Vengeance Most Fowl.

What could possibly go wrong. The latest brilliant addition to the adventures the endlessly inventive Wallace and his faithful sometimes hard put upon companion Gromit. For twenty five years Nick Park and Aardman animation has released a stream of flawless animation adventures starring this intrepid duo. With Wallace forever coming up with ingenious inventions to save the world, (and his neighborhood) with mind boggling complex labor saving devices. All in the aid of keeping their needs (Mostly cheese, toast, marmalade and tea) in good supply.
In all the stories there is always a villain with nefarious intentions set on disrupting Wallaces good works. When things invariably go awry it always falls to Gromit to come to the rescue, with madcap chase scenes, hair raising stunts, (including rescuing maidens in need be) that only animation can convincingly provide. As well as catching the villains and setting Wallaces world to rights. In this latest adventure involving a stolen blue diamond, the perp a chicken named Feathers McGraw a squadron of reprogrammed evil gardening robot gnomes. A retiring  police chief more intent on his farewell speech and his junior lieutenant (who turns out to be right all along). The thing about Park, Aardman and their creations is the unrelenting good nature of their storytelling right down to the fate of the baddies. Nothing really bad happens for all the hair-raising adventures that are set in motion.The endings are always happy. Not a bad legacy to leave with everyone who sees these wonderful films.
690 stars

 

 

 

 

 

Babygirl.

Whenever sex is the main theme in a film especially when unaccompanied by romance and passion it is I think always a cheap shot. And when the lead actor is a renown performer with box office draw it is especially cynical move. Films are a storytelling device, art form and business. So the third point might be partially forgiven.
If the very accomplished Nicole Kidman who has moments of real acting in this buzz worthy film were not in it. It would be a grade B pot boiler that would appear online in a matter of weeks of its theatrical release. It is mostly a failure. Which is a shame. The responsibility has to laid at the doorstep of Halina Reijn who wrote, directed, and produced this very elaborate production. Which Ms Kidman has to carry single-handedly on her very capable shoulders. But even that is not enough to save the entire film. The main problem is the afore mentioned premise which we’ve all seen before. The successful couple the affair, followed by the discovery the rage the remorse. The difference here being the female protagonist, who is a hard driving CEO. (Kidman). Nothing seems authentic or genuine. There are only brief moments of authenticity in the passion of the affair and sex scenes. On the surface of their successful glam lives filled with the dinner parties club scenes and fancy houses is just boring. The opening sequence is pure titillation. The object of her dalliance a young initially disinterested intern she has hired, played by Harris Dickinson, who soon discovers her latent penchant for taking orders, which unleashes in her heretofore unfulfilled sexual desires. The remaining narrative is predictable and unfortunately peopled with mostly wooden performances, regretfully including Antonio Banderas as the cuckolded husband. In a brief fight scene with Samuel (Dickinson)  near the end of the film punches are pulled, both parties are superficially injured. I’m not going to give away the ending, but you know what it is. The the hands of a different director (I don’t know who that might be) This could have been a more worthwhile effort.
250 Stars (all for Kidman)

 

Kinds of Kindness

This title only makes sense in the strange, tense, surreal cinematic world that director Yorgos Lanthimos plays in. To the regular viewer (If he has such an audience) There is very little kindness in any of the three stories displayed in his newest offering. All three stories feature the same cast, all excellent performances from Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, which is a lot to take in, in one viewing. (I had to do two)

The first story is a tale of control and subservience and how far a person will go to please his master and the consequences of trying to wrest yourself free from that influence and the results of doing so. Robert, played by Jesse Plemmons is under the total control of his boss Raymond played by Willem Dafoe. Every detail of his existence is dictated by his him. When ordered to kill, in a staged car crash R.M.F (his only identity). After his first unsuccessful attempt he is ordered to try again, but refuses.  Raymond then fires Robert declaring him ‘free’. Without his ‘guide’ and boss his life which has been entirely orchestrated by Raymond, falls apart. Rebuffed several times after pleading forgiveness, he finally, after discovering his replacement has also failed at the same task, completes the original mission and is readmitted into Raymonds favor. There is much detail and subplot omitted in this exhausting story. It’s a slow motion car wreck that you cannot look away from.

In the second story. 

