A magical negro is a term used to define a Black supporting character who exists to selflessly support the white lead. This character is usually a highly agreeable, subservient and not at all intimidating Black friend, or an old wise Black man or a Black maid or a Black football player who Sandra Bullock takes care of. The American Society of Magical Negroes presents itself as a satire where this concept is the main focus, which sounds like the set up to a brilliant film.
Immediately framed as Black Harry Potter (down to the whimsical music), with the idea that there’s a secret society of magical Black people who are assigned to make white people feel good about themselves. We are introduced to Aren (Justice Smith) an apologetic, people pleasing young Black man standing in a room full of white people. At one point Aren describes himself by stating, “I’m very nice. It’s like a flaw.” Within the first five minutes of the movie, he is recruited into said American Society of Magical Negros by Roger (David Alan Grier) who touts himself as “basically a wizard”. Early on, Roger informs Aren that there is nothing more dangerous than an uncomfortable white person, since their discomfort always leads to violence. The idea being that the American Society’s entire mission statement surrounds the idea of self-preservation by way of making things more comfortable for white people and in turn saving the world. Alen joins, but is highly skeptical of their tactics, as he believes to be a magical negro means losing one’s self-worth. This becomes more apparent when Alen is paired with a white client who he must help keep happy by essentially kissing his ass. There is also a love story here that sees Aren falling for the love interest of his client, but it really only works to distract from the film’s satirical premise.
The more I write about this movie the more frustrated I am with its wasted potential. Much of my viewing experience was spent questioning why things were falling so flat. The concept is undeniably intriguing and worthy of a feature length film. The acting is very much a high point. Smith does a great job of presenting the protagonist as not simply a sad sack, but an actual Black person traumatized by growing up in white society, which I found very relatable. There are also funny moments. The countless movie references are spot on. Grier is a comedic genius and delivers multiple times. When Nicole Byer (who plays the Headmistress) honors Crispus Attucks by saying “He took one for the team”, I legitimately laughed out loud. It should all work, but it just doesn’t. And for that, I blame writer/director Kobi Libii. The choices he makes throughout this project left me no choice. His choice to place the love story above the movie’s satirical framework. A script with a scattershot of comedic moments, opting not to use these jokes as a launching point to develop a film that holds more weight. Again, there are some really good one-liners in this. There are also entire sequences which are on the verge of profound. Conversations which broach white privilege, corporate co-opting of Black culture and the false idea of meritocracy. It all just needed to be expanded upon and incorporated into this story a lot better.
There is a speech nearing the end made by Aren which makes a powerful statement about what it’s like to be Black in America. The problem is that it’s not enough when we are coming off of recent Black satire the caliber of American Fiction. It only makes it more obvious how poorly executed The American Society of Magical Negroes is.
Final Thought: I know this film has been getting a ton of hate from conservatives online who haven’t watched the movie, but are quite triggered from the statements the trailer makes. And that’s yet another reason why I wish this was a better movie. I truly believe in better hands The American Society of Magical Negros is talked about with such reverence as something like Hollywood Shuffle. While the movie is nowhere near as bad as you may hear,it is a frustrating watch all the same. A good satire should make you uncomfortable. This is a very tame film, less concerned with putting a mirror up to society, than with pleasing as wide of an audience as possible. The film itself proclaims being Black but palatable is a bad thing, but then proceeds to create a Black satire with most of the edges cut off. What I got was Disney+, when what I needed was Paul Mooney.
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Written and directed by Ava DuVernay, adapted from Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent, Origin attempts to explain the caste system (to Americans).
Using the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin as an entry point into this story, we follow Wilkerson (played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist asked to write an article in response to the murder. At first, she declines, but after suffering a series of family tragedies, Wilkerson sets out to write a novel where she hypothesizes that racism in the United States is simply an aspect of caste. Her research/journey explores the Deep South during Jim Crow, the lead up to the Holocaust in Germany and the caste system in India. She attempts to tie the lives of some of the most persecuted people in history together through the idea that there is an imposed social hierarchy throughout the world, kept intact by violence, called the caste system.
Side Note:Origin, like many of DuVernay’s notable works,is a great introduction to history that has been shielded from many Americans (speaking as one). And this is where she shines, taking a historical event or idea and building an entire film exploring parts of the story not mentioned in text books. Her films give us a fuller history from the perspective of marginalized groups, rightfully documenting a more correct way of examining historical ideas we thought we knew.
