Category Archives: Drama

Border

Border                                  4 ½ stars

The Swedish made movie, Border has to be one of the most unusual movies of 2018 or for that matter any year.  It concerns a young woman, Tina, who works as a customs inspector and possesses a most unusual and valuable talent.  She has the ability to smell emotions in people such as guilt, shame and fear which is instrumental in catching individuals trying to smuggle illegal goods into the country.  She even gets involved in a police investigation of a child trafficking ring.  Her unique qualities don’t end there though.  Tina’s appearance is especially striking as she has to be one of the most unattractive women ever to appear in film.  She has a protruding forehead and a very heavy jawline so one would always notice her in a crowd.  If I would have checked ahead I would have known that the film was nominated for the Academy Award category of Best Makeup and perhaps wouldn’t have been so surprised by her appearance.  Tina lives in her isolated shack of a house with her lazy boyfriend who likes to watch lots of TV and enter his dogs in dog shows.  Besides that she makes regular visits to her elderly father in a nursing home.  Then one day her world is changed forever when she meets a man on the job who resembles her in many ways including the facial features.  And she finds that her special skills don’t work on Vore which is very confusing to her.  As she spends more time with him she finds that they have much more in common such as an interest in walking through the woods, insects and worms and the occasional snack on maggots.  And that is far from the most bizarre thing about the movie.  As she makes a connection with Vore certain hidden aspects of her life become clearer to her especially when things get weird.  And then the movie gets even weirder.  And then when you think it’s as weird as it can get, it gets so weird that I can’t even describe it.  Something happens that I have never seen in a movie before and it might make you uncomfortable in mixed company.  It is certain that Vore has a very different take on people and the world than what Tina has ever felt.  Ultimately, I think the movie is about realizing who you are and finding your place in the world.  I know that despite all the weirdness I liked it.  I can’t spoil the surprises for you.  It will be more fun to find it out yourselves.

After the Hunt

After the Hunt                   2 stars

What can I say about Luca Guadagnino’s new drama After the Hunt? It has some of the most pretentious, condescending, full of themselves characters I can remember, but played by some of the greatest stars working in Hollywood today. We have two university professors of philosophy Alma (Julia Roberts) and Hank (Andrew Garfield) at Yale who are heavily involved in campus politics, being among the most elite in higher education. The movie has a theme of questioning cancel culture and wokeness and does it in a very heavy-handed way. The story focuses on Maggie, a PhD student (Ayo Edebiri of The Bear, Opus and Bottoms) who is a close admirer of these two professors and unfortunately gets a little too close to Hank and must decide whether to report his assaulting her to the administration but first must seek Alma’s advice. So, the characters get into questions about the MeToo movement and the impact of these accusations on their futures. Questions also arise about Maggie’s integrity as she is accused of plagiarism so there is plenty of bad behavior to go around. Alma’s husband (Michael Stuhlbarg), a therapist, is included with those with annoying behavior without being detestable other than his questioning Maggie’s motives. Before it’s all over there will be suffering and destroyed careers as a result of bad behavior. All the actors give excellent performances, but of very flawed people that one has no empathy for. I did not enjoy this movie. Guadagnino has made some good movies lately that include Queer, Challengers and Bones and All. Unfortunately, After the Hunt won’t be among them. It generally has not been getting good reviews. (Incidentally, if you like horror movies check out Suspiria by Guadagnino.)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse           4 stars

I made a real departure from the usual movies I see and took a look at Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, 2018’s animated version of the web slinging superhero from the Marvel universe.  I have not seen all of the Spiderman movies, but I’ve seen enough to be familiar with his story and some of his various enemies.  This animated movie bears little resemblance to the earlier live action versions and looks much more like a comic book, with its bright colors and fast moving action sequences.  It departs from the usual story as it creates a new Spiderman character in the form of a black teenager who gets his spider powers in the usual way, but is very unsure of himself through much of the film.  The story is quite bizarre with a large assortment of villains brought together by the sinister Kingpin who is conspiring to build a giant supercollider in order to kill everyone or some such plot.  It also involves a collection of other Spidermen gathered from alternate dimensions that are brought together to defeat the evil Kingpin.  One interesting one is Spider-Ham, a cartoon pig Spiderman (voiced by John Mulaney) who always has a clever wisecrack in any situation.  The movie collected some of the highest marks for an animated movie so I decided to finally take it in for a change of pace.  The story absolutely does not stick to the standard Marvel background.  It’s perfectly suited to the younger viewers out there.

