what her father has done, and piecing together many events from the past, decides that his time is up and that she is no longer willing to be a pawn in his game. Rather than performing, Annette so simply announces, “Daddy kills people.”
Annette’s marionette comes to life in true form years later while visiting her father in prison. “My How You’ve Changed” he remarks, before she repeats that the same can be said for Henry. Annette gains her human form and her own identity when she gracefully tells her father – through song, of course – what a worthless piece of shit he is and how he doesn’t deserve to love anyone, including her. Driver’s performance reaches its peak in this scene as he continues to sing through his tears, finally coming to terms with the damage that he has done. The grand message of “Annette” is nothing more than an introspective at how a man who can’t seem to do anything right and who doesn’t love himself, will muscle through anyone and anything to gain the power and respect that he thinks he must find from others. And what’s with the consistently growing mark on Henry’s face? Any ideas?
The one savior of “Annette” was Driver’s incredible performance as Henry McHenry. From his gleeful and audacious comedy performances to his violent outbursts, Driver’s performance might be the only potential hope for an Oscar nomination related to this title. Marion Cotillard’s name is also often associated with big, widely memorable performances, but her character lived only in the shadow of Henry’s monstrous grip on the plot and the audience’s attention, just as his character would have wished.
“Annette” had its world premiere during the opening ceremony of Festival de Cannes 2021 on July 6th and opens theatrically on August 6th in the United States. It will be available to stream on Amazon prime beginning August 20th.
“The Devil All the Time”, based on a novel by the same name and written by Donald Ray Pollock, is the newest psychological thriller to stream on Netflix. Not for the faint of heart, this star-studded cast brings audiences a violent tale spanning multiple families and generations that weave together to form a twisted union in America’s heartland. Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, Sebastian Stan, Harry Melling, Jason Clarke, and Tom Holland make up this stacked cast, but this level of star power certainly has its pros and cons. The trailer alone is enough to suggest the eerie direction that the film will take, but does little to prepare the audience – especially many of these actor’s young fan bases – for the depths of evil that this story reaches. Riddled with murder, graphic violence, suicide, and sexual content, this film is more than deserving of its R rating – and at least a handful of trigger warnings.
To summarize this film without giving away any spoilers is almost impossible, as the plot doesn’t miss a beat in the nearly 140 minute long run time. Director Antonio Campos managed to springboard off of Pollock’s cynical tale of religion and violence to create a narrative that continues to spiral further and further into a darkness that the story just can’t seem to crawl out of. Bookended by the end of World War II and the beginning of the Vietnam War, the film cycles through its characters and story lines almost as if they’re disposable, just important enough to drive the narrative off the next cliff before being left behind. This relay sprint towards the finish line, narrated by author Donald Ray Pollock himself, keeps viewers on the edge of their seats.
Despite the lack of screen time, Skarsgård delivers a powerful performance as Willard Russell. Willard is trying to navigate his life post-WWII, dealing with his fallout with God and his loss of faith combined with PTSD is no simple task, but soon his wife gives him and his son Arvin (Tom Holland) a reason to pray again. Willard teaches Arvin the importance of his relationship with God and the importance of vengeance – sending Arvin down the path that will come to define his character. Offering a poignant depiction of grief, Skarsgård steals the show in the beginning of the film before handing the attention off to Arvin.
After a number of unspeakable tragedies, Arvin heads back to Coal Creek, West Virginia to live with his grandmother and adopted sister Lenora (Eliza Scanlen), whose mother fell into her own trouble with a spider eating preacher (Harry Melling). As the narrative jumps between story lines we meet Knockemstiff, Ohio Sheriff Lee Bodecker (Sebastian Stan) whose sister Sandy (Riley Keough), known around town for her prostitution, is married to a serial killer (Jason Clarke); and a new preacher (Robert Pattinson) has come to Coal Creek to take over his dying uncle’s church. Pattison’s down-home Tennessee accent certainly threw me for a loop – a hilarious one, at that – and his unexpectedly despicable character was a far cry from the majority of his popular roles ~ R.I.P. Cedric Diggory.