The acting is excellent across the board. Especially from the supporting cast, including the likes of Jon Bernthal (who plays Wilkerson’s husband) and Niecy Nash (who plays Wilkerson’s sister), who are the clear standout performances of the movie. But it’s DuVernay’s direction that is the high point of this project. It is through well-constructed sequences that we are introduced to multiple stories of people living during watershed moments in history. These dramatizations succeed in invoking the necessary emotion needed to nail home the greater ideas at play. We witness a book burning in 1930’s Germany, a Black child told he can’t swim with his white friends because of Jim Crow laws and get a brief but powerful look at the history of the Dalit people in India (lead by Dalit scholar Suraj Yengde, who plays himself in the movie). DuVernay uses these and many other sequences to bring Wilkerson’s thesis to life.
There is also an attempt to tie Wilkerson’s own story into these events that doesn’t quite work as well as I want to believe it should have. The ideas DuVernay portrays and Wilkerson speaks to, translate into something so thought provoking, that when we are asked time and again to reenter Wilkerson’s personal life and/or witness another personal anecdote, these scenes come off as a mix between flat and at times forced. Wilkerson’s story is full of tragedy, but I found myself unable to invest in it as much as I did the rest of the film; and her story is probably half of the two hour and twenty-one-minute runtime. In my opinion, this problem stems from adapting a book like this into a theatrical narrative instead of a documentary. But again, the number of balls DuVernay keeps in the air throughout this film is impressive. The fact that not every aspect was nailed, transforms Origin from a potentially great movie, into a very good movie.
Final Thought: The ultimate goal of Origin is to bring people together. To unite in class struggle through knowledge of the systems we live in. And while I didn’t think it was as successful of a piece as 13th, Selma or When They See Us, this is clearly DuVernay’s most ambitious work due to its ideas of global connectivity, and really does deserve to be seen in a group or with your family. Origin is a communal movie. And for many it will be another step in breaking through the propaganda of our upbringing. And for that, I’m grateful Origin exists.
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Monica (Trace Lysette) is a trans woman who after years of being away, apprehensively travels back to her hometown to visit her estranged dying mother (Patricia Clarkson). When a Hollywood movie focuses on a marginalized group, more often than not there are large aspects of the story which are sensationalized and exploitative. But thankfully this story was not made for the cisgender gaze. Not bogged down by exposition, we are asked to gather information through nuanced interactions Monica has with the world around her, her sister-in-law, her brother, their children and her mother who may recognize Monica but refuse to acknowledge Monica for who she truly is. Amidst the reality we live in of a violent and ever-present nationwide (worldwide) anti-trans movement, co-writer/director Andrea Pallaoro and writer Orlando Tirado make a conscious decision to present this trans story as a piece of slice of life realism. It’s a decision which pays off. Trace Lysette, who is on screen for every second of this film, intimately portrays a woman who carries with her the trauma of a tragic situation that is all too common in regards to LGBTQ+ youth. A queer child who is kicked out of the house at a young age; rejected by their own family and loved ones. Now grown and asked to interact with those who’ve ostracized her, Lysette is tasked with giving a performance that is not only personal, but also representative of so many who share very similar stories. And Lysette more than comes through with a powerhouse and award worthy performance. The direction focuses on Monica’s existence; her routines, her mannerisms, her body, her job, her anxiety, her motivations, her hopes and dreams, her joy and pain, and the isolation felt by someone alienated from family. Monica is a triumph of trans storytelling. It’s a somber movie about attempted reconciliation and forgiveness in a situation where neither may be an option. It’s a movie which shows the results of parental abandonment. And above all things, it’s a movie dedicated to spending time with a woman who is trans, as she moves through this world.
9. John Wick: Chapter 4:
It always struck me as funny that an entire action movie franchise could be built around a man with visibly bad knees. While I’ve liked all of the John Wick movies well enough, I was never into them as much as everyone else was. This final chapter changed all of that. We meet up with John Wick as he attempts to earn his freedom once again, and in doing so must face off against the most ruthless enemy yet. This may sound somewhat routine, but shockingly John Wick: Chapter 4 is not only the best of the bunch, but one of the best action movies I’ve ever seen. Director Chad Stahelski has been at the helm for all four of these and in this final chapter we get to witness him perfect his craft before our very eyes. Containing the most memorable video game inspired villains, countless impressively long fight sequences with choreography that had my jaw on the floor and a pistols at dawn finale worthy of the samurai/western films Stahelski had attempted to pay homage to throughout the series. Chapter 4 was better than it had any business being.
