Category Archives: 2020

Amulet

Amulet                 4 stars

Besides giving us a deadly pandemic 2020 has also brought us a new wave of horror movies made by women. This year we had Relic, Shirley and She Dies Tomorrow, all made by women directors showing us they can be as creepy as men. Now we have Amulet, by actor Romola Garai in her first effort as writer/director. In this slow moving horror movie, we follow, Tomaz, a homeless ex-soldier who finds himself in a hospital in London. A Catholic nun (Imelda Staunton) takes pity on him and arranges for him to live in a house where a young woman, Magda, is caring for her aged mother. We see Tomaz doing small home repair jobs in the very rundown house and being fed great meals by Magda. It’s hard to place the period of the setting. It could be anytime in the eighties or nineties. Periodically, there are flashbacks to his time serving in a foreign army where he sees himself as a protector of a woman in the woods. Things take a long time to develop, but eventually he makes his way up to the attic with Magda to see the mother that requires so much care. She turns out to be a wretched horribly disfigured being in great pain who turns on Magda when given a chance. Suffice it to say this mother is not human at all, but something supernatural. Naturally, there are other secrets that Magda and the house hold that are gradually revealed, just as we expect to see in a well written horror movie! Tomaz then sees himself as a sort of savior who must free Magda of this prison, but he will find out that evil can be found in unexpected places and what happens when it is not properly dealt with! This being a horror movie written by a woman we get an interesting take on things to be most afraid of including a view on what childbirth is like! (Hint: It’s bloody and painful.) If you can make it through the first half of the movie you will appreciate the eventual payoff.

The Prom

The Prom            2 ½ stars

The Prom is the new Ryan Murphy directed musical comedy on Netflix that brings together the talents of Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman performing a string of Broadway type musical numbers. The premise is that this group of narcissistic actors after bombing in their latest production (about Eleanor Roosevelt and FCR) need a charitable cause to give them new credibility. They land their sights on a young lesbian teen girl who is being denied her right to go to the high school prom with her girlfriend because of the intolerance of the community (the PTA, of course). The school happens to be in a small Indiana town, since the writers see Indiana as a bastion of intolerance, I suppose. I just hope that their perception doesn’t reflect reality at this point. This group of New York actors are joined by Juilliard graduate Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells of The New Normal) and proceed to try to persuade the parents to allow the all-inclusive prom that Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman) is asking for. While there are a few well done songs, most of them are forgettable. Much of the movie is what I imagine High School Musical must have been like if I had seen it. There is some unnecessary padding of the story with the personal problems of the self-centered actors that takes focus away from the plight of the young kids. Meryl Streep puts in her usual best effort as a privileged diva. Keegan Michael Key is notable as the high school principal who wants to keep the peace while also getting acquainted with his idol, Dee Dee Allen (Streep). Tracey Ullman makes a worthwhile cameo as the estranged mother of Barry Glickman (Corden). Newcomer Pellman does a creditable job as the poor teen who is the center of the scorn of her classmates. The subject of the intolerance of gay people coming out would seem to be out of date in 2020, so I hope it would really apply to an earlier time in the Midwest, but that may be my wishful thinking.

Da 5 Bloods

Da 5 Bloods        5 stars

I only recently found out about Spike Lee’s new movie, Da 5 Bloods that was released on Netflix back in June. With the pandemic it didn’t get a lot of attention this past summer. It has been described as an action movie about four black American soldiers returning to Vietnam, but it is much more than that. Lee brings this fictional story to the screen that gives us a history lesson and expresses the anguish that black men have gone through in giving their service to a country that doesn’t repay them. Lee starts with some archival footage of events leading up to the sixties and the Vietnam War that sets the tone. The four men in their seventies, played by Delroy Lindo, Norm Lewis, Clarke Peters and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. have journeyed to Vietnam in the present to reclaim the body of their fallen comrade and squad leader, Stormin’ Norman (Chadwick Boseman). Only they are also there to claim the treasure of gold that the US intended to pay to local Vietnamese to fight against the Vietcong. The men had buried the gold in the jungle during their tour during the war. Lee gives us scenes of the jungle fighting but in an interesting casting choice the older men also play the young versions of their characters in the war in 1968. The men, who call themselves Da Bloods, are all emotionally traumatized by the war and other events in their lives, especially Paul (Lindo) who has never gotten over the death of Norman as he blames himself for the loss. The movie is probably the best performance that Lindo has done. Chadwick Boseman who died this year gives us a fine performance in one of his last roles. There are several Vietnamese characters in the movie that give us their point of view of the war. They typically refer to it as The American War. Not only do we get plenty of emotional drama from the characters, but there is plenty of shooting and action when some rogue Vietnamese officers get wind of the mission. The outcome is reminiscent of other classic movies like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre when greed overcomes loyalty. (If you listen carefully you may hear a reference to that film.) There is no shortage of graphic scenes and the movie clocks in at two and one half hours so the dedicated viewer is in for quite a ride. Da 5 Bloods is another fine achievement by director Spike Lee and is destined for multiple awards in the awards season.