After the Wedding

After the Wedding           2 ½ stars

When I was at Sundance last year one of the hottest tickets was for Bart Freundlich’s movie After the Wedding.  I could not score a ticket for it there so finally caught up to now.  The movie is a complex family drama with a plot that is a little too involved to fully explain here.  It is actually a remake of a 2006 movie of the same name from Denmark.  The two main characters are Isabel (Michelle Williams) and Theresa (Julianne Moore). Isabel is a dedicated humanitarian who is part of the staff for a large financially strapped orphanage in India.  Theresa is head of her own media company and is very well off.  The orphanage is contacted by Theresa’s company saying they want to make a substantial contribution to the orphanage, but in order to go through with it, Isabel must travel to New York to meet with Theresa.  The two meet at a very short and terse meeting when Theresa invites Isabel to stay longer and attend the wedding of her daughter, Grace, which she does.  It is at that point, after the wedding that all the drama starts as it is realized that Isabel and Theresa’s husband, Oscar (Billy Crudup) had a previous relationship years earlier and everybody’s world is turned upside down.  The movie is a story of family relationships and people’s choices and their consequences, showing how little control we have over our own lives.  The parts played by the two main characters are done very well by two actresses that I admire a great deal.  I saw the original Danish version back in 2006.  In that movie the two leads were men, so in the remake they were made female characters.  I can remember being more interested in the story with the male characters than I was this time.  It is still a very emotional drama, but I preferred the original version.

Damsel

Damsel                                 3 stars

I went looking for movies that premiered at Sundance Film Festival again and found Damsel, a comedy western made by the Zellner brothers (David and Nathan).  Previously, they brought us Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, a very quirky comedy.  Here we follow Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson), a pioneer who has come out west to marry his sweetheart, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska) and is accompanied by Butterscotch, a miniature horse as a wedding gift.  Samuel has enlisted the service of Parson Henry (David Zellner, also the writer and director), a drunkard and a preacher, so that he can immediately marry Penelope.  The surprise is that this is not only a romantic journey, but is also a rescue mission as it seems that Penelope has been kidnapped and is being held captive in a cabin deep in the woods.  To give you an idea of the comedy of the movie, the opening scene of a pair of travelers waiting for a stage coach at an isolated station, where one of them loses his mind seems unrelated to the rest of the movie.  The characters play their roles seriously and very well, especially Pattinson and Wasikowska, so the comedy comes with the absurdity of the situations the characters find themselves in.  Just as you think what you just saw was strange, something even more peculiar will follow.  Besides the miniature horse, there is a perpetually bent rifle barrel still in use, an abundance of dynamite and the bizarre reactions of Pastor Henry who is always lost in his life journey.  The pace of the movie is rather slow and it has a type of comedy that may not be for everyone.  Robert Pattinson previously has starred in The Lighthouse and High Life showing he is equally comfortable in drama, horror and comedy.  And I am looking forward to seeing him in the upcoming sci-fi thriller Tenet!

Christopher Robin

Christopher Robin            3 ½ stars

Christopher Robin brings us a new chapter in the story of the boy who went on adventures in the Hundred Acre Woods with his slow witted friend, Winnie the Pooh and his many friends.  This Disney movie picks up the story thirty years later when Pooh seeks out Christopher (Ewan McGregor), now a grown man with his family living in London and working for a luggage company.  It’s a charming story with a good family message about friends supporting each other through their trials.  The animal characters are done with CGI effects that make them look like talking stuffed animals and they keep their familiar characteristics from the cartoons.  This animation is much preferable to the new trend in Disney movies that make animals look as real as possible.  The character of Eeyore, the depressed donkey is especially entertaining as he always puts himself down and sees the worst side of every situation.  Christopher Robin isn’t quite as good as the original animated movies based on A. A. Milne’s children’s stories, but it is entertaining.  The audience is probably older than the children that enjoy Winnie the Pooh as there is certainly a darker tone of Christopher dealing with his family and work troubles.

