Category Archives: 2024

Nickel Boys

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Nickel Boys         5 stars

Nickel Boys by filmmaker RaMell Ross, based on Colson Whitehead’s novel about the experiences of two black teens sentenced to a racist boy’s reformatory in the deep South is certainly one of the most unusual films to come out in the past year. Its depictions of the nightmarish treatment of young blacks by white men in the south of the early sixties, while shocking, is not unfamiliar. There have been many films depicting the abuses suffered in the Civil Rights Era. (To Kill a Mockingbird, Raisin in the Sun, Selma). What makes this film unique is the way that Ross chose to construct the shots. From the beginning we see everything from the point of view of the main character, Elwood (Ethan Herisse of When They See Us), from his time as a young boy rolling in the grass, to his time with his grandmother and when he is offered the chance to go to a Florida university with all expenses paid. While walking to the college, Elwood is picked up on the road by a friendly driver, not knowing that the car is stolen. When they are stopped by the police, Elwood is falsely accused of the crime and is sentenced to the racist Nickel Academy, a hellhole based on the Dozier School in Florida. While there he makes acquaintance with another teen, Turner (Brandon Wilson of the Ben Affleck movie The Way Back) who befriends him. Then we start to see other scenes shot from the point of view of Turner with the scenes alternating between Elwood and Turner. The technique seems like a gimmick at first but pays off as it gives the viewer the feeling that they are experiencing the abuses suffered firsthand. The two boys have different outlooks on their situation. In Elwood we see the optimist as he records his activities in a secret notebook thinking that he will be able to reveal the truth of what Nickel is like and escape the brutal punishment. Turner is practical as he looks for ways to survive the abuse. It is all set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights struggle as we see clips of Martin Luther King and the moon mission of Apollo 8. There are flash forward scenes with Daveed Diggs playing the adult Elwood as he researches via the internet about an investigation of the Nickel site where bodies are being unearthed, reminding us of the wider abuses of the time. Plus, it assures us that Elwood survives the experience. Viewing Nickel Boys is an experience to be taken seriously. You will be thinking of it long after leaving the theater. The movie is one of the Academy Award Best Picture nominees, an honor certainly deserved.

Maria

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Maria    4 stars

Director Pablo Larrain has constructed not so much a movie but a portrait of Maria Callas, one of the greatest female opera singers who ever lived. In Maria, Oscar winning actress, Angelina Jolie gives one of her best performances to date, completely breaking from the action roles she is known for. In the movie we follow Maria in her final days living in her extravagant Paris apartment in the 1970’s where she remembers her greatest past performances while self-medicating with a variety of drugs. Her only company is her faithful butler and her housemaid who watch over her religiously. Occasionally, she is visited by her doctor who urges caution in the face of her deteriorating condition. He advises that she should not attempt singing anymore as it puts too much stress on her frail body. Even so she still goes to a vacant theater where she attempts singing with the help of a supportive pianist. She is visited by a TV journalist who records her telling of the important times in her life. The journalist exists only in her mind though and has the same name as one of the drugs she is taking. She even relates her long relationship with shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Callas is framed in shots showing her almost in a trance, alternating to scenes of past opera performances made to look like old films of the fifties and sixties. Opera fans will adore hearing parts of pieces by Verdi, Bellini and Puccini in these segments. The voice of Callas is superb, apparently being a blend of Jolie’s voice and actual recordings of the opera star. The opera scenes not only serve to showcase Callas’s talent but also relate to parts of her life that she is thinking of in each particular scene. The production design of the street scenes in Paris and the fashion and contents of Callas’s apartment are done in such authentic detail you can imagine that you are really there. Of course, it is Angelina Jolie who delivers a performance that conveys the singer’s diva status as well as her lost sense of reality. Maria is nominated for one Academy Award, that being in Cinematography. The Academy did not see fit to nominate Jolie for another acting award, though she deserves it.