8. American Fiction:
Monk is a Black novelist who can’t seem to get published anymore. He is told by said publishers that his writing isn’t “Black enough”. So, as a joke he writes a manuscript filled with only the worst Black stereotypes and to his surprise and disgust it gets published and becomes a bestseller. American Fiction is a bit of Robert Townsend and a bit of Spike Lee. A bit of Hollywood Shuffle and a bit of Bamboozled. It’s a comedy examining how Black people must navigate white America in order to achieve monetary success. Within first time writer/director Cord Jefferson’s superbly crafted script we get a clear picture of how white people fetishize and commodify Black stories, uplifting only the ones that satisfy the stereotypes. This point is captured in what is my favorite line of the year, “White people think they want the truth. They don’t. They just want to feel absolved.” But it’s not just the dialogue which makes this script so brilliant, it’s the juxtaposition between the two stories it tells. The synopsis contains the satirical portion, where Monk unwittingly becomes famous by writing a novel rife with stereotypes. But the main story is a drama centered around Monk dealing with everyday hardships. Monk is depressed. His mom is sick. And a tragedy has brought his estranged family together for the first time in years. This is the storyline that portrays the Monk character as an actual human being. This storyline interwoven with a satirical one that sees Monk dehumanized, hammers home the point of this entire film. America is not interested in the humanizing of Black people, but only showcasing sensationalized, trauma porn depictions which satisfy the needs of guilt-ridden white people. American Fiction is a Black movie for Black people, that criticizes Black entertainment made for white people.
7. Napoleon:
I walked out of the theater absolutely fascinated with this film. Admittedly it’s kind of a messy acquired taste, but in retrospect that only reinforced my admiration for Napoleon as an ambitious work of genius. Following the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix), director Ridley Scott and writer David Scarpa show an unflattering portrait of a man that would become Emperor of France and have a series of conflicts/wars named after him. Historically regarded as a military genius who was able to build up France’s army into a feared conquering force. He was also known as a war monger, narcissist and a master propagandist. Scott chooses to tell the story of Napoleon as an insecure tyrant on and off the battlefield. Most of the film is focused on his marriage to Joséphine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby) and their abusive and codependent relationship. This relationship is in fact the heart of the movie. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how epic the battle sequences were, but award worthy sequences are only secondary to the tale of Napoleon and Joséphine. It’s all so captivating, due to Scott, Phoenix and Kirby’s willingness to take giant swings. Despite the criticism this film is receiving (due to historical inaccuracies) and how it is very apparent while watching that there is a longer (arguably more perfect) version of Napoleon out there (Scott has already promised an over 4-hour long cut, which will be released on Apple TV+), the film that I saw should see award consideration even in its incomplete state.
6. Earth Mama:
This feature length debut from Savanah Leaf follows a pregnant single mother named Gia (Tia Nomore) living in the Bay Area, navigating a system looking to take her children away from her. She’s already had two of her children put into foster care because of prior issues with drugs and her current financial and housing status. Gia visits her case worker who tells her that though Gia is currently clean and has been attending all of the courses required by social services, the chances of her getting to keep her unborn child is low. Gia explains that she can’t pick up the extra hours of work it would take to bring her financial situation to a level that would get her children returned to her, and satisfy all of the requirements of the state at the same time. Her life consists of getting limited visitation with her children, having to steal diapers she can’t afford and getting constant visits from Child Protective Services who don’t seem to care about her hardships, her mental health or if she will ever see her children again. Gia goes to her mandated classes and listens to others tell their personal stories, all concerning child separation. This class is run by a Miss Carmen (Erika Alexander) who seems to understand and actively tries to help her. Leaf’s presentation is excellent, giving her film a real documentary feel visually and tonally, if only to more intimately focus on this group of women in a non-exploitative or sensationalized way. Humanizing women who are always depicted in a negative light. Showing how the system works and the impossible decisions these women must make within a system built to hurt them. At its core, Earth Mama is about generational trauma brought on by the systemic separation of Black and Brown families in America. As heartbreaking as the story being told is, Leaf maintains an undercurrent of hope throughout. Hope, not from any government intervention, but that which stems from community support. Earth Mama holds true to the idea that “we keep us safe”.
