Category Archives: 2020

Wendy

Wendy  5 Suns 

Wendy is a reimagining of the J. M. Barrie Peter Pan story this time in a modern setting and told through the eyes of Wendy.  Wendy and her brothers are raised by their working class mother who works in a diner.  One day the three children sneak onto a passing train where they meet a strange headstrong boy named Peter.  He brings them to his island hideaway where he and the other children have their own world free of grownups.  Peter seems to have his own magic that originates from the island’s volcano and a mysterious sea creature.  But soon trouble finds them in the form of several older adults who gain control of an old ship and then try to capture the children,  leaving it up to Peter and Wendy to come to the rescue.  The imagery of the island environment is breathtaking and the performances of the children are impressive.  The director,  Benh Zeitlin previously made Beasts of the Southern Wild.  He was present for Q & A and spoke of the challenges of working on the island with an active volcano as well as what it was like working with children of ages 6 to 9. He said the key to succeeding with children was to make sure it was a fun experience for them.  Children are not in it for the money or the fame. Wendy is currently in the theaters so be sure to see it and you can bring some kids with you. 

Promising Young Woman

Promising Young Woman   4 Suns

Promising Young Woman is about a young woman,  Cassie (Carey Mulligan) who seems unambitious working as a coffee barista and living with her parents.  She is a drop out from medical school,  but now she spends her nights going to clubs where she plays out a scheme against any men who would seek to take advantage of women who are no longer in control of their senses.  It turns out that her best friend was a victim of such a circumstance and died as a result,  so this is Cassie’s way of seeking revenge against predatory men.  Along the way she learns new information about those involved in her friend’s case,  and the stakes of her vendetta reach a higher level.  The story is a fascinating one that brings some surprising twists along the way and I must say I did not see where it was going.  Carey Mulligan,  one of my favorite young actresses gives a superb performance.  I first saw her in An Education back in 2009 when she was nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award.  I also thought the choice of songs used in the story telling was especially effective. If you are a frequent viewer of tv sitcoms, you will probably recognize several of the supporting cast. 

Lost Girls

Lost Girls  4 1/2 Suns 

Lost Girls is a true crime drama based on a novel by the same name.  Murder stories seem to be a theme this year as this is the third film I’ve seen involving the murder of a young woman.  When her adult daughter goes missing Mari Gilbert (Amy Ryan) must take matters into her own hands because of a lack of action on the part of the local police.  She traces her movements and last contacts of her daughter to an exclusive Long Island neighborhood where the neighbors seem to all protect one another.  Her daughter’s actions indicate that she was a prostitute getting clients online. The stakes increase dramatically when the police discover an area near this neighborhood is being used as a dumping ground for bodies of prostitutes which becomes the case of the Long Island Killer.  The police continue to mishandle the case causing endless frustration for Mari, her two younger daughters and families of the other dead girls in the case. They appear to be less interested in a case involving dead and missing prostitutes than they would with more important victims. It is only through the constant efforts of Mari to get answers that any real progress is made in the case.  I found it to be a powerful police drama because of a good script and a strong performance by Ryan as the girl’s determined mother. There are also fine performances from Thomasin McKenzie as Mari’s second daughter and Gabriel Byrne as the police commissioner. Sadly,  the real Mari Gilbert died shortly after production on the movie started and did not get to see the result.