Nightbitch

Nightbitch           3 stars

Director Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and star Amy Adams (Hillbilly Elegy, American Hustle) bring us a different kind of horror movie in Nightbitch, a novel adaptation about the wonders of being a mother. But, of course, who are we kidding? Motherhood is anything but easy and can be downright maddening as Adams demonstrates in this movie. She has left her job at an art gallery to become a full-time mom to her two-year-old son. When she meets a former coworker who exclaims how wonderful it must be to spend so much time with her child, she responds with a long monologue of the confusion, disappointment and pain associated with this decision and then rewinds, saying yes, it’s wonderful! We see scenes of the endless monotony of cooking and cleaning she goes through taking care of the adorable toddler. Dad (Scoot McNairy of Argo and A Complete Unknown) is often away on business trips and is not all that much help when he is at home, sometimes being a clueless moron, oblivious to the strains that mom is facing and sometimes making it worse by complaining about the things she has not taken care of. (His cluelessness is undoubtedly a representation of what many fathers are really like.) As the pressures mount the movie suddenly switches to body horror, as mom starts to grow hair on her body and sprout what looks like a tail. When outside she attracts the attention of neighborhood dogs who follow her around and bring her gifts of animal carcasses. Mom accepts these changes, fully embracing them as she wolfs down food without hands and goes digging in the dirt, seemingly transforming into a canine and going for a run with other dogs. Whether this change is real or symbolic it is transforming for her character, enabling her to look at her situation differently and make the most of it. Amy Adams puts a full effort into this role making us believe she is the mom in this film, especially with how she relates to the little boy playing her son. The movie shows the full extent of how tough it must be being a mom, even though the story seems rather contrived. I can’t say how true it is to the book, but it could be viewed as a mild variation on the genre of werewolf movies without the violence.

The Brutalist

The Brutalist       5 stars

Brady Corbet’s (The Childhood of a Leader) The Brutalist is a three-and-a-half-hour epic tale about a Hungarian Jewish architect who escapes post-war Europe, makes his way to the US and pursues the American dream, but in the process is nearly consumed by forces around him. The movie is told on a grand scale over a period of decades using some astonishingly large set pieces. The story is so grand it has a feeling on par with The Godfather movies. Adrien Brody (The Pianist) is Lázsló Tóth, an accomplished architect who arrives in New York on a ship shortly after the end of the war. Nobody knows of his work there, so he gets a job with his cousin in Philadelphia working as a carpenter. The cousin (Alessandro Nivola), who is also Hungarian has assimilated to American society and is accepted by the locals. Fortunately, the business finds a wealthy client in the form of the son of a rich industrialist who hires the company to build a library in the mansion of the father as a surprise. But unfortunately, the man, Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce (Mary Queen of Scots, The King’s Speech)) is not at all pleased with what he believes to be a mess of the project, kicking them out without pay and leaving Tóth with nothing. It is only much later that Van Buren learns of Tóth’s accomplishments in Europe, tracks him down seeking to make amends. Lázsló has had to resort to shoveling coal by this time. Van Buren, who has fabulous wealth, has a dream to build a multipurpose community center for his town and wants to hire Tóth to design it and help to realize his dream. This job is an incredible opportunity, but it of course comes with a price; that is, being a virtual slave to Van Buren with few options. As the great project takes shape, we get to see what it is like to tackle such a huge construction job. Cost overruns happen forcing compromises in design that has a dramatic effect on poor Lázsló. We get a close-up view of the whole construction process and what it is like to be one of the workers on such a job. I don’t know what it took to build the sets for this movie, but it must have taken years. Lázsló is blessed though as having this job afforded him the chance to bring his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) and young niece, Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy), who have been stuck in Hungary to America to join him. All of this so far is the set up to what the movie is all about. Tóth’s work is a great opportunity for him, but he comes to realize that his employer, Van Buren, has little respect for his foreign and Jewish background and only seeks to exploit him for what services he can provide. Van Buren is all too willing to cast him aside at the first sign of difficulty and the contempt extends to Tóth’s family as well. In the final scenes this rich man makes it all too clear what his thoughts are toward these foreigners. Being so long and expensive, this movie is about a lot of things. It feels like it is really several movies. Besides the plight of the working man, it concerns the place of Jewish people in America and of course the effect of the holocaust. The story is entirely fictional but is meant to reflect the immigrant experience of many in coming to America. The score is amazing, contributing to the feel of the film. A great deal of the credit in making this a great movie must go to Adrien Brody in his portrayal of the emotionally devastated Tóth (parallelling his performance in The Pianist). I feel like the Best Actor Academy Award is a near guarantee for this actor. This movie is best seen on the large screen, so take it in when you can. (There is a fifteen-minute intermission which you will need.)

