Category Archives: 2024

A Real Pain

A Real Pain                          5 stars

I caught up with a truly memorable movie that was first shown at Sundance this year. A Real Pain is Jesse Eisenberg’s second time directing and he does a remarkable job of it. This is a sort of travel movie with two cousins who were very close when they were growing up but have since grown apart. David (Eisenberg) is the serious one who has a family in Brooklyn and takes life very seriously but is full of anxiety, even taking meds. His cousin, Benji, (Kieren Culkin of Succession) on the other hand is the polar opposite. You probably know someone like him. He is the guy who never really grew up. He lives in his mother’s basement. He has to be the life of the party, always oversharing, inquiring into the life of strangers, but quick to take offense at remarks he disagrees with. People often feel the need to apologize after seeing his reactions. But he is good for sharing his prize weed at the opportune moment. David loves him, sometimes trying to get him to tone it down and apologizing to others for his antics. The movie takes the form of a travel movie when David reserves a tour for the two of them who are both Jewish in Poland to see locations associated with the Holocaust. Their grandmother, who grew up in Poland and escaped the Holocaust has recently passed away, so David wants to honor her by visiting what was her home. Benji, who was very close to his grandmother, is excited at the idea and meets David at the airport for their flight, only in a rather irresponsible manner, by not taking any of David’s phone calls. Once they join the tour, Benji engages well with the guide and other travelers sometimes. (In one scene he encourages the group to pose in front of the Warsaw Uprising Monument.) At other times he gets overly emotional and critical of the poor guide, saying whatever comes to mind. You could say that he is a lot. (I should also mention that one of the tour guests is played by Jennifer Grey of Dirty Dancing fame.) Culkin really goes all in for the role and is a perfect fit for the character Eisenberg created. Later, we find there is a family history that helps explain the actions of both cousins. The film’s title is very appropriate both for the cousins’ relationship and for the historical tragedy faced by the Jewish people. After going through the painful experience of the trip we get the feeling that some healing has begun for these two.

Flow

Flow                      5 stars

The movie Flow by Latvian film director Gints Zilbalodis is the third animated feature I have seen recently and like the other two, this one hits it out of the park. (Previously, I saw The Wild Robot and Memoir of a Snail.) Flow is highly unusual as all the characters are animals struggling to survive in a setting where there are no humans. The unique thing is that all the voices are normal animal sounds you would expect from these creatures, unlike The Wild Robot. The filmmakers did not want to use simulated sounds and went to great lengths to record actual animal sounds for the characters. The result is quite impressive. The story follows a lone black cat in a very green forest who encounters various other animals and does his best to keep from getting killed by them. Early in the film the cat takes shelter in an abandoned house that could be from the early twentieth century. There are multiple carved figures of cats outside that were left by the previous occupant who must have been a skilled woodcarver. Later, the cat encounters a pack of dogs who end up pursuing him. After evading them, the dogs return in a hurry, ignoring the cat. Behind them is a herd of elk that nearly tramples the poor cat. Then we see the true danger: a giant wave of water that is sweeping everything away in its path including our friend, the cat. As the water continues to rise, he finds dry land but that’s not the end of his troubles. Finding a high spot to perch on, he is about to go under again when a wooden boat floats by just in time to save him. Once in the boat, he is joined by a golden retriever, a capybara and a lemur. Each of these other creatures became separated from others of their own kind before finding refuge on the boat. Each animal behaves in a manner consistent with their species, but they manage to tolerate one another. Then at one point they make contact with a flock of giant white birds that tower over them. The birds are unusual in that they seem highly confident and fear nothing. One of these birds is cast out from his flock and joins the cat and the others in the boat and is knowledgeable enough to steer it. Together, they form an alliance determined to survive this watery world they have inherited. No humans are ever seen, but there is plenty of evidence of their past existence from the ancient towering ruins in this watery world. There is no explanation of their demise or the cause of the great flood. It is left to our imagination. The animation is very fluid and colorful but has an unfinished look to it as though it is from an earlier time, perhaps twenty or so years ago. The film’s message is clearly about individuals putting aside their differences and working together to survive. It ends on a hopeful yet inconclusive note. The film is suitable for all ages and at one and a half hours is the right length. I actually rate it above The Wild Robot, but that is my personal opinion.