5. Godzilla Minus One:
I am nowhere near an expert on Kaiju movies. In fact, I’ve only seen four of the nearly forty movies made starring this prehistoric reptilian monster. So, for me to say that this is the best Godzilla movie I’ve ever seen, maybe doesn’t hold the intended weight. But that doesn’t stop it from being the truth. Godzilla Minus One is everything you come to the movies for. Set in 1945 post-war Japan, a disgraced Japanese Kamikaze pilot Koichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki) returns to his decimated village. He ends up finding companionship with a displaced young woman named, Noriko (Minami Hamabe) who is caring for an infant child. Suffering from PTSD, Koichi takes a job retrieving ocean mines, teaming up with a group of characters that bring much needed levity to the situation. For the first time things are beginning to look up. For the first time there is hope. And that’s when Godzilla comes. Writer/director Takashi Yamazaki very much infuses a real sense of scale, spectacle and horror into the Godzilla visuals and destruction, as the attacks on land and sea beg to be experienced on the biggest screen possible. And while this aspect is important for any Godzilla film, the pre-Godzilla storyline is so strong, containing nuanced characters you actually care about, that this film could’ve worked without a monster at all. Though Yamazaki makes sure to highlight how his humans vs. Godzilla plot works to not necessarily remake the wheel, but reemphasize why Godzilla films are so great to begin with.
4. Poor Things:
Poor Things is set in an alternative Europe where the steampunk aesthetic is a reality and stunning costume design is everywhere you look. We are introduced to an elderly surgeon/ mad scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), referred by those around him as God, who lives with a bunch of mutant creations, as well as Bella (Emma Stone). Bella is technically also one of his creations. He keeps her trapped in the house, though initially she doesn’t realize it as he has given her the brain of an infant. Dr. Baxter then hires one of his students to document Bella’s ability to learn and grow, which she does at a rapid clip. Soon Bella desires her freedom, believing the best way to acquire more knowledge is through experiencing life. This desire which leads her on an odyssey through Europe with the pompous Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo, in one of the most hilarious roles of the year) who instantly becomes obsessed with her. The more autonomy Bella gains, the more frustrated the men
around her become, as most every man in this openly believe women are naive and should be protected, reprimanded, imprisoned and/or experimented on. Bella’s liberation is sexually graphic and politically charged, and it’s absolutely thrilling to watch. As she brazenly navigates the world of insecure men, it becomes a real joy witnessing Bella gain her liberation. By the end of this journey Emma Stone has given the best performance of her career, Tony McNamara has written a fuck the patriarchy script with echoes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that should win him an Oscar, and director Yorgos Lanthimos has created a feminist allegory that stands as a fitting culmination to his bizarre and visually striking filmography thus far.
3. Beau Is Afraid:
Filmed as a horror, delivered as a dark absurdist comedy and best described as an odyssey of guilt or guilt-horror, Beau Is Afraid is bizarre and demented in all the ways I love. And it’s all so Ari Aster. Opening with Beau’s birth and his first contact with the pain of existing, Beau Is Afraid sees adult Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) a man riddled with anxiety and crippled by insecurity, living alone in an apartment within a hellscape of a city. He lives his life in fear of everything. His only truth seems to be the knowledge that all things could potentially kill him; even having an orgasm. On his way to the airport to visit his mother, Beau accidentally leaves his keys in the front door, and upon going back for them he discovers they’ve vanished…or have been taken. This anxiety event vaults Beau into a nearly three-hour surrealist journey fueled by parental guilt and highlighted by a series of nightmarish interactions, profound moments of self-discovery, the best production design of 2023 and Beau being continuously blamed for things he never did. Beau is tricked, chased, shot at, drugged, kidnapped, drugged again and then the movie gets crazy. With a dash of Freud and whole lot of Kafka-inspired humor in a Lord of the Rings format, Beau Is Afraid is an unhinged therapy session that deserves just as much acclaim as Aster’s other films, if not more.