Having read the novel, the adaptation certainly left me wanting for a handful of what I considered to be major plot points that were entirely missing from the film. Not to mention the reorganization of certain parallel stories and relationships that would’ve almost served the story better had they not been included in the film at all. If you’re waiting to watch the movie until after you’ve read the book: don’t. I’m certain that it would serve the story to witness the film in all of its glory before returning to the novel for a fine tuning, and somehow even more violently chaotic ride.
It is obvious from the first few moments of the film that it has a lot to say and this sinister tale is sure to shock you at every turn. Despite its disturbing content, I would have loved to see this as a mini series, allowing the audience to better explore each of the characters and the ties that bind them together. The lack of blockbuster competition in this age of COVID Cinema combined with the powerhouse performances given not only by Skarsgård, but also Holland and Pattinson, is sure to result in this film and its actors receiving a handful of nominations this upcoming awards season. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and it did a decent job of living up to its hype. However, don’t make the mistake of being fooled by the presence of three Marvel superheroes as redemption is certainly not a theme in this grotesque tale.
“The Devil All the Time” is streaming today on Netflix.
Amidst the chaos ensuing around the world, now is a better time than ever to be introspective… there’s not much more to do when you’re subjected to self-quarantine, right? That means that short-film “Basic,” written and directed by “comedienessie” Chelsea Devantez, is here to save the day, and the insecure lil’ ho in all of us. Slated to screen at SXSW, which has been cancelled in an unprecedented turn of global events, “Basic” stars real-life married couple Georgia Mischak (Arrested Development) and Nelson Franklin (VEEP), along with writer/director Chelsea Devantez (Bless this Mess).
With a runtime of 3 minutes and 3 seconds, “Basic” is a very short film that hilariously explores what it means to be basic in a world that is consumed by social media and the effects that this culture has on all of us; especially when it comes to being petty. If you’ve ever found yourself in bed scrolling through someone’s “perfect” Instagram feed, judging them by your own insecurities, you’re sure to understand exactly where this film is coming from. And if you haven’t? Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret… you’re basic.
“Basic” is set to screen at various upcoming film festivals and is currently looking for an online platform to host it. Devantez hopes that “Basic” will allow viewers to explore who the villain of the film truly is, even if it turns out that the real villain has been ourselves all along.
1917 comes to the silver screen to provide viewers with a “day in the life” of two young British Corporals fighting in World War I. 1917 is a single shot epic that starts off seemingly peacefully as two young soldiers are napping in a field and escalates to detail the intricacies and severity of war when Corporals Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and his chosen companion Corporal Schofield (George MacKay) are sent on a rescue mission. Their mission: to journey through enemy territory to find Blake’s Lieutenant brother (Richard Madden) and save his company from staging an attack on “retreating” German soldiers who, according to new intelligence, have planned an ambush that would lead to 1,600 British lives lost.
With expectations set both by director Sam Mendes’ filmography and 2017’s World War II epic Dunkirk, directed by Christopher Nolan, which was arguably the most enthralling war film of the decade; 1917 was left slightly wasted on me despite its masterful cinematography. To be quite honest I find myself struggling to gather my thoughts because the film was both beautiful and harrowing, but somehow disappointing – and I fail to put my finger on exactly why that is. If there is one thing that 1917 executed perfectly in the form of its intended plot, it is the horrors and hideousness of war. In a time where political tensions run high around the globe, it is a stark reminder of the risk that soldiers take when they are sent to fight for their country.
This film is truly a journey through hell on earth, graphically detailing the destruction brought to France during World War I. Sadly, Chapman and MacKay’s beautifully acted display of bravery, determination, defeat, fear, and valor was lost in the story. The honesty of the horrors of World War I are deeply unsettling, as the audience is provided with the image of corpses littering battlefields and abandoned trenches, towns obliterated by gunfire and explosions, and young soldiers fighting for their own survival. Despite the discomfort provided by these harrowing images and the tension raised as the main characters are left fending for themselves in a valiant mission to save hundreds, this movie is more so accomplished in its ability to tell a story rather than the story itself. The film’s main characters are left running throughout the film; when they are not directly under fire the only lulls in the film are meant to set up the next tragedy that these men must face, resulting in a thrilling journey that leaves audiences at the edge of their seats. My only complaint – there is not a lasting connection to the characters to be experienced past the end credits.
