Category Archives: 2025

The Alto Knights

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The Alto Knights               2 ½ stars

The latest movie about the mob wars of the 1950’s is The Alto Knights by director Barry Levinson which is out now in theaters. Levinson is probably best known for the movies Rain Man, Good Morning, Vietnam and Bugsy. This time he applies his creative skills to a gangster movie that pits one high level mob boss against an aging underling bent on expanding his realm on the streets of New York. Now, if you are going to make a gangster movie about the Italian mafia, you can’t do any better than casting the eternal gangster, Robert DeNiro in the lead role. And if you want to do even better why not cast DeNiro in two roles in the same movie? That’s what Levinson has done here with DeNiro playing Frank Costello, the boss of the gang in New York, who is in his later years and wants desperately to retire. The only thing is that his childhood friend from the streets, Vito Genovese (also played by guess who? DeNiro) has returned from Italy where he was exiled for many years and now wants a bigger piece of the action, like it was during prohibition. For him this means getting into the narcotics business, something that has a much larger profile with the authorities than alcohol ever did. Frank is all about keeping things calm and steady, while Vito is a real hothead who wants to be feared and will not take No for an answer. Thus, the conflict is set up leading to an attempted hit on Frank. DeNiro is the expert at talking like an Italian gangster, speaking in the coded language we know from such films. He shows us his other side as Vito, whose temper flares at the slightest provocation, much like the roles we have seen Joe Pesci play. But as I was watching I could not help but think I was looking at the Robert DeNiro tribute show. Sure, the two characters look different with the help of some astounding makeup, and Vito is always seen in glasses, but I still wonder how hard could it be to find another grade A actor to play one of the roles? There has to be many such suitable men who could do a great job with it. It was entertaining to listen to the dialogue used by crime bosses, the type we have seen in such classics as Once Upon a Time in America, Good Fellas and Casino, but it eventually gets tiresome. And there is a lot of narration from the aged Frank telling how things used to be. The focus was more on the tension between the two characters than on any of the actual crimes or hits they carried out. In fact, there was surprisingly little violence in the movie. I can only think of three hits in the two-hour movie. I do have to credit Debra Messing in her role as Bobbie, Frank’s wife. It was a great departure from her comedic characters like Grace from Will and Grace. I almost didn’t recognize her at first. Anyway, if you want to see the great Robert DeNiro in a memorable gangster film, go back and see The Irishman from 2019. And if that isn’t enough there will always be The Godfather. Otherwise, forget about it.

Opus

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Opus     2 stars

Based on a few recent films that include Blink Twice, Glass Onion and The Menu, we have learned that if a billionaire invites you to their private island, you should probably politely decline. Now we can modify that rule to say that if a wealthy celebrity resurfaces after a 30-year absence and invites you to their isolated compound in the desert, you should not accept! That’s the premise in the social thriller Opus, from first time director Mark Anthony Green, which recently appeared at the Sundance Film Festival and is now in theaters. The film is partly a commentary on the culture of celebrity worship and partly about a psychopathic cult leader. We meet Ariel (Ayo Edebiri of The Bear), a young writer for a pop culture magazine who is lamenting how she is being overlooked in her job. One day she is greeted by the news that a pop icon from the nineties who seemingly vanished has reappeared with the announcement of a new album. Moretti (John Malkovich of Velvet Buzzsaw and Young Adult) who is also known as the Debutante, has invited Ariel along with her boss, Stan (Murray Bartlett of The White Lotus) and a few other media types including TV talk show host Clara Armstrong (Juliette Lewis) to his compound in the Utah desert for the weekend to be the first to hear his new tunes. Ariel is happy to accept thinking it will be good for her career, but she seems out of place in this crowd. Upon arrival at the airport, the group is picked up by bus for a 4-hour ride to the compound. There they are treated like royalty to 4-star meals, a fabulous wardrobe and massages. Each of the six in the group is shadowed by a personal concierge who watches their every move plus they are under surveillance even in their rooms. Ariel finds this disturbing in addition to the fact that they must relinquish their cell phones and laptops. She seems to be alone in her concerns as everyone else is mesmerized by the persona of Moretti, who preaches great platitudes about the religion he has written about in a book they all received called Meditations of Levels. He sings and dances in what looks like a metallic space suit and has a group of followers who he calls Levelists who follow his every command, including a disturbing scene where one of them must manually open a roomful of oysters in search of rare pearls. (Many followers have scars on their hands from performing this ritual.) Ariel is the only one of the guests to be suspicious when one of their members mysteriously disappears and on her own goes on a hunt for clues as to what this cult is about. Ultimately, as predicted by the audience, the terror is unleashed when Moretti finds his guests unpleasing, and it is up to poor Ariel to find a way to escape and bring justice to this psychopath. In the end you can tell that the film thinks it has something to say about false prophets and the role of the media in a culture of fandom, but it amounts to a tired formula that we have seen many times. I found the ending unsatisfying as I felt it didn’t really explain Moretti’s motives. For a much better movie about a terrifying experience in a cult I recommend 2019’s Midsommar.