2. How to Blow Up a Pipeline:
A small group of young people (some self-proclaimed climate activists, some not) from all across the United States, come together in West Texas with the goal of blowing up an oil pipeline. Adapted from Andreas Malm’s nonfiction book, “How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a World on Fire”, in which it is argued that sabotage (property damage) is the most effective form of “local climate activism”, this movie continues in the spirit of its source material, presenting an unapologetic call to direct action. Director Daniel Goldhaber along with co-writers Ariela Barer (who also plays the lead character) and Jordan Sjol’s choice to construct this story as a heist-thriller was a stylized stroke of genius, adding an additional layer of tension onto a story containing sky-high stakes from inception. Very much coming across as a collective passion project, the filmmakers as well as a cast which includes some very engaging performances from the likes of Lukas Gage (The White Lotus), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Jayme Lawson (The Woman King) and Barer herself, take careful consideration in continuously highlighting the revolutionary, communal and anarchist culture and reasoning at the heart of this feature. In the midst of what is a fast-paced film, we are asked to sit with beautiful shots of desert landscape, if only to reaffirm what it’s all for. We get flashbacks that accurately portray how an entire generation could be pushed to these lengths. How to Blow Up a Pipeline asks only one question. What constitutes true and effective activism during a time of immediate crisis? And this question is asked in the most edge-of-your-seat way possible, without sacrificing its “by any means necessary” message. If you know me, you know this is definitely my kind of heist movie.
1. Past Lives:
Is there such a thing as a soulmate? Is there such a thing as fate? In writer/director Celine Song’s feature debut, she examines these notions when telling the story of two childhood sweethearts, Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), who are separated when Nora’s family leaves South Korea. They lose touch but not their connection, as throughout the years they correspond via the internet, holding on to their unwavering attraction. It isn’t until over twenty years later that they mutually agree to meet when Hae Sung decides to travel to New York, where Nora now lives with her husband Arthur (John Magaro). More than just your average love triangle drama, Song creates a quiet masterpiece, which through her characters, her direction and some stellar performances, tells the story of the passage of time as it pertains to the fate of two individuals. It’s not until the second half of the movie that these two see each other as adults, but during every moment Nora and Hae Sung share the screen, Song constructs a space where the world falls away and her characters are allowed to live the purity of their bond, albeit knowing that at any moment the real world will come crashing down upon them as time moves forward. Holding true to its thematic concepts of the allure of forbidden love, the idea of fate and our cultural connection between the past and present, Past Lives is both visually and tonally brilliant enough to be considered a theatrical cousin to a movie like In the Mood for Love. Hence, my favorite film of the year.
Movies that just missed my list (In order):
30. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
29. Creed III
28. Killers of the Flower Moon
27. The Killer
26. Dicks: The Musical
25. The Royal Hotel
24. Anatomy of a Fall
23. Blue Jean
22. The Blackening
21. Baby Ruby
20. The Creator
19. The Mission
18. Barbie
17. The Holdovers
16. Dream Scenario
15. Monster
14. The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
13. They Cloned Tyrone
12. Radical
11. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
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Not surprisingly the new film from Aki Kaurismäki (the writer/director with the best name in cinema) is ending up on people’s favorites list. As the credits rolled, I sat there knowing for certain that Fallen Leaves holds a charm that becomes undeniable; “becomes” being the key word there. This charm is coupled with Kaursmäki’s ability to make mundane or uninteresting things, absolutely pop in a way that is nothing short of masterful.
It’s a love story set in Helsinki following two depressed people, Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) and Ansa (Alma Pöysti). They initially lock eyes at a local karaoke bar, but a series of whimsical mishaps keeps them apart for a while. The story is fairly formulaic, as a way to highlight interactions we are supposed to invest in. Holappa and Ansa both have a best friend they interact with throughout. During these interactions we get a taste of the dry humor that overtakes the movie. In fact, all interactions in the film are dry. At times darkly dry, but always dry and always from stone-faced characters, abruptly starting and stopping conversations, be they meaningful or meandering.
Unfortunately, because of this dryness and my inability to connect with the characters until later into the movie, a majority of Fallen Leaves (around an hour of the hour and twenty-one-minute runtime)was a series of aspects I highly enjoyed, mixed with a singular aspect which kept me from connecting until the very end. Did I mention how dry this movie is?
My fragmented viewing experience made this a stunted watch. At times while the characters were talking about nothing or making with the “funny”, my mind wandered, fixating on a vibrant red couch or the shade of green on a work uniform, or the lighting or the blocking of a particular scene. And so, I sat in the theater for the longest time deciding on whether to admire the scenery, the set design and other technical aspects which are done to perfection, or make another failed attempt at connecting with deadpan characters.
