Category Archives: Drama

The Midnight Sky

The Midnight Sky             2 stars

The Midnight Sky, directed by and starring George Clooney was released at the end of 2020 during the pandemic but I never heard of it until over a year later. Judging by its media presence few people had seen it. This science fiction drama concerns a reclusive genius scientist named Augustine Lofthouse who has isolated himself at an arctic research station as a catastrophe threatens to destroy most of the human population on Earth. So you know right away that we are in for some heavy drama of the hopeless variety. Added to the mix is a group of astronauts and scientists who are headed back to Earth after a several years long mission to investigate the habitat on a distant moon of the planet Jupiter. Unfortunately, no one has informed the crew of the spaceship of the recent developments back home. So it falls on Augustine to find a way to contact them and reveal the bad news and warn them that they would be better off not returning to Earth. (Nevermind that his communication with the ship happens instantaneously despite the fact that the ship is still in deep space.) We are never told exactly what happened, but we assume there must be a radioactive atmosphere around most of the planet due to some human activity. The movie moves at a very slow pace and has an ominous tone to it that really gets depressing. There are a few flashbacks to the young Augustine where we find out he had a promising family life at some point and that it all changed leading him to a lonely life. Some harrowing moments are experienced by Augustine and by the ship’s crew that they manage to survive, but this does little to take us away from the doomed feeling we get from the film. There is nothing fun or for that matter thrilling about the movie. It certainly is no Gravity. There is a plot twist in the movie that I won’t describe, but will only say that I thought the filmmakers were setting this up in a deceptive manner by holding back certain facts until they are revealed at the end. I have not appreciated this type of plot device in other movies and was sorry to see it here. There must be better ways to treat the subject of global disaster than what The Midnight Sky has done. I will say that the special effects used to create the spaceship were impressive. If only they had been used in a better movie.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever              4 stars

In 2018 the Marvel movie universe introduced us to Black Panther and the hidden African country of Wakanda. Then shortly afterward we learned that the star of the movie, Chadwick Boseman who played T’Challa, the king passed away from cancer. So, in the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the opening scene deals with the sudden death of the king due to an illness. T’Challa’s sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright) is unable to save him and faces the loss along with the rest of the kingdom. This movie is very international in scope dealing with geopolitics and Wakanda’s place in the world. Wakanda has the most advanced weapons and technology in the world due to their possession of the metal, Vibranium. That means everybody else wants it. But then it turns out there is another hidden superpower in the world. This one is Talokan, an underwater kingdom, led by a godlike man called Namor (Tenoch Huerta) who is over five hundred years old. The people are descended from a Mesoamerican race forced out of their land by the Spaniards in the 1500’s. Namor’s mission is to find and kill a university student named Riri (Dominique Thorne) who invented a machine that can find new sources of Vibranium. (The Talokan’s also have access to the metal and have advanced weapons.) This aspect makes little sense though, since we know that once something is invented it can’t be stopped by killing the inventor, but don’t let that get in the way of a good story. The Wakanda Queen, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri, Okoye (Danai Gurira) and T’Challa’s lover, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) decide to defend the student, making Wakanda an enemy of Namor, setting off a war between the two nations. This being a superhero movie, one must set aside the things that seem implausible and just enjoy the action. There are plenty of special effects with the vehicles and weapons causing mass destruction. The characters are kept interesting too, showing the grief they go through and their concern for one another. Ultimately, the situation does get resolved and it looks like we can expect another chapter in the story of Wakanda. And there aren’t even any aliens appearing in the movie!

