Shorts from The Screening Room – November 2019

In Theaters:

Ford v Ferrari (2019) – Director James Mangold (“Girl, Interrupted”, “Walk the Line”, “3:10 to Yuma”, “The Wolverine”, “Logan”) delivers one on 2019’s most likeable films with this bio pic that sees car designer, Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and driver, Ken Miles (Christian Bale) take on both Ford and Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans Grand Prix.

Damon and Bale both turn in stellar performances in a film that works on pretty much every level. From the supporting cast and art direction to the costumes, scoring, and sound design, the film is awash in conflict and comeuppance. With the addition of a spirited and active tone, it’s hard to argue the legitimacy of “Ford v Ferrari” as the “feelgood” film of the year, or of its potential during this awards season. Yet, the film feels almost too good.

Its centralized story is more than adequately cared for, but as we step just outside of it we begin to see where the film could have been even better. Speaking directly to the slight underusage of Caitriona Balfe (“Outlander”), who’s on screen strength as Mollie Miles absolutely requires more screen time than your average “wife of central character”. And in a film, that’s already grandstanding, I posit that the ending could have used an additional scene or two; one of which would include an “Oscar Bait” speech on the power of brotherhood, family, and the heart of the machine that is man. I mean we’ve hit all the other Oscar beats, why not go the full nine?

Yet even with its omissions, and without proposed additions, the film is easily one of this year’s cinematic highlights and looks to garner the pole position in the coming award season.

My Admission - $9.00
One Line Review – “The Easily Enjoyable Surefire Oscar-Type ‘Feel Good’ Film of 2019”
MPAA Rating – PG-13 for some language and peril

 

 

 

Jo Jo Rabbit (2019) – Written and Directed by Taika Waititi (“What We Do in the Shadows”, “Thor: Ragnarok”), “Jojo Rabbit” is a heartfelt satire concerning a Hitler youth and the Jewish teen he’s unwittingly housing.

Waititi delivers a film that effortlessly washes across the emotional palate being at times both funny and light-hearted before ever becoming thematically dramatic or serious, as the subject matter naturally requires. But don’t let the talk of the film’s tone deter you, “Jo Jo Rabbit” is a film about finding the truth within oneself, the process of separating facts from fictions, and the often, but not solely, endearing ways that children can experience that.

Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo) and Thomasin McKenzie (Elsa) are exceptional and work deftly to volley the audience from view point to view point. Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, and Archie Yates (Yorki) deliver top shelf supporting roles. While Taika Waititi (Adolf), Rebel Wilson, and Stephen Merchant deliver pitch perfect menacing satire.

Note: Also, it’s probably my favorite film of 2019.

My Admission – $9.00
One Line Review – “Jojo Rabbit, Your Life Is Calling”
MPA Rating – PG-13 for mature thematic content, some disturbing images, violence, and language

 

 

 

Joker (2019) - Todd Phillips (“The Hangover”) delivers an astounding throwback cinematic experience with, “Joker”. One with the look, and arguable feel, of an early grittier Scorsese film.

“Joker” explores the slow but decisive fall, or rise, depending on the interpretation, of Arthur Fleck into the iconic DC character, and there’s a lot to be impressed with. The look and feel of the film are quintessential. Not glossy or stylish in any fashion, the film takes on a gritty realism that bolsters its character-driven delivery in a way that Marvel hasn’t matched; not that they’ve attempted anything quite like “Joker” with any of their origin stories. And while audiences may not identify with Arthur’s descent into, or acceptance of, madness, they cannot help but feel the natural progression as such.

Joaquin Phoenix delivers arguably the best performance of any actor in a superhero film, and, in my opinion, at least ties the performance given by Heath Ledger in his Oscar-winning turn as the Joker in, “The Dark Knight”. The film “Joker”, and Phoenix himself, pander to no level of absurdity or grandstanding but deliver an effectively pained and gritty realism that’s so effective that you cannot help but take the film, and the actions of the titular character seriously; and all of this is done without ever raising the character to the level of “Crown Prince of Crime”. It’s in no way the “feel-good” film of the year but it’s clearly a well-made and impactful film.