Final Thought: Eventually I was more than a little charmed, finding the final twenty minutes beautiful and profound in ways that made me immediately want to rewatch the entire thing. This epiphany came during a song preformed at the Karaoke bar by the Finnish group Maustetytöt. From this pop song all of the pieces came together for me. Expressed via nihilistic lyrics justifying why the characters act the way they do, while also extending a metaphorical hand of relatability from said characters to the audience. After this, my eyes suddenly became open to Kaurismäi’s entire concept of finding love in a sea of despair, as a universally shared emotion. I do look forward to a second viewing.
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Director Pablo Larraín and Netflix comes through with one of the more bizarre concepts of 2023. A black and white black-comedy about Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, now depicted as a 250-year-old French-born vampire.
In this tale, Pinochet begins his life as Claude Pinoche (Jamie Vadell), growing up as a child-vampire in a Parisian orphanage, before becoming an officer under Louis XVI and witnessing the beheading of Marie Antoinette. After which he vows to fight against all revolutions. Faking his own death, Pinochet travels the world and as a soldier, fights against revolutions in Haiti, Russia and Algeria, before making his way to Chile, staging the infamous coup d’etat of 1973 and becoming dictator of Chile. Only to (later in life) fake his death once again and live out his existence on a sad little farm as a depressed old man, with his wife (Gloria Münchmeyer) and Russian assistant (Alfredo Castro). All of this is shown as a prelude, told through narration which continues throughout the movie, acting as exposition.
The rest of this film sees Pinochet whining about how unfairly he was treated/remembered by the Chilean people and going on about how he wishes he were dead. His spoiled children come for a visit to discuss their inheritance. And a nun (Paula Luchsinger) pretends to be an accountant in order to get close to the family and potentially kill Pinochet.
Though a good quarter of the movie is exposition, if you don’t know who Pinochet was or a little about Chilean history going in, then El Conde may likely become tedious. One could blame this on Pinochet not being as recognizable of a figure (to Americans) as the focuses of Larraín’s previous films, Princess Diana and Jackie Kennedy. This absurdist comedy about a South American fascist will garner even less overall interest from those not willing to brush up on their history, as the Chilean director helming this project doesn’t seem too concerned with producing a movie accessible to those audiences. Obviously, those who are interested in this section of history will be able to stick with it long enough to get the most out of this satirical material.
In Larraín’s own words, the tone should come off as a mixture of satire and farce. And he does nail that combo. The characters are bratty and narcissistic in ways that are easy to watch in a comedic setting. With stand out performances from Münchmeyer and Luchsinger, I’d go so far as to say El Conde mimics a Wes Anderson film, only bleaker.
The cinematography from Edward Lachman (Far from Heaven, Carol) has this dreamlike/other worldly feel throughout, really emphasizing the modern fable component. There are magical realism sequences which are visually transcendent and an entire mood onto themselves.
Final Thought: The analogy of Pinochet being a bloodthirsty eternal vampire and the fact that the echoes of his ultra-violent regime are still felt in Chile to this day, works very well. The film itself is gruesome, as it should be given that the violence on-screen represents one of the most sadistic men who ever lived. I’ll say it again and again, I’m very happy to see unflattering depictions of tyrants. But outside of just making fun of the man, this movie stands as a cautionary tale about the result of fascism being allowed to fester. Playing with the literal notion that murder keeps fascists young. As thoroughly impressed as I was with the majority of El Conde, the tale Larraín tells is not as interesting as the grand setup would have one believe.
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Todd Haynes (Dark Waters, Carol), a director not known for shying away from heavy subject matter, takes on an infamous story ripped from 90’s tabloids. Well, sort of. The script itself is a fictionalized account of the Mary Kay Letourneau story and takes place twenty years after said events.
May December centers around an actress named Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) who is staying at the home of Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) to shadow them as research for her upcoming film. Twenty years prior, Gracie had been a teacher who had sex with Joe, who was in seventh grade (thirteen years old) at the time. She had gotten pregnant, gone to prison, given birth in prison and after she was released, Gracie and Joe were married.
