Category Archives: 2019

Velvet Buzzsaw

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Velvet Buzzsaw.     4 stars

Of the films I saw today the one that probably has the widest audience appeal is Velvet Buzzsaw. This is a satire thriller that absolutely skewers the art world with its representation of the pretensions of artists, critics, buyers and museum curators and the greed infecting these people. The film seems like a big budget Hollywood movie with its A list stars and big sets in Los Angeles. Cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Billy Magnussen and John Malkovich. Since it is a satire, I am not sure how many people might like it. Some of the comedy is a bit high brow, but at the same time it’s also a silly comedy. I can’t go into detail on why it’s so silly without giving away the plot, but suffice it to say the greed of many of the characters gets the best of them in highly unusual ways. The satirical nature of the movie can be compared to The Death of Stalin and Vice, two recent movies that if you liked might mean you would like Velvet Buzzsaw. It was one of the better comedies I have seen at Sundance. I hope it will do well in theaters.

Give Me Liberty

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Give Me Liberty.      3 1/2 stars

Give Me Liberty is a comedy that I saw on the first night of Sundance. This film by a Russian-American follows a young Russian-American man through a single day as he drives a van for elderly and disabled people. His job has to be one of the toughest jobs there is as he personally has to move people, move obstacles and sometimes persuade his customers to cooperate. On top of that he has an impatient boss and there is a riot going on in his normal route. He faces many challenges that have a comedic quality and also has to deal with problems from his own family. At the same time that the story is unfolding, the film shows us issues of life including life for the disabled and the racial divisions that are the reality of urban living. It was filmed in Milwaukee and uses many untrained actors who are local residents of the area. It was not one that was on my must see list, but I am glad for having the chance to see it.

Always in Season

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Always in Season.        4 stars

Always in Season is a documentary about the lynchings of black people in America both in the past and present day. The African-American filmmaker has been developing the documentary for the past ten years that follows the history of these lynchings over the past hundred years or more. By chance a seventeen year black boy was found hanged in a rural area of North Carolina in 2014. The incident was classified as a suicide by the local investigators but it had all the signs of a murder.  Most of the film focuses on this case where Lennon Lacy, a football player nearing graduation said goodbye to his mother, stepped outside and was found hanged only two hours later. The film includes interviews with his mother, Claudia and his brother who are not satisfied with the ruling of the local authorities and want answers. The filmmaker gradually puts together more facts about the case that just beg for more investigation. The film continues with background on past lynchings from the 30’s and 40’s that have gone unsolved. One town in Georgia now has lynching reenactments of an incident where two young couples were murdered including a pregnant woman. The involvement of the Ku Klux Klan figures prominently in the movie. Racist views are expressed by some white figures, but others are committed to telling the truth so that these practices are not forgotten. The filmmaker, other staff and Lennon`s family were present for the Q & A, so the pain of the case still feels raw.  Always in Season makes clear that racism in alive and well in America.

The Edge of Democracy

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The Edge of Democracy.   Five suns!

The most interesting film of the bunch had to be The Edge of Democracy,  by a young Portuguese director,  Petra Costa that covers the political conflicts that have plagued Brazil over the past couple of decades.  She covers the rise of the Labor movement that challenged the military dictatorship in the seventies and succeeded in many reforms that lifted much of the population out of poverty,  followed by a backlash that now finds the contractors and oligarchs back in control of the government.  Costa has close connections to both sides of the conflict as her grandparents were among the contractors that benefited from government connections and both her parents were active revolutionaries that opposed the ruling elite and sought to change things through political pressure. The film gives us a dramatic picture of the polarization of the politics of the country that mirrors that of many countries including especially our own.  And it leaves us wondering where is it all going to lead.  Petra benefited from much access to both presidents Lula Da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, who were of the labor party and have been removed from power by questionable legal means. The movie gives us the stark message that the rich and the powerful will always seek and find ways to advance their own interests at the cost of the working people.

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel                 3 stars

I had the chance to see Captain Marvel unexpectedly because I was looking for something else that turned out not to be playing at that theater.  There has been a lot of attention on this movie because it is the first Marvel Comics movie that features a female lead.  Brie Larson stars in the lead role as Carol Danvers/Veers.   Not being a comic book person, this character is not one that I am at all familiar with.  She is best known for fine previous roles in Short Term 12 and Room.  Larson is a fine actress but seems to go through much of this film without that much expression.  The story is interesting enough, set somewhere else in the galaxy where a war is going on between alien races The Kree and The Skrulls.  Our heroine is having strange dreams that show she has memories from two different lives.  Eventually, this condition will be explained but it certainly takes a while.  Her journey takes her to earth in about 1995 where we get plenty of references to 90’s pop culture and technology. (Blockbuster Video, Nine Inch Nails)  There she meets Agent Nick Fury of Shield played by a CGI version of Samuel L. Jackson.  He is aged backwards by computer effects back to his “A Time to Kill” self.  We get to see plenty of action and a few plot twists until the big climax where comic book magic takes over giving Captain Marvel practically unlimited powers which is the point things become boring for me.  This is usually my problem with superhero movies, when the characters display their super abilities that have no place in our own universe.  Captain Marvel is a step forward in allowing women to have major roles in Hollywood, but it is much the usual story about big budget comic book action movies that are overblown and ultimately lose my interest.

