Category Archives: 2023

The Boy and the Heron

The Boy and the Heron                  4 ½ stars

A lot of movie goers were surprised at the release of The Boy and the Heron, by Hayao Miyazaki, Japan’s master animator. Ten years ago, he released The Wind Rises saying it would be his final feature film. Fans of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli fondly remember his earlier classics My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. His style typically involves a fantasy world with strange creatures having human qualities, drawn in a way that evokes many emotions in the viewer. In his new final film, he bases the story on his own childhood growing up during World War II in Japan. The main character is Mahito, a 12-year-old boy recalling how his mother was killed in a hospital fire caused by a bombing attack. His father moves the boy to the country near the factory his father operates. Also in the new home are his father’s new wife, Natsuko, who is Mahito’s aunt and is already pregnant, as well as seven old grannies who tend to their needs in the house. Mahito is consumed by grief from the loss of his mother and spends time exploring the environs around the house. Only, he is routinely harassed by a persistent large gray heron wherever he goes. One day he follows the heron to a great decaying stone tower and tries to enter it to investigate but finds he can’t get inside the structure. Mahito is warned by the grannies not to go there and is told the tower was built by his mother’s uncle many years ago. Then one day Natsuko goes missing and the gray heron reveals that he is really an old, ugly gnome with a voice, telling Mahito that his mother is not dead, and she can be found in the tower. Mahito follows the heron into the tower entering a new fantasy world that is inhabited by the living and the dead. There are many strange beings there including a large flock of angry talking pelicans, a young pirate, thousands of balloon like creatures called the Warawara that float through the air, a girl named Lady Himi who protects the Warawara with fire, and a kingdom of giant parakeets led by the Parakeet king. Also, present is a version of Mahito’s great uncle who is striving to build a perfect structure out of stone blocks. He is seeking a successor to his job and wants Mahito to take his place. Some of the scenes may seem confusing and there is a lot going on here, but the point seems to be that Mahito is working through his grief and is struggling to do the right thing in his life. Like his earlier films Miyazaki uses many familiar techniques in The Boy and the Heron to illustrate certain life lessons. Here the lesson is how one is to carry on with living when weighed down by extreme sadness. This film is somewhat autobiographical and is different from most in that the main character is a boy where he usually has female lead characters. (Like in Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.) As in many of his other films it has a variety of odd characters, some likable and many with undesirable traits and questionable motives. I recommend it for animation fans, but perhaps not for the youngest of viewers because of some frightening images.

The Iron Claw

The Iron Claw     4 ½ stars

“Mom tried to protect us with God. Pop tried to protect us with wrestling.” These are the words of Kevin Von Erich speaking of how his father, Fritz Von Erich drove his sons to be successful in the professional wrestling arena, but ultimately as we discover to tragic results. The movie The Iron Claw, by Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Nest) is about the real life Von Erich family, the kings of professional wrestling in Texas in the eighties. The movie is inspired by the lives of Fritz, the father of the clan (Holt McCallany), oldest son Kevin (a muscular Zac Efron like you’ve never seen him before) who is filled with drive to be the best but is haunted by what he sees as a curse on the family, second son David (Harris Dickinson), the tall lanky blond who tag teams with Kevin, third son Kerry (Jeremy Allen White who you will recognize from The Bear (also Law & Order)) who left a career in track and field for the chance to join his brothers in the ring and finally Mike (Stanley Simons) who saw himself as a country musician; that is, until he too joined his brothers in the ring. The movie is about a family of wrestlers, but it is also about the firm grip of control that Fritz had over his sons, wanting them to be the best and earn the championship belt that eluded him in his wrestling career. “The Iron Claw” is the name of Fritz’s signature move, the use of his hand to squeeze an opponent’s head until they surrender, but it also symbolizes the way he controls his family including his wife (Maura Tierney) who must watch the destruction of the family as they pursue pop’s dream. (Fritz is not going to win any parenting awards with his approach.) The actors, especially Efron obviously had to work up their physique and train hard to wrestle to make this movie. The action in the ring looks as comical as the real thing to me. There is some reference to the staging that is done in pro-wrestling, it being the best performers that end up being champion, so I have no doubt that it looks as real as possible. Unfortunately for the Von Erich family the tragedy that befalls each is only too real as well. The effect on Kevin is devastating as we watch his descent into depression. This is probably Zac Efron’s best performance to date. (We should forget about 2015’s We Are Your Friends.) “The Iron Claw” is far from an upbeat movie and you should be prepared to shed some tears. But it does deliver its message about being loyal to one’s family no matter what.