Kajillionaire

Kajillionaire         4 ½ stars

Miranda July’s third feature as director, Kajillionaire, is a real treasure featuring a very odd performance by Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood. Her previous features The Future and Me and You and Everyone We Know were well received, but I never managed to see either one. Her movies are described as quirky with some very oddball characters and Kajillionaire fits right in. Wood exchanges her robot acting to play a young woman named Old Dolio, who has been raised by her parents Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa (Debra Winger) to participate in their con games to rob people of their money and valuables. They aren’t really that good at what they do and are barely getting by. This leads to some very funny scenes. Old Dolio (don’t ask about her name) obviously has never known affection and doesn’t know how to behave around people. Wood has been made to look about as unattractive as possible in the role and masters the part. The trio spend their time stealing from post office boxes and visiting elderly people in order to rob them. They live in an old office building that is very cheap on the condition that they remove the soap suds that leak into the space on a daily basis. (Don’t ask.) Things change for Old Dolio when the trio are joined by Melanie (Gina Rodriguez), a young woman who likes the idea of being a grifter, but has a different take on it. Kajillionaire displays a wide range of emotions for its characters and gets to the point of what life is about, though in a very amusing way. Now I feel that I need to check out Miranda July’s other movies.

Night of the Kings

Night of the Kings            3 suns

Night of the Kings is in the category of Spotlight meaning that it has been appearing at a number of film festivals prior to reaching Sundance. The story occurs inside a legendary prison in the Ivory Coast known as MACA. Though the army keeps the prisoners locked inside, the prison is really run by a prisoner known as Blackbeard. He and his friends use this control to profit from the prisoners. There is a tradition observed among the prisoners that during a red moon a “Roman” or storyteller is named who must entertain them with a great story told verbally. Thus, Blackbeard chooses a young prisoner who has just arrived and names him as the new Roman, so he gets the unenviable job. He is up to the task and weaves a fantastical story blending reality with legendary fables that enthralls the prisoners, sometimes to a frenzy. It is amazing that the filmmakers were able to pull this production off with a huge number of cast and extras. As a Westerner it is difficult to understand the beliefs being expressed here including the worship of someone who appears to be a common criminal.

The Life Ahead

The Life Ahead                  4 stars

After a decade since her last movie role, international star Sophia Loren is reappearing in the Italian drama, The Life Ahead.  Directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti, the now 86 year old Loren plays Madame Rosa, a Jewish holocaust survivor and former prostitute who runs a day care for children who have no one else to care for them. The film is set in Puglia, Italy so has many beautiful shots of the seaside town and countryside. One day she encounters Momo, a 12 year-old Senegalese orphan who steals her purse, but returns when his guardian discovers the left and then convinces Rosa to care for the lost boy for a while. The youngster is obviously very troubled and prone to getting into fights and is in need of a guiding force to take him away from the drug dealing, partying crowd he is used to. The movie is about the unlikely bond that eventually forms between the two main characters. It is carried completely by Loren who has been in the movies for some seventy years and should be seen by anyone who considers themselves a fan. The movie is in Italian with English subtitles. An Academy Award nomination for Sophia Loren should be in the near future.

The Nest

The Nest                              4 stars

Sean Durkin, the director who brought us Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011 has returned to the director’s chair to make the slow burning domestic thriller, The Nest. Englishman Rory (Jude Law of The Talented Mr. Ripley and The New Pope) is a successful commodities trader in 1980’s New York, has a great family and is living in an expensive house. His American wife Allison (Carrie Coon of Fargo, The Leftovers and Gone Girl) is a horse trainer and is now in her second marriage. Between them they have two children. Rory suddenly announces that there is an opportunity for him back in London at his old company so they should all move to England, an idea that Allison is not very happy with. Soon the family is in England living in a centuries old mansion that is in need of some work. (We are told that Led Zeppelin once stayed here, so there’s that.) The mansion is expansive, yet empty and seems to serve as a symbolic character for extravagance. The dining room table is so massive we are told that few houses could ever accommodate it. Carrie Coon effectively conveys mistrust toward Rory with her eyes and secretly hides a stash of cash as if anticipating what is to come. Soon enough things start to go sour as Rory’s skills as a dealmaker don’t measure up to his ambitions and he finds that he is running short of cash and has to beg Allison for help. Allison and the two children have little to connect to in this foreign country. The movie is memorable for the slow building tension between the two lead characters and for showing the cost of the desire to appear rich. In a memorable scene Rory talks with a cabdriver and when asked what he does he responds, “I pretend to be rich.” Then when asked what it is he wants, he says, “I don’t know”. The movie shows us a family that is headed for ruin, but ultimately leaves us with a feeling that there is at least a chance at redemption, if only they would take it. The best performance has to go to Carrie Coon, who conveys feeling with a look and body movements without saying a word.