My Octopus Teacher

My Octopus Teacher      5 stars

I finally saw the 2021 Academy Award winning documentary “My Octopus Teacher” by documentarian Craig Foster. Foster filmed his underwater encounters with the eight-legged subject in the waters off South Africa near his home after going through a period of crisis in his own life. In the film he made daily trips to the kelp forest where all sorts of colorful creatures live and followed the life of a single female octopus, bringing the experience to a personal level. It isn’t a film of scientific study but succeeds in showing what it takes for this animal to survive in the sea, including escaping from the sharks that prey on the octopus and finding ways to catch its own source of food. He does all this using just a snorkel and without a wetsuit allowing him to get close to the animal which reacts to him with curiosity. He even catches a close encounter with one of those hungry sharks followed by a long period of recovery for the mollusk. The film is only a little over an hour and a half long but by the end you feel that you understand something about this creature that is almost an alien to humans. For nature lovers this is one that should not be missed.

Orphan: First Kill

Orphan: First Kill               ½ star

Orphan: First Kill is the prequel to the 2009 movie Orphan about dwarf young woman who passes herself off as a child who also happens to be a psychopathic killer. Judging by First Kill I won’t be seeing the earlier one. The movie explains how Esther, the diminutive 30 year old and the most dangerous inmate of an asylum in Estonia escapes and makes her way to America and convinces a grieving family that she is their lost daughter who disappeared four years earlier. First Kill breaks one of the rules of horror movies at the start by leading with scenes of bloody mayhem instead of waiting the customary 20 minute minimum. After that it asks way too much of the audience to believe as the premise plays out. In the first Orphan Esther is played by a 10 year old playing the part of a 30 year old pretending to be a 10 year old. In First Kill the same actress is a 25 year old playing the part of a 30 year old pretending to be a 10 year old. I can’t tell which is harder to believe. Perhaps we are supposed to blame the victims for falling for such an absurd trick. There are other inconsistencies that are not explained such as the lack of any genetic testing in this modern age of DNA and how the medical doctors could be fooled by the masquerade. There is an attempt to make things more interesting with a twist that is introduced midway through the movie with Esther not being the only one with a secret to hide. I advise everyone to stay away from Orphan: First Kill, especially with so many interesting movies coming out in the next few weeks.

The Woman King

The Woman King              4 ½ star

The historically based action drama The Woman King opened with much anticipation and succeeded in delivering. The mostly female production staff tells the story of an African tribe in the early 1800’s that was home to an all female army of fierce warriors who defend their home and people from neighboring warring tribes. This is in the period when the slave trade was still practiced in West Africa, though the United States was done with the trade by this time. The slave buyers here are represented by the Portuguese speaking Brazilians who pit the African tribes against one another, encouraging them to provide human slaves from their enemies. Viola Davis appears as the battle tested Nanisca, the general of the Agojie, the elite troops of the kingdom of Dahomey. Her role here is unlike any other she has had before (Fences, Doubt, The Help) as she goes full on action hero, charging into the enemy ranks and overseeing the training of the female soldiers. She has plenty of battle scars from her years of service and is very circumspect about her own situation in the quiet down times. One can tell there is a story from her past that is slowly revealed in the film. There is also the story of one of the young soldiers, Nawi, (Thuso Mbedu of The Underground Railroad) who is given to the army by her father after she refuses to be married off to an old rich man. Her path to becoming a warrior is equally intriguing to that of Nanisca as she learns the consequences of disobeying orders, but becomes key to the developments in the story. John Boyega of Star Wars fame does an impressive job in the role of the King of the Dahomey, who must decide what is the best path to take for his people and find a way of ending the practice of selling humans for profit. Like any good action movie there are plenty of scenes of fighting with the weapons of the time: swords, spears and flintlocks causing great loss of life and bloody wounds on both sides of the conflict. These scenes put together by director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Old Guard) become quite extended and realistic. The script is by Dana Stevens based on a story by Maria Bello and others. I don’t know just how much of the story is true, (It is an “inspired” story.) but it is well past time that this episode of history of African women fighters is recognized.