Barbie

Barbie                   4 ½ stars

By now everyone who wanted to see the movie of the summer, Greta Gerwig’s megahit Barbie has seen it. I know I was late in getting to this party but still thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, it is a blatant marketing ploy by Mattel to capitalize on their iconic adult doll, Barbie, that appeared in the sixties and has been a mainstay of popular culture ever since. But the director of Lady Bird and Little Women, Gerwig has also made it into something of a subversive movie with its commentary on “the patriarchy” and Barbie’s realization of female empowerment. Barbie (the perfect for the role Margot Robbie (I, Tonya and The Suicide Squad)) and Ken (a blond Ryan Gosling (La La Land and The Nice Guys)) are always in a state of partying in their houses at Barbieland or at “Beach” until Barbie has her existential crisis experiencing cellulite and flat feet! On the advice of Weird Barbie (the wacked out but wise Kate McKinnon), Barbie goes to visit the real world. She succeeds in finding her adult owner, Gloria (America Ferrera) who is having her own problems with her tween daughter, but Ken who has tagged along discovers horses! and the patriarchy which he fully embraces and brings news of it back to Barbieland creating the crisis that the Barbies must deal with. Barbie and the audience learn the lesson of critical thinking and what women can accomplish in this world with the help of Barbie creator Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman), Weird Barbie and a dramatic speech from Gloria. I enjoyed the roles of all the actors with the possible exception of Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel. Gerwig and her co-writer Noah Baumbach have created a fun movie with a message that is sure to be enjoyed for years to come. The movie also proves you can never have too much pink.

Maestro

Maestro               5 stars

It has been five years since Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut of A Star Is Born, a remake of a true Hollywood classic that he also starred in alongside Lady Gaga. Now he has co-written, directed, and starred in Maestro, a biopic on the life of Leonard Bernstein, the legendary American composer and conductor. Cooper elected to focus on his twenty-five-year relationship and marriage to actress Felicia Montealegre (played masterfully by Carey Mulligan (An Education, Drive, She Said, Promising Young Woman), showing us how they met at a New York gala, how she stayed with the man she loved through many difficult years until her death from cancer. We see Bernstein’s rise to fame after he directed the New York Philharmonic and the attention to his career by the media. The film does not show us much of his creative process in his compositions, choosing to show us his conducting skills (which I understand are very accurate thanks to Cooper’s attention to detail), and his tendency toward having affairs with men causing great strife for Felicia. I think that he made the right choice in not making the movie too broad as often happens with biopics. I really liked some of the creative elements used in the picture, such as the moving camera work in an opening scene where Bernstein learns he is to conduct the New York Philharmonic and we follow him from a bedroom as he moves through hallways and appears in the concert hall all in one continuous motion. The early scenes in the forties and fifties are all done in black and white making it look like old Hollywood, but when we get to the sixties and seventies the screen turns to bright colors displaying the difference in the eras. I loved the fantasy sequence showing dancing sailors giving us a hint of On the Town, but with Bernstein showing up in the act as a foretelling of the troubles to come. The film wouldn’t be nearly the success that it is without Carey Mulligan as Felicia who loves Bernstein but must suffer through his infidelities and his selfishness over his own greatness. The scene of the two confronting one another in their apartment during a Thanksgiving parade, (complete with Snoopy balloon) with her exploding in rage is equal to what I’ve seen in Anatomy of a Fall and Marriage Story. I have admired her acting skills since 2010’s An Education. She has been nominated for acting Oscars twice before and will surely be nominated for Maestro come Oscar time. She could very well win it this time. Bradley Cooper has Bernstein’s mannerisms down cold and keeps the energy of the film high with the quick dialogue he delivers along with the rest of the cast. The makeup on Cooper is convincing as we see Bernstein age through the decades. Undoubtedly, the movie will be rewarded for this. The only problem I had was with the movie not telling us what pieces are being performed when Bernstein is conducting. It is assumed the audience knows them and while they are familiar to me, I would like to know what they are during the movie. I am just glad I got the chance to see it in the theater to get the full effect. All music lovers should see this one and even if you’re not you shouldn’t miss it. Maestro is one of the best movies of the year.

