Category Archives: 2019

First Cow

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First Cow                             4 ½ stars

Kelly Reichardt’s new film First Cow opens with a quote, “The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship”, that tells you what the movie is all about. Set in 1820’s Oregon territory it is about the unlikely friendship between soft-spoken cook Cookie (John Magaro) and the ambitious, shady Chinese immigrant King Lu (Orion Lee). I must really like this director since this is now the fifth movie of hers I have seen, and I have enjoyed each one. (See Certain Women, Night Moves, Meek’s Cutoff and Wendy and Lucy.) The pair meet in unusual circumstances at a small settlement with many interesting characters and team up out of necessity and concoct a small business adventure that earns attention. The setting is quite different from other movies of the period as the drudgery and grime of daily life is emphasized over more dramatic events. The movie is an adaptation of the book The Half-Life by Johnathan Raymond but only uses a portion of the story and still keeps it interesting. Much of the film occurs in darkness and it is done in 4:3 screen format which gives the film a very intimate feel. The story progresses very slowly so the viewers who give up on movies in the first half hour will likely be disappointed. The use of period music and instruments also helps put the viewer in that time period. No one could have guessed that the making of buttermilk biscuits would be used so effectively as a plot point. Star Trek fans will appreciate what was likely the final on screen appearance of Rene Auberjonois. And Toby Jones does a perfect job as wealthy Englishman, Chief Factor. First Cow is a real gem from the year 2020.

Driveways

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Driveways                           4 ½ stars

We lost another Hollywood legend last year in Brian Dennehy, but not before he gave us a fine, understated performance in the short drama, Driveways, directed by Andrew Ahn. This personal, soft spoken movie starts with single mom Kathy (Hong Chau from Watchmen and the crippled immigrant woman from the disappointing Downsizing) and her introverted eight-year-old son, Cody (Lucas Jaye) arriving at the home of her deceased sister in order to clean it out and prepare it for sale, only to discover that the sister was a hoarder. Next door there is a quiet elderly widower, Del (Dennehy), a Korean War veteran who sits on his porch much of the day. Del notices the new activity at the house and engages in short conversations with the boy. Before long the two become more connected as Del teaches Cody to mow the lawn and introduces mother and son to his fellow veterans at the VFW. Through a sparing use of dialogue and some quiet intimate scenes we see two loners who communicate and support each other. The movie was released only weeks after Dennehy passed away and it gives us an excellent performance by the guy who played Willy Loman and John Wayne Gacy. Hong Chau also is effective as the overwhelmed mother, Kathy. Look for more good roles for this actress.  Driveways is an hour, and 23 minutes long and is available on Netflix.

Les Misérables

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Les Misérables                  4 stars

There is no Jean Valjean or Cosette or extravagant musical numbers in this movie. Les Misérables is the directorial debut of French-Malian director Ladj Ly. It is a crime thriller drama depicting the extreme racial tensions of the Paris suburbs in which it is set. The town, Montfermiel, is the same place as the events of Victor Hugo’s novel. The strife of the characters also mirrors that of the 19th century book. The movie follows an elite police squad of the SCU who call themselves the Smack Combat Unit. Their job is to keep some sense of order in the mostly black, Muslim neighborhood of high density housing and street shops. Stephane is the new guy who is being introduced to the job, while Chris and Gwada are the experienced hands. An incident occurs involving some of the local teens and the unit must investigate to keep the matter from escalating. When the unit is confronted by a gang of teens, a decision by one of the police causes the situation to spiral out of control, setting the powder keg on fire. The movie is a realistic portrayal of the problems France has been facing with the young, poor, mainly African population and police who sometimes use repressive tactics. It is somewhat based on the riots that occurred around Paris in 2005 where thousands of vehicles were burned. Most of the acting is done by locals who previously had no acting experience. The movie shows several acts of violence by the characters and does not pretend to have any solutions to the problems. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language film as France’s submission.