Gracie is portrayed as a passive aggressive, unapologetic and insecure woman in her mid-fifties. Joe is portrayed as a passive, obedient, man in his mid-thirties who has recently begun to question his past trauma. Elizabeth is the central character, portrayed as initially unassuming before forcibly building a connection and subsequent obsession with both Gracie and Joe. And though the entire process of mimicking and maybe humanizing a pedophile seems to disgust most everyone she comes into contact with, her reckless nature and a performance from Portman that deserves to be highlighted and dissected, does justify why an already captivating story is told through interactions with an interloper.
Up to this point in my review, May December sounds like an absolute must-see. And if it wasn’t for choices Haynes makes, it would’ve been. It is obvious that the story is compelling as is, but Haynes chooses to add an extra overdramatic layer of sauce onto an already sauced dish. This includes the addition of an aggressively melodramatic score, which is ridiculously distracting and treats the subject matter facetiously. Also, the addition of a sexual tension element between Elizabeth and certain characters came off as so completely forced that it all feels like a Brian De Palma or Paul Verhoeven film; which may not sound like a bad thing, but is very ill-fitting and non-complimentary in regards to the telling of this particular story. There are scenes in the back half of this movie which attempt some Ingmar Bergman that works a bit better. The film also keeps you intentionally at a distance. And maybe in Haynes’ mind this is for the best. Although, it comes off as very mismanaged, as we aren’t allowed to connect with anyone onscreen.
Final Thought: With a script written by Samy Burch that makes it a point to examine how an adult relationship built on childhood sexual assault affects not only those directly involved, but family, friends and offspring, this is a film with a strong foundation. Haynes is the single reason why May December isn’t as potent as it could’ve been. It’s that simple. Sometimes good directors inexplicably fumble.
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Often times there are things I found funny as a child that I look back on and find absolutely cringe now. One of those things was my obsession with the duo of Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell.
My secret hope was the guys would take a darker or more subversive approach to the original material (like Barbie or Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure) seeing as their entire fan base are nearing their forties. But this is just the same old garbage, the same old characters but older, doing the same old derpy, screechy slapstick for kids. And what they do is such a specific form of 90’s Nickelodeon comedy, kids today may not only find it unfunny, but childish as well.
A sequel to the 1997 movie, sees an adult Dex (Kenan Thompson) forced to get a job at his childhood place of employment, Good Burger, which is now somehow owned by his childhood friend and local idiot, Ed (Kel Mitchell). The main storyline centers around Dex being a manipulative money hungry entrepreneur trying to get to Ed’s money. This results in a representative from a huge corporation (played by Lil Rel Howery, who is given nothing to do here) tricking Ed into selling Good Burger.
There is an abundance of recognizable catch phrases, as well as cameos from Nickelodeon has-beens and other “stars”. There’s a gag where Ed has kids that all look and dress like him. And in the final thirty minutes Good Burger 2 does actively criticize automation and unfair labor practices. But don’t be fooled, none of that in any way makes this movie any less of an embarrassment. The production value is absolute trash. This movie looks and feels like it was put together in a week.
Final Thought: Good Burger 2 only works when these two childlike characters enter the real world and interact with “normal” people who seem visibly bothered by their existence.We still have to suffer through these obnoxious characters, but as least we are momentarily given the illusion of others suffering with us. This should’ve been an SNL skit. And even then, it would’ve been too long.
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I walked out of the theater absolutely fascinated with this film. Admittedly it’s kind of a messy acquired taste, but in retrospect that only reinforced my admiration for Napoleon as an ambitious work of genius.
Following the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix), director Ridley Scott and writer David Scarpa show an unflattering portrait of a man that would become Emperor of France and have a series of conflicts/wars named after him; the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). Historically regarded as a military genius who was able to build up France’s army into a feared conquering force. He was also known as a war monger, narcissist and a master propagandist. Scott chooses to tell the story of Napoleon as an insecure tyrant on and off the battlefield.
Most of the film is focused on his marriage to Joséphine de Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby) and their abusive and codependent relationship. This relationship is in fact the heart of the movie. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how epic the battle sequences were, but award worthy sequences are only secondary to the tale of Napoleon and Joséphine. It’s all so captivating, no matter how deranged things get between them, due to Scott, Phoenix and Kirby’s willingness to take giant swings, resulting in performances which slightly invoke Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Blasphemy, I know.