The Boys in the Boat

The Boys in the Boat                       2 ½ stars

Director George Clooney who brought us such movies as Good Night and Good Luck,
Leatherheads and The Monuments Men returns to the director’s chair for a feel-good
underdog sports movie in The Boys in the Boat. This true story about an
eight-man rowing team from the University of Washington that competed in the
1936 Berlin Olympics and won a gold medal for the US is based on the
bestselling book by the same name. It follows the team through their struggles
during the depression, focusing mainly on rower Joe Rantz (Callum Turner of
Emma and Fantastic Beasts) who was abandoned by his father at age 14 but is
trying to stay in school to earn an engineering degree. Joe and the others are
drawn to the sport primarily based on the promise that is a guaranteed paying
job for those who make the team. The team coach (Joel Edgerton: Loving, It
Comes at Night, Boy Erased) has a vision of success with the young men of the
junior varsity team at U of W and tells them they are competing in the most
difficult sport in the world. While I agree that this is a story worth learning
about, the movie becomes one sports movie cliché after another. You can insert almost
any sport into the plot, whether it is boxing, basketball, track and field,
tennis or horse racing and you will have basically the same movie. (But not
golf. There is no sport in movies more boring than golf.) You have the grueling
workouts, the early spark of talent, the belief in greatness, the setbacks (in
this case the challenges from the administration against the junior team, the
need for raising more funds to go to Berlin) and the final heart pounding
competition. In this case we even get the appearance of Der Feurer at the final
event who is there to see the triumph of the Germans over the other teams. The coxswain,
Bobby (Luke Slattery) shows some real personality as he shouts encouragement to
the team when they are racing. But otherwise, these athletes seem like bland
copies of one another in their scenes together. There is an amusing romance
when a former classmate (Hadley Robinson) tries to get Joe’s attention and you
would almost expect a musical number out of a thirty’s movie to break out.
There were some nice touches like the aerial shots of the boats in steady
rhythm and the moving grandstands on a train that follows the course of the
race. The movie is good as a comfortable sports movie, but empty of any
surprises.

Ferrari

Ferrari                   4 stars

There is a lot of heat and noise coming from the fast cars on the roads of Italy in Michael Mann’s new movie Ferrari about the man behind the sports car company that bears his name. There is also a lot of heat being generated off the track too coming from Ferrari’s wife, Laura (Penelope Cruz in one of her finest performances) who is unhappy with her place in her marriage to Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver). This auto racing movie set in 1957 does concern competition between drivers of the world’s fastest machines on land, Formula One race cars, but it is also about the challenge Ferrari is facing, trying to save his company from bankruptcy while also keeping his life with his mistress, Lina (Shailene Woodley) secret from his wife. Early on we see what Laura is capable of as her fiery temper leads her to fire a gun, nearly hitting Ferrari. There is no hiding her feelings as only Cruz can show. She is still hurting from the death of her only son who died one year before that she blames on Enzo. But Ferrari needs to accommodate Laura as she controls most of the automobile company. The company is not selling enough sports cars to keep it afloat, but if one of its race cars can defeat Maserati in the famous Mille Miglia, the thousand-mile race across the hills of Italy, then it will be possible to sell many more of the expensive cars and save the company. Ferrari must also convince the right investor to help finance his venture so he must manipulate them into seeing things his way. You can see that Enzo has a lot on his mind. The movie viewer has a lot on his mind too as there is a lot of drama going on when not on the racecourse. Of course, there are plenty of exciting scenes of the race cars hurtling around the track and competing against each other on the road around hairpin turns through the countryside. I can’t imagine how it was possible to film scenes like this, but they are thrilling. There is no hiding the hazards of the sport in this era as is shown by some very graphic scenes that will silence the audience. Adam Driver displays his usual intensity, though not exploding with rage like he has in other roles. He keeps a subdued presence, but you can imagine him boiling beneath the surface as Ferrari maintains control over how the drivers are to handle the cars in the race and deal with a hostile wife at home. We don’t really get to know the drivers well, other than one who is especially eager to win at all costs. Patrick Dempsey portrays Piero Taruffi, the most experienced driver who has somehow survived to an advanced age for racecar drivers. There are some interesting things to see from this time, such as cars that carried two passengers and how the occupants sometimes have to work on a disabled car during a race to get it running again. There is so much packed in the two-hour plus running time that by the end of the race it is almost immaterial who the winner is. The movie is not for everyone, but anyone with a passing interest in auto racing should see it. As well as any fans of the talented Penelope Cruz.