My Admission – $9.00
One Line Review – “I’ll Make You Famous”
MPA Rating – R for strong bloody violence, disturbing behavior, language and brief sexual images

 

 

 

The Lighthouse (2019) – Robert Eggers (“The Witch”) delivers a sophomore effort that is both far more entertaining and more maddening than his first film. Wonderfully shot and acted “The Lighthouse” is a compact and durable psychological art-thriller that’s dreadfully engaging to both look at and to listen to.

Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson costar as two newly met lighthouse keepers who’re stationed on a small island for a 4-week stint, in the 1890s; psychological madness ensues. Dafoe, as an actor, is a deft craftsman who delivers his old English dialogue with verve, while Pattinson is tasked with, and exceptionally delivers, the heavier emotions of the film.

An auteurs piece to be sure, “The Lighthouse” is shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio and has the feel of a movie from the 1930s. The early parts of the film are effectively moody, and pull the audience in, the latter half of the film, while remaining engrossing, goes completely mad and offers next to no explanation or summation for the audience. I actually had to look some things up after the fact just to get an idea about what the film might have been trying to say. I’m not trying to disparage the film, because I liked it, but I am letting you know that “The Lighthouse” is more of an aesthete’s film and not a mass audience pleaser.

My Admission – $6.50
One Line Review – “Like, a seriously good day in Film Class, but I had to look up the answers to this one”
MPA Rating – R for sexual content, nudity, violence, disturbing images, and some language

 

 

 

Midway (2019) – Roland Emmerich (“The Patriot”, “Independence Day”) steps into the World War II film genre with a reasonably entertaining and somewhat flawed film. Having a welcoming throwback feel to the star-studded vehicles of the 1950s or 60s or, at the very least, feeling like Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor” w/out the romance, “Midway” gives audiences a welcome respite from the heavy-handed, and graphic, war films of recent memory.

The film sports the big cast and expected spectacle of those throwback films but fails to deliver a diverse set of experiences for its characters. Choosing instead to stick largely to intelligence anecdotes and aerial action, the characters ultimately do very little to distinguish themselves from each other on such a broad stage. This is not 100% of course, some of the cast are noteworthy, with Luke Evans and Woody Harrelson making probably the strongest stamps on the screen.

Ultimately the film is less than clear on exactly why this battle occurred or why it was so important. I’m not saying that it doesn’t provide this information but if it did, it was beyond brief and is weakly reinforced; though it’s not hard to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys and to believe this is all very very important. Equally, although titles of ships and locations are placed on the screen, the larger contextualized arena is pretty muddled for the uninitiated audience concerning the numerous battles themselves. I think both of these points are pretty important because when you say, “Midway”, it’d be nice to understand it, and its importance to American history, in a way that’s similar to how we all understand it when you say, “Pearl Harbor”, and in the end the film fails to do that.

Note: For an easy to understand review/overview of the battle and the reasons for it check out this fifteen-minute video from the History Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kipF5zoCGAk

My Admission – $5.00
One Line Review – “It’s Midway Decent”
MPA Rating – PG-13 for sequences of war violence and related images, language and smoking

 

 

 

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) – What’s being touted as a return to form for the franchise is in actuality a sad and colossal missed opportunity. Picking up events more than twenty years after the end of 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”, Dark Fate looks to tell the story of a future that, despite the best efforts of John and Sarah Conner in T2, is still inescapable. That would be fine, except that “Terminator: Dark Fate” continues to perpetuate the same issue that other Terminator films have post T2, and that’s telling a story big on spectacle but seriously lacking in cathartic and engaging human storytelling.

Dark Fate has been labeled, “Terminator: The Force Awakens” by some reviewers, and truth be told, that’s not far off the mark. What that means is that the new Terminator movie is a retelling of the original story but with new characters in familiar roles and with slightly altered world specifics; narratively speaking, this is because Sarah and John Conner were successful in stopping the previous Judgement Day, but the machines, apparently, won’t be denied.