Daniel, played by Plemmons is a police officer mourning the disappearance of his wife Liz, a marine biologist who went missing at sea, when he receives news that she has been rescued in a helicopter piloted by R.M.F. Liz miraculously returns unharmed to Daniel, but to him something is amiss. Her shoes no longer fit and her previous aversion to chocolate becomes an obsession along with other discrepancies.  Despite her appearance he becomes convinced that this woman is not his lost wife. She announces during his increasing paranoia that she is pregnant something that was heretofore not possible. His erratic behavior results in suspension from the police force, worsening his condition. Refusing to eat he orders Liz to cut off a finger so he can eat it, then refusing to do so. Blaming the incident to his doctor on her. His madness increasing he later in a demand for more food suggesting that she cut out her own liver, which she does, then dies. Another Liz arrives at the front door they embrace and kiss. As before there are many subplots and details are omitted. In Yorgos Lanthimos's world this is just another day at the office.

In the Third Tale

Emily Played by Emma Stone  is a cultist searching with her partner Andrew played by Plemmons for a woman with the power to revive the dead. The leaders of the cult Omi played by Dafoe and Aka played by Hong Chau, demand sexual allegiance. Infidelity is tested by immersion in a high temperature sauna, Aka licking the sweat to determine if they have adhered to the rules. Their first applicant fails in her reanimation task. A second woman appears suggesting that she would be the perfect candidate for their mission. Andrew brushes her off, one of the requirements being that the twin must be dead. During a visit home Emily runs into her ex and their daughter. As she is attempting to leave after her second visit he drugs and rapes her. Failing after taking her to be tested she is expelled from the cult. She visits the second applicant who tells Emily that she has now fulfilled the requirements by killing herself leaving her sister to reanimate R.M.F.S body, which she does. Overjoyed she bundles Ruth (the surviving twin, who performed the reanimation) into the car returning to the Cults headquarters with the hope of being readmitted, crashing the car while distracted killing her charge. Once more this is a sketch of the story. A tale of acceptance, its loss and the effort to try and regain it. Along with bringing the dead back to life. A fools errand if there ever was one.

425 stars. (6 out of ten on the squeam o’meter)

 The Killing of a Sacred deer.

This is a fundamentally creepy film. In the hands of a lesser director it would have been soon forgotten. But in Yorgos Lanthimos hands it is a haunting mystery. Everything about it contributes to the fact that it hard to shake long after you have seen it. The acting, the way it was shot, the stunted disjointed  interactions of the family, give the first indications of an impending catastrophe about to befall this seemingly perfectly placed successful family. All brought crashing down by an incident in the operating room of a major hospital. Steven Murphy, a prominent cardiologist played by Colin Farrell some years earlier lost a patient during a heart operation. His son appears at first benignly befriending him but with malevolent intentions towards him and his family. As time passes he makes his intentions of ‘justice’ in the form mysterious and physically undiagnosable maladies on his children, predicting their ultimate deaths. When the symptoms and prophesies begin to appear, The parents, the mother underplayed by Nicole Kidman are seemly  powerless to avert what increasingly seems inevitable. Even the capture, imprisonment and torture of Martin, played by Barry Keoghan. The instigator of the prophecies and threats have no effect on their childrens decline. The visuals, the stark, wide angle, alienated, interior shots racing down the hospital corridors, the eerie interior  panning shots of their house where the children are transferred after the hospitals doctors could not find anything physically wrong with them, add to in the increasing unspoken hysteria of events. I am not going to give away other than to say it enigmatic. This earlier film shows the promise of this gifted director which flowered magnificently in his subsequent ‘Poor Things’ feature.

430 stars

 

 

Nightbitch.

Despite its provocative title this is a limp wristed watered down smoothed over tale of a mother ably played by Amy Adams and her rebellion against her role as a stay at home caregiver to her charming son. The couples roles dictated by the white middle class strictures of modern society, which they both have somehow agreed to. None of this rebellion is directed against her son who she indulges and loves unconditionally. The initial wonder in having a child has worn off and she now is tasked with the sometimes increasingly mundane day to day work of steering this new being on a safe and caring path. It is this role she startlingly finds herself in, that upsets the apple cart. When set against her former life as a promising artist, which she has set aside long ago for her new life. The dawning realization of what she has given up is what finally sets her on a path of separation from her unsuspecting husband. The whole middle-class motherhood baby world increasingly grates and eventually disgusts her sensibilities. The imaginary regression into a feral world, their idealized image of randomness and freedom is simply an escape valve for her frustrations. What is missing in this tale is any culpable rage justified or not for the situation she finds herself in. It does (spoiler alert)(I don’t care). Have a happy ending. Wrongs are righted, tragedies avoided, art is restored, dogs go back to being dogs, and a new arrival hopefully sets things straight. (This ending really gets my goat)(Sorry....not sorry)

215 stars

 Disclaimer.