Mickey 17

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Mickey 17            4 stars

Six years ago, Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho brought us his award-winning movie, Parasite, a social satire about the haves vs. the have nots. Before that there was Snowpiercer, about a futuristic train traveling the world where the passengers were divided up based on social status. In Mickey 17, Ho’s brand of dark comedy and social commentary extends to outer space and alien worlds. Early on we meet Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson, an actor more known for his good looks than for comedic performances) who has just fallen down an icy crevice on an alien planet where he is sure to die. Mickey then proceeds to narrate his backstory to us in his whiney poor schlub of a voice. In this future reality, Mickey and his friend, Timo (Steven Yeun) owed money to some nasty mobsters who aren’t friendly with those who can’t pay their bills. Their best chance out was to sign up for an interstellar journey on a spaceship on a mission to colonize a distant ice planet called Niflheim. Only poor Mickey unwittingly also signed up to become an Expendable. It seems that in this time, human printing has been realized. It’s a way to reprint a person’s body after they have died and then restore their consciousness which has been stored in a bricklike hard drive. Thus, an expendable can be sent on dangerous lethal missions where they are certain to die and then be “reprinted” so the cycle can be repeated. So, Mickey is routinely exposed to radiation, deadly viruses and the like so that researchers can study the effects on humans, have his body disposed of, then reassembled from organic waste on the ship. Our Mickey is number 17, so he has already died 16 times, and is often asked “what’s it like to die?”. Now, this colonization mission isn’t being done by any government. It is headed by Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), a narcissistic politician who acts like the leader of a cult and demands total loyalty but has lost his last two elections. (Sound like anyone you know?) Marshall is not above killing someone to make a point. His wife is Yifa (Toni Collette) who is as self-absorbed as they come. The practice of human printing has been outlawed on Earth, but Marshall was only too glad to use it as part of his mad scheme in space. Returning to Mickey, his story takes a turn when after falling into the crevice he meets up with the local alien lifeform on the ice planet, a sort of giant bug species who may be intelligent. Upon returning to the ship, he is shocked to find there is another Mickey, this one is number 18, who has been reprinted based on the assumption that 17 has died. Only this version of Mickey is a sociopath, lacking in empathy, as opposed to 17’s quiet and pathetic demeanor. Thus, we get to see two roles played by Robert Pattinson, a challenge for any actor. Pattinson makes them both look believable. Tensions rise dramatically through the rest of the movie as a showdown occurs between the psychopathic cult leader and the aliens in a high stakes game risking total annihilation, with our two Mickey’s caught in the middle. Mickey 17 may or may not be a commentary on the current state of affairs, but it is something of a showcase for the two versions of Pattinson. Plus it presents some interesting ideas from Bong Joon Ho.

One of Them Days

One of Them Days           3 ½ stars

I took a break from seeing the Oscar worthy films to take in a much talked about comedy set in South-Central Los Angeles, One of Them Days, starring two funny black women, Keke Palmer and pop star Sza. This is one of those all-in-one day comedies like Ferris Buehler’s Day Off where all sorts of crazy things happen over the course of a single day. Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (Sza) have been best friends since childhood and share an apartment in a complex in The Jungle. Dreux works in a restaurant and has an interview scheduled at corporate for consideration to run a franchise. Alyssa is a struggling artist. Early in the morning the landlord knocks on the door for the rent money surprising Dreux because she thought it has been paid. After some comic inquiry she discovers that Alyssa’s freeloading boyfriend has taken the rent money and spent it on t-shirts. The friends are told that if they don’t pay the rent by 6:00 that day they will be forced onto the street. Thus starts their adventure to find a way to come up with the rent money before time runs out. Plus, Dreux must make her interview a well! So we follow the pair through various spots in LA as they track down the boyfriend, and try various schemes to get the much needed money as the clock is ticking as we watch via the strategically placed graphics on the screen. The pair work well together and have good comic timing and handle all the physical comedy too. I’ve seen Keke Palmer in a wide range of movies going all the way back to Akeelah and the Bee in 2006, then Joyful Noise, Hustlers and then Alice. She always has a cheerful presence on the screen. Sza shows promise of comedic talent as well. Don’t take anything seriously in this movie. It’s strictly for laughs and the violence leans toward the slapstick variety. It is interesting to see the many places in Los Angeles and wonder what it looks like now in the wake of the recent fires.