Don’t Worry Darling

Don’t Worry Darling        2 ½ stars

By now everyone has heard some of the behind the scenes drama about Don’t Worry Darling, the Olivia Wilde directed vision of a utopia of married couples set in a 1950’s suburban paradise where the wives relish in house cleaning, modern dance lessons and preparing epicurean meals for their husbands who spend their days at work on a mysterious project called The Victory Project that no one understands. That drama is something I don’t need to go into, but in the movie itself it doesn’t take long to get the feeling that something isn’t right in paradise. Alice (Florence Pugh does a fantastic job!), the housewife to husband Jack (Harry Styles) starts to see signs that things are amiss in her world. She hears strange tunes, sees food that is not real and imagines the walls of the house are closing in on her. Her seemingly happy neighbors who all share the same cul-de-sac and with whom they all indulge in wild drunken parties don’t see the same signs and deny that there is anything sinister going on. The one exception is Mary (Olivia Wilde) who wants to put a stop to Alice’s suspicions. There is plenty to be suspicious about as the head of The Victory Project, Frank (Chris Pine) is treated like the worshipped leader of a cult. There is something demon like about him and in this case Pine is suited to the role. This type of dystopian society film has been done many times before only in a less preachy manner. Eventually, we get to an explanation via a heavy use of flashbacks. There is a definite feminist message against a very repressive society and a praise for those who would rebel against it. One gets the feeling that there was a lot of anger behind the writing of this film. For a superior treatment of a similar theme, only from a racial perspective I much prefer Get Out, the 2017 horror film by Jordan Peele. But it does appear that Don’t Worry Darling has its fans. Don’t count me among them.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam        4 stars

The new comedy mystery drama Amsterdam by writer-director David O. Russell has a very long and winding plot that takes us through three countries over 15 years, involves a murder mystery of a war hero, a murder frame job, an extended love affair, a massive political conspiracy and a truly lasting friendship at the heart of everything. Those familiar with some of Russell’s past works won’t be too surprised at this. (See I Heart Huckabees, American Hustle and Joy for some very involved plots.) In Amsterdam we meet our three close friends who meet as a result of The Great War and the injuries sustained in this war to end all wars. There is Dr. Bert Berendsen (a very talkative Christian Bale) whose mission is to care for all those war veterans suffering after the war and honor them at an annual gala. His best friend is Harold Woodman (John David Washington who we remember from BlacKKKlansman), who he met while commanding a unit of African Americans in France in the war who is to become an accomplished lawyer. And there is the American nurse Valerie (Margot Robbie) who cared for them after they were severely wounded in battle. Together, the three banded together in Amsterdam to care for damaged soldiers from the war. When we jump ahead to 1933 the three of them become ensnared in the suspected murder of their commanding officer from the war that may lead to one of the greatest political conspiracies this country has ever experienced. Did I say that the movie has wandering plot? It needs to have a lot going on to give its all star cast the roles that tell the story. Apparently, Hollywood stars are clamoring to work with Russell as I counted no less than sixteen recognizable names among the cast. This includes Michael Shannon and Mike Myers, as two ornithologists who work for the government (British and American), Matthias Schoenaerts and Alessandro Nivola as two cops investigating a murder and Taylor Swift as the daughter of the murdered victim. Much of the comedy seems to be in the tradition of the zany comedies of the nineteen forties, especially that of Robbie who really lets it fly. You will have to be patient to get to the point when all is revealed. Eventually the climactic scene is reached when a critical choice must be made that will affect the lives of millions. Many people will see it as a cautionary tale about what America is going through today, but the film has been in development for many years so you can judge for yourself. In the end the film is about the friendship of our trio of heroes that wins out in an ending that is reminiscent of Casablanca. You may hear some negative reviews about Amsterdam. Many critics hold the meandering plot against what Russell has done here, but I found it all to be very entertaining.

