Birds of Paradise (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Two ballet dancers competing for the top

Posted on September 26, 2021 by kaist455

“Birds of Paradise” is rather disappointing in two main aspects. On one side, it seems to be a pulpy melodrama about a cutthroat artistic competition peppered with some sexual tension, but I must tell you that it is much tamer compared to, yes, Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” (2010). On the other side, it looks like trying to present the realistic depiction of the strain and pressure from competing for the top, but the result is not so interesting or enlightening compared to Robert Altman’s “The Company” (2003), which can be regarded as an antidote to “Black Swan” if you feel so drained after watching it.

At first, the story is unfolded mainly via the viewpoint of Kate Sanders (Diana Silvers), a young American ballet dancer who recently enrolls in a prestigious ballet academy in Paris. She is less experienced compared to other students because she was actually a basketball player before eventually deciding to become a ballet dancer, and Madame Brunelle (Jacqueline Bisset), the strict and fastidious principal of the academy, emphasizes to her that whatever she achieved in US means nothing in Paris, but she is still determined to try her best for the chance to join the Opéra national de Paris.

However, what she and other students will soon have to go through is quite arduous and demanding to say the least. 15 male students and 15 female students are respectively evaluated every week, and only five students in each group will remain after 8 weeks as others will be let go one by one just for being at the bottom of the group. After this grueling period, the remaining 10 students must show their best in front of several judging members including Madame Brunelle, and then only one male student and one female student will be selected for the Opéra national de Paris.

Besides her relatively inexperienced status compared to other students, Kate has several other disadvantages. As a humble middle-class girl mainly depending on a scholarship fortunately provided to her, she cannot spend money easily on many necessary stuffs for her training including ballet shoes, and we are not so surprised when she attempts a bit of shoplifting when she visits a local shop for ballet dancers along with other students.

In addition, Kate has to get accustomed to how many of others around her often regard her with condescension, and she unfortunately happens to share the room with Marine Elise Durand (Kristine Frøseth), another American girl in the group who incidentally had the very unpleasant encounter with Kate on their first day in the academy. When Kate mentions Marine’s dead twin brother who also incidentally trained in the academy before his tragic death, Marine instantly responds with furious anger, and we accordingly get a brief but explosive moment of catfight between these two girls.

Nevertheless, it does not take much time for them to make amends to each other as they get to know and then befriend each other. When Kate is depressed to find herself at the bottom of the group in the first evaluation, Marine willingly helps her in more than one way, and Kate becomes someone to lean on for Marine, who has been quite unhappy since her twin brother’s death. Although they are certainly well aware that only one member of their group will get the spot in the Opéra national de Paris, they eventually make a private pact for assuring each other that they will support each other to the end.

Mainly thanks to Marine, Kate gradually begins to climb up and up in the list, while also accepting that she must be ready for doing whatever she can do for reaching to the top. Besides approaching closer to the No.1 male dancer in the group for having him as a partner to improve her skill, she also tries something many ballet dancers do behind their back just for improving herself more and more, but she does not tell anything to Marine because, as time goes by, it becomes quite apparent to her that Marine will be the one she must beat in the end.

In the meantime, the screenplay by director/writer Sarah Adina Smith, which based on A.K. Small’s novel “Bright Burning Stars”, shifts its focus a bit toward Marine, and we get to know how much she has been confused and conflicted. While her rich estranged parents do not provide her much support except money, the only comfort besides Kate comes from a young musician she happens to meet at a party, but their relationship is soon going nowhere as she is pushed to the extreme along with Kate and other remaining students as their eventual audition day is approaching.

Around that narrative, we are supposed to root for both of our two heroines, but the movie unfortunately does not provide the emotional ground for that, and we come to observe their competition without much care or attention. Although Kristine Frøseth and Diana Silvers do their best in addition to looking convincing during their dance scenes, their characters often feel underdeveloped, and that is the main reason why the finale does not work as well as intended. In case of several other main cast members in the film, they are usually required to do nothing more than filling their respective spots, and Caroline Goodall and Jacqueline Bisset are particularly wasted in their thankless supporting roles.

In conclusion, “Birds of Paradise” is not entirely without fun as occasionally dabbling with some pulpy moments including the ones involved with a lurid secret club, but it ultimately leaves empty impressions as hesitating to go over the top like “Black Swan” or delve deep into more realism and verisimilitude like “The Company”. I do not feel like wasting my time, but I would rather recommend you to watch either “Black Swan” or “The Company” instead.

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Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Here comes Jamie

Posted on September 25, 2021 by kaist455

“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”, which was released on Amazon Prime a few weeks ago, is as energetic and flamboyant as demanded while also being as sweet and poignant as required. Based on the stage musical of the same which was in turn adapted from the 2011 British television documentary “Jamie: Drag Queen at 16”, the movie constantly delights and amuses us as cheerfully bouncing along with its gay adolescent hero, and it also surprises and touches us via genuinely sincere and poignant moments coming from its hero and several other characters around him.

The story of the movie mainly revolves around the emotional journey and growth of a 16-year-old boy named Jamie New (Max Harwood), and the opening part showing his daily life reminds us of how many sexual minority kids like him in UK and many other western countries have been allowed to show and express more of themselves and their sexuality these days. Besides his caring mother Margaret (Sarah Lanchshire), many people in his neighborhood in Sheffield, South Yorkshire have accepted him for years, and so have most of the students in his school, though he is ridiculed by some meathead bully from time to time.