Successful yuppie couple (Wife has a secret). Long ago Italian seaside holiday.

(Husband has to leave early). Wife and young son frolic in the sand. Young stud who’s girlfriend has just left spies young mum and son. (Mostly mum) Mum notices stud taking pictures. Hot sex.

(Two versions) Version one. Lots of fun frolicking + naughty bits). 

Version two Not so much. Not fun. Nasty.  Mum falls asleep on the beach. Young son gets swept out to sea in rubber dingy. Wakes freaks out. Young stud swims out to sea and saves boy but drowns on the way back. Mum ignores drama of drowned stud. Parents of stud grieve. Wife goes off the rails dies of cancer. Bereft husband discovers secret fictional manuscript wife has written of incident. Self publishes book indicting yuppie wife. Goes on revenge rampage determined to kill now grown son of yuppie wife. Not going to tell the ending in episode 7. Director Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men; Gravity: Y tu mama tambien) has untangled this complex and sometimes confusing narrative into a 7 part TV miniseries. Starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville, Sacha Baron Cohen Leila George.   359 stars

Tuesday.

A young woman with a terminal disease is about to die

One day death in the form of a shape shifting parrot comes into her room.

So begins the intriguing tale by first time director Daina O. Pusić about death and humanities inability to comprehend and understand this universal phenomenon. Deaths appearance does not particularly upset or perturb Tuesday affectingly played byLola Petticrew. Her only request is that death delay its mission until Zora, her mother played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus returns from work. 

Her mothers reaction on seeing death and realizing what its presence means for her daughter beginning a mission to try and forestall its inevitable actions. Trying to kill the bird by various means she ends up swallowing the charred remains of the creature. By doing so forestalling its duties reports begin to come in of people and animals not dying from their injuries and roaming the countryside in zombie like states. Swallowing the bird has its own disastrous effects on Zora until her daughter makes her realize her mistake intruding to put off the inevitable.  In doing so she regurgitates the bird allowing it to complete its duties. After her daughters death she becomes demoralized. The bird on a revisit to ‘see how she is doing’ , she asks the bird to continue its mission with her, hoping for an afterlife where she can reunite with her daughter. The bird refuses, saying that the afterlife is a legacy in other peoples memories. How Zora lives her remaining days is her daughters afterlife. On pondering this is is reminded of a conversation she had with her daughter in her final day promising she would continue on trying to live her best life  in her memory. This is a strange and affecting film that with great humanity tackles a subject that is rarely visited with such style.  499.5 stars

 

 

 

  My Brilliant Friend

 
 I did an original review of the first three seasons of the HBO distributed series in  Feb 2023. The fourth and final season (The Story of the Lost Child) released this year has just concluded. The entire series spanning four years of production time.  Carrying on from the previous seasons the story continues the complex and sometimes tortured relationship between Elenor Grecco (Alba Rohrwacher) and Raffaella Cerulla (Irene Maiorino).  Elenor being the narrator and writer of their lives together. It’s a lifetimes story spanning their childhood into their old age. A vast complex detailed telling. The Tv productions being faithful to the original four volume set of books. What prevents this from being a giant soap opera, is the skill and authenticity of the original writing by Ferranti and the wisdom of the directors for following that writing so closely and  the actors for bringing their efforts to the screen with such riveting performances.

488 stars

 

At the end of his tour of Italy James May the British TV presenter gave a summation of his impressions of the country, He goes on to list that in spite of its chaotic political system, it’s unfathomable civil service its almost complete disorganization as a country in the nordic sense. But because of its many other attributes.  The food, wine, breathtaking scenery and history, unparalleled art, warmth of its people and general dolce vita ethos. The fact that the words ‘made in Italy’ add value to almost any modern manufactured item. Even its detractors who sneer and joke about the entire archipelago would secretly like to be Italian. I count myself amongst the people who would like to have come from that odd shaped piece of property sticking into the Mediterranean. Which brings me in a very Italian round about way to the TV police series:

The investigations of Lolita Lobosco

After a long period of work in the North, Deputy prosecutor  Lolita Lobosco returns to  Bari her hometown on the Adriatic coast in southern Italy.  In a world stubbornly ruled by males, Lolita chooses to remain herself without repressing her charm and beauty, indeed she uses these qualities to establish herself and fight prejudices. Freely based on Gabriella Genisi’s books. 

