Tag: movie review

MOVIE REVIEW: Bigger and Better Than the Musical, ‘Wicked’ Hits All the Right Notes

I’ll be honest and say that I was not expecting to like ‘Wicked.’ As I kept hearing news after news about it – the film being part one of two, the total running time of the film is longer than the stage musical (roughly two hours and forty minutes), and others – I was becoming more and more apprehensive about it. The only thing that I was excited about was the casting of Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. Erivo is a fantastic actress and a damn good singer. If anyone can bring that character to the screen, it’s her. It doesn’t help that other than ‘Defying Gravity’ and ‘Good,’ I’m not a fan of the musical as well.

So it was to my utter surprise that as ‘Wicked’ part 1 ended, I found myself in tears.

Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

L to R: Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

With director Jon M. Chu at the helm, ‘Wicked’ manages to find its heart despite the overindulgent (not a bad thing) design of the world that leans a lot towards the psychedelic and the absurd. By not being grounded visually, it allows for the film to take very whimsical approaches to character reactions and makes it believable. In a world as colorful and extraordinary as Oz, how is a baby being born green such an affront to everyone’s taste? But it works because the world in itself feels off-kilter and kooky.

L to R: Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

‘Wicked’ follows the first act of the musical of the same name (which is based on the book by Gregory Maguire). With an extended running time, the film takes it time to really establish the characters and their complex dynamic, which is the heart and soul of the film. It’s the story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a woman who was born with green skin. Shunned by her family and society, she has lived quietly, taking it all in and never letting any of it out. Deep within her is a power that she cannot understand, and it gets her a seat at Shiz University where her sister is enrolled. There she meets Galinda (Ariana Grande), and they quickly become enemies but as they get to know each other better, they become the best of friends.

L to R: Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

The bulk of ‘Wicked’ comes from the shift in the dynamic of Elphaba and Galinda’s (who later becomes Glinda) relationship. Gravitating around their friendship are stories about how the talking animals are slowly being persecuted and a handsome prince, Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) also comes into the picture to become the love interest of both women. These subplots serve to push and pull on the two girls as they begin to realise something about each other and themselves that forces them to make massive decisions by the end of the film that will change the course of their lives forever.

Ariana Granda is Glinda in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

At the heart of it, ‘Wicked’ is a story about discrimination. Elphaba is shunned and ridiculed for the color of the skin and Cynthia Erivo embodies this so magnificently. Unlike iterations of this I’ve seen on YouTube or when I saw the play at the CCP by the Australian touring cast, Erivo’s Elphaba is a young woman who is forced to be mature by her oppression. She is wound up and tense. She’s guarded. But deep inside that hard exterior, is a young girl looking for acceptance and belonging.

Peter Dinklage voices Dr. Dillamond in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

It’s why when she becomes close with one of her professors who is a talking goat (Peter Dinklage), she softens, and the effect is palpable on screen. When her and Galinda’s relationship turns towards friendship, that vulnerability suddenly becomes visible. And when the plot brings her to a point when she discovers the power that is deep within her, leading up to the showstopping ‘Defying Gravity,’ Erivo becomes a raging storm. The performance is one-of-a-kind, and it helps that she can really sing like the best of them.

Ariana Granda is Glinda in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

Grande is a natural comedienne. She has great timing and a sincerity that makes her Galinda feel as genuine as she is oblivious to the larger things that are at play. It’s her chemistry with Erivo that helps secure the film’s narrative into stable ground that allows the film to take flight at its finale. But while Grande’s performance is strong and a definite crowd-pleaser, it really feels like a reverent interpretation of Kristen Chenoweth’s portrayal of Galinda. It’s no secret that Grande has been in love with this show since she first saw it at ten years old. I feel that her attack on the character was to do the best version of Chenoweth’s Galinda rather than doing something uniquely her own. It’s not a fault, really, because she did a great job, but I was hoping for something different.

Bailey is obviously having a lot of fun, showing off his range and managing to turn his Prince Fiyero into a bisexual sex symbol. He brings a wave of teen-filled desire into this PG-13 movie and makes it a little dangerous, which is always fun. Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, and Peter Dinklage are always reliable and help create a fully realised psychedelic world that has a great big heart and a strong message to finding your own voice and taking a stand.

L to R: Bronwyn James is Shenshen and Bowen Yang is Pfannee in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

The almost-three hour running time goes by so fast and you never really feel it. I am absolutely shocked that ‘Wicked’ is as good as it is with my only fear that Part Two will not be able to match the narrative highs that this film manages to attain.

My Rating:

Wicked is now casting its spell in cinemas! Check showtimes and buy your tickets here for a magical movie experience.

November 23, 2024
Movie Review: An Unmagical Christmas Tale: A Review of ‘Red One’

There is something frustratingly commercial about the holiday action adventure ‘Red One.’ The film imagines that mythical creatures do exist – from witches and trolls and even Santa Claus – but a hi-tech organization watches over them and ensures that there is a semblance of peace between the mythological world and the human world. For this film, Santa Claus is given the code name of Red One by his team of bodyguards and assistants and he lives in the center of a vast cosmopolitan city in the North Pole, hidden by a force field and a cloaking mechanism.