Feels Good Man

Feels Good Man.   5 suns

For anyone interested in politics or the dark side of the internet,  Feels Good Man is a documentary you must see.  It covers a cartoonist who created a comic character called Pepe the Frog some 20 years ago that was part of a mildly amusing comic strip about a group of friends living together.  We then learn of various underground groups on the internet who used the character in memes to promote whatever bad message they wish to share.  The means of distribution is called 4chan, sort of an underground version of Instagram.  All of this was completely foreign to me, but perhaps some of you have heard about this.  The type of individuals doing this are characterized as young men living in their parent’s basements with no job who spend all their time on the internet denigrating people they disapprove of.  They even have a name.  They are called NEET or Not in Education,  Employment or Training.  They are the type that live on the fringes of society and are very angry over their situation.  Around the time of the 2016 presidential election,  Pepe found his way to white nationalist groups and became a hate symbol that even got the attention of the ADL.  This was all terrible news for the creator of Pepe who just saw Pepe as a symbol of friendship.  Finally,  this all blew up on the internet with the frog actually helping Trump to get more votes among the white racists and young NEETs.  It all seems like too much to believe but there are national news organizations that covered the story as real.  The film was in the works for at least for years and was just seen here at Sundance for the first time.  It was a fascinating story and was done very well with many interviews and news footage to back it up.  I would be interested to learn from any readers who were aware of this while it was happening.

Coded Bias

Coded Bias    4 1/2 Suns

The documentary Coded Bias concerns the biases that have been found present in the algorithms used mainly in facial recognition software and the effect this has on people’s lives.  It follows the efforts of some very smart computer researchers including Joy Buolamwini, an MIT Media Lab researcher.  She discovered that this software when tested on women and non- white people has a markedly lower accuracy rate than on male and white people.  This inherent bias comes from how the software learns what faces look like based on the thousands of images in the database which in turn was provided by the designers.  Other issues raised were how the same technology is being used in China to deny rights and privileges to dissidents by the government as well as the individual’s rights to their own personal data.  The film also speaks of how these algorithms are used to profile people looking for loans and employment.  Some of those concerned about these matters have established the Algorithm Justice League to raise awareness of these issues and find ways of combating the biases of such software.  The issues here are far more complex than I can relate here,  and I hope the film receives wider distribution after the festival. I found it the most interesting documentary I’ve seen so far. 

Saudi Runaway

Saudi Runaway.   4 Suns

Saudi Runaway is an amazing documentary about a young 26 year old Saudi woman who decides to flee her country and her domineering father because of the oppressive laws against women in Saudi Arabia.  Muna connected with the director through social media and secretly filmed her story on her iPhones for a period of two months before making her escape while on her honeymoon which means she also fled from her new husband.  She had to secretly send the phone footage to the director just to have space on the phones for more of the story.  The film is full of Muna’s emotional dilemma and family scenes. In order to live out her dream she must hurt the people she loves including her mother.  I didn’t know what to expect from this film but was very pleased.  It is an important story to tell as Saudi Arabia is one of the most oppressive regimes toward women in the world.  A postscript noted that women are fleeing the country at a rate of 1,000 per year.  I hope this film gets distributed soon. 

Jumbo

Jumbo     3 stars (or suns in Sundance World)

Jumbo,  from Belgium by director Zoe Wittock tells us the story of a young withdrawn woman who lives with her very outspoken mother.  Jeanne is very shy and has trouble relating to men.  Her mother seems determined to do something about that.  Jeanne works in an amusement park as part of the cleanup crew. We find she has a certain fascination with the rides as she builds models of them out of pieces of metal and wire.  However, there is one particular ride she is fascinated by where the riders rotate in multiple directions that goes by the name of Move It. Jeanne’s name for it is Jumbo. She is so enamored by the ride that she imagines it has a soul and that it is something she can have a sexual relationship with.  So you can see it is your classic romance of girl meets machine,  girl gets machine,  girl loses machine,  then finally girl gets machine back.  It is certainly an odd movie and one hard to relate to. The filmmaker said she has been working on the movie for eight years and got the idea when she saw a story about a woman who “married” the Eiffel Tower.  The movie was done well enough with some excellent acting which helps make up for the very unconventional story.

Emma.