Wicked

Wicked                 4 ½ stars

It has been over two decades since it first appeared on a stage and nearly ten years since the inception of turning it into a movie, and now Wicked has made it to theaters under the direction of Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights) bringing the Broadway musical numbers to the screen with some of the most lavish sets seen in a Broadway adaptation. The theater buffs know the story and the songs by heart by now, some having seen the stage show multiple times. I have not though, and won’t go into detail about the actual story, but will say that we see how the Wicked Witch of the West, known as Elphaba and Glinda first met at Shiz University and became friends and how Elphaba came to oppose a dictatorial Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) in the Emerald City. Earlier we learn that Elphaba was born with green skin so is shunned by those who know her even including her own father who blames her for her younger sister’s disability. The movie features the same characters of the play plus entire populations of Munchkins, students and teachers of Shiz university and the citizens of the Emerald City. The background consists of some very elaborate and colorful sets that can only be done in the world of film. The movie is titled Wicked, but at the beginning it is revealed that this is part 1. We will have to wait until next year for the remainder of the story. Of course, the movie shines most when Ariana Grande-Butera as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba are performing their widely recognized musical numbers such as the song Popular (sung by Grande). I understand that the songs were expanded some compared to the stage production and may be overdone. Grande is impressive with her wide range, but she is not quite the comedic talent compared to those who had the part on stage. The main attraction in my opinion is Cynthia Erivo with her commanding singing voice as well as her acting talent. She can convey the character’s emotions with simple frowns and glances. Erivo’s singing role in the movie is smaller than Grande’s but she really makes the most of it especially when she really belts out the song Defying Gravity, something I was really anticipating. I first became aware of the talent of this British singer born to Nigerian immigrants when I saw the 2018 movie Bad Times at the El Royale where she portrays a young singer struggling to become known. She was someone to pay attention to. The movie also has a theme very relevant to today when it shows the oppression of a group of characters by the ruling authority, that being the wizard. In this case it is the animals who are facing persecution, but they can represent any group that is different based on their appearance or country of origin. I already have Wicked, Part 2 reserved as one of my must see’s for 2025!

The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot                 5 stars

In DreamWorks’s animated feature The Wild Robot by Chris Sanders AI meets motherhood. Sanders previously directed Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon for DreamWorks and now returns with another winner. The premise of this beautifully animated film has to do with a shipwrecked robot that is lost on an isolated island far removed from all humankind. The robot, called Rozzum Unit 7134 (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), is programmed to serve and to obey all requests. She must complete every task when asked and frequently asks for feedback. In this new environment though, the furry and feathery inhabitants only fear this large menacing thing and usually just run away (except for the bear). After much confusion and getting thoroughly banged up, the robot goes into hibernation and through its artificial intelligence learns the language of the animals of the wild, but this still does not lead to much progress. Then, Roz as she comes to be known accidentally becomes acquainted with a new hatchling gosling after accidentally killing its mother. The gosling becomes completely attached to Roz and follows the robot everywhere. Thanks to a wily fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal), who has been watching all of this, Roz comes to realize that her new job is to care for the gosling, now named Brightbill (Kit Connor) and raise him until he becomes mature enough to fly on his own and leave the island. What follows is a series of comedic frustrations as Roz tries to find ways of feeding Brightbill and training him to swim and to fly. Every parent will recognize that this is what it is like to raise a child. Roz learns that not everything comes with analysis and logic, but from the heart, (a line that is said more than a few times). This theme accounts for about two thirds of the movie. In the last third, a villain is introduced in the form of robots from the human city Roz came from who venture to the isolated island to bring Roz back to civilization. The lead robot, (voiced by Stephanie Hsu of Everything, Everywhere, All at Once) a floating drone with long tentacles for arms is especially menacing. The movie then becomes a confrontation between the robots and the animals of the forest, symbolizing man’s destructive nature on the environment. I much prefer the earlier part with Roz interacting with the animals of the island to this part of the movie. The Wild Robot is highly entertaining and suitable for all ages. Look for it to earn a Best Animated Feature nomination. Also, the song “Kiss the Sky”, sung by Maren Morris could earn a Best Song nomination.