Cinematographer Roger Deakins completed this film in a single shot format, allowing the actors only a single take per scene in many cases, resulting in many blunders of the filming process to remain evident within the film, which often served to make the scenes feel more realistic. A film clearly deserving of its Golden Globes for Best Director and Best Motion Picture – Drama, 1917 is sure to rack up Oscar nominations this Monday morning. Despite all of this, 1917 is not the audience’s film, but a testament to the beauty of creative filmmaking to the extent that it robs a beautiful and inspiring tale of the attention that it deserves.
The single shot technique creates a voyeuristic experience for the audience; throwing them in the midst of the action, yet never allowing the viewer to get close enough to the action to feel as though they are actually experiencing it. While the film was anxiety inducing and high paced, it left little room for the audience to become interested in the characters at more than surface level – lowering the stakes only enough that I wanted them to succeed in their mission, but not to the extent that it left a lasting impression. Critics have formerly referred to the single shot technique as a “videogame storyline,” leaving the viewer to watch something happen, but never allowing them to connect enough to feel that there are any lasting consequences to the result of the film.
While I certainly enjoyed watching 1917 and left the theater with so much more respect for the men who quite literally gave everything they had to a fight they did not ask to be a part of, my grand expectations entering the theater left me underwhelmed. The intricacies in the way the picture was filmed took away from the story to the extent that I found 1917 to be a display of both Mendes’ and Deakins’ ability to be filmmakers rather than story tellers. Overall, I expect 1917 to perform well this awards season, and I highly recommend a trip to the theater to see this film on the biggest screen you can find… and Dunkirk is always deserving of a revisit while you’re at it.
Jojo Rabbit, a self-labeled anti-hate satire, is here to tell you exactly why it’s so much fun to be a Nazi – until it isn’t anymore. After his stint in the MCU as director of Thor: Ragnarok, Director Taika Waititi is back to lend his unique voice to the coming of age story of the decade as he takes us on a journey to watch 10 year old Jojo and his imaginary friend Adolf Hitler navigate the tumultuous Germany of 1944.
The film does not skip a beat, starting off by introducing Jojo to a young SS Officer training camp where he will learn everything it takes to be a Nazi; and make his hero, Hitler, proud. Waititi brings Hitler to life as the imbecile we all know and, well, hate; an imaginary best friend who offers young Jojo cigarettes in his more stressful moments and gossips about Jews like a schoolgirl before heading back home to his unicorn dinner. Waititi adds just enough humor and outrageous behavior to make his Hitler almost loveable, or at least enough for the audience to understand Jojo’s admirations.
Jojo is the picture of a perfect Aryan child; never leaving the house without his uniform, and doing whatever jobs he can to aide Germany’s fight in the war, no matter the cost. He lives at home alone with his young mother, Rosie; or so he thinks, until he stumbles upon a young Jew girl living in the walls of his apartment – a discovery that will make Jojo question everything that he has worked so hard to become.
To attempt to summarize the film beyond this description would be a disservice to anyone who will find themselves in theaters in the upcoming weeks. I went into this film knowing nothing more than what was provided by the first trailer for this film and I truly think it is best for everyone to experience this story in the same way. Thankfully, the humor in the film was not distilled to only the scenes shown in the trailer as seems to be the case with many comedies these days; but for a movie about World War II, I sure laughed out loud more than I would have expected.
To say Jojo Rabbit was an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement, but Taika knew exactly what he wanted to say with this narrative and was spot-on with the delivery. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film that has been so genuine and true to itself from beginning to end, or that has made me go from laughing out loud to crying so quickly, and for so many different reasons.
While Waititi had every opportunity in the world to use this film to drive a greater message about the state of the world and politics today, he took the opportunity to step back and let history, and a young boy with the world at his fingertips, remind us of what is most important at the core of who we are.