Emma.                                   4 ½ stars

The latest adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma by director Autumn de Wilde is full of wit and social satire as it takes a look at the life of one Emma Woodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy), the attractive and mettlesome daughter of a rich landowner (Bill Nighy) in a large country estate.  Since Emma is rich and “had lived nearly 21 years in the world with very little to distress or vex her”, she spends her time manipulating those around her, trying to pair people up or breaking them up according to her own liking.  There are plenty of parties, dances and picnics for the gentile, rich upper class that give Emma the chance to work her devilish charms on those she takes an interest in.  This film is more comedic than most Austen based movies as the characters often express themselves without being too direct about their intentions.  The one exception to this rule is performed by Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn), Emma’s friend from childhood who is often direct to Emma about her schemes and their effect on the lives of others.  Taylor-Joy’s mannerisms and expressions are perfect for role of Emma as one always gets the impression that there is a scheme going on behind those wide eyes.  And I cannot fail to mention the incredible costumes and hairstyling that plays a major part in the film.  All Jane Austen fans should definitely go see Emma.

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man                             4 stars

If you are ready to experience something more terrifying than the Coronavirus you can check out the new remake of The Invisible Man.  This film by Leigh Whannell reimagines the 1933 classic horror movie setting it in modern times and bringing several surprises and shocking moments with it.  Cecelia (Elizabeth Moss in Us last year) does a daring nighttime escape from her violent boyfriend, Adrian who is essentially holding her captive in his luxury home.  She is aided by her sister and a childhood friend James, a police officer (Aldis Hodge of Straight Outta Compton).  Adrian also happens to be a wealthy and brilliant scientist who has some interesting projects he is working on.  Before long while Cecilia is still in hiding she learns of the suicide of Adrian, but refuses to believe it.  She suspects it was faked and that it is just part of his scheme to control her.  At this point things get interesting when strange things start to happen in James’ house where she is hiding.  The film uses many slow panning shots where the camera shows us parts of the rooms with no one in them, but Cecelia is certain there is a presence there nonetheless.  As the tension rises so does the certainty that Adrian is out there but he is unseen, because, well, he is invisible.  The filmmaker comes up with an ingenious explanation for how this is all accomplished which I cannot share with you.  The shock comes from experiencing it for yourself.  But rest assured, many people will die before the end of the movie which you had to expect.  Leigh Whannell is probably best known for his work in the Saw series of films, only one of which I ever saw.  They weren’t movies that I cared to see, but The Invisible Man is well worth the ticket if you are in for two hours of shock and terror.

The Hunt

The Hunt                                             2 ½ stars

Since I haven’t been to a theater in a long time, I went looking for a new release. I landed on The Hunt which has been called one of the most controversial recent movies. The Hunt is a violent political satire horror action movie that features the hunting down of people for sport on an isolated patch of land by a few rich elites.  The elites are believers in the usual left-wing issues like climate change, follow leftist authors and are led by Athena (Hilary Swank), a left winger who hates the kind of people who love Donald Trump.  A group of twelve people awake to find themselves in an unknown countryside and discover that they are all believers in the conspiracy theory that there is a place called The Manor where right wing types are hunted down by leftist elites. There are a few utterings of second amendment rights and the evils of immigrants. In a clearing there is a giant crate, that when opened reveals a pig and a giant cache of arms. It doesn’t take long till the shooting starts and the group finds that they are the prey. They gather the weapons available and try to escape while each is gunned down in ever increasing bloody and violent fashion.  The violence level is high in this one, (comparable to Revenge from a couple of years ago). There is an assortment of well known actors playing the right wingers. There is Emma Roberts who is Yoga Pants who doesn’t last very long. Justin Hartley from This Is Us is a hunter of exotic wildlife. Ike Barinholtz of The Mindy Project is Staten Island. Wayne Duvall is Don??. Ethan Suplee of My Name is Earl is Shut the F*** Up Gary. There is another character referred to as Target for reasons that become clear. As the body count increases one person emerges as more than Athena was counting on by the name of Crystal (Betty Gilpin of the TV show GLOWS) who is quite proficient with a gun and various hand to hand weapons. While it may not be entirely appropriate for our times, the movie effectively satirizes the common behavior of believing conspiracy theories without checking out the facts.  If you feel like combining political lunacy with bloody violence, then The Hunt might be for you as there is something in it for both sides. Who knows? President Trump might even like it.