Apollo 11

Apollo 11                             4 stars

The first Sundance movie I’ve seen since being at Sundance is Apollo 11, the thrilling documentary about the 1969 moon landing.  The movie consists entirely of footage from the time of the historic mission including film shot from onboard the space capsules.  The film is edited expertly to keep our interest throughout and has an effective score as well.  It includes footage of conferences with astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins and quite a lot showing an army of support personnel at mission control.  Especially compelling is the part showing the actual landing on the surface of the moon bringing reality to the fact that the small ship was just seconds away from running out of fuel at the critical time.  Anyone who can remember being glued to their television during the mission will appreciate seeing Apollo 11.  Those too young to remember it should see it for the amazement of what these people were able to accomplish with the technology available in the sixties.  The film was showing at Sundance this year but I believe the demand for it was very high.  I’m glad to have had the chance to see it in the theater.

Us

Us                           4 stars

By now everyone has heard of Jordan Peele’s latest horror film Us. It’s his second directorial effort after 2017’s much heralded Get Out.  With Us he goes much deeper into the horror genre with his story about the Wilson family on a beach outing at their summer cabin.  We learn that the mother, Lupita Nyong’o, experienced a traumatic event at the beach when she was a girl.  In the present the family has a few strange encounters until everything explodes with the arrival of another family who look exactly like them except they are very different too!  This is truly a horror film with the odd developments and bloody encounters that you would expect with such a film.  Peele puts his own spin on the genre that has a moral message somewhere in the story.  As the film gets toward the conclusion there are some unanswered questions and some things that don’t quite make sense, but I think that’s ok for horror movies.  Be forewarned that there is plenty of blood and interesting ways of dying in Us.  It’s a film that’s probably not for everyone.

Long Shot

Long Shot                            3 stars

It has been a long time since we’ve had a good rom-com at the movies.  This week’s offering of Long Shot attempts to address that drought and goes a long way towards succeeding.  The movie stars the beautiful Charlize Theron as Charlotte Field, the youngest Secretary of State in US history and the wildly comical Seth Rogen as an out of work sharp witted journalist named Fred Flarsky who crosses paths with the Secretary at a big Gala.  Remarkably, the two have a shared past that involves a shockingly amusing episode when the two were only teenagers.  The Secretary then pitches to Fred the idea of hiring him as a speech writer which he then accepts which leads to more awkward situations.  Since this is a Seth Rogen movie there are plenty of sight gags, awkward sexual encounters and some serious drug use.  As this is also a political comedy, there are gags involving world leaders and celebrities that are based on some pretty absurd circumstances, such as, the president wishing to leave after a single term to pursue a movie career.  (But then in these times we live in who am I to claim something is absurd.)  Although it has its funny moments, it doesn’t quite measure up to the comedy I’m used to seeing in an episode of Veep.  One sign of the film’s shortcomings is the use of actors for the roles of TV news anchors instead of casting real anchors to play themselves.  I felt that would have helped it to look a little more authentic, like other political comedies have done.   One surprise in the film is the casting of Andy Serkis as Parker Wembley, a wealthy billionaire and media owner seeking to influence the politicians to favor his personal political views.  He was amusing and completely unrecognizable.

Booksmart

Booksmart          4 ½ stars

In what may be the funniest movie of the summer, Booksmart takes us a wild ride with two young female best friends who decide to have one night of fun (i.e. partying, sex and drugs) before high school graduation after having spent their school years focusing on studies and getting into the college of their choice.  It’s a formula that we’ve seen plenty of times before but with a very feminist bent to it.  The film pulls it off with a series of comedic pieces involving conflicts with other characters, failed attempts at finding the secret location of the ultimate teenage party and a strange encounter with the school principal that includes porn videos.  The story written and directed by women, including director Olivia Wilde feels mostly authentic though some of the characters are stereotypes (like the high school drama kids).  The two lead girls are well suited for the roles of Amy and Molly, (Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein), both of whom I have seen in previous roles despite their young ages.  It feels like they really are best friends, but with some personal issues between them that are eventually revealed late in the movie.  I did like the fact that most of the high school characters don’t hold ill feelings against Molly in spite of her attitude of superiority being the class President.  There is one notable exception being Gigi played by Billie Lourd who mysteriously keeps showing up at the most opportune times and would like to spoil all the fun for them.  Though the movie can be described as a raunchy comedy the friendship and conflict between the two lead characters seems authentic and is a well written aspect of the film.  I recommend that you see Booksmart when you have the chance.

The Dead Don’t Die

The Dead Don’t Die         3 stars

The Dead Don’t Die by Jim Jarmusch puts a new comedic twist on an old genre, the zombie movie.  This light but bloody comedy brings together a very talented cast that includes Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Chloe Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane and Tom Waits.  With this group of actors you wonder how could this film possibly miss.  The movie has more hits than misses so has some moments that don’t hit the mark.  The premise is that polar fracking being done by corporations has caused the earth to move off of its axis leading to strange events throughout the world.  Of course this includes the dead rising from the graves to seek out human flesh to satisfy their appetite which is completely logical, right?  Much of the comedy is delivered by Murray and Driver who both give their lines in the most deadpan manner imaginable.  (Remember, the way to stop a zombie is to Kill the Head.)  Also making a significant contribution is Buscemi as Farmer Miller, the white racist whose accusations have little basis in reality.  There is an ongoing gag involving a new country song that bears the title from the movie.  Tilda Swinton has a most unusual role as the Irish undertaker, a new comer to the small town of Centerville.  It is a very strange role that only Swinton could deliver on.  It being a Jarmusch film, it wanders into the ridiculous at a couple of times that detracted from the overall feel of the movie.  The Dead Don’t Die is not the funniest Zombie movie I’ve seen, but if you are a zombie movie fan you should not miss this one.