Emilia Pérez

Emilia Pérez       4 ½ stars

Emilia Pérez by director Jacques Audiard is a movie that defies genre. It’s part crime thriller, part opera and part melodrama. Perhaps most of all it’s about trans identity and redemption of the past. It certainly goes against any expectations I may have had. Early on we meet, Rita (Zoe Saldana), a lawyer who defends criminals in the courts of Mexico City. She is good at her job, but also very alone. She is “called on” by a cartel leader named Manitas Del Monte (Karla Sofia Gascón in a career defining role) who wants to hire her for a most unusual job. Manitas wants to change his life and become the woman that he feels he was meant to be. Rita accepts the offer which entails her finding a doctor to perform the transformation, move Manitas’s family out of Mexico and to help fake his death. Years later, while working in London, Rita meets a woman at a gathering named Emilia Pérez. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that Emilia is the transformed Manitas and that she is not finished with Rita yet. Emilia misses her children and wants to have Rita reunite the family, but with Emilia posing as a long-lost aunt so that even her own family does not know the truth. Even Manitas’s wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez) does not recognize her. To relieve her guilt, Emilia establishes a foundation to find the tens of thousands of victims of the drug wars so that relatives can know the truth of what happened to their loved ones, many of whose deaths she was responsible for. Thus, the movie brings the tragedies of the drug wars out into the open showing what has happened to a society that has lost so much. Mexico has lost more than 100,000 people this way. And all of this is done in performances of song and dance, making the movie an opera with a tragic story to tell. Zoe Saldana is especially talented as a dancer as she condemns the evildoers she has been acquainted as she moves from one tabletop to another. But it is Sofia Gascón especially who gives the greatest performance as both parts of her role. The actress is herself a transgender making her well suited to the role, in addition to her acting ability. Selena Gomez also puts in a convincing performance as the wife in a part that is miles from her Disney girl roles of the past and allows her to connect with her Mexican roots. The movie is probably not for everyone, but if the idea of a crime thriller set to music piques your interest you should give it a try.

Anora

Anora    4 ½ stars

The movies made by writer/director Sean Baker always seem to feature those struggling to survive on the edge of society. Think of The Florida Project about a young single mother living in a rundown motel or Tangerine about a transgender sex worker. Baker seeks to humanize those who live in the margins. The same can be said about Anora, the movie about a young sex worker in New York named Anora or Ani (Mikey Madison) whose world intersects with New York’s Russian oligarchs. At the start of the movie Ani is seen grinding away with clients along with several other nearly nude women at a strip club. Until a rich young Russian man named Ivan asks for a Russian speaking girl. Ani fits this requirement and is pleased to make his acquaintance. Ivan asks her if she works outside the club, and she agrees to meet at his mansion. It’s not really his mansion as Ivan is the son of a Russian oligarch and he is supposed to be in America to get an education. Ivan, whose English is only passable behaves like a horny puppy as the two go at it in the bedroom. Soon Ivan offers to buy her services for a week, paying a hefty price. He gets to be seen by his friends with a beautiful woman on his arm and she gets to live like a queen for a week. The fairytale romance escalates when the pair travel to Las Vegas along with Ivan’s entourage and they decide to get married, allowing Ivan to stay in America instead of returning to Russia to work for Daddy. At this point the movie seems like a new Pretty Woman, but then reality sets in when Daddy and Mother who are in Moscow find out that their son has married a hooker. A trio of Russian strongmen arrive at the mansion led by Toros (Karren Karagulian), a sort of babysitter for Ivan, who was unaware of Ivan’s antics. They have been ordered to check on the situation and upon finding it to be true follow Father’s orders to get the marriage annulled. What follows can only be described as manic comedy as Ani battles against the Russians with profanity and physical resistance while the misbehaving boy, Ivan runs away, abandoning his new bride who is now a captive. This group of four are a good copy of the Keystone Cops in an extended scene traveling all over New York trying to find the lost Ivan before his parents arrive from Moscow in their private jet. The movie belongs to Mikey Madison who makes Ani a sympathetic character despite her chosen profession. Some might remember her from Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood as the Charles Manson follower incinerated by a flamethrower. Expect her performance in Anora to be long remembered. The movie should also make audiences despise the privilege awarded to the insanely rich Russians living in America who make their billions off the working class in Russia. I must also mention that director Sean Baker manages to give one of the Russian goons named Igor a level of humanity as he takes pity on the poor Ani performing an act of kindness toward the end of the film. Baker as usual finds ways of giving his characters true humanity.