The problem with the carbon copy is that “Terminator: Dark Fate” lacks the emotional connection to the original Terminator film that “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was able to capture. Excluding Mackenzie Davis, these new and returning Terminator characters are not interesting, nor are they likeable, and the film gives me no discernable reason to care for them other than their relations to characters I actually cared about or rooted for in previous films. So, while there may be moments within the film that are enjoyable, those moments don’t add up to make this a good film, Terminator or otherwise.

The colossal missed opportunity I spoke about above has to do with a pair of narrative choices the film makes that affect two canonic characters. I’ll skip the spoiler specifics but the problem with these choices is that by making them the film removes the audience’s emotional connection to, and the potential narrative humanity from, the film. And in a franchise that claims to be about fighting for humanity’s future, I find it not only negligent, but insolent actually, that they’d do so. “Terminator: Dark Fate” could have been a far more emotional and fulfilling leap into a new franchise if the audience were able to take the journey of these first iteration characters into a realization and acceptance of their lives in this brave and ultimately inescapable new world.

Concerning casting, Mackenzie Davis plays the only worthwhile character in the film, but unfortunately, she’s not able to overcome the film’s inability to give her character an arc that connects emotionally to an audience. Not to be outdone, the film fails the other new cast members, Natalia Reyes and Gabriel Luna, in similar ways but gives them even less screen time. Finally, Linda Hamilton is fine in her return as Sarah Conner but her overly protective nature is not engaging here, and what little, if any, humanity her character offers “Terminator: Dark Fate” delivers no catharsis in her removed supporting role.

Note: I really hate the whole liquid metal thing. This was played out effectively in 1991 and has remained, arguably, the worst repeatable and lazy fallback of the franchise.

My Admission – $4.00
One Line Review – “This franchise is perfect over the course of its first two films”
MPA Rating – R for violence throughout, language and brief nudity

 

From the Video Store Shelf:

 

Child’s Play (2019 / DVD) – This is an absolute pile of shit. I wasn’t just surprised by how bad this film was, I was flat out stunned. And that’s even after going back to the original and realizing that I had to accept the ridiculous fact that that film used the conceit of voodoo to set up its killer doll antagonist. This new version sees a disgruntled employee turn off the artificially intelligent doll’s safety and language protocols which ultimately lead to swearing and jealously related murder…OMGYG it’s Crap, Yo!

My Admission – $1.00
One Line Review – “This Chucky Revival is D.O.A.”
MPA Rating – R for bloody horror violence, and language throughout

 

 

 

Crawl (2019 / DVD) – The film, concerning a daughter’s parental search and rescue mission during a category 5 hurricane in Florida, is lean, direct, and full of alligators. Repeatedly and effectively tense, director Alexandre Aja (“High Tension”, “The Hills Have Eyes” remake), manages to cut out almost any fat that would otherwise bloat and sink the film, maintaining an ultimately entertaining film that is basically, and entertainingly, exactly what you’d expect.

My Admission – $5.00
One Line Review – “Effectively Lean & Entertainingly Mean Enough”
MPA Rating – R for bloody creature violence, and brief language

 

 

 

Dolemite Is My Name (2019 / NETFLIX) – Eddie Murphy stars in this biopic of famed comedian Ruddy Ray Moore, and the creation of not only the character, but also the ‘Bone-Crushing, Skull-Splitting, Brain-Busting’ Midnight Movie action hit, 1975’s “Dolemite”.

Avoiding a long-winded “by the numbers” biopic formula, “Dolemite Is My Name” manages to keep its details largely to the adult, and singularly focused Moore. Murphy delivers a charismatic performance of the entertaining Moore and in some ways that comes across as a hinderance. By that I mean, the film almost feels too good. Even in its vulgarity, Moore comes across as a very likeable guy. He may have been, but it gives the film very little lingering conflict to work with. I mean everybody likes this guy, so with minimal determination struggles consistently crumble before him. I personally think that’s a great message, but the film doesn’t highlight it as such nor does it comparably make the breakthrough moments emotionally impactful, and it’s this lack of emotional struggle, I think, that keeps the entertaining film from ever being great.