One Night in Miami

One Night in Miami                         5 stars

There has recently been an abundance of movies concerned with the civil rights era and/or racial injustice. One that should not be missed is One Night in Miami, written by Kemp Powers and directed by Regina King in her directorial debut. The movie takes a real event, the one night meeting of four legendary black figures in February of 1964 and imagines what transpired in the Miami motel, after Cassius Clay claimed the heavy weight boxing title at the age of 22. The four, black activist Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), boxing champion Cassius Clay (to become Muhammed Ali) (Eli Goree), football star Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and singer/song writer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom, Jr.) have gathered at the motel presumably to celebrate Clay’s unexpected win over Sonny Liston. Malcolm X though has brought the legends together for a private affair free of alcohol and women in order to challenge the men to take stronger action in the fight for racial justice in the 1960’s movement. Each of the men is at a pivotal point in their careers and must deal with their shortcomings and face what their role will be in the coming struggle. The script was adapted from the stage play also by Powers. Each of the four lead actors gives a commanding performance, especially Ben-Adir who shows Malcolm X’s doubts about breaking with the Nation of Islam and senses that something foreboding is coming. (He is to be assassinated only one year later.) One of the first scenes with Jim Brown visiting one of his “friendly” long time white neighbors played by Beau Bridges serves to remind us of what blacks in the south were facing at the time. Regina King said that the movie was still in production at the time of the George Floyd death, making the movie even more relevant to today. She wanted to get the film released as soon as possible. Look for One Night in Miami to receive several Academy Award nominations including Best Picture.

Pieces of a Woman

Pieces of a Woman                          3 stars

The title of Kornel Mundruczo’s Pieces of a Woman gives one the picture of a person being broken into pieces. This is truly the objective of the movie as we follow several months of Martha’s (Vanessa Kirby of The Crown) suffering after the loss of a baby daughter immediately after a difficult home birth. Sharing in the grief are her blue collar husband, Sean (Shia LaBeouf) and her elderly mother, Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn). We see how each character deals with the loss differently and how it tears relationships apart. It is Kirby who gives a realistic performance of a woman broken by the experience, but then recovers from it on her own terms. For most of the movie I felt like I was watching people who were wallowing in self pity, who cannot feel empathy for the suffering of others. This is especially true of Sean, the working class husband who Elizabeth thinks is not good enough for her daughter. His reaction is one of rage as he fails to show up for work, has a brief affair and can’t find a way to cooperate in a sex scene with Martha. He is basically an ass, which makes it a perfect role for LaBeouf. Burstyn gives an excellent performance as the mother who is more concerned with making the midwife pay for the baby’s death than helping her daughter through the pain. The movie really belongs to Kirby who has been nominated for Best Actress by the Academy Awards for the role. The movie’s early scene showing the labor and delivery deserves a special mention as it is all done in a continuous take that lasts more than twenty minutes. The movie does have a courtroom scene about the lawsuit against the midwife, but it feels more like a subplot than the focus of the movie. For a better movie about the emotions of parents going through the loss of a child, I recommend Manchester by the Sea.

Mank

Mank                    4 ½ stars

Mank, now available on Netflix, is a rarity as it portrays 1930’s Hollywood while also being filmed in the style of the thirties. Directed by David Fincher (of The Social Network and Gone Girl), it stars Gary Oldman as Hollywood screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz who is best known for writing the screenplay of Orson Welles’ masterpiece Citizen Kane. The film is in black and white and looks much like the movies of the thirties, not only by the tones and shots on the screen, but also by the quick paced dialogue of that era. At the beginning we learn that in 1940 the young 24 year old phenomenon Orson Welles has been given free reign to make whatever movie he wants with whatever resources he needs. Welles has chosen Mankiewicz to write a screenplay about a corrupt media mogul who has even greater ambitions. Throughout the movie we see Mank confined to a bed following a car accident as he dictates to a secretary and receives visits from associates and occasional phone calls from Welles. The rest of the story is done in flash backs to Mankiewicz activities in the thirties where we really get a view of what old Hollywood was like, featuring such figures as Louis B. Mayer of MGM and an aging William Randolph Hearst, the ultrarich media mogul. Amanda Seyfried portrays Marion Davies, Hearst’s mistress and confidant of Mankiewicz. There is a good deal of social commentary on the politics of the age, so it helps to have some historical background. It is set in the midst of the depression at the beginning of the Roosevelt administration with labor strikes going on and with Hitler creating a stir in Europe. There is a socialist movement going on in California with writer Upton Sinclair challenging incumbent Republican Frank Merriam for the Governor’s office. The scene featuring a gathering of big wigs and socialites at Hearst castle engaged in a political discussion is fascinating as the socialist leaning Mankiewicz goes toe to toe with the Republican backers in the room. Much like Welles film, Mank can be viewed as an indictment of the superrich who live off the backs of the workers that keep their enterprise going. It is really Oldman who makes the film work though he is much older than Mankiewicz was at the time. Mank leads the Academy Award nominations with a total of ten, including Beast Actor for Oldman, Best Supporting Actress for Amanda Seyfried, Best Picture and Best Director for David Fincher. The screenplay was written by David Fincher’s father Jack who died in 2003 so never got to see it become reality.