The Smashing Machine

The Smashing Machine                  4 stars

The Smashing Machine by writer director Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems, Daddy Longlegs) is the recently released biopic about the life of Mark Kerr, the mixed martial arts star of the nineties and early 2000’s. It is not a conventional sports movie where a team or individual overcomes the challenges of their sport and triumphs in the end. Instead, the film focuses mostly on the character of Kerr (played by Dwayne Johnson, the former wrestling star and movie action hero, but forget about Red One) and the struggles he faces in his life within the sport and in his personal life. A few fights are represented, but they only take up a small portion of the total screen time, so don’t expect an MMA version of Rocky. I don’t know much about the sport that became the UFC, but it seems like the objective is to tackle your opponent, hold him on the floor while you beat him in the face turning it into a bloody mess until he gives up. (At least this is what I took from it. The nation will get a first-hand look at UFC next year when it will be featured on the White House lawn on the occasion of President Trump’s eightieth birthday.) Much of the film has the look of being a documentary using long takes, making it seem like you are watching the real Mark Kerr. It shows us the various sides of him. As played by Johnson he is the nicest guy you can imagine while dealing with the public. He is polite in the extreme to the average person, being very humble and restrained. But when he loses a fight for the first time and then only focuses on his next fight he becomes completely absorbed, shutting out those around him. This gets to be a problem for his girlfriend, Dawn (Emily Blunt) as she comes to resent Kerr’s silence at these times. Much of the story is about these two people who can’t understand each other and who question the motives of the other’s decisions. The role of Dawn is a complete change from how we are used to seeing Blunt. Normally, her characters are of women who are adventurous and in complete control of their lives. Here Blunt is not her normal movie star self (think The Fall Guy and Jungle Cruise) but has an understated presence and is subservient to boyfriend Kerr. It is a testament to her acting talents that she can blend into the feel of the movie so effectively. Blunt may be in line for an acting Academy Award nomination for this role. There also seems to be talk of Johnson getting an acting nomination as well. It would be well deserved. The film is recommended, but again you shouldn’t expect a lot of action leading up to a traditional final climactic finish. (I hope I’m not giving too much away, but what kind of sports movie has the winner being awarded the trophy because of a cancelled final match?) You should go to see a person dealing with setbacks in their life and finding a way to get through them.

One Battle After Another

One Battle After Another                             5 stars

It’s only October and I feel I may have seen one of the Best Picture nominees or even the Best Picture with Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Anderson, the master storyteller (remember Licorice Pizza, Phantom Thread and There Will Be Blood) has created a film that is part social commentary and part family saga. It tackles matters that are relevant to today’s social situations and has some exceptional heart pounding action sequences. The main story follows an ex-revolutionary figure named Pat or Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his sixteen-year-old daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti in her first movie role) as they try to escape an enemy from their past, a certain army colonel named Lockjaw (Sean Penn) who is trying to hunt them both down. But first we must learn what led to this situation through the first part of the movie. Bob and Perfidia (Teyana Taylor) are part of an anti-establishment revolutionary group called the French 75, a loosely organized group of freedom fighters who try to free detained undocumented aliens and cause general chaos through destructive actions. Perfidia is one of leaders of the group while Bob has skills with explosives. Their actions could fit in almost any time period, but here it seems to be the early 2000’s. They run afoul of Colonel Lockjaw, a hardnosed tough as nails army officer with a really bad haircut who literally has a hard-on for black chicks. He is also part of a secret Neo-Nazi white supremacist society (called the Christmas Adventurers Club) which creates a conflict when he meets Perfidia during one of the 75’s missions. Pat and Perfidia have a baby daughter, who they are raising together that is, until most of the gang gets rolled up after a bank heist, including Perfidia. She is convinced to reveal names by Lockjaw and is placed into witness protection only to flee into the wind. Sixteen years go by during which time the gang goes dormant and Bob must live off the grid while raising the baby, now named Willa on his own. Bob is no criminal mastermind and by now has become a stoner regularly getting high and drunk. Other than his skills with explosives, he is not good for much. But DiCaprio is very convincing as a father who has a real attachment to his daughter. Bob has a real problem when he is alerted through his underground contacts that the authorities are on to them and he and Willa will need to disappear. Fortunately for Bob, there are still a few members of the group around that can help keep him and Willa out of the hands of the government. They include Sensai Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro also of Inherent Vice) and Deandra (Regina Hall of The Hate U Give) who finds Willa and gets her out of harm’s way (at least for a while). The latter part of the movie is very intense as Bob and Willa try to stay one step ahead of Lockjaw’s soldiers who are closing in. The scenes are aided by a fast-moving original score by Johnny Greenwood. The audience will really be glued to the screen during two car chase scenes, with an outcome that is not expected. (Also, look for Alana Haim in a small role. Anderson featured her in his film, Licorice Pizza.) I fully expect One Battle After Another to earn several Academy Award nominations. It could be Paul Thomas Anderson’s best to date. Do not miss it.