Will & Harper

Will & Harper     4 ½ stars

Last year at Sundance a most unusual documentary premiered that was about two old friends reconnecting after losing touch after a few years. As I had heard about Will & Harper at the festival, I decided to go see this much talked about film in a theater. Here, one friends is “one of the greatest actors in the world” and the other is a comedy writer who has transitioned into the woman she had long thought she should be. The actor is Will Ferrell of SNL fame, (who is not one of my favorite comedians) and the writer is Harper Steele, who Ferrell met in 1995 during his first week on SNL and the two became close friends. Later, the two of them then worked together on multiple projects after leaving SNL. Upon being informed in an email of his friend’s decision and her new name, Ferrell suggested that the two of them take a road trip across America to some of her favorite spots and document it all by filming the whole trip, to which Steele agreed. They visit many dives and biker bars with Harper in women’s clothing and actually encounter many sympathetic people along the way. She does get misgendered a few times but that is corrected without incident. We meet some of Harper’s family and colleagues on the trip who are very supportive of her decision. They take in an Indiana Pacers game in Indianapolis and of course Ferrell is recognized. They even get the attention of Indiana Governor, Eric Holcomb, who asks them for a photo op after being introduced. We later see that he and many other politicians are behind anti-trans legislation enacted in many states throughout the country. Later, it is at a popular Texas steakhouse with Ferrell dressed up as Sherlock Holmes that they encounter real transphobia with many of those present posting insults about Steele on social media, making the scene uncomfortable for her. The real value of the film comes in the many quiet moments when this pair of friends engage in heartfelt conversation about what Harper went through in her life and how she came to the decision to transition. She shares how she knew something wasn’t quite right even as a child and on occasion had self-loathing thoughts. Sometimes, they even break down in tears in these scenes. You may wonder what the value is in making such a film. Is it just some publicity project for famous people? I think that it shows just what trans people go through in their lives and acknowledges them as real people defying how some deny their existence. I remember the movie being criticized in social media shortly after it appeared at Sundance. I can’t say that I understand the whole trans phenomenon, but certainly see the value in allowing their stories to be told. The movie is in theaters still and is available on Netflix.

The Six Triple Eight

The Six Triple Eight          2 ½ stars

The Six Triple Eight tells the important true story of the 6888th battalion, the only Women’s Army Corps unit of color to serve overseas in World War II. This group of women were tasked with sorting through 17 million pieces of mail that needed to be delivered both to the American troops serving in Europe and to their families back home. Others before them had tried and failed at this enormous task, leaving millions without word from their loved ones. Besides having to find ways of accomplishing this monumental job with less than adequate facilities, they had to endure countless episodes of racism and sexism heaped on them by white men in the army and in the press. Tyler Perry, the writer/director, tells the story in his dramatic fashion, but all too often makes his characters appear as stereotypes without enough development. He certainly has a talented cast to work with that includes Kerry Washington, Susan Sarandon, Oprah Winfrey, Sam Waterston and Ebony Obsidian (Sistas). Except for Kerry Washington (Scandal) as Major Charity Adams, the characters seem two dimensional or just there as cameos in the cases of Sarandon, Waterston and Winfrey. Washington portrays the strength and determination of Adams well as she yells commands to her troops and deals with individuals on a personal level, all the while having to stand up to the racism exhibited by white American officers. Having seen so many examples of racist behavior in movies portraying the fifties and earlier, these seemed very stereotypical and comical, such as black soldiers being called lazy and stupid over minor matters. Of course, one cannot miss the degrading of people of color brought about by segregation of the period, something made clear in the movie. It took far too long I thought to get to the point of the movie as first we had to go through the love story of one of the women soldiers played by Ebony Obsidian as Lena Derriecott, whose Jewish boyfriend is sent to Europe and is killed in battle early in his service. (I didn’t need to see him talking to her from beyond the grave.) Too much time passes before the importance of an air force pilot being killed in an early scene is finally revealed. We also must go through Lena’s relationship with a black soldier serving in Europe. More interesting to me were the scenes where the soldiers endure the hardships of their treatment and despite this, manage to find inventive ways to track down the identities of thousands of US servicemen when many of the pieces of mail seem to be indecipherable. And even though they are well behind enemy lines they must endure the threat of air attacks from the enemy. I have only seen a handful of Tyler Perry’s numerous projects (that doesn’t include a single Madea movie) and this one is too highly melodramatic as is his style, based on what I have seen. At the end of the movie, we are rewarded with actual footage of the army unit and its commander, Major Adams. The movie was released just in time to be eligible for the Academy Award nominations. We will see what materializes from it. The Six Triple Eight is available on Netflix.