The backbone of the series like the dozens of other programs of this genre if fairly prosaic. A murder an investigation a solution. The thing that sets this series apart is the afore mentioned ‘made in Italy’ component. Shot mostly in the very picturesque seaside town of Bari our heroine Lolita (loli) Played by the striking Louisa Ranieri  and her sidekick Antonio Forte played by  Giovanni Ludeno . For Comic relief there is Esposito played by Jacopo Cullin.  All three with Lobosco in the lead set about solving misdeeds and murders in their town. Where this series differs from the others is the back story a kind of an elaborate rom com involving the whole extensive family, including Lobosco's mother Nunzia played by Lunetta Savino and her erstwhile romantic interest the sometimes bumbling greengrocer Trifoni played by Maurizio Donadoni and other neighborhood characters that most of the other series don’t delve into. The back stories are as engrossing and emotionally personal (often involving our lead actor) as the crime aspect. An ongoing story line is the death of Lobosco’s father early on in the series which forever haunts her, and is intent of finally solving.  Helping the cohesiveness, all the actors seem perfectly cast in their roles. You won’t have heard of any of them, its all there on the screen. Despite the crime aspect its mostly fun and romance, which is what sets this series apart.   322 stars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bear.

A  low level beef sandwich shop in the River North district of Chicago recently run by his deceased (by suicide) brother Michael.  Inefficient, chaotic, run by a chronically dysfunctional crew barely making a go of it. This is the world that Carmen Berzetto returns to after his years of training and work in Michelin- starred restaurants around the world. Having to deal with the chaos in every area that his brother has left behind. The staff headed by “Ritchie”, deceased Michaels best friend and completely unqualified manager.  Fiercely resisting and resentful of Carmens every move to modernize and upgrade the operation, simply adding to the turmoil. Hiring a young talented chef Sydney Adamu to be sous-chef exacerbates the tensions as a new level of authority is introduced. Trying to conquer these competing demands takes up a good portion of season one. Wearing down the obsessive “Carmy” with repeated fights, screaming matches and swearing, as in any stereotypical Italian family. This gets exhausting to watch after a while. There are many multiple setbacks which fleshes the story out in season two.Carmy persists and despite his own personal demons and private traumas, towards his ultimate goal of opening up a new restaurant. Slowly, painfully carves this iceberg into an elegant sculpture. The episodes get better as the season progresses. Thanks to (once again) The writers; Christopher Storer. Who also created the series.Matty Matheson, Will Guidara, Joanna Callo and Alex Russel.
The tent pole that holds this whole thing up is
Jeremy Allen White  as the bedeviled Carmen
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie the mesmerizing  thorn in Carmens side.
Ayo Edebiri as Sydney the gifted Sous-Chef.
The rest of the substantial supporting cast are all top rate helping round out what ends up being a well worth compelling personality realistically presented study in people under sometimes extreme insane pressure. Proof of the award winning pudding (sorry soufflé) is season three is about too be released and season four is planned.   384 stars
 

 

 

 

 Three Body Problem.

This monster Chinese TV  science fiction tale was released to huge acclaim in China in 2023.  30 episodes in length (all with subtitles) is not for the faint of heart. Taken from an an epic three volume set of novels by Liu Cxin  The recipient of many science fiction awards it was hugely successful in China. The English translation was the first to receive a Hugo and Nebula award by an asian writer. Set against the turbulence of the cultural revolution  Ye Wenjie an astrophysics graduate sees her father a teacher beaten to death by the Red Guard. Sentenced to prison for her protests Ye is recruited by the military to work on a secret project to use high powered radio waves to damage spy satellites a technology far behind  what the USA and USSR are working on. Its real mission turns out to be a clandestine search for extraterrestrial life. Ye discovers that  by using the sun to amplify the outgoing radio waves success is more likely but tells no one.  Eight years later through her contacts she is told  that a message has been received from a planet in Alpha Centuri warning her not to respond or the inhabitants of Trisolaris will be able to calculate the earths location and invade. Ye responds anyway inviting the aliens to come to earth and settle its problems. Murdering her two co workers in order to keep the alien massage secret. The cat is out of the bag. By responding to the aliens message  Ye has set in motion a series of irreversible events which as the news spreads to various factions of humanity is responded to in predictably chaotic uncoordinated manner. This is just a brief historical synopsis of  the plot line It continues. In the present day a nanotechnology professor Wang is asked by the police to help with the investigations of the suicides of several prominent  scientists including Ye’s daughter. A meeting between Wang and Ye reveals people playing a sophisticated Virtual Reality game called Three Body.  The game portrays a planet whose climate randomly flips between Stable and Chaotic Eras. During Chaotic Eras, the weather oscillates unpredictably between extreme cold and extreme heat, sometimes within minutes. This unstable unpredictable atmosphere spells doom for the Trisolarans and their planet.   The game shows them building and launching colony ships to invade Earth, believing that the stable orbit will allow unprecedented prosperity and let them escape the destruction of their home.  Still not the end, which I will not reveal.The intricacies of the books plot are carried unsullied in excruciating detail into the Chinese TV production, hence the thirty episodes. Shot in weird 1960’s color gives the series and appropriately dated look. None of the actors will be recognizable although their performances especially Ye Wen Jie outstandingly played by Chen Jin and Edward Zhang playing Wang Miao and the police officer played byYu He Wei are all solid.
Then of course there is the the American adaptation. From the creators of Game of Thrones. As to be expected it is shorter (eight episodes) slicker, sexier and the effects are way more spectacular than in the Chinese version. Also a huge amount of the story is in the trash bucket. Probably, with good reason Benioff, Weiss and Woo decided that a US audience would not sit still for thirty episodes or anything near it. The casting is odd and inconsistent but dealing with such a truncated plot line took its toll. Rosalind Chao plays the adult Ye Wenjie, Benedict Wong plays the intrepid detective Da Shi.  The lead women actors. Jess Hong, Eiza Gonzales are far too good looking to be taken seriously in they roles. Liam Cunningham as the evil industrialist and Johnathon Price as the crackpot environmentalist are just thrown in for gravitas that neither achieve. As you can tell I think this version was just a money grab. Substituting glam for drama.  Glomming on to the much more authentic and compelling original Chinese tale. It’s not an entire bust though bits of the original story still poke through. My advice is to get a trashcan size tub of popcorn a case of your favorite soda and sit through the 30 episode version.   726 stars

 Baby Reindeer.

In this compellingly gloomy tale  Donny Dunn the lead character played by and starring Richard Gadd adapted from his autobiographical one man show. A terrible but aspiring comedian. Working in a pub as a bartender, to barely finance his life.  One day a distraught Martha, brilliantly played by Jessica Gunning, a former lawyer with a criminal past, walks in sitting at the bar. Offering a cup of tea which she cannot pay for is the beginning of their nightmarish relationship.  She begins coming to the pub daily becoming increasingly obsessed with him and begins to inundate his account with texts and emails as well as attending the few show he’s able to perform. As her obsession spins out of control she harasses Teri, his trans therapist girlfriend, who Donny met online, sometimes violently, as well as any attempt by Donny to end the relationship.There is a segment that is quite telling about the inner workings of Donny's life. During one of his disastrous stand up routines he has a breakdown in front of the stone faced audience and veers off into stunningly sad diatribe about his own life failings and confusions. An audience member records the whole performance, posts it online and in the queen of all ironies Donny becomes a media star boosting his non existent career into visibility he'd never dreamed of. This however only exacerbates the Martha problem.  In the midst of this mayhem Donny meets Darrien O’conner a TV writer who offers him career advice and work opportunities but actually only delivers during drug induced blackouts sexual assault. Donny finally during a moment of clarity leaves. They meet up years later agreeing reluctantly to renew their work collaboration. Finally Donny is able to report Martha to the police, she is arrested, pleads guilty and spends nine months in prison. A musical comedy this is not. The subject matter is desperate and bleak with no real redeeming message other than be careful who you buy a cup of tea for. It is only the acting and authenticity of the story that make a viewer continue watch all the episodes until the end.  478 stars

 