By Design

By Design            2 stars

If there is a movie genre for absurdity, then Amanda Kramer’s By Design would certainly fit that category. I am sure there are people that like this type of movie, but it’s not me (at least not this one). Camille (Juliette Lewis) likes to spend time with her friends, but she mostly listens to them, not participating in the conversations much. One day the friends go to a furniture store to look at the chairs they have on sale. One of them, a wood chair that is plain but elegant, attracts Camille’s attention and she must have it. Before she can buy it though, someone else purchases the chair and Camille is so upset that she transfers her soul into the chair leaving her own body behind in a trance. The chair comes into the possession of Olivier (Mamoudou Athie) who senses something special about it and essentially falls in love with the chair as if it is a person. In the meantime, Camille’s body at home is visited by her friends and her mother who have conversations with her as if she is engaged with them. Camille herself only stares into space without ever speaking. The movie sends a message that we are defined by the objects we possess. We have relationships with our possessions that can be as important to us as people. There are some interesting performances that can be called interpretive dance with bodies climbing over one another and over chairs. Some acting performances are very good, but at other times they have a bland speaking tone. Athie is especially good in his role. The movie tends to drag on too much and could have been better as a short. It was not a good start at Sundance with it being my first film. Amanda Kramer has directed several movies before, none of which I have ever seen.

Where the Wind Comes From

Where the Wind Comes From 4 1/2 suns

From the country of Tunisia comes what I thought was one of the best films I’ve seen at the festival. Where the Wind Comes From is a sort of road trip movie featuring a pair of young friends on an event filled journey. Alyssa is 19, rebellious and tired of her boring life in Tunis and dreams of a better life away from her home. Mehdi, a 23 year old man is her close childhood friend, who is a talented amateur artist who has taught himself to draw. Alyssa learns of an art contest being held in a city across the country and sees it as a chance for the two of them to escape their boring lives in Tunisia and travel to Germany. She convinces Mehdi to enter and devises a rather haphazard plan to get to the contest which is tough since they have almost no money. Alyssa is a real risk taker, putting them in dangerous situations and it’s up to the calm and thoughtful Mehdi to keep things from getting out of control. There are some musical interludes that use animation as a way of showing Alyssa’s active imagination. The movie includes scenes that show the male dominated Arab culture and how this can be difficult for women. Generally, the movie is optimistic in tone and is about the relationship of close friends that have a shared interest. And it deals with African migration as those in tough economic conditions seek a better life. The two young actors portray their contrasting personalities, convincing us of the close friendship. The movie also features some beautiful Arabic music that was great to hear. The film is mostly in Arabic with some French. I am hoping that it wins some awards from Sundance and that it will be seen by a wider audience.

Sukkwan Island

Sukkwan Island 4 suns

In Sukkwan Island, 13-year-old Roy, is persuaded by his divorced father, Tom to join him on a year long adventure on a remote island in the Norwegian fjords that can only be reached by plane. Leaving their lives behind, they set off on this trip staying in an old cabin and seem to be well equipped. It is a chance for the two to reconnect and do some real father son bonding. But it soon turns into a challenge of survival as they face the harsh conditions of a cold winter and predators on the island. But the greatest challenge turns out to be the human conflict between the two as mistakes are made and tempers flare. The pair of actors work well together as they convey the rising tension level. It’s clear the characters have issues that they must work through. The location of the shoot was both beautiful and foreboding. They story is based on a book written by the boy portrayed in the movie. I warn you, there is injury and blood involved. But I highly recommendthe movie. I was disappointed there was no Q & A at this event.