Moana 2

Moana 2               3 ½ stars

It’s hard to believe that it has been eight years. That was when a young Polynesian woman, Moana went on an oceanic adventure across the Pacific with her demi-god friend, Maui on a mission to save her people in the hit animated Disney movie Moana. That was so long ago that Donald Trump was about to become President. Well, some things tend to repeat themselves. Now we find Moana (Hawaiian actress Auli’i Cravalho), having become a wayfinder is once more on a quest, this time to find signs of other island dwelling people and end her people’s isolation on the South Pacific Island of Matanui. Only, before leaving, Moana experiences a troubling vision telling her that long ago, a god like being called Nalo hid a secret island that had served to bring the island people together and that if things are not restored, it will mean the end of her people. For this journey she recruits a crew with her consisting of an elderly farmer, a sort of canoe design engineer, Loto and her large friend Moni who has a crush on Moana and likes to create images on canvases. After some preliminary adventures involving the coconut pirates, the Kakamora, the crew finds Maui (Dwayne Johnson) who is being held prisoner by a female god called Matangi (Awhimai Fraser). Once freed by Moana and the crew, they team up to accomplish the true mission, to find the lost island and set foot on it which will end the curse of Nalo. Before any of this can happen, we are treated to all sorts of action set to upbeat songs in the usual Disney fashion. Cravalho who plays Moana and is a Broadway actress really can belt out the songs, only the songs themselves are not quite so memorable. This movie does not use the song writing talents of Lin Manuel Miranda, like the original Moana did. While the characters are fun and amusing, the main villain seems to be the storm created by the evil god, who we don’t see much of. Much of the action centers on the characters saving one another from magic tornadoes and various creatures of the sea. Maui does his usual act of transforming into other creatures suited to each situation they encounter. The message here is that we benefit most by working together as a team. And naturally, the animation is top notch in the usual Disney fashion. I would not call it the best animated movie of the year, but you can’t miss by taking a young audience to see it. Judging by the box office, it is one of the major hits of the year.

Babygirl

Babygirl                4 stars

The newly released Babygirl starring Nicole Kidman (one of my favorite actresses) has to be one of the most sexually charged movies of the year. Written and directed by Dutch filmmaker, Halina Reijns (who previously brought us Bodies Bodies Bodies (where we enjoyed seeing Pete Davidson die!)), it features a May December relationship between Kidman’s Romy, the CEO of a major tech company and new intern, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), and raises the question of who controls who. Romy appears to have a happy home life with theater director husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas) and two teenage daughters, but we sense that something is missing when we see her watching porn. One day she spots a young man outside who is instantly able to calm down an aggressive dog. Then later she meets him in her office with a group of newly hired interns. He makes some rather odd and inappropriate comments which get Romy’s attention. Later, in a bar, he sends her a glass of milk which she immediately downs, suggesting that she is interested. This is only the beginning as the two secretly meet at Samuel’s urging, where he literally has her lapping milk from a saucer on the floor. Although very young, Samuel is an expert at manipulation through seemingly innocent comments and looks. You get the feeling that he has done this before. Romy objects to this arrangement and the way he treats her, only something makes us think that she doesn’t really mean it. Perhaps this is meeting the sexual satisfaction she is missing at home. The movie tackles the subject of sexual repression and puts a different spin on harassment in the workplace with the subordinate being the one who is exercising control over the boss. Kidman has led the way in portraying characters who have a certain vulnerability but lean toward the kinky. Remember Eyes Wide Shut and The Killing of a Sacred Deer! She displays a wide range of emotions from reluctance to confusion to anger to shame. The movie has a reasonable outcome to the whole situation without delving into stalker mode and only using a little violence. I was impressed but some movie goers might prefer the stalker route. The movie is bound to get some conversations going about control and consent and when do things go too far. Of course, the movie is another example of the wide acting talent of a great actress, Nicole Kidman.