American Factory

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American Factory                             5 stars

Filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert produced an excellent documentary in American Factory that came out in 2019. In 2008 near Dayton, Ohio a GM auto plant closed down forcing thousands of workers to lose their jobs. Then in 2015, a Chinese billionaire named Cao announced that a new plant producing automobile windshields would open on the site and would offer jobs to the community. The filmmakers began following some of the workers, both American and Chinese in meetings, the factory floor and their homes. Through interviews and exchanges between counterparts, the cultural clash between the individualistic Americans and the monolithic Chinese is stark. We see how the corporate culture values maximum production at the cost of worker safety and how this impacts the lives of the workers. At the same time we see successful interactions between the cultures where workers come to see and understand one another and that their difficulties transcend national identity. There is a thread following a union organizing effort on the part of some workers and the corporation’s determination to avoid unionization at all costs. Some of the workers will lose their jobs before the film ends. There is a segment where some of the American supervisors are taken to the company headquarters in China. The contrast between nationalities is comical and illustrative of the divide between the societies. It is likely that the filmmakers didn’t know what they were getting into when they started the project, but they have captured the effect of globalization of industry on workers and the unbridgeable gap between American and Chinese cultures. The film won the Documentary Best Directing Award at Sundance, 2019 and the Best Documentary Feature Academy Award for 2019.

Sorry We Missed You

Sorry We Missed You                      3 stars

Sorry We Missed You is last year’s crusade film showing the perils of the working class in Britain by Ken Loach, who must be the hardest working director that you’ve never heard of. Loach has a long history of empathizing with working people in his movies going back to the sixties. In this film we follow Ricky and Abbie, a couple struggling to get by with their two children in a rented apartment. Ricky has been working odd jobs since the crash of 2008 and thinks he has found an opportunity as an entrepreneur operating as an independent delivery driver of parcels. He is lured in by the prospect of being his own boss and making his own decisions as opposed to working as an employee at a large business. He is told that he won’t work for his boss, but with him. He won’t receive wages, but fees since he is his own boss. Of course he will have to buy his own delivery van, so Abbie will have to sell her car that she needs for her job as an in home care person. She can just take the bus instead. And he is expected to meet a delivery schedule that is near impossible as he deals with traffic, ungrateful customers and fourteen hour-work days. The supervisor turns out to be a first class asshole who only cares about the bottom line and has no sympathy for what the workers or contractors are going through in their personal lives. The movie is an indictment of the gig economy that has become more prevalent in the last decade. It’s a way of reducing the income and benefits of the working poor while also placing all the risk on the workers. From the beginning the viewer knows what is coming as circumstances get progressively worse for this family as they struggle to work the long hours, raise their children and suffer setbacks not of their own making. There isn’t much plot other than that, so there is not a lot of drama to the story. It really feels more like a documentary that doesn’t have a satisfactory ending, but it certainly makes its point.

Queen & Slim

Queen & Slim                     4 stars

Queen & Slim, released in 2019 may have been prophetic concerning the racial justice protest movement of the summer of 2020. The film, by director Melina Matsoukas follows the young black couple on a journey across the south being hunted by police. Slim, a Costco worker is portrayed by Daniel Kaluuya who is currently starring as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah and who received an Oscar nomination for the horror movie Get Out. Queen, a strong woman who stands up for herself is played by newcomer Jodie Turner-Smith. The pair start the movie on a first date when they are stopped by a white police officer for failing to use a turn signal. When Queen, a defense attorney questions the officer’s reasons for the stop, the situation escalates with Queen getting shot and the officer dead in a clear case of self-defense. The couple are then on the run for the remainder of the film seeking help from sympathizing individuals along the way. However, due to the release of a video they become famous and become folk heroes to many throughout the country. In many ways the movie could be described as a black version of Bonnie and Clyde or even Thelma and Louise. As the pair struggle with the difficulties of coming up with a plan and get to know each other, the audience comes to sympathize with their situation and roots for them to survive. There are also notable performances by Bokeem Woodbine and Chloe Sevigny. The film is hard to classify as it starts as a rom-com, but transforms into a horror story, then into a road trip romance. It is supported by a superb hip-hop score featuring new artists. Kaluuya and Turner-Smith are the real stars here and we can be sure to see more good work and awards for Daniel Kaluuya.

Joker

Joker                                     4 ½ stars

I finally got around to seeing Joker from 2019, the movie where the iconic villain gets his star treatment instead of sharing the screen with Batman. Undoubtedly most movie viewers have seen this film by now so I don’t need to go into the story much. Director Todd Phillips has fashioned not so much an action movie but a character study that explores how Arthur Fleck went from mentally ill loner to violent master criminal prior to becoming the arch nemesis of Batman. The dark mood of the film is created by the score and an expertly depiction of the early eighties in gritty city scenes. And of course the movie wouldn’t be possible without the acting skills of Joaquin Phoenix as the tormented Arthur. Phillips commented on how flexible Phoenix was in changing his approach in each take of filming. He certainly deserves his Best Actor Academy Award for the role. I was not far into the movie before I saw the similarities to Taxi Driver, the Robert DeNiro crime drama of the seventies. Much of the inspiration of Joker had to come from the Scorsese film. DeNiro himself makes an appearance as a famous late night talk show host on a TV set that is a dead ringer for Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show of the eighties. Though it is a dark movie, Joker belongs on the list of best pictures of the year.