An unexpectedly dark, humorous, and thought-provoking film, this movie is more than worth your open mind, open heart, and a few tissues. Boasting one of my favorite and most heartwarming endings of this year, Jojo Rabbit is here to remind us to move forward, be strong, and most importantly, to love without boundary.
Jojo Rabbit is showing now in LA, NYC, Chicago, and Austin and opens in theaters everywhere on November 8th.
While Todd Phillips’ Joker was set to be the character study of the decade, audiences were sleeping on the underdog art film Ad Astra, captained by the ever-evolving Brad Pitt. Pitt, who may have very well set himself up for not one, but two Oscar nominations this film season, was quite literally the brightest star in the sky; the film focusing on him for the vast majority of the 124 minute run time. A discussion in male toxicity and how a relationship between a son and a father can shape an entire life, Ad Astra was not only an exploration of space, but an exploration of human emotions and the struggles that they elicit.
Following recent blockbuster films such as Gravity, The First Man, and Interstellar, Ad Astra is the story of life in space in the near future when revered astronaut Roy McBride, played by Pitt, must face both his own inadequacies and the biggest emotionally taxing issue in his life – his absent father. With scenes reminiscent of films such as 2001 – A Space Odyssey and Mad Max: Fury Road, Ad Astra manipulates action and tedious space activities to create a world shaped by corporate greed and a life shaped by disappointment.
Roy is the picture of the perfect astronaut; he loves spending time in space, always wants to perform his job to the best of his ability, and always remains calm – being well known for his blood pressure never going above 80 bpm, even in the most tense situations. We quickly realize that his love for being an astronaut rides on two factors: his desire to run away from his broken marriage and his search for validation by following in his father’s footsteps; a father who disappeared on a mission to deep space 16 years ago.
The suspense in the film begins to grow within minutes of the film, when Roy, luckily armed with a parachute, finds himself plummeting to Earth after a strange “surge” results in him falling from an international space antenna. This surge is thought to be a result of some anti-matter in space, the very anti-matter that his father set off into space to explore. It is assumed that Roy’s father, Clifford McBride (played by the legendary Tommy Lee Jones), is still alive and is causing these surges to reach Earth.
Given an opportunity to run away from his problems on Earth and save his father from his struggles in space, Roy is sent through the cosmos, hoping that his plea for his father to communicate with the Space Force and end these surges will be fruitful. Subway and other common franchises present in the airport are just absurd enough to seem almost believable in this near future where astronaut Roy McBride can catch a Virgin America flight to the moon to avoid detection and press on his very special mission to the edge of the galaxy.
Brad Pitt is given the opportunity to display his diversity and talent as an actor as we see Roy slowly disintegrate into his own emotion and frustration as he continually pleads for his father to respond. An unmoving and stoic performance up to this point, Pitt – through his talent for truth and simplicity – breaks down, displaying how the bottling of emotions can only lead to an explosion like a roll of Mentos in a bottle of Diet Coke. Pitt’s descent into a wave of emotions as he begins to come to terms with the fact that he can’t continue running and searching for something that does not exist was so moving and believable that it will surely resonate with audiences long after the end credits roll.
A film bathed both in shadow and neon light, Ad Astra used the best conventions of film noir and art house to create a cinematographic experience to captivate audiences and make them feel as though they are blasting into space right alongside Roy. The black and white of the moon and deep space scenes, colored neon lights to represent each planet on Roy’s journey to his father, and the light cast into deep space by the sun proved to be a beautifully blinding experience. I spent the majority of the film mesmerized, staring up at the screen in awe as if I were seeing color and space for the first time in my life.
To discuss the ending of this film would be a disservice to anyone who has not yet seen it, but the thought-provoking abruptness of the ending successfully fulfills the purpose of its design. An introspective search for validation and understanding of ones own past and future, Ad Astra leaves you searching for clarity in your own experience. To wonder up at the stars has always been a gallant task, but where do we draw the line when a desire to achieve more becomes a selfish mission to run from ones own problems? The journey to finding the bravery it takes to come to terms with one’s own faults and excuses is a tough one for even the strongest of soldiers, but Ad Astra shows us that the freedom and relief that comes from doing so is more than enough to make the battle worth it.
Common Man's Critic 