Scott definitely has a specific story he wants to tell here. Within the first forty minutes it is quite apparent where his loyalties lie. And once I understood the satirical framing at play, the unhinged feel of the film became something I never wanted to look away from. The fact that Scott seems more enamored with Napoleon’s toxic relationships with both his wife and the men he leads into battle, than simply retelling another 1000% historically accurate biopic snoozer, is honestly delicious. I sat in my seat and ate it all up. The more awkward, the better.
Final Thought: There is so much packed into this two-hour and thirty-eight-minute film and I wish it would have been longer. If for nothing else than to bring a bit more balance and connective tissue into this near perfect film. While we see Napoleon’s childish personality on full display, a historically relevant look at how close he was to his mother (a well-documented fact) would have added context. Napoleon was also known for being a charismatic leader. We see him lead, but barely get a taste of his charisma, as to why so many men were more than willing to die for him. So, despite the criticism this film is receiving (due to inaccuracies) and how it is very apparent while watching that there is a longer (arguably more perfect) version of Napoleon out there (Scott has already promised an over 4-hour long cut, which will be released on Apple TV+), the film that I saw should see award consideration.
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A David Fincher movie? Sign me up. With a Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score? And a protagonist with an ever-present nihilistic inner monologue? Ummm…is this my new favorite movie? It’s not, but it’s still very good.
Fincher brings to the big screen a story adapted from a popular French graphic novel, which follows the life of an unnamed assassin. And that’s it. A story so simple that it is impossible to spoil. Fincher gets this. He displays an understanding of the material and how the person at the center of it sees the world. His direction (with some masterful cinematography from Erik Messerschmidt) allows for audiences to feel the Killer’s isolation, the cold unforgiving world he exists in and the claustrophobic ever-present danger that closes in on this man during every moment of this movie. Fincher does what he does and does it to perfection.
Narrated by “The Killer” (Michael Fassbender), we follow this solitary assassin during a stakeout. With only his meticulous inner monologue to keep him occupied, he walks us through his outlook on life as a person who kills for money. Not quite holding a misanthropic/Travis Bickle vision of the world, the Killer’s monologue is a mix of forced disengagement, skepticism and nihilism with a tinge of curiosity. The details of said monologues are often couched in random facts, philosophical insights and anecdotes; historical and otherwise, depending on his actions in that very moment. Some of the Killer’s mantras include: “stick to the plan”, “anticipate, never improvise”, “trust no one” and “forbid empathy”. And everything seems to be going according to plan until he mistakenly misses a target, which propels him into an entire movie’s worth of battles with ruthless employers who now see him as a loose end.
Fassbender embodies this man of few spoken words, as someone who slips through this world constantly attempting to convince himself to do what it takes in order to succeed, all while maintaining a detachment from the violence he puts into the world with such ease that we develop a bond with this cold-blooded killer as he details how cold-blooded he is.
Final Thought: The vibe is a dreary, dimly lit and stylish revenge story with a ruthless protagonist. A tale built for the cinema, from a director who can do no wrong. Currently available on Netflix, I just wish I could’ve seen this in the theaters. The Killer is introspective John Wick. And yes, I now need a series of these films.
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You know how the Fast & Furious movies are made for “bros who love cars”? Like really really LOVE cars? This is that but for American Christians who obsessively fantasize about becoming vigilantes, traveling to South America and saving brown children from traffickers. For how distasteful I believe the movie actually becomes, I must say that Sound of Freedom had one hell of a marketing campaign.
Synopsis: Former American government agent becomes a vigilante, traveling to South America on a quest to rescue children from traffickers.
It’s PG-13 and thankfully doesn’t show anything “explicit”, but what it does contain are countless protracted sequences displaying the lead up to child harm, knowing that’s what their audiences came to see. These sequences are filmed in an excessively lecherous manner that doesn’t progress the story one bit (directed by Alejandro Monteverde). If you are familiar with the term torture porn, then Sound of Freedom contains that, but in faith-based form.
On a technical level it’s not the worst movie ever. Sure, there are heavy white savior vibes. And sure, the characters are all made easily digestible, but that simply stems from a lazy script from Monteverde and Rod Barr.
Final Thought: Jim Caviezel also gives a shockingly stiff performance, which doesn’t help things one bit. That said, Monteverde is talented enough to get audiences from point A to point B. I simply couldn’t get past the lingering and leering of specific sequences. In conjunction with the subject matter, these directorial choices felt exploitative. I understand that the subject of child trafficking is heavy, but the way this is filmed is definitely by design.
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