Memoir of a Snail

Memoir of a Snail             5 stars

Memoir of a Snail is the new stop motion animated movie from Australian filmmaker Adam Elliot that tells the story of its protagonist Grace Pudel whose life is filled with one tragedy after another. The techniques of stop motion animation where clay models are molded and photographed, one frame at a time are remarkable in this film. Grace (voiced by Sarah Snook of Succession) is a lonely recluse, symbolized by her collection of snails, both living and handcrafted ones. She narrates the story of her childhood to her favorite snail, named Sylvia, named after the author Silvia Plath. Her one friend in the world is an elderly woman named Pinky (Jackie Weaver) who we first meet as she dies in Grace’s presence. But then Grace recounts how Pinky has had a life full of adventure and has had her own tragedies, (such as when her husband was eaten by a crocodile). Grace remembers everything about her childhood including being in the womb of her mother with her twin brother, Gilbert followed by her premature birth and subsequent death of her mother. The two siblings grew up poor, taken care of by their alcoholic and disabled father (after he was hit by a drunk driver). They were very close and grew up often reading works of classic literature, though Grace eventually transitioned to trashy romance novels. Then when the father died the twins were split up in different foster homes with Grace going to Canberra to be cared for by a nudist swinger couple in Canberra. (Of course, young Grace has a different understanding of what swinger means.) Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee of Power of the Dog) was sent to live with a religious couple in Perth who force their foster children to work under dreadful conditions, then take all the money they earn. These stories are filled with heartache and abuse but are told in such a witty manner it all becomes quite humorous. The story becomes one of hope as Grace, with Pinky’s help breaks free from her shell and finds a way out of her reclusive life. The movie has many very adult images and is certainly not suitable for children. Some adults may even be offended by the sexual imagery on the screen. Memoir of a Snail is a truthful depiction of the realities of life’s challenges and the hopes for a better future. It may be the best animated film of the year. Look to hear of it during the Academy Award nominations.

Challengers

Challengers        3 ½ stars

Challengers by Luca Guadagnino takes us into the world of professional tennis and combines it with probably one of steamiest love triangles ever in the movies. The sweat dripping off the bodies of the two male leads, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor makes you feel the heat coming off the screen. The energy of these two expended while engaged in their matches aided by the quick camera shots from the point of view of the ball is equaled by their hot scenes with co-star Zendaya with one or the other or both at the same time in the make-out scenes. In one scene at an outdoor party, Nelly’s It’s Getting Hot in Here is playing practically making it a theme song for the movie. The actual story of these three characters is almost unimportant, but it is about two tennis stars, Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor) who are friends as teenagers and make the acquaintance of female tennis star, Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) at a college tournament. The movie follows these three over a period of several years as one or the other has gained Tashi’s affection. Tashi assumes various roles through the story: lover, wife, coach and homewrecker, told through a fractured timeline with multiple flash backs. The movie centers on a single match between the two male tennis stars that lasts through the entire span of the movie with extended scenes telling the history of their complicated relationship. A major part of the story is about Art’s stardom as a tennis player, but he is in a slump wondering if he can make a star appearance at the next US Open. Tashi, his wife, has a plan to get Art’s confidence by him playing against former friend Patrick in a match at a local tournament. But the story is secondary, of course to the steaminess of the character’s scenes together. I noticed that the movie lacks any real supporting cast. Normally, there would be supporting characters that the leads confide in or have some relationship with. Here, any other characters are just there for background, including Tashi’s immediate family. The three main characters seem only to interact with each other. I cannot finish this review without mentioning the brilliant score by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor. It is a fast-moving thumping dance score combined with disco that amps up the action taking place on the court. The score should receive some attention when the Oscar nominations come. Less so with the other categories though.  Look for Luca Guadagnino’s next film, Queer, to be released early next year.