My Admission – $5.50
One Line Review – “…and blankety-blank is my game”
MPA Rating – R for pervasive language, crude sexual content, and graphic nudity

 

 

 

The King (2019 / NETFLIX) – Directed by David Michod (“Animal Kingdom”, “The Rover”, “War Machine”), “The King”, concerns the crowning of a reluctant prince and his inheritance of his father’s, and England’s, kingdom, people, court, and waring state.

Written by Michod and multi-talented writer/director/actor Joel Edgerton, the film is well done, easily watchable, and falls just short of being an Oscar caliber film. As such, it delivers everything you’d expect from such a heavyweight contender including exceptional writing (though filled with historical inaccuracies), directing, scoring, cinematography, costuming, and of course, acting. That exceptional acting manages to wrangle great and understated performances from Edgerton, Sean Harris, Ben Mendelsohn, and Robert Pattinson, but it’s Timothee Chalamet who’s truly exceptional as Henry V. Chalamet performs as kingly, strong, thoughtful, and regaly impressive as you’d expect the character to be.

Note: Chalamet is actually so good in this, that any wavering I held previously of Timothee playing Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” remake have been obliterated, and I can’t wait to see him rise on the desert planet in December 2020.

My Admission – $6.50
One Line Review – “Henry the 5th I Am I Am. I’m Henry the 5th I Am”
MPA Rating – R for some strong violence, and language

 

 

 

The Pool (2018 / AMAZON) – “The Pool” recounts the so-called “harrowing” experiences of a man trapped in an empty diving pool with a crocodile. Simple and initially effective, the film, which hails from Thailand, plays out like the kind of first film that showcases a hot new director and ultimately garners open doors in Hollywood.

The film is not bad by any stretch, but there are three major problems with the film that are dreadfully impactful. First, the score is way too noticeable and is highlighted far too often, making even peaceful scenes feel overly dramatic. Second, the end is far too Hollywood to ever be believed and ultimately leads to audience angst because of a third and most vulgar display. During the third act, the film commits a cardinal cinematic sin (as illustrated by director Lewis Teague in the commentary for one of his films; sorry no spoilers) that literally dooms “The Pool” in my mind. The sin actually angered me so much that I wanted to nullify any happy ending the film sought to give itself by killing any possible survivors my damn self.

Maybe you’ll be kinder to the film than I’m willing to be, so if you give it a chance, make sure that you make it past the early “Sharknado”-style special effects, because they’re limited, and the film gives you way better reasons to both like and hate it.

My Admission – $3.50
One Line Review – “The Largely Respectable Film Is Crushed By Committing A Cardinal Cinematic Sin”
MPA Rating – Unrated in U.S. but contains violence and gore, frightening and intense scenes, adult themes, and a Cinematic Sin that I find…unforgivable.

 

 

 

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019 / DVD) – Producer Guillermo Del Toro helps deliver this narrative take on the urban legend/folklore short-story anthology series which ran from 1981 – 1991.

Adapting roughly 5 of the 82 stories from the famed series, the film, set in 1968, sees a group of high school students learn a series of valuable and frightening lessons about consequences. Of course, the lessons are made that much richer by Del Toro’s involvement, he has a screenwriting credit here, and his tendency to humanize monsters and ultimately bare the monstrosities of humans themselves.

The film doesn’t shy away from pain and suffering when it comes to its youthful characters and there are no major cheats in the film to compromise that, as the film’s director, Andre Overdal (“Trollhunter”, “The Autopsy of Jane Doe”) effectively builds suspense and then credibly pays off his scares. It’s still aimed a bit lower than most adult fare, so if you want a weekend sleepover night where you can parentally put some crap in the pants of the middle-schoolers in your home, this is easily one of the better, and more suitable, bets out there.

My Admission – $5.00
One Line Review – “Scary Scary for the Mid-Level Youngers”
MPA Rating – PG-13 for terror/violence, disturbing images, thematic elements, language including racial epithets, and brief sexual references

 

-m-