Queer

Queer                   4 stars

It’s hard to adequately describe Daniel Craig’s new starring role in Queer, the new film by Italian director, Luca Guadagnino. It’s a journey of searching and suffering as the main character, Bill Lee (Craig) wanders the bars in 1950’s Mexico City looking for sex with social outcasts like himself and ways to hide his pain with tequila and heroin. The role is about as far away from James Bond as you can get. The film is based on a book by William S. Burroughs that is said to be somewhat autobiographical. Lee, who is in his forties spends his days seeking the company of other “queers”, while denying that he is one, until one day he spots a young twenty something man who captures his imagination. The man, named Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey) is attractive and self-assured and is comfortable with men and women alike. It doesn’t take long for Lee to get Eugene in the sack, where the two get more than a little intimate. If you have seen Guadagnino’s earlier works, Call Me by Your Name, Suspiria and this year’s Challengers, this will come as no surprise. They all feature very intense sex scenes. Despite all the sex though, Eugene is still very distant when it comes to an actual relationship, leading to desperate measures by Lee. If the film stopped there, it wouldn’t be exceptional, but it goes on from there when Lee convinces Allerton to travel with him to South America in search of a hallucinogenic drug that he believes has telepathic powers. He can’t stop talking about it. What follows I describe as Indiana Jones appearing in 2001: A Space Odessey, only like it was directed by David Lynch. Things get very weird for these two as they journey through the jungle to find a woman scientist who is studying this drug. This segment I found to be surrealistic. It has images that are disturbing yet fascinating at the same time. The movie will keep you thinking about it after leaving the theater and will at least change your view of Daniel Craig. Look for him to get an Oscar nomination for the performance; that is, if the Academy can tolerate homosexual roles like this. In addition, two actors appearing in the movie are completely unrecognizable. I was surprised to see they were Jason Schwartzman and Lesley Manville. Manville especially gives an outstanding performance.

The Piano Lesson

The Piano Lesson             4 stars

Denzel Washington acting in the role of film producer has helped bring us the third film adaptation of an August Wilson stage play. Previously, he brought the plays Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom to the screen. This year it is the dramatic family drama The Piano Lesson, a story of conflict involving a decades old family heirloom, retribution over a crime and a ghost story. The conflict is between siblings Boy Willie (son of Denzel Washington, John David Washington reprising his stage role) and Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler of Till and I Saw the TV Glow). He has travelled from his home in Mississippi to 1936 Pittsburgh to try to convince Berniece to let him sell the family piano so he can buy farmland back home. She treasures the musical instrument, seeing it as a connection to family members who have passed on and will never allow it to be sold. The land that Boy Willie is after was owned by a white man whose family employed Boy Willie’s family as sharecroppers for generations. The man recently died when he fell into his well, so the land is now available. His death is part of a legendary ghost story we often hear of in the movie, referred to as the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog. Most of the movie takes place in a couple of rooms in the small house owned by Uncle Doaker (Samuel L. Jackson) where other family members and friends gather and fill in the story. These include Lyman (Ray Fisher), Wining Boy (Michael Potts) and aspiring reverend Avery (Corey Hawkins) (who shows up to court Berniece). Berniece’s young daughter, Maretha also inhabits the house. The various characters engage in friendly conversation, intense arguments and one very lively musical performance that serves to slowly reveal a dark story of the past going back to slavery times that continues to haunt this family. The movie demonstrates that the past never dies, and the memory of long dead family members lives on as symbolized by the piano that has depictions of the family carved into it. First time director Malcolm Washington, and son of Denzel Washington, faithfully reproduces the play, but has probably gone overboard with his inventive shots and embellishing the movie with too much focus on the supernatural. John David Washington is a talented actor, but he overdoes the intensity of his character, I thought. The most praise should be given to Deadwyler as Berniece who expresses the emotions she goes through with her words and her face. As usual she is completely convincing in this role of a suffering woman determined to protect the piano and keep her daughter safe. The Piano Lesson isn’t the best of the August Wilson adaptations, but it deserves to be seen. I will be looking forward to the next one that Denzel Washington brings to film.