The Color Purple

The Color Purple              4 stars

In 1985 Steven Spielberg made the movie The Color Purple based on the 1982 book. Then in 2006 it was made into a Broadway musical and revived in 2015. In 2023 it was again brought to the screen. I just recently came to view it. By now the story of Celie, a poor uneducated black woman in early 20th century rural Georgia who suffers brutal abuse at the hands of her father and then her husband is familiar to audiences. In this musical version the role of Celie, originally done by Whoopie Goldberg in the Spielberg movie, is performed by Fantasia Barrino of American Idol fame. Her voice in her musical numbers and her acting in scenes as she quietly endures abuse from the men in her life are the best things about the movie. (She is actually reprising the role from the Broadway production and is certainly right for the part.) She is equally engaging in the moments of expressing joy when she is with her sister, Nettie (Halle Bailey and Ciara) and others that she loves. (According to Fantasia’s resume, this is her only notable film role.) Other actors of note are Danielle Brooks (Clemency) as the outspoken Sofia (originally done by Oprah) who won’t stand for the abuse heaped on women by men, but is later beaten into quiet submission by the blatant racism of the South, as well as Taraji P. Henson as blues singer Shug Avery who brings hope to Celie by showing her the sheer joy of living when one is near the ones they love. Also excellent is Colman Domingo in the part of Mister, Celie’s abusive husband who only sees her as the equivalent of a slave that must be regularly beaten into obedience. Not only do we experience his cruelty but get a sense of how he came to be this way, enduring his own pain, and we eventually see how he realizes the error of his ways and seeks to make amends. The musical numbers are lively and cinematic, but they tend to overshadow the central message of the story, which is love of family and treasuring time together. This movie directed by Blitz Bazawule is almost entirely focused on Celie as she overcomes adversity and finds her voice. Though I enjoyed the movie, I find that I prefer the original Spielberg film over this reimagining.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody       2 ½ stars

I finally got the chance to see Bohemian Rhapsody, the 2018 biopic about Freddy Mercury, the lead singer of the legendary rock group Queen of the seventies and eighties.  It has much in common with other biopics about music legends we have seen in the past twenty years, the genius of a young performer, the troubled relationships with family, the flashes of genius and the downward spiral.  One type of movie I really love are those that show the creative process of writing a new song, how it gradually gets put together.  Here the formula is applied to We Will Rock You and Another One Bites the Dust,(both I remember well from the eighties) but it’s like the song is instantly put together in the heat of an argument.  Rami Malek does a good job as Mercury, but the look of his teeth was overdone.  There was some mention of his life style and his contracting AIDS, but for the most part the movie was not about this aspect of his life.  It did serve as a reminder of what the eighties was like, when gay people had to remain hidden even in the music industry and AIDS was ripping through the gay community.  The final scene of the LIVE AID concert was certainly entertaining even though much of it had to be lip synced.  If you watch it on DVD there is an extended version of the concert scene that is even more enjoyable.  There are other musical biopics I liked much better.  The ones about Elton John and James Brown come to mind.