Atropia

Atropia 4 suns

As Atropia opens we see the streets of an Iraqi village with street vendors, animals and men with head scarves. Then we see some American Army vehicles come down the street with soldiers shouting at villagers. Insurgents appear, fighting starts. There is an explosion. Then everything stops and we find we are not in Iraq, but are on a US Army base in California called The Box in 2006 and this is a training exercise for soldiers about to deploy to Iraq. The villagers and insurgents are mainly Hollywood actors playing roles in this romantic comedy called Atropia. One of the actors is Fayruz (Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development and Search Party), who wants to get movie roles in Hollywood and schemes to find ways to get noticed. She learns of a famous Hollywood actor who is going to observe the exercises and believes this is her big chance. The head insurgent, Abu Dice (Callum Turner (The Boys in the Boat)) becomes suspicious leading to a confrontation and therefore the romance between the two. There is plenty of room for comedy in a movie about military training. (Remember Stripes and Private Benjamin?) Atropia delivers with bumbling officers and soldiers, misunderstandings when things go wrong and plenty of suggestive comments toward a female mock news reporter (Jane Levy of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist). It is mainly the two leads that carry the movie, especially Shawkat who delivers one of her best performances yet. Her ethnicity is Iraqi so she fits right into the part. She should have more starring roles given her comedic talent. The director/screenwriter, Hailey Gates has done well, given that this is her first effort at directing a feature movie. The movie was developed from a short done several years ago by the team of Gates and Shawkat. At the end a screen graphic tells us that there are hundreds of training sites like the one portrayed. Only now the enemy combatants are Russians. The theater was packed for this one, but unfortunately none of the filmmakers were present for Q & A.

The Virgin of the Quarry Lake

The Virgin of the Quarry Lake 3 suns

Set near Buenos Aires, Argentina, The Virgin of the Quarry Lake is a coming of age story about a teenage girl around 2001. Only there is something special about Natalia. The actress, Dolores Oliverio, who plays the lead role is easily the best part of the movie. She has an intensity in her eyes that tells you something major is about to happen. Natalia lives with her grandmother, her parents having abandoned her when she was small. She spends her time with her friends and sending messages at the internet cafe. This summer she has her eye on Diego, a handsome boy the group hangs out with. So Natalia is trying to grow up fast, and look more like a woman. The problem is there another older woman, Silvia who is close to Diego which displeases her. A confrontation is inevitable. The setting of the movie gives it a dark tone. A homeless man is beaten early in the film with his cart dripping blood for a long time. In fact, there is a lot done with blood in the movie, providing ominous signs. There are frequent power failures, water shortages and looting going on so you get the feeling things are falling apart. But there is a remote lake in an old quarry where the youngsters can get away from their problems and go swimming. But then there are those frightening stories about the place that could be a sign of what is to come. This is a dark movie that falls short of being a full blown horror movie, but being about teenage girls by itself could classify as horror enough. The story is slow to develop and could use more development of some of the characters. The movie was not one of the best of the festival, but was also not among the worst. The movie is based on short stories from Argentina. The director was present and talked of the time period and setting off the movie and the challenges that it created.

GEN_

GEN_ 4 suns

This documentary from Italy deals with the medical challenges faced by two groups of people, both of which experience opposition in today’s charged political environment. We go inside the clinic of a special doctor, Dr. Maurizio Bini in Milan as he consults with his many patients. He overseers aspiring parents trying to conceive by in vitro fertilization and the treatment of individuals who are transitioning to the gender they identify with. He does this while also dealing with the constraints of a conservative government at a time when the demand for his services is high. The filmmakers filmed his sessions with his patients as he learns of their situations and recommends treatments. He has a personal approach with each individual and acts as a psychiatrist getting to their mental state as well. Health care is provided by the government in Italy so his services are free. This leads to a real variety of patients who come from all cultures and ethnicities. His practice requires him to be familiar not only with Italian law but also the laws of many foreign countries. And he speaks to his patients in several foreign languages. He even has one patient who is in prison seeking to change their gender. Some of his decisions are not consistent with government policies so he has to bend the rules on occasion. The movie shows us that these issues that may seem abstract are things that medical professionals with heavy scientific backgrounds deal with regularly. At the Q & A Dr. Bini appeared personally to the rather small audience and was delightful in answering questions about his work.