True History of the Kelly Gang

True History of the Kelly Gang                    4 stars

Although violent in the extreme, I recommend seeing this modern telling of the story of Ned Kelly, the Irish Catholic outlaw who terrorized Australia in the late 1800’s. George Mackay of 1917 plays the violent adult Ned to perfection as we follow his very troubled life running afoul of authorities (all British) in the Australian outback. The filming of a desolate landscape contributes to the bleak outlook that director Justin Kurzel wants to convey. The varied score that includes punk rock pieces gives the movie a surrealistic feeling. This is a violent, brutal and bloody film that will put many viewers off, but it is necessary to tell what life was like for the Irish lower class under British rule. The first part of the movie shows Ned Kelly as a young boy growing up dirt poor with a drunk Irish father and a foul mouthed mother (Essie Davis of Babadook). The young Ned has encounters with cruel individuals that will form his character including Sgt. O’Neil (Charlie Hunnan) and the thief Harry Power (Russell Crowe). Crowe’s time on screen is short so it is almost criminal that he gets top casting credit while the boy playing Kelly, who is on screen much longer is barely mentioned. Other notable actors playing scoundrels are Nicolas Hoult as a British cop who teasingly alternates between being Kelly’s friend and trying to bring him down, and Marlon Williams as George King, an American who seeks to take advantage of the poor Kelly family. Thomasin McKenzie of Lost Girls and Jojo Rabbit portrays Kelly’s love and mother of his daughter. Besides the violence, there is a theme of cross dressing as the Kelly gang wears flowing dresses while committing their crimes, a practice meant to instill fear in their victims apparently originating in Ireland. None of the characters have any redeeming features, all contributing to the lawless environment they find themselves in. The film has a very violent shootout scene to end on featuring strobe lighting and a seemingly endless supply of blood. This film is not for everyone, but a good one for lovers of Westerns. I strongly advise that you see the movie with closed captions as I find much of the Australian dialect is difficult to understand.

Sound of Metal

Sound of Metal                 4 ½ stars

I had not heard much about Sound of Metal before, but am glad that I saw it. Riz Ahmed of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story stars as Ruben, a drummer in a heavy metal band who is on tour with his band, Blackgammon. With him is his girlfriend/manager, Lou (played by Olivia Cooke of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl). Ruben begins to notice something is wrong early on when his hearing become muffled. He is soon diagnosed as having lost 80% of his hearing for an unknown reason, though playing in a very loud band might have something to do with it. Much of the movie focuses on how Ruben learns to live with being deaf by joining a deaf community where he must learn to communicate with others like him including connecting with a teacher for the deaf children at a local school. The feeling of silence is enhanced by imaginative sound effects in the movie that gives us some idea of what things might sound like for the deaf. The subdued acting of Ahmed contributes greatly to the understanding of his character. While at first he is enraged over what he is going through, he learns that he is not alone and must be willing to accept the help of others in his new journey. Sound of Metal is nominated for several Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor (Ahmed), Original Screenplay, Sound and Film Editing.

Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker                     3 ½ stars

The long Star Wars saga that started back in 1977 finally comes to a conclusion in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. J. J. Abrams packs a lot into the 2 hour, 20 minute running time bringing many familiar characters together for the last go round. We have the usual gang, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, BB-8, Rey, Poe and Finn. There are also appearances by the dead including Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, and a pieced together role for the late Carrie Fisher as Princess (now General) Leia. Naturally, there is one more cute droid in this one who goes by the name Coneface. There are all the usual elements in a Star Wars story such as X-Wing dogfights, light saber duels and a character (Rey here) seeking to find their true identity and purpose. This time the evil emperor Palpatine has mysteriously returned from the dead and seeks to control Darth Vader’s grandson, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver, excellent in the role) to bring Rey (Daisy Ridley) to the dark side and destroy the resistance to the Sith and the First Order for good. It’s a long story of how this comes to be, but suffice it to say, at least the final battle is not a repeated sequence like The Force Awakens was. There are a few too many minor characters that clutter up the story including Lando Calrissian (now 83 year-old Billy Dee Williams) that have little to do in advancing the story. While Skywalker doesn’t rise to the level of A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back, it is certainly superior to the dreaded The Phantom Menace. Now that the Star Wars story has come to a definite conclusion will there be more sequels to come? Do not bet against it.