Conclave

Conclave              4 ½ stars

In Edward Berger’s new movie Conclave, we get a peek at one of the most secret societies in the world. (Berger previously gave us All Quiet on the Western Front in 2022.) The conclave is the Catholic Church’s process for selecting a new Pope after the passing of the preceding his Holiness. In the movie, based on the book by Robert Harris, the Pope has just passed away and within hours Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) arrives and finds that it is his job to manage the conclave, only he is experiencing his own crisis of faith. He also considered the father to be a friend. As the cardinals gather, we learn who some of the candidates are and that some have their own agenda and that there are some who had deep disagreements with the progressiveness of the former pope. We also see that divisions between the cardinals extend beyond church policy and into race and country of origin. As we get into the voting process, secrets are revealed, and the intrigue expands. We learn of secret meetings that the Pope had just before his passing. To an extent the story is like a spy story or even a murder mystery. The cardinals are split into two camps, the old school conservatives and the progressives who preach tolerance of other faiths and the LGTBQ community. Each faction is maneuvering to get their guy to the necessary number votes to be named the new Pope. I appreciated the efforts of the filmmakers in making sure we can identify all the important characters. Many movies miss on this matter. There are a few surprises that occur late in the story, and I cannot say more about them for fear of spoiling your enjoyment. The movie should not be considered a form of high literature and is really just interesting entertainment that includes some very good performances. I expect to see some Academy Award nominations including acting awards for Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci. I would not count on it to win Best Picture at this point though. Just go see it and enjoy the experience.

Your Monster

Your Monster    3 stars

Once again, I had the chance to see a film in the theaters that I missed this year at Sundance. Your Monster by first time director Caroline Lindy is a sort of rom-com horror movie for women coming out of a bad relationship. In the movie Laura (Melissa Barrera of 2021’s In the Heights) is an actor and musical theater geek who has been dating Jacob (Edmund Donovan), a theater director for five years and has been helping him with developing his musical production. That is, until Laura is diagnosed with cancer and the douchebag, Jacob decides to leave her. (It is reported that Lindy came up with the story based on her own experience with a douchebag; hence the movie trailer claim: “based on a true-ish story”). With the help of her only friend, Masie (Kayla Foster), Laura moves into her mother’s house and becomes an emotional wreck (an understatement to be sure). It is there that she discovers that there is a rather fearsome looking monster living in her bedroom closet and that he has been there since Laura was a child. The monster is played by Tommy Dewey who is also the executive producer of the movie. At first, Laura is scared to death of this creature, and he wants her out of the house. But since she has no place to go, they tolerate each other and try to work out a living arrangement. As the two become more familiar, the monster, who sports a beard and has a catlike appearance, encourages her to audition for a part in Jacob’s musical and she gives it a try, landing an understudy role for the part that was originally intended for her. Then as things progress, she finds that this monster also has an interest in literature and theater, so the two become a little too close. Eventually, the monster becomes like an inner voice to Laura, making her realize how she has been wronged by Jacob and should find a way to express her feelings. Naturally, things go a little too far with some brutal and bloody consequences, a requirement of most horror movies even if it is a romcom. Most of the movie though has a light feel to it thanks to the numerous musical numbers that could come out of a forties or fifties musical comedy. I thought it was an interesting take on the comedy horror genre, but I found the monster to be a little too perfect for Laura to really buy it. (If he spends all his time in the closet and under the bed, why should he know so much about the outside world after all.) For a better performance by Tommy Dewey, you should see the movie Saturday Night where he plays the head writer of Saturday Night, Michael O’Donoghue. For a more entertaining comedy horror movie I recommend Ginger Snaps which I reviewed last year.