Nimona

Nimona                 4 stars

From the studios of Annapurna and Netflix comes the animated movie, Nimona, originally a graphic novel by ND Stephenson. This energetic story takes place in a futuristic medieval kingdom where knights wear suits of armor, carry swords that fire energy beams and ride around in flying cars through the streets of a busy metropolis. Everyone there is aware of the legend of Gloreth, who defeated a fearsome monster a thousand years ago and is still revered. In the present we meet Ballister (Riz Ahmed), a knight who has few friends, but is close to fellow knight, Ambrosius Goldenloin, a descendant of Gloreth. It is clear that the two men have a romantic relationship, with this being the most gay-friendly animated movie I can remember. Early is the story, poor Ballister is framed for a murder and the knights of the kingdom are tasked with hunting him down. But Ballister is befriended by a young girl named Nimona (Chloe Grace Moretz) who isn’t all she appears to be at first. Nimona is a shapeshifter, a being that is not human and can assume the appearance of any creature in an instant and is practically invulnerable to things that would be fatal to a human. She is also a thousand years old and the only one of her kind. Ballister and Nimona see something in each other with Nimona wanting to protect Ballister and clear his name of the crime. She protects him by changing into a rhinoceros, an ostrich, a small bird and even a whale among other animals and runs circles around the hapless knights. Besides fighting knights she loves to wreck things destroying structures and statues that get in the way and doing it all in a bright shade of pink. It is apparent that the character is a stand in for a transperson. She is reviled by all and at one point says she doesn’t know what is worse, knowing that everyone wants to drive a sword through her heart or wanting them to do it. Nimona is seen as a monster to the population, but we learn that this image is really a creation by a society unwilling to accept someone that is different from everyone else. She is alone in this world and desperately needs to connect to someone. Besides the message, the movie has plenty of comic bits for the kids and plenty of action that will keep their attention. The movie was originally a project of Blue Sky Studios, which was acquired by Disney. Disney apparently thought the film was too gay for them and shut it down at which point Annapurna took over to complete it. The LGBTQ nature of the characters will not be lost on anyone. Good for the filmmakers for having the vision to see the project through.

àma Gloria

áma Gloria                          4 stars

From France comes the movie áma Gloria directed by Marie Amachoukeli in her first time directing solo. We meet six-year-old Cléo who is cared for full time by nanny Gloria, a native of Cape Verde. Cléo loves Gloria as she is the only mother she has known since her real mother died when Cléo was a baby. Gloria has her own family in Cape Verde, but sees them only occasionally. Being a nanny in France is the only way she can earn money to support them. But then a family tragedy back home means that Gloria must return to Cape Verde permanently, meaning she must say goodbye to little Cléo. In order to lessen the pain for the six-year-old, her father agrees to letting Cléo stay with Gloria in Cape Verde for one last summer together. It is a touching relationship between the two main characters told both with the lens and animation sequences to illustrate Cléo as a baby with Gloria and life in Cape Verde. Both actors did an amazing job in bringing out how close they are. In the Q and A the director told how the young girl, Louise Mauroy-Panzani was the first girl that auditioned which is amazing since it normally takes a year to find the right child actor. When the part of the nanny was cast the director rewrote to screenplay to set it in Cape Verde, the actress’ home country. The movie did not premiere at Sundance, but appeared previously at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie was in French and Creole. This was one of my favorites.