Close

Close     4 ½ stars

I took advantage of the Chicago International Film Festival taking place last weekend to see one of the foreign films being shown. The one I picked, Close, turned out to be an outstanding movie. This film from France and Belgium is the second offering from Belgian director Lucas Dhont. The story is about two 13 year old boys who are best friends and are entering a new school where they don’t know many classmates. The two have been close friends for years and are at the point when they are just starting to mature physically. The peer pressure at the school has its effect on the two and Leo takes an interest in ice hockey, which he is not especially good at, and starts to draw away from Remi, his best friend. Remi is more interested in playing an instrument in the orchestra. I hope I am not giving too much away when I say that this is really a movie about suicide and the effect it has on those that remain after the tragedy. The young star, Eden Dambrine as Leo is in nearly every scene and has a real power at expressing emotion just with his facial expressions that one wouldn’t expect in someone so young. That may be due a lot of coaching from the director but whatever it is, it worked. Through the shots of soccer, playing ice hockey, riding bicycles and listening in classrooms, the audience gets the sense that they feel what the character is feeling, his look is so intense. This has to be one of the most emotional films I can remember and one that dares to address a subject rarely seen in the movies. The struggle to cope with the loss is shared by the parents, siblings and classmates as they all try to understand what happened and share their pain. This is one that won’t be soon forgotten. The movie is in French with subtitles and was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

Halloween Ends

Halloween Ends                2 ½ stars

It has been four years since the night of terror in the town of Haddonfield when the inhabitants tried to take revenge on Michael Myers only to have him mysteriously escape. Things are quiet now as Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is putting her thoughts into a book about her fight against the evil entity, while some people continue to blame her for the cursed events. This third film by director David Gordon Green takes a departure from the earlier Halloween movies as we get a lot more back story about the characters that includes a relationship between Laurie’s granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichek) and the bullied Corey (Rohan Campbell) who is blamed for an unfortunate babysitting accident. (Nothing turns out well for babysitters when it’s Halloween.) Frankly, it takes too long for Michael Myers to turn up along with his version of mayhem, but he is still there when October 31st arrives. When he does emerge he carries out the usual knife wielding bloody executions in his efficient style. We get a montage of past scenes from the earlier movies and that familiar theme music as well as a view of a scene from John Carpenter’s The Thing. We even get the long anticipated final showdown between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers as promised, even though Curtis doesn’t have the focused role we see in the earlier films. Jamie Lee Curtis says this is her final Halloween movie. Will there ever be another repeat of this franchise? It’s hard to see how but I wouldn’t bet against it.

Halloween Kills

Halloween Kills                  2 ½ stars

It’s almost Halloween and that means it’s time for that masked maniacal killer Michael Myers to return to the town of Haddonfield, Illinois to go on one more murderous rampage through the residents of the town. Halloween Kills is actually the second part of a planned trilogy of new Halloween films by director David Gordon Green. This, after the original series with Roman Numerals appeared on screens in 1978 and the eighties. I saw all of the earlier series of films but missed the last one in 2018 (but did see later). This one picks up where that one left off with a wounded Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in a pickup truck being taken to the hospital with her daughter (Judy Greer) and granddaughter after they have finally eliminated the spree killer, Myers. Or so they thought! We get an introduction showing us what happened forty years earlier with the first attacks against local teenagers and the town’s cops while Laurie had been babysitting and got caught up in the nightmare. It doesn’t take long before Michael shows that he is not so easy to get rid of and starts a fresh bloodbath using knives, broken glass and other sharp implements. He can make quite a show of creativity as he finds new ways of slicing and battering people to death! The earlier film got some good reviews, but this sequel, I admit was somewhat disappointing with Jamie Lee Curtis mostly sidelined in the hospital where she must recover from an earlier attack while offering philosophical statements about what Michael Myers represents in all of us. The fight is left to her offspring and a number of other characters who are determined to stop Michael as they chant Evil! Dies! Tonight!. This includes a local hot head (Anthony Michael Hall) who works the crowd into a frenzy after they gather in the hospital where the casualties come in. We get plenty of victims peering through rooms in the dark until the inevitable surprise attack by the masked Michael. It feels like a lot of the same without a satisfying resolution since we can imagine how it will end. It appears we will have to wait a little longer before this chapter comes to a close. Who knows. Perhaps Laurie Strode will still be fighting Michael into her eighties?