Anyway, Jamie decides to pursue his longtime aspiration more as having his 16th birthday and reflecting more on what he wants to be after his graduation. Much more emboldened by the very special birthday present from his mother, he becomes really serious about being a drag queen entertainer someday, so he does some active research on the drag queen business in Sheffield, and, what do you know, it turns out that there is actually a fashion store for drag queen entertainers in the city.

That fashion store in question has been run by an old former drag queen named Hugo Battersby (Richard E. Grant), who gladly becomes Jamie’s mentor after he discerns Jamie’s need and aspiration as talking a bit with Jamie. Besides teaching Jamie on how bold, confident, and fearless he should be during his first public drag queen performance, Hugo, who was once a raging drag queen during the 1980-90s, also shows Jamie those wild old days of him and many fellow sexual minority people, and we are poignantly reminded of how much people like them fought and struggled really hard for freedom and acceptance during that very eventful period. Although things were quite daunting for them due to the AIDS epidemic as well as the prejudice and ignorance of others, there were indeed social advances for them in the end, and it goes without saying that the freedom and acceptance enjoyed by Jamie and many other sexual minority kids at present come from their courageous efforts during that time.

Jamie initially wants to make a modest public debut as a new drag queen in the town, but, of course, the situation becomes more complicated than before because he unintentionally reveals his plan in front of his classmates. While his best friend Pritti Pasha (Lauren Patel), a smart and intelligent girl who wants to be a doctor someday, stands by him as usual, he has to face more prejudice from his school bullies, and there is also a private matter involved with his father, who does not want to accept or recognize his gay son at all while mostly occupied with living a new life with his second wife.

Filled with a number of stylish and flamboyant songs including “This Was Me” and “Work of Art”, the first half of the movie culminates to its highpoint as accompanied with “Over the Top”, and then the second half of the movie switches upon a plain and introspective mode via a series of sincere and earnest musical scenes. While Pritti comes to reveal more of herself via “It Means Beautiful”, Jamie and his mother become more honest and affectionate to each other than before as singing “My Man, Your Boy” together, and the movie even shows some understanding on a few supporting characters opposing Jamie’s lifestyle in one way or another.

The movie sometimes loses its narrative pacing as hurriedly hopping from one song after another, but that remains to be a minor flaw thanks to the fairly good qualities of the songs written by Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae, and the movie is also held together well by the engaging lead performance from newcomer Max Harwood. Besides ably handling many song and dance moments assigned to him, Harwood did a convincing job of presenting Jamie’s human qualities behind his showy attitude and appearance, and we consequently come to cheer for Jamie while observing how much he is matured in the end before making his first step into adulthood.

In case of the main cast members surrounding Harwood, they hold each own spot around him well. While Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, and Shobna Gulati have each own moment to shine, Richard E. Grant, who has been more notable thanks to his recent Oscar-nominated supporting turn in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (2018), is dependable as usual, and he certainly steals the show whenever he enters the screen.

Directed by Jonathan Butterell, “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” succeeds in winning my heart thanks to not only its enjoyable song and dance scenes but also its solid performances to be savored, and that means a lot considering that I am a discreet and introverted gay dude quite different from Jamie in many aspects. Yes, I did observe his story from the distance at first, but I eventually came to have more empathy and understanding on his need to express himself freely, and that is more than enough for recommending this charming musical film.

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Candyman (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Candyman is back….

Posted on September 23, 2021 by kaist455

Nia DaCosta’s latest film “Candyman”, a sequel to Barnard Rose’s iconic 1992 film of the same name, is a spooky genre reconstruction which tries both old and new stuffs. While staying fairly faithful to the dark and disturbing aspects of the 1992 film, the movie also attempts some fresh new ideas and variations, and it is mostly successful even though it occasionally seems to be trying to handle a bit too many things together within its rather short running time (91 minutes).

After the unnerving prologue scene set in the Cabrini-Green Housing project of Chicago in 1977, the movie promptly moves forward to 2019, and we are introduced to a young African American visual artist named Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Although his career has not advanced much while he keeps trying to find any new artistic inspiration, things are mostly fine for Anthony at present mainly thanks to his supportive girlfriend Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), and they have been happy together in their new residence located in Cabrini-Green.

Through Brianna’s older brother, Anthony comes to learn a bit more about the old dark history of Cabrini-Green, which was once one of the most notorious neighborhoods in the city due to crime and poverty. When Brianna’s older brother tells about a certain notorious incident depicted in the 1992 film and how that horrible incident was associated with a mysterious figure named Candyman, Anthony becomes quite intrigued to say the least, so he subsequently decides to look here and there around Cabrini-Green for getting some inspiration he really needs now.

Although Cabrini-Green has been changed a lot since that incident (I remember well how it looked quite plain and ordinary when I observed it from the distance during my three-week visit to Chicago in April 2010), there is still a shabby abandoned area which has not been gentrified yet, and Anthony cannot help but feel unnerved as looking into this area, just like when the plucky doctorate candidate heroine of the 1992 film did while doing her field research around the Cabrini-Green Housing project. He later meets a resident who gladly tells him a lot about not only Cabrini-Green but also Candyman and the dark historical background surrounding this mysterious figure, and that eventually gives Anthony the inspiration for his next work to be installed at a local art gallery where his girlfriend works.

While Anthony is quite disappointed with not getting enough attention and praise for his latest work, strange things begin to happen around him not long after he did something not so wise. Still not that serious about Candyman and the gruesome myth behind this figure, he casually called Candyman no less than five times, and, what do you know, he subsequently becomes disturbed more and more as it seems to him that Candyman does exist after all.

As Anthony desperately tries to understand what the hell is really going on around him, the screenplay by DaCosta and her co-writers Win Rosenfeld and Jordan Peele (He also served as one of the producers of the film, by the way) throws one disturbing moment after another along the story. There are several skillful scary scenes where mirror is effectively utilized for suspense and terror, and I also like how DaCosta and her cinematographer John Guleserian bring extra spookiness to the film via the visually striking presentation of a number of recognizable Chicago skyscrapers in foggy nocturnal background. As a guy who photographed lots of small and big building in the downtown area of Chicago besides Willis Tower in 11 years ago, I surely appreciate this impressive visual touch recurring throughout the movie.

In addition to having a little naughty fun with the world of art galleries and critics inhabited by Anthony and several other characters including his girlfriend (I can attest to you that you may come across such hipster folks like them when you drop by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago or those posh local galleries located in the West Side area of the city), the movie also explores several timely social subjects including racism and gentrification, and DaCosta makes an interesting artistic choice of presenting a number of flashback scenes via shadow puppetry animation. Although it stumbles more than once when it subsequently goes further from what has been gradually developed via these flashback scenes, the movie makes some clear and forthright points on its main subjects, and that is why you really need to stay during its end credits, which is more or less than the summary of its sincere and passionate reconstruction job on the Candyman myth established in the 1992 film.

The main cast members of the movie are engaging to watch, though I wish the movie allowed a bit more space for their characters to breath. While Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who has been more notable since his prominent supporting turns in “Aquaman” (2018) and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (2020), earnestly carries the film, Teyonah Parris and Colman Domingo are solid as usual in their respective substantial parts, and it is surely nice to see some of the main cast members of the 1992 film contributing a bit to the film.

In conclusion, “Candyman” is a competent horror film besides being a successful sequel to the 1992 film, which was unfortunately followed by two forgettable sequels without which we can live. Although the 1992 film is still more intriguing and terrifying in comparison, the movie mostly succeeds in doing its own stuffs, and DaCosta, who previously made “Little Woods” (2018), confirms here that she is indeed one of the most interesting African American filmmakers to watch.

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Nightbooks (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Now he must write scary stories to survive

Posted on September 22, 2021 by kaist455

Netflix movie “Nightbooks”, which was released in last week, is a familiar but solid dark fantasy tale decorated with a number of darkly enjoyable moments to be savored. While mostly unfolded within its rather limited fantasy background, the movie puts some good efforts on alternatively disturbing and entertaining the audiences, and you may end up wanting more after amused and thrilled enough during your viewing.

The opening scene swiftly thrusts its young hero into his perilous plight within a few minutes. Feeling quite miserable about how people around him do not appreciate much his little horror tales, Alex (Winslow Fegley) impulsively decides to burn his private book containing so many scary stories of his, so he goes down to the basement of an apartment building where he and his parents live, but, unfortunately, he soon finds himself entrapped by an evil witch named Natacha (Krysten Ritter), who promptly takes him to her magical house where only she can freely come and go.

Although she will not kill him for now, Natacha demands that Alex should write and then read a new scary story everyday, but Alex cannot easily do that for an understandable reason. Yes, as reflected a bit by the opening scene, he has been your average young horror fan who wielded his dark imagination a lot upon that private book of his, but he has been recently stuck in writer’s block as being afraid of getting ridiculed and ostracized more, and this certainly becomes a much bigger problem for him now.

At least, Natacha’s magical place has a huge library packed with many books of horror stories to the top. While there is nothing new for Natacha because she knows the content of every book in the library, these numerous books in the library may give some inspiration to Alex, so he looks for anything to help him before he eventually runs out of those scary stories written in his private book.

In the meantime, he meets two other figures residing in Natacha’s place. One is a grumpy cat which has a magical ability to become invisible, and the other one is an older girl named Yazmin (Lidya Jewett), who was taken to Natasha’s place some years ago and tells Alex more about Natacha’s unspeakable evil. Before Alex, there were many other children kidnapped by Natacha, and, though she is now a housemaid constantly harassed by Natacha, Yazmin is the more fortunate one compared to what happened to other kidnapped children when they were deemed useless by Natasha.

Because he is still not inspired enough to write a new scary story, Alex has no choice but to depend on his private book for next several days, though Natacha turns out to be a pretty tougher audience than expected. While she lets him survive one day after another, she often interrupts his storytelling just because of small and big details she does not like, and that surely puts Alex as well as Yazmin on the edge whenever he attempts to please Natacha with his story.

During Alex’s storytelling scenes, the movie provides to us the simple but striking visual presentations of his scary stories, and that adds some extra spookiness to the ominous mood of the mood. My personal favorite is the one involved with a sorcerer and the mouth of some big and hideous monster, and I especially like how this gruesome tale resonates with what is revealed later in the story.

Besides Alex’s disturbing tales to please his captor, the movie, which is adapted from the book of the same name by J.A. White, gives several other dark moments which will surely entertain certain young audiences who will root for him a lot as discerning the common things between them and him. Constantly shrouded in menacing atmosphere, Natacha’s place has several nasty surprises to behold, and there is a pretty scary moment when Alex and Yazmin happen to have a very serious problem in Natacha’s precious magic garden full of dangerous creatures which must be handled with uttermost care and caution.

The screenplay by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis becomes a bit repetitive during the middle act, but then it becomes more engaging as Alex and Yazmin band together for their possible escape from Natacha’s place. I will not dare to tell any spoiler to you, but I can tell you instead that the climactic part of the story works because of not only a fair share of surprise for us but also considerable dramatic impact in terms of plot and characters, and director David Yarovesky did a competent job of delivering a satisfying conclusion coupled with a little naughty wink to us at the end of the story.

The movie depends a lot on its three main performers, and their good performances dutifully fill their archetype roles. While Krysten Ritter certainly has the most fun as expected from her deliciously diabolical character, young performers Winslow Fegley and Lidya Jewett are likable in their respective roles, and Fegley, who was unflappably funny in “Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made” (2020), confirms again that he is another young talent to watch.

On the whole, “Nightbooks” does not bring anything particularly new to its genre territory, but the overall result is solid enough thanks to its good direction, atmosphere, and performance at least, and I think you should check it out someday if you enjoyed “Goosebumps” (2015) or “Scary Tales to Tell in the Dark” (2019). It did not exceed my expectation, but it did its job fairly well, and that is enough for me for now.

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Tove (2020) ☆☆☆(3/4): The early life of Tove Jansson

Posted on September 19, 2021 by kaist455

“Tove”, which was selected as the Finnish entry for Best International Film Oscar in last year, presents the early life of Tove Jansson, a Swedo-Finnish author and illustrator who has been mainly known for her lovely comic strip featuring the adorable creatures named the Moomins. Although it is more or less than your average biopic, the movie is fairly engaging on the whole thanks to its good direction and enjoyable performances, and you may find yourself interested in getting to know more about Jansson’s life and career.

The story begins in 1944, when Finland was fighting with the Soviet Union while the rest of the world was turned upside down by the World War II. Helsinki, the capital of Finland, has been frequently damaged by air raids, but Jansson, played by Alma Pöysti, continues to pursue her artistic career nonetheless while hoping to be prominent enough to be recognized by her stern father someday, who has incidentally been quite respectable for his acclaimed sculpture works. Although he does not look like regarding her works that highly even after she becomes more independent as an artist, Jansson is not daunted by that at all, and she eventually begins to live apart from her parents after deciding that she really needs her own place where she can focus more on her artistry.

Around that time, Jansson becomes romantically involved with a journalist/politician named Atos Wirtanen (Shanti Roney). Although Wirtanen is married at present, both Jansson and Wirtanen do not care about that at all while having no illusion about whatever will happen between them next, and Wirtanen later gives Jansson a small but interesting opportunity. His newspaper happens to need a cartoonist who can provide some amusement for children, and Jansson looks like the right person for that, because she has occasionally drawn amusing caricatures including the one satirizing the grim current situation of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Germany.

As her father often disregarded those simple caricatures of hers, Jansson is not particularly serious about what has gradually become her main source of income, but then there comes an important change into her life and career. On one day, she happens to befriend a young playwright/socialite named Vivica Bandler (Krista Kosonen), and it does not take much time for Jansson to become quite attracted to Bandler, who also likes her a lot while also admiring her works a lot. Although she remains to be very close to Wirtanen, Jansson allows herself to get romantically involved with Bandler, and Bandler later suggests to her lover that she should go further with the Moomins and several other cartoon characters of hers.

However, Bandler turns out to be a very lousy lover for Jansson as your typical free spirit. Not long after she goes to Paris alone in the late 1940s, she returns with some other woman, and that certainly hurts Jansson’s feeling a lot, but she chooses to collaborate with Bandler on a play based on the Moomins nonetheless. Although Bandler breaks her heart again, Jansson does her best as the author of the play to the end, and the play turns out to be a smashing success as embraced by both adult and young audiences.

During next several years, Jansson becomes more famous and popular thanks to the Moomins, but her private life remains as complicated as before. While her heart is still attracted to Bandler, Bandler keeps letting down Jansson, and the situation becomes all the more complicated when Wirtanen proposes to Jansson after finally divorcing his wife. He really loves Jansson, and Jansson cares about him a lot, but she cannot help but have doubt on their possible future even after saying yes to his proposal.

As Jansson hesitates between Wirtanen and Bandler, there comes another possibility when she comes to Paris along with her artist friends, who later introduce Jansson to a woman who is evidently interested in getting closer to Jansson. Speaking more with this lady, Jansson becomes more attracted to her, but then she is reminded again that she is not totally free from her relationship with Bandler yet.

Jansson’s eventual decision for her life will probably not surprise you much especially if you know about a certain aspect of her life, but the screenplay by Eava Putro, who also played one of the supporting characters in the film, keeps holding our attention via its sincere and earnest storytelling. In case of one crucial scene which is involved with Jansson’s father, this feels rather clichéd in my humble opinion, but it still feels touching as coupled with enough sincerity, and we can sense how that moment contributes to more artistic/personal growth for Jansson.

As the heart and soul of the film, Pöysti diligently carries the film as required, and she is supported well by several other cast members assembled around her. While Krista Kosonen and Shanti Roney are effective as two very different lovers in Jansson’s life, Robert Enckell and Kajsa Ernst are also fine as Jansson’s parents, and so is Joanna Haartti, who draws our attention as soon as she enters later in the story.

In conclusion, “Tove” may be a bit disappointing for you if you want to see more about the Moomins, but its presentation of Jansson’s early life is still interesting enough to hold our attention at least. Yes, this is predictable and conventional in many aspects, but it did its job as well as intended with care and respect, so I will not complain for now.

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I’m Your Man (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): Is he really the one for her?

Posted on September 19, 2021 by kaist455

German science fiction film “I’m Your Man”, which was recently selected as the German entry for Best International Film Oscar, cheerfully and thoughtfully plays with its familiar but endlessly compelling story promise. Although it understandably falters a bit as reaching to its conclusion, the movie is still a delight in many aspects, and I really wonder how it will look to us as we go through more technological advance during next several decades.

At the beginning, the movie promptly focuses on its heroine’s extraordinary situation. Mainly because she was promised to get some substantial support on her ongoing academic research, Alma (Marren Eggert), a recently divorced archaeologist, agreed to be a participant in the evaluation of a custom-made android model for companionship, and she is quite impressed right from when she is introduced to her android, who is named Tom (Dan Stevens). While there is some inherent awkwardness due to not only his deliberate English accent but also his unflappably courteous attitude, Tom does look like a real guy on the surface, and there is more surprise for Alma as she comes to learn more of how the company which manufactured Tom considered almost everything from the very start.

Although she still has some reservation, Alma eventually agrees to have Tom in her residence for next three weeks while occasionally monitored by a supervisor played by Sandra Hüller, a wonderful actress mainly known for her memorable comic performance in Oscar-nominated German film “Toni Erdmann” (2016). Hilariously ever-cheerful on the surface, Hüller ably suggests that there is something more behind her seemingly thankless character, and she is very amusing as her character ebulliently describes to Alma on how the company tries its best for helping Alma during her following evaluation period.

Nevertheless, Alma’s first days with Tom feel strained to say the least. Although Tom is already willing to be quite intimate with Alma, Alma still regards him as an object she has to accommodate for a while, and Tom has no problem with that while doing his best for Alma as an entity specifically programmed for comforting her. For example, he dutifully fills the role of a caring companion in the very next morning, and there is a brief but uproarious comic moment as he did some reverse action when Alma is not so pleased with his little cleaning job on her residence.

Mainly because her mind has mostly been occupied with her ongoing academic project, Alma prefers to interact with Tom as little as possible, but then she cannot help but a bit touched by his programmed acts of care and affection. He can patiently wait for her outside while she is doing her work as usual, and he has no problem with being presented as her new colleague to others around her, though he turns out to be too efficient and knowledgeable as your average artificial intelligence.

Of course, there eventually comes a point where Alma finds herself crossing the line set by herself from the beginning, and the mood accordingly becomes a little warmer and gentler than before. As coming to care about Tom much more than expected, Alma begins to struggle with her consequential emotional dilemma, and the screenplay by director Maria Schrader and her co-writer Jan Shomburg accordingly comes to reflect more on how we should regard the relationship between Alma and Tom. Sure, Alma can say that what she is feeling toward Tom now is indeed real, but, as shrewdly pointed out later in the story, Tom is more or less than the walking reflection of her yearning and desire, and that makes her more conflicted than before as the time for final evaluation is approaching.

During its last act, Schrader and Shomburg’s screenplay attempts to give the conclusion to the questions it has raised along the story, but its delivery of answers is not exactly satisfying. The subplot involved with Alma’s increasingly senile father is rather unnecessary except reminding Alma of how she may age and die alone without no one to lean on, and the movie seems to hesitate a bit to go further along with its two main characters around the point where Alma finally makes her own conclusion while also recognizing the counterargument for that.

Anyway, the two lead performers of the film are constantly engaging in their effortless comic chemistry. Marren Eggert, who deservedly won the Best Leading performance award when the movie was shown at the Berlin International Film early in this year, is simply fabulous in her character’s quiet but palpable emotional journey along the story, and her jaded attitude is complement well by the clean-cut appearance of her co-star. As already shown from his hysterically exaggerated comic supporting turn in “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” (2020), Dan Stevens has considerable comic talent, and, besides handling his German dialogues in the film fairly well on the whole, he wisely plays straight as much as possible during many of his key comic scenes with Eggert.

Overall, “I’m Your Man” may not reach to the level of “Her” (2013) or “Ex Machina” (2014), but it is still a delightful piece of work which deserves to be compared with other similar films including “Making Mr. Right” (1987), a small little gem which is also about the odd but intriguing relationship between a woman and a male android. In my inconsequential opinion, that film and “I’m Your Man” will make a nice double feature show, and I recommend you to try that someday.

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I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) ☆☆☆(3/4): What happens to Ruth

Posted on September 17, 2021 by kaist455

Netflix film “I Don’t Feel at Home This World Anymore” is a little dark comedy which becomes more absurd and violent than expected as bouncing from one point to another along with its two main characters. We are tickled at times as observing how they try to deal with a situation which turns out to be way over their heads, and then we also come to cringe a lot as how their situation becomes messier along the story.

Melanie Lynskey plays Ruth Kimke, a nursing assistant who has been quite depressed and frustrated about how things are usually bad around her. At one point early in the film, Ruth tries to give some comfort to a dying old lady on her deathbed, but this old lady only says nasty words before eventually succumbing to death, and Ruth is certainly embarrassed when the surviving family members of this old lady later ask about her last words.

Quite unhappy and depressed as usual, Ruth returns to her house where she has lived alone, and then she belatedly discovers that somebody broke into the house and then stole several valuable stuffs including her laptop computer and the silverware set from her grandmother. Of course, she instantly calls the police, and her house is subsequently investigated as a crime scene, but the cop assigned to her case does not look that particularly enthusiastic about helping her, and that makes her more frustrated than before.

Eventually, Ruth decides to take care of the matter for herself. She attempts to find any clue and witness from here and there around the neighborhood, and that is how she comes across Tony (Elijah Wood) again, who previously had a rather awkward encounter with her due to a minor matter involved with dog excrement. Because he looks like someone who may help her private investigation, Ruth later calls for his help when she happens to find the exact location of her stolen laptop computer, and he gladly joins her private investigation just because he has been angry and frustrated as much as she has been.

Of course, both Ruth and Tony turn out to pretty clumsy as facing one trouble after another during their little pursuit of justice, and we accordingly get a series of vicious but funny moments to be savored. While they manage to retrieve that stolen laptop computer in the end, Ruth still needs to locate where her grandmother’s silverware set is, and that consequently leads her and Tony into a certain shady spot near their neighborhood. Understandably quite nervous, both of them try to be as careful as possible, but there inevitably comes a point where our heroine resorts to a bit of violence, and then we get another naughty laugh as a result.

Meanwhile, the screenplay by director/writer Macon Blair, who has been known for his excellent performances in several notable films including Jeremy Saulnier’s “Blue Ruin” (2013), also shows what is going on among the very criminals who broke into Ruth’s house, and we are amused again as observing how they are as pathetic as Ruth and Tony. During one certain scene, they try to deal with some dangerous thug, but it is apparent from the beginning that they are no match for this thug at all, and one of them consequently gets a painful lesson.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that these criminals and our two main characters will fatefully converge at some narrative point later in the story, but the movie keeps engaging us as deftly balancing itself between comedy and thriller. In case of an absurd scene where Ruth and Tony are trying to get more clues from a certain character who happens to be quite drunk, it later catches us off guard with an unexpected development, and the mood becomes more absurd as Ruth and Tony are reminded again of how they have been out of depth from the beginning.

During the eventual finale, the movie becomes more intense and violent as things get out of control for Ruth and Tony as well as some other substantial characters in the story, but the movie does not lose any of its sense of black humor even during this part, and Blair and his crew members did a good job of delivering laughs and shocks alternatively. While we are horrified along with Tony and Ruth, we also chuckle at times as discerning the sheer absurdity of their increasingly chaotic circumstance, and the movie even throws a bit of sentimentality into that around the end of the story.

As the mismatched comic duo in the film, Lynskey and her co-star Elijah Wood effortlessly interact with each other on the screen. While Lynskey ably handles her character’s neurotic sides for good laughs, Wood is equally good as a guy as troubled as his accidental partner, and they are also supported well by a number of colorful supporting performers including Devon Graye, David Yow, Jane Levy, Robert Longstreet, Christine Woods, and Gary Anthony Williams, who has a small amusing scene where his detective character happens to have a sort of mental breakdown in front of Ruth.

In conclusion, “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore” is a modest but commendable feature film debut by Blair, who incidentally received the Grand Jury Prize when the movie had a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival early in 2017. At present, he is making the reboot of “The Toxic Avenger” (1984), and, considering his achievement in “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore”, I think I can have some expectation on his next film.

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Little Boxes (2016) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): As they are trying to settle in a suburb

Posted on September 17, 2021 by kaist455

“Little Boxes” is a mild comedy about one family trying to settle in their new neighborhood. Although the result is less edgy and satiric than it could be while not showing anything particularly new about its familiar main subjects, we get several small moments of humor as its three main characters clumsily try to adjust themselves to their new environment, and its three main cast members carry the film well together on the whole even when the movie spins its wheels from time to time.

In the beginning, we are introduced to Gina McNulty-Burns (Melanie Lynskey) and her African American husband Mack Burns (Nelsan Ellis), who are soon going to leave their Brooklyn neighborhood in New York City along with their son Clark (Armani Jackson) because Gina recently accepted a position in some college located in Washington State. Gina hopes that this will be the new beginning for her artistic/academic career, and Mack expects to have a more peaceful environment for his writing, but Clark is not so happy about this change as he will be far away from his school friends.

Anyway, when they finally arrive in a small suburban area near the college where Gina is going to work, everything looks promising on the surface. She bought a big house which will give them more space than before, and they are soon welcomed by one of their new neighbors, who cheerfully encourages Clark to hang around with other kids in the neighborhood.

However, there is a problem which turns out to be more annoying than expected. Many of stuffs belonging to them are somehow stuck somewhere in the delivery route, so the house remains to be mostly empty as before, and Gina and her family cannot help but feel uncertain about whether they can settle in their new neighborhood, which surely feels quieter but less eventful than their old Brooklyn neighborhood. At least, Gina has some new colleagues on whom she can lean in her workplace, but Mack often feels bored and frustrated as his writing process is not improved much on the whole, and the same thing can be said about Clark, who comes to spend more time with two young girls in the neighborhood because, well, there is nothing to do for him before the new semester begins in his new school.

The most humorous moments in the film come from the dryly wry observation of how these main characters slowly let themselves mired in the ennui of their suburban neighborhood. Although she will surely have to prepare a lot for the upcoming semester in the college, Gina does not say no when her new colleagues suggest that she should have more fun along with them outside. As a result, she later finds herself pretty drunk during one night, and she comes to wonder whether her life and career reach to a dead end,

In case of Mack, he finds himself aimlessly walking here and there around his new neighborhood after getting more frustrated with his writing process. When he happens to draw the attention of others as a new local writer in the town, he is not so happy because he does not have anything to show off besides his first and only book published some years ago, and, as one of a few colored residents in the neighborhood, he also has to tolerate an insensitive remark from one Caucasian neighbor at one point.

Meanwhile, Clark becomes more interested in getting closer to one of the two girls with whom he has been hanging around for days, though he is well aware that these two girls are curious about him mainly for his racial background. There is a little absurd moment when he and they talk a bit about those contemporary rappers, and we come to wince more as observing how they are often unintentionally insensitive to Clark.

As its three main characters struggle more and more with their respective situations, the screenplay by Annie Howell gradually increases the level of anxiety and discontent among them, though it does not always succeed in my humble opinion. For instance, a part involved with a certain hygiene problem in the house is a bit too blatantly symbolic, and the last act feels heavy-handed as eventually fizzling out without much dramatic impact.

The movie is still worthwhile to watch to some degree mainly due to the diligent efforts from its three main cast members. Melanie Lynskey, who has been one of the dependable actresses since her unforgettable breakout turn in Peter Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures” (1994), subtly expresses her character’s increasingly anxious state of mind, Nelsan Ellis, who unfortunately died not long after the movie was released, complements his co-start well with his seemingly calm and reserved attitude. As another crucial part of the story, Armani Jackson holds his own place well between Lynskey and Ellis, and Oona Laurence is also solid as a carefree young girl interested in Clark for a wrong reason.

“Little Boxes”, whose title is evidently derived from that famous satiric song of the same name, is dissatisfying compared to other acclaimed suburban films such as, yes, “American Beauty” (1999), but it is not a total dud at least thanks to the competent direction of director Rob Meyer and his good main cast members. I was not bored during my viewing, but I still think it could do more beyond being merely amused by suburban ennui.

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Malignant (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A nutty outrageous horror thriller film by James Wan

Posted on September 16, 2021 by kaist455

James Wan’s new film “Malignant” is so relentlessly nutty and outrageous that I am still scratching my head on how to evaluate whether it works. While I did get a fair share of laughs and thrills from this rather deranged but well-made piece of work, I also observed its loony plot development from the distance without much care, and I am still debating over whether it is “so-bad-so-good” intentionally or unintentionally.

After the gloriously overblown opening scene unfolded inside a big, imposing mental hospital on a steep seaside cliff, the movie moves forward to 28 years later, and we meet a young married woman named Madison “Maddie” Lake-Mitchell (Annabelle Wallis), who lives with her husband in an old shabby house looking like your average haunted spot. Although Maddie is the one who has earned their living despite being pregnant for months, her husband, who seems to be unemployed at present, does not appreciate this at all, and we are not so surprised when he cruelly abuses Maddie later.

Not long after that, something terrible happens in their house. Her husband is suddenly killed by some mysterious figure, but the two detectives subsequently assigned to the case are baffled as there is no clue to identify the killer, and Maddie cannot help them that much because she happened to lose her consciousness shortly after the killer murdered her husband and then swooped down on her.

However, it does not take much time for Maddie to realize what is really going on around her. Her mind is somehow linked with the mind of the killer as the killer continues the killing spree, and that makes her to look back into her old forgotten past. Before she was adopted by her foster parents 28 years ago, she was in that mental hospital for some unknown reason, and the killer, who looks like a cross between that murderous ghost in Japanese film “Ring” (1998) and those insane killers in giallo flicks, seems to be very angry about several certain figures associated with the killer as well as Maddie.

I will not dare to go into details on who the killer is, but I can tell you instead that I was often amused by how the film goes all the way along with this mysterious figure. Besides looking spooky and menacing as demanded, the killer also has some supernatural ability of making electronic equipments go amok (I particularly like a nasty moment involved with a pacemaker), and this dude also seems to be quite invincible in physical aspects. At one point, one of the two aforementioned cop characters shoots many times toward the killer while chasing after the killer, but the killer does not look injured at all while demonstrating pretty incredible physical flexibility.

As the movie becomes more and more preposterous along the plot, Wan and his crew members including cinematographer Michael Burgess boldly push the movie into sheer excess. Besides that mental hospital, many locations in the film look deliberately artificial and stylish, and I was especially impressed by the vast and stark interior of a police station where our two cop characters work. The movie frequently unnerves us via various visual ways including tilted shots, and the resulting anxious mood is further amplified by the jumpy score by Joseph Bishara.

In case of character development, the movie is incoherent at best and nonsense at worst. Most of main characters in the film are more or less than plot elements to be manipulated in one way or another, and that is the main reason why we are not so scared of whatever will happen to and around our unfortunate heroine, who is quite hysterical around the point when she is cornered more and more by her homicidal opponent. In case of the other main characters besides them, they are not particularly developed well, and we do not care that much about whether they will be killed or not along the story.

However, I will not deny that I got sort of guilty pleasure as the movie struck me harder and harder with more blood and outrageousness. I enjoyed watching Maddie’s plucky younger sister Sydney (Maddie Hasson) doing some detective work a la Nancy Drew, and the movie gives us some good chills as she eventually discovers a dark secret literally hidden behind her older sister, which somehow makes sense with the bizarre aspects of the killer. In case of a certain sequence during the last act, the movie throws lots of crazy and bloody moments of action onto the screen, and you will not be disappointed all if you are willing to go along with its over-the-top approach.

The main cast members in the film play their respective characters as straight as required, though their good efforts are hampered by weak characterization at times. While Annabelle Wallis dutifully holds the center, George Young and Michole Briana White are mostly stuck in their functional roles, and Maddie Hasson brings some life and personality to her seemingly thankless role.

On the whole, “Malignant” tries to be something wilder and crazier than Wan’s previous works including “Insidious” (2010) and “The Conjuring” (2013), and I appreciate that to some degree, but it is still not better than them in my inconsequential opinion. Considering that I gave both “Insidious” and “The Conjuring” 2.5 stars out of four, I give “Malignant” 2.5 stars, but it was not a waste of time for me at least, and I think you will probably be more generous than me if you enjoyed Wan’s works more than I did.

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The Best Years of a Life (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Still Living (and Loving)

Posted on September 16, 2021 by kaist455

Claude Lelouch’s latest film “The Best Years of a Life” is a sentimental epilogue which frequently takes us back to the nostalgic memories of its two main characters, who passionately fell in love in Lelouch’s Oscar-winning film “A Man and A Woman” (1966). Although it is more or less than a footnote to that lovely classic film, the movie is often enhanced by the undeniable chemistry between its two lead performers, who still shine together although they were near 90 around the time when the movie was made.

The story starts at a cozy facility for old people where Jean-Louis Duroc (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is currently living. While he looks mostly okay on the surface, Jean-Louis has been struggling with the late onset of dementia, and he often finds himself lost in the memories of his old times whenever he is left on a couch installed in the lawn in front of the facility. As you can surely remember if you have ever watched “A Man and A Woman”, Jean-Louis was a dashing and promising car racer at that time, and Trintignant is quietly poignant whenever his current fragile appearance is contrasted with how handsome and confident he looked at that time.

In that movie, Jean-Louis happened to come across a young widow named Anne Gauthier (Anouk Aimée), whose daughter happened to be the same boarding school which his son. As they subsequently came to spend more time with each other, a certain mutual feeling was developed between them, and, despite Anne’s grief associated with her dead husband, they eventually became more passionate about each other with Francis Lai’s catchy score frequently played in the background, and it looked like they would be never apart from each other as they openly embraced each other at the end of that film.

However, as Anne frankly admits to us at the beginning of the film, she and Jean-Louis subsequently became separated from each other because their almost perfect romance was eventually tarnished mainly due to Jean-Louis’ indiscretion, and they have never met each other again for more than 50 years. Lelouch actually made a sequel titled “”A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later” (1986), but he thankfully erases that uneven misfire from the timeline of his two main characters, and, if you dislike that film as much I did, you will gladly go along with that change without much problem.

At present, Anne is running a small shop alone in a small town of Normandy mainly for living closer to her daughter Françoise (Souad Amidou, who incidentally played young Françoise in the 1966 film), who works as a horse veterinarian there. When Jean-Louis’s son Antoine (Antoine Sire, who also appeared in the 1966 film as young Antoine) comes to the shop for asking her to meet his father, she is understandably reluctant, but she eventually decides to visit that facility for old times’ sake.

When Anne finally meets Jean-Louis again, it does not take much for her to realize how foggy his mind has been these days. While recognizing her at all, he cannot help but ramble about his precious memories of his romantic relationship with her, and she listens to him with care and compassion while not saying much about her. Although many years have passed since they appeared together in 1966 and 1986, Trintignant and Aimée effortlessly interact with each other on the screen, and these two living legends of French Cinema poignantly remind us again that they have lost none of their talent and presence yet despite their old age.

However, Lelouch cannot help but become sentimental about those glory days of him and his two lead performers, and the movie frequently goes back to those highlight moments of the 1966 film. Yes, we see again how Jean-Louis and Anne came to fall in love as talking with each other in his car. Yes, we revisit that undeniably romantic moment on a beach. Yes, we watch again that bittersweet intimate lovemaking scene between them unfolded within one room of a nearby hotel.

In addition, Lelouch also tries no less than two dream sequences where Anne allows herself to join Jean-Louis’s nutty escapade. These sequences are playful with some amusing moments to be savored, but the movie seems to be going anywhere beyond that, and I am not so sure about whether a certain key scene featuring Monica Bellucci is real or not.

Anyway, Trintignant and Aimée still carry the film well together, and I would not complain at all if Lelouch simply lets these two very engaging performers talk and talk with each other throughout the 90-minute running time of his film. Since I belatedly came to notice him via Krzysztof Kieślowski’s last film “Three Colors: Red” (1994), Trintignant has been always interesting to watch, and the same thing can be said about Aimée, who was constantly terrific in many notable films including Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” (1960) and “8 1/2” (1963). They always click quite well together from the beginning to the end, and it is a shame that the movie does not go further with them to give us something as sublime as, say, Ingmar Bergman’s “Saraband” (2003), a sequel to his great film “Scenes from a Marriage” (1973).

In conclusion, “The Best Years of a Life” is no more than a sappy tribute to “A Man and A Woman”, but it is still worthwhile to watch mainly for its two great performers who surely deserve to be commended for trying their best with the material given to them. If you like the 1966 film, you should check it out someday, and I assure you that you will humming again its theme song.

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