Category Archives: 2019

Hala

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Hala       4 stars

One very relevant movie for young first generation immigrants is Hala. And especially suitable for young Muslims experiencing the clash of cultures in America.  The main character,  Hala is a seventeen year old girl, the only child to immigrant parents from Pakistan.  She is experiencing the usual thrills and challenges of being a teenager in high school with the added pressure of dealing with very traditional parents who believe in the practices of the old country.  And that includes their attitudes toward boys and dating.  Hala has a friendship with a white American boy that she is hiding from her parents while they are thinking of matching her with a boy from a Pakistani family for marriage.   This all leads to much pain and drama pitting parents against child and husband against wife.  This is a very engaging story and has good acting from the main cast.  The filmmaker was present for Q&A and said while the movie wasn’t her own story she knew of plenty of experiences to draw from. It was one of my favorites that I saw after hearing others talking about it.

Little Monsters

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Little Monsters.         4 stars

In the Q&A the director of this film from Australia was telling about his 5 year old son who he accompanied on a field trip with his class and his kindergarten teacher.  He said he was so impressed by how the teacher would look after all of the kids. While the vehicle was moving, it had to stop for some obstacle in the road so the situation had to be remedied.  He said then that it occurred to him what if that obstacle had been zombies.  Thus the idea for his new movie was born.  In Little Monsters, the main character, Dave, is challenged by his sister to take more responsibility so he volunteers to chaperone his 5 year old nephew’s kindergarten class on a field trip to a popular petting zoo. It doesn’t hurt that the teacher , Miss Caroline (Lupita N’yongo) is very charming and attractive. And so it just happens that the zombies being held captive at a nearby US Army base, manage to break out and head for the petting zoo!  It is up to Miss Caroline and Dave to see that no harm comes to the children in the ensuing zombie mayhem.  This movie is pure comedic fun with all that comes with disfigured slow walking zombies hungering for human flesh. It’s practically a laugh a minute. Also doing a great job is Josh Gad as a local children’s TV personality who is there to entertain the kiddies. I wouldn’t take any kids to the movie. It is filled with profanity and gore just like you would expect.

Them That Follow

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Them That Follow.       4 1/2 stars

Them That Follow is a first time feature by two new directors that takes place in the Appalachians of Kentucky.  It is about a young woman who is part of the snakehandling Pentacostal Church. The church is under the control of the pastor played by Walter Goggins who sets all the rules of the small mountain community.  He is aided by Sister Hope played remarkably by the incredible Olivia Coleman who keeps a watchful eye over the flock.  The church is often persecuted by the outside world because of their practices with handling poisonous snakes as part of their rituals. The real story starts when we see that the pastor’s daughter has a secret she is hiding that could impact many lives of this small fellowship.  The story was well put together and was aided by some top notch acting. Also in the cast was Jim Gaffigan the comedian in a very uncharacteristic role.  I warn you there are some very intense and graphic scenes. Some of it was too much for some audience members.  I especially liked this one which I picked because of the casting of Coleman in a key role.

Selah and the Spades

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Selah and the Spades.      4 stars

One movie that was something of a surprise is Selah and the Spades. It was written and directed by a very young filmmaker named Tayarisha Poe who is probably all of 28. She was present for the Q&A afterwards. The story takes place is an exclusive boarding school where the students are self divided into 5 different factions that each perform their own illicit activity. Selah, a seventeen year old African American girl is the leader of the Spades, the faction that supplies the illegal drugs to students. Since she is a senior she needs to find her successor before graduation. She finds Paloma, a new student who has transferred into the school and believes she is good material for a Spade. There is plenty of mean girl activity and power plays and betrayals in the time that follows that culminates in a conflict at an unsponsored school prom that will test the characters` loyalty and trust to one another. For someone that is so young I was very impressed by the quality of the final product. The director had been working on the idea since she was in college. I only hope to hear more of her work in coming years.

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.