 Hacks.
            Of all the genres available, comedy is the most fraught and difficult. That is why sensible and smart people seldom try and create it and far fewer succeed, those who do become legends and stars. In this new streaming series starring Jean Smart playing a legendary Las Vegas comedian  Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder as her unlikely much younger comedy writer Ava, hired to reinvigorate Vance's career. As always it is the writers Lucia Aniello, Paul Downs, and  Co Creator Jan Statsky that have made this gem possible. But it would be all for naught if it were not for the brilliant Jean Smart, as Vance. Not known for her comedy chops throughout her long acting career she comes across as a consummate natural. It is Smart injecting the deadly combination of steely unrepentant professionalism barely covering a core of vulnerability and hurt in the brassy fun loving take no prisoners Vance that makes this series so watchable . Her exploitative relationship with her protoge/mentor is fraught and sometimes hostile hiding the mutual respect and affection the two have for each other. Now in its third and best season so far it shows what can happen when truly gifted people come together with the goal of making the rest of us laugh.   526 stars

After working for over twenty years as a director of research at a wall street investment management company, Amor Towles turned his considerable talents to writing. His second effort, a startlingly effective tale. A Gentleman in Moscow, now turned into a streaming series starring Ewan McGregor. Set against the real events of the Bolshevik revolution, this fictional tale tells the story of a Count Rostov spared the death sentence by the new regime but condemned to live the rest of his days inside the luxurious Metropol Hotel (a real Moscow hotel where the story is set).  The penalty for leaving the building being death.  Making the most of his sentence gives the resourceful McGregor plenty of room for his satisfyingly effective performance, and the tale its body. The gloomily romantic visual style helps the authentic look of the series, and given the historical background of the story indicates that things will not end well. With a solid supporting cast, this tale while not as sharp as the book is well worth the time spent watching.  389 stars

Ripley

 

 

Ripley

It is not the riveting Andrew Scott who plays the lead in this latest adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s ‘The talented Mr Ripley’. Neither is it the smoldering Dakota Fanning playing Marge Sherwood the love interest of Dickie Greenleaf played with amusing disinterest by Johnny Flynn, the absent heir to his fathers shipping business. Who are the stars of this engrossing thriller
A mid level New York huckster, Ripley seizes the offer by his father to to go to Italy and bring back his wayward trust fueled son to the fold. The assignment many levels above what he is used to he soon adapts to the idle luxurious lifestyle. All the while hatching a scheme where he can make this new world his.
No. The stars are the endlessly mesmerizing editing and design of almost every scene.  Set in the early nineteen sixties, shot mostly in Italy Director Steven Zaillian  and cinematographer  Robert Elswit have raised the gorgeous black and white ethos to or even beyond that of the master Italian directors of that era.
The plot intricate and gripping, the acting, especially by the chameleon like hypnotic Scott keep your eyes looking in one direction. It’s rare that a streaming production attains this level of artistry, but this one has.  575 stars

 

In his visually dizzying assault on the senses director
Yorgos Lanthimos has created a film that may draw on its distant ancestry the tale of Frankenstein. There is the doctor and his reanimated creation, from that point on they have little in common. In the intervening 92 years since the original dramatic film, many have had a crack at this story. But nothing compares to this latest iteration, peppered as is with several truly hilarious scenes. The doctor, Godwin Baxter expertly played by a scarred up Willem Dafoe and his creation, Bella Baxter in a bravura performance by Emma Stone who really carries the entire film on her daunting shoulders, her trust in the director evident in her performance.
Her name rivaled only Daisy Domergue (Hateful 8)
It’s the tale of her emancipation through a bewildering world she has little understanding of and has through her rapid development has to learn the ropes VERY fast in order to survive. Surrounded by conniving opportunists, in particular a wealthy lawyer Duncan Wedderburn played by Mark Ruffalo who initially enamored with Bella tires of her unpredictable rebellious ways. When she predictably leaves, his life collapses. Bella immune to human emotional frailties soldiers on to her next adventure, hardly aware of his absence. There are other passing dalliances, a stint as a prostitute in Paris run by a kindly empathetic madame, which have little impact on Bella’s adventures, absorbing her experiences into the file of her consciousness. The only relationship she seems to respond to is that of her creator, who she calls god and towards the end of the film after all of her experiences she returns to his dying bedside. The sets dozens of them each more jaw droppingly ornate and fantastical in their detail come at you faster than your brain can process the images. Same with his use of lenses, what used to be called fisheye wide angle, each shot style different and yet related to the last.  The eerie unique soundtrack adding to the sensory overload. I got the sense that this director got his vision onto the screen pretty much in tact with not much interference from the producers (unlikely)  or regard for what the audience might think of his visual style or presentation. 633 stars

 

 

Oppenheimer .

Given the two possible options presented to me this weekend I decided on the gloomy retelling of the Robert Oppenheimer story. Given that Pink is my least favorite color. This also marks after a several year hiatus my return to an actual movie theater.
Presented by accomplished and talented director Christopher Nolan. This epic historical retelling of the famed nuclear scientists brilliantly gifted, complicated and contradictory life runs for just over three hours. Nolan leaves few stones unturned in his portrayal of the man, the times and turmoil scientific and political that he lived in.  Rivetingly played by Cillian Murphy.  Robert Downey Jr also spellbinding as political snake Lewis Strauss. Matt Damon as the military chief Leslie Groves is quietly memorable. Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s sometimes fiery wife. Florence Pugh’s impact is outweighed by her brief appearances as Oppenheimer's sometimes moral conscience and lover. The political lynching that he endured towards the end of his career while important and dramatic to the story seemed overly drawn out. Overall it is a credit to Nolan and his crew that he pulled of this daunting project with such accomplished finesse and care.
A technical point I was struck by the dull flat digital (the new norm) projection on the screen. It’s a shame that after all the trouble that Nolan went to shooting this epic on 65mm film, that  what we are presented with is these lifeless images on the screen in the in the name of economic expedience.

 Asteroid city.

In the immortal words of Nigel Tufnel the rocker from Spinal Tap. Referring to the volume knob on his guitar amp         “These go to Eleven”
Which is what Wes Anderson has dialed up on the weirdness scale in his  new film Asteroid City.                                       Anderson perhaps the newest  addition to the list of modern American director’s who’s cinematic work can be readily identified with them. He has not so much carved out his own niche as created his own particular visual world. Asteroid city adds to and continues his explorations into his peculiar universe. Working with what has become in. Certain cases his repertory group of actors in including ,Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton,  Edward Norton, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Steve Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie.
In this multi layered fantasy set in the 1950’s Anderson has constructed a play, shot in black and white set on a stage is purposely one dimensional, hosted by a serious commentator. This then morphs into a film set in desert town of 87 complete with crater left behind by an asteroid.  A gifted stylist Anderson has managed to make the movie part of the film mesmerizingly strange with its bleached pastel colors, (apart from Scarlett Johanssons lips) startling dolly shots and meticulous production design.
The child actors cast are all perfect and brilliant.                      
The star studded cast are….star studded, in their goofy magnetic Anderson way. It seems that the director is increasingly comfortable with the unusual worlds he creates. We are all in some way the beneficiaries.

 

 

 Three Thousand Years of Longing.


It was Tilda Swnton that drew me as she has many times before to the various intriguing projects that she has been involved in in her acting career, to this mystical tale.  As Alithea Binnie a narratologist (someone who studies narrative structure and its influence on society). who discovers a strange bottle while doing research in Istanbul. While cleaning the bottle, Alithea comes to find out that it contains a Djinn, a mystical spirit engrossingly played by (Idris Elba).  Accidentally releasing it in the middle of her hotel room. The Djinn grants three wishes to Alithea, insisting that he is under the control of whomever frees him until they make their wishes. While Alithea is hesitant, acknowledging that many Djinn stories are cautionary tales, the Djinn attempts to convince Alithea that he will truly grant whatever her heart desires by telling her stories of how he was imprisoned three different times. Directed by George Miller of the Mad Max Franchise and The Witches of Eastwick among others.   Based on a A. S. Byatt's short story.  Even in this lushly produced fantastical tale of magic, illusion and dreams. Along with the fine supporting cast, it is Swinton’s presence and acting skills as with all of her appearances holds your attention. I stayed up much longer than intended to see the romantic end of this engrossing film.

                                                    
 

 

  Secretary

 

It was because of my reading of her new work of fiction in current New Yorker that caused me to revisit this 2002 film. Her story called Minority Report was in itself an expanded revisit by her of her original story in her book of 1988 Bad Behavior.  The film itself is a slick tidied up version, of  the original story that has not, unlike Ms Gaitskill herself aged well. This is not to diminish the performances of its two lead characters. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway who is undoubtedly the star of the film and James Spader as her boss, Mr Grey in his weirdly decorated office  giving a compellingly repressed performance. Her mother, played by Leslie Ann Warren trying her best to be compulsively normal in her decidedly dysfunctional family adds to the strained off kilter tone of the film. In the midst of the current  #MeToo movement the film seems trite and titilating, glamorizing sexist behavior. The corny happy ending ruins whatever pertinent social lessons might have been gleaned from this imperfect but worthy film.