May December

May December                 4 stars

As director Todd Haynes’ movie May December opens, we see a family gathering at a southern mansion with teenagers and neighbors having a backyard barbecue. It seems like a normal family scene except for the menacing score intimating something dark going on. Gracie (Julianne Moore of Still Alice, Boogie Nights and The Kids Are All Right) is preparing food and conversing with the neighbor when her husband, Joe (Charles Melton of Riverdale) comes in for a beer and Gracie questions if he has had too many. Right away we get the feeling that this is not an equal relationship as Gracie is the one who controls every aspect of this marriage. Things look more peculiar when we realize that Gracie is an older woman in her sixties, while Joe, who is half Korean is in his mid- thirties. Then we learn that the couple is expecting a visitor, a Hollywood actress, Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman of Black Swan and Closer) who has asked to shadow the couple as she is preparing to portray Gracie in an upcoming movie role. As the movie progresses, we learn more about their story. When Gracie was previously married with a family, she started an affair at the pet store where she worked with a new employee, Joe, who was 13 years old at the time. She served time in prison for the “indiscretion”, got divorced then married Joe whom she started a second family with. Now they have three teenage children, two of whom are about to graduate from high school, making the unusual couple soon to be empty nesters. (There is an intentional similarity to Mary Kay Letourneau’s story.) Things get more interesting and troubling as Elizabeth interacts with the couple individually and interviews others affected including Gracie’s ex-husband (D. W. Moffett of Switched at Birth and Chicago Med), her son from the earlier marriage, her defense attorney and the pet store owner. The intruder, Elizabeth, has a disruptive effect on this marriage the more she is present and even mimicking the actions of Gracie. Previously suppressed emotions come to the surface, especially for Joe as he starts to experience a mid-life crisis, realizing that he is treated more like a teenager than as a husband. The tension is thick thanks to the acting talents of Julianne Moore who is the expert at turning on the tears and to Portman in her best role since Jackie. Director Haynes has created a real showcase for the actors, making a dramatic character study for all three main parts. Haynes and Moore have previously worked together in Safe, Far from Heaven, I’m Not There and Wonderstruck. It’s clear that these two create movie magic when paired together. Moore, a previous Best Actress winner and five-time Academy Award nominee has again been nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for her role.

American Fiction

American Fiction                               5 stars

From first time director Cord Jefferson comes the satirical comedy American Fiction, an  adaptation of the novel Erasure. This sharp-witted movie takes on the subject of the publishing world’s pandering to white guilt with the publishing of Black authors’ works that feature the worst in Black stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright who is known for his many supporting roles such as Dr. Narcisse from Boardwalk Empire and Bernard from Westworld gets the lead role as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a professor and intellectual writer whose books do not sell well. His agent (John Ortiz) wants him to write more “Black”, but Monk wants nothing to do with writing in a ghetto style which is what the successful Black authors are doing, such as the writer Sintara Golden (Issa Rae), who is making the talk show circuit with her new book “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto”. The book is very popular with white audiences, but Monk despises such work. But then after some devastating events in his family, out of frustration Monk sets out to write something portraying the worst in drug abuse, family conflict, rappers and cops killing Black men. He calls it “My Pafology” and his agent is taken aback by it. They both decide to try marketing it to publishers and are surprised when they are eager to publish this very gritty work. (Monk uses a pseudonym, “Stagg R. Leigh” in order to maintain his anonymity.) The publisher offers an advance greater than he has ever seen before. Further, Monk has to take on a fake persona as a street talking ex-con when being interviewed to give him more street cred. When talking with a movie producer (Adam Brody) he is offered even more money for the movie rights. (The producer is bragging about his new film, “Plantation Annihilation”.) Monk is disgusted by all of this but since he needs the money he goes along with it. Wright is completely convincing as the intellectual Monk, but is also good with the family scenes. He is dealing with a mother (Leslie Uggams) with Alzheimer’s disease, a less than responsible brother, Clifford, who has recently come out as gay (Sterling K. Brown) and a new girlfriend, the neighbor across the street (Erika Alexander). This story line helps to make Monk’s character seem that much more real as he must deal with these various crises. The movie is made completely real based on the acting ability of Wright who can register his character’s feelings with the expressions on his face. I have always been a fan of his since Boardwalk Empire where I first saw him. He (and Paul Giamatti as another unsuccessful writer in The Holdovers) are completely deserving of the Best Actor Academy Award nominations they received. Cord Jefferson has created a movie that must be seen. The movie has been nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture.