Tag: movies

Movie review: Knives Out

not The Last Jedi

knives outI went to see the movie Knives Out alone at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany in January 2020. There might have been a bit of trepidation that there would be a lot of stabbings or the like. It is a murder mystery, but the violence is brief.

It is much more the comedic murder mystery, though the humor is earned one you’ve gotten to know the parties involved. The victim of the murder or the suicide was Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), who the audience gets to know better in various flashback scenes.

Members of the household questioned by the police. They include Harlan’s daughter Linda Drysdale (Jamie Lee Curtis); her husband Richard (Don Johnson); and their son Hugh Ransom (Chris Evans). Also Harlan’s son Walt (Michael Shannon), in charge of the publishing, and Harlan’s widowed daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette), with a new-age line of products, plus others.

Certainly, one couldn’t suspect Harlan’s trusted caretaker, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), an immigrant from Paraguay or Brazil or ONE of those countries. The family couldn’t keep track.

WB

Some guy sitting in on the interviews remained mostly quiet at first. Soon enough, he made himself known. He is famed detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who has his own interest in the case. At one point, a family member says that Blanc sounds like Foghorn Leghorn. That’s a bit true, and note the detective’s surname.

I enjoyed Frank Oz as the put-upon probate lawyer, though I couldn’t place him until the end credits. “Of course,” I said aloud. A woman leaving in the row behind me whispered to me, “I love Frank Oz too.”

Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, has created a much different film here. It was funnier and more wacky as the dysfunctional family reveals itself. The movie even received a smattering of applause at the end. Agatha Christie might have been pleased.

I recommended Knives Out to my wife as the film I’d seen that was the most fun. My daughter was annoyed that I didn’t take her. I went on a school day and didn’t know if it’d be appropriate. It’s more like a sophisticated version of Murder, She Wrote, which is specifically referenced.

Movie review: Parasite (Gisaengchung)

Writer/Director Bong Joon Ho

ParasiteI have no idea how to review the movie Parasite (Gisaengchung). Except this. This movie is LOL funny at some points, utterly horrific at others.

Bong Joon Ho is a South Korean writer/director. The first people we meet are the Kim family, parents, college-aged son and a daughter a bit older. They live in dire poverty, all but jobless, dealing with life’s indignities.

Then by chance, the young man Kim Ki-woo gets a fill-in gig as a tutor for the daughter of the Park family. These are well-off, aspirational people, especially the father. Once Kim Ki-woo gets his foot in the door, he wonders if he can get gigs for the rest of his family.

This is a tricky task, because there are people already in a couple of these positions. But the Kims are creative and the Parks are fairly oblivious. And the first part of the movie ends. We discover, though that it’s not only the Kim family in the parasite role. Also, you can’t always get rid of the stench of poverty.

I suppose I should mention that the movie is in Korean, with subtitles. Well, except for those moment the Park mother tries out her minimal English.

What the writer said

Lessee, what did Ken Levine have to say? “So far PARASITE is my pick for movie of the year…

“Writer/Director Bong Joon Ho has achieved the near impossible – making a movie so engrossing that no one in the theater had to tell someone to turn off their phone. Now, THAT’S filmmaking.” Well, actually there was that one woman in my row…

“Happily, PARASITE doesn’t fall into any one genre. It cleverly and stylishly combines a few, bends a few, and creates a few into one compelling cohesive film. I was knocked out by the storytelling. I guarantee you won’t be able to predict what happens next. You’ll laugh, you’ll shriek – and isn’t that what entertainment’s all about?”

I went to this in early January 2020, without my wife or child, and it’s probably just as well. Naturally, I went to the Spectrum Theatre in Albany.

Movie review: Bombshell (2019)

a pretty good TV movie

BombshellThe movie Bombshell is about the denigration of women at FOX News. The chief bad guy is the head honcho, Roger Ailes (John Lithgow), who created the media empire. He is sufficiently villainous.

This is a really important story being told. Issues of power, consent, body image abound. It is quite timely in the #MeToo era, with that ripped-from-the-headlines vibe about breaking the silence.

It’s interesting that the two more powerful female news performers operated largely in their own circles. that would be Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) and Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman). Whether by the competitive design of the FOX management or happenstance, this allowed the abuse to go on without people comparing notes.

BTW, the makeup for Kidman and especially Theron, is amazing. But I was distracted by many of the men whose approximation of the real guys went from not bad to laughable.

Also less than satisfying for me was the character played by Margot Robbie. Maybe it was because Kayla Pospisil was not an individual but rather an amalgam of several FOX employees. Still, she suffered the most on-screen humiliation, and it was mighty uncomfortable.

In another era, I’d say this was a pretty good TV movie. Once that term was generally understood as “not bad for television.” Of course, that line has long since been blurred. The storyline was uneven, and somehow not as compelling as I wanted it to be.

Trumped

It is ironic, as one critic noted, that “Bombshell glorifies/reframes notoriously racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynistic Fox personalities as #MeToo heroines.”

Megyn Kelly, in particular, I found to be a loathsome on-air personality. I did feel for Megyn, both the real her and movie her, when the 2016 Republican nominee for President said untoward things about her. And I thought she was soft on him during their next encounter. So that narrative rang true.

The Pospisil/Jess Carr (Kate McKinnon) relationship did not. I did buy that Carr could be a closet liberal working at FOX, though.

I guess I wanted to pump my fist when – no spoiler – Ailes’ machinations are revealed, as I did in Spotlight or even The Post. My wife liked it more than I when we and our daughter saw it at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany in late December. My daughter thought it was good too.

Movie review: Richard Jewell

Paul Walter Hauser

Richard JewellWhether or not I see a movie depends on a variety of factors. Some are obvious, such as available time and whether the premise is appealing to me. For the movie Richard Jewell, it was a combination of factors.

One was a person I respect who didn’t think it’d be worth seeing a drama by Clint Eastwood with a political ax to grind. I’ll get back to that. The other was a person who, when I mentioned it, made a factually incorrect statement. “Richard Jewell: he’s the guy who discovered the bomb at the Atlanta Olympics, but it turned out he set it.”

I had a very visceral reaction: “NOOOOOOOOOO!!” It is correct that the security guard saved lives, and in doing so became an instant celebrity. But no, he was NOT the bomber. And the fact that someone I know well REMEMBERS him as the bomber is reason enough for the film to exist.

Here are the good things about Richard Jewell. The actor portraying the overweight cop wannabe who lives with his mother, is Paul Walter Hauser. I last saw him as one of the bumbling friends of Tonya Harding’s husband in I, Tonya. He’s very good here, even, as the title character with the most screen time, he only gets fifth billing.

Sam Rockwell plays Jewell’s lawyer and unlikely friend Watson Bryant. He is solid, as he was in Jojo Rabbit, Vice, Three Billboards, and The Way, Way Back. Kathy Bates’ Oscar nomination as Richard’s mom, Bobi, is understandable. Jon Hamm, as composite FBI agent Tom Shaw, reminded me that, in too many police procedurals, the cops glom onto the first suspect.

On the other hand

Now we get into the not-so-great parts. The real Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs was known as being flirty. But there was nothing that substantiated she actually traded sexual favors for news scoops. Olivia Wilde’s iteration does; this is not a flaw in the performance but of the storyline.

As to how politics may have shaped the film, David Edelstein’s review is titled “Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell Is Full of Rage and Spin.”

“The actual bomber, Eric Rudolph, a right-wing, anti-abortion homophobe whose killing spree would continue, is named only once, in passing, and his likely ties to Christian militias and white supremacists go unmentioned. (Rudolph, in prison for life, remains a hero in those circles.)”

Edelstein also points to villainizing the press in the person of the aforementioned Kathy Scruggs, who won’t sue, as she is now deceased. Also, Jewell had more than a lone lawyer, but the movie portrayal is far more David v Goliath.

The film Richard Jewell is compelling enough story on the screen, despite its flaws. Not surprising, its reaction from the general public on Rotten Tomatoes (96% positive) is far greater than with the critics (72% positive). My wife, daughter and I saw it at Albany’s Spectrum Theatre in mid-December.

Movie review: Little Women (2019)

best picture nominee

Little WomenI’m not an expert on the writings of Louisa May Alcott. Thus I can only judge the new movie Little Women based on what I saw on the screen. I was most impressed. My wife, on the other hand, is seeped in the story. She enjoyed it immensely.

I understand that this is a reimagining. Writer/director Greta Gerwig drew on Louisa May Alcott’s life and letters, as well as the original source. It was not strictly chronological, which confused me early on, but it soon made sense.

We really enjoyed Gerwig’s previous film, Lady Bird, which also starred Saoirse Ronan. In Little Women, she plays a Jo March that is talented, but with doubts. The Oscar-nominated Ronan was also excellent in Brooklyn and Atonement.

It seems that Gerwig has developed a troupe, of sorts, besides Saoirse. Timothée Chalamet, best known in Call Me By Your Name, was a young musician in Lady Bird, and Theodore “Laurie” Laurence in Little Women. Tracy Letts embodied Henry Ford II in the Oscar-nominated Ford v. Ferrari; he was the father in Lady Bird and Mr. Dashwood in this film.

The former Hermione Granger

They were all fine performers, as were Emma Watson as Meg, Eliza Scanlen as Beth, and the always reliable Laura Dern as Marmee, among others. Apparently, the role of the aunt was expanded, which I suppose happens when one gets Meryl Streep for the role.

But Florence Pugh as Amy was a revelation. She was a force. The performer has been in a number of movies, none of which I’ve seen, and most of which I never heard of. Her Academy Award for best supporting actress nomination was well deserved.

I’d already put Alexandre Desplat’s original score on my wishlist. I’m glad he, Greta for adapted screenplay, and costume designer Jacqueline Durran all got Oscar nods. I’m sorry, though that Greta Gerwig got left off the ballot for best director; what remains is that burger joint, five guys.

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