Right at the onset, ‘Red One’ attempt to rationalize the mystical and the fantastical by creating shadow organizations that are leaning heavily more towards science and technology than they are, to what is essentially, the realm of magic and wonder and imagination. Red One’s sleigh is a hi-tech vessel run by his gigantic reindeer but let’s put a lot of levers and buttons on the sleigh just to make it look technological.

It’s an approach that feels unimaginative and wholly capitalist-driven.

In ‘Red One,’ Santa Claus (JK Simmons) is kidnapped and the head of his security detail, Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) must work together with the man responsible for getting Santa caught in the first place: the hacker and fixer Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans). Jack doesn’t believe in Christmas. In fact, he doesn’t believe in anything. He’s an absentee father who uses his know-how to work high scale jobs for anonymous clients for big money. His latest job got Santa Claus kidnapped and now he’s the only lead to tracking down his client.

The film takes on the buddy-cop formula, Callum and Jack can’t stand each other and are morally opposite of each other, and as their search for Santa leads them to the witch Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), they discover her sinister plan to punish everyone who has ever been naughty, which will include Jack’s own son.

Despite all of Chris Evans’ charms, even he seems to struggle finding a sweet spot for Jack. As written, he’s an awful person and an awful dad and while the film attempts to redeem him (as a mainstream movie would do), Callum is also hoping to retire because he does not see the good in people anymore. Naturally, the film attempts to change his mind.

Throughout the film, the two battle it out against Gryla’s assortment of lackeys for some big special effect fights with explosive choreography that doesn’t really mean anything if you don’t particularly like anybody. The only time that the film touches upon something that feels really magical and special is when it brings them to Germany to visit Krampus (Kristofer Hivju) and everything about Krampus and his world feels the most authentic because it doesn’t rely on the hi-tech world that feels so odd in this story.

The marriage of science fiction and hi-technology and magic has been done before. You have television shows like ‘Dr. Who’ and ‘Torchwood’ who have made it work. The idea of Thor and Dr. Strange seems to fit well in the MCU but ‘Red One’ takes such pride in their gadgetry and tries to make Santa hip and cool rather than see that there is some level of coolness to the whimsy of an old man delivering gifts all by himself. The bombs and the explosions, the hi-tech gear, and flying cars all seem to undermine the whole spirit of the symbol that Santa brings. It’s not the toys but the good cheer and the generosity of spirit that makes Christmas so great.

Even with Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt, and a hilarious Nick Kroll can breathe some humanity in a film that imagines Santa Claus as a Mission Impossible agent and that Christmas is just job that he does every year. They say it’s for the kids, but the only real kid in the whole movie is that of Jack’s and he doesn’t really play a part until three-fourths of the movie.

My Rating:

Red One is now showing! Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.

November 15, 2024
Movie Review: ‘Balota’ is a Wake-Up Call, Caught in the Middle of Its Mainstream Sensibilities with Indie Aesthetics

Immensely relevant, ‘Kip Oebanda’s ‘Balota’ is a timely call for the people to wake up and take charge of the nation’s future by being savvier about our elections and our politics. The film takes a dark, satirical tone to give voice to what the film expresses as something we all are aware of – corruption, dirty politics, election fraud and theft – but seem incapable of stopping. With a brilliant cast, ‘Balota’ is spread thin by the film’s two-pronged approach: mainstream sensibilities and an independent filmmaking style. The film is successful at what it sets out to do in its messaging but struggles to fully utilize either of its approaches to make something that really stands out.

‘Balota’ is set in 2007, in an unnamed, small rural town during its mayoral elections. On one hand is the incumbent mayor (Mae Paner), a land grabbing politico who is well-known for her affairs and policies on work and employment that have caused casualties while her opponent is a former sexy-star-turned-politician (Gardo Versoza) who promises a change of guard. Caught in the middle is Emmy (Marian Rivera), a tough, well-loved teacher who is assigned as a poll watcher and as she must deliver the ballot box to the governor’s office for counting, she escapes with her life from an armed attempt to steal the ballot. Alone in the woods and with no one to trust, she has to figure out what to do with the ballot box that is handcuffed to her hand while fearing for the safety of her son (Will Ashley).

Oebanda creates a vivid world. He dramatizes for us, in simple terms, the way these things work during elections. He shows us how votes are bought, how goons shake down the people, and how even the police are involved. The town is a living, breathing entity with its own thoughts and agency. Emmy’s son, Enzo carry a superficial discussion on politics with his cousin Jimbo (Raheel Bhyria) that shows us how the youth have interest but still need to dig deeper into the layers of politics outside of image and branding. The cops, through the characters played by Joel Saracho and Royce Cabrera, show different aspects of people all just caught up in the crossfire. At one point, the film even takes time to focus on two members of the queer community – played by Sassa Gurl and Esnyr Ranollo – and how a job can be opposite of your own political views while Donna Cariaga plays a woman leading a protest for worker’s rights and justice for her dead husband against Mae Paner’s incumbent mayor.

Image from Marian Rivera FB Page

It’s a wonderful interweaving of real-life issues and characters with different motivations and value systems and it’s so interesting to watch as the film shifts from a satire to political thriller as Emmy has to literally fight for her life. As the film unfolds, it builds up on the campier aspects of satire, moving more and more towards the absurd. At the film’s third act, Emmy faces off with the main antagonist and they have a back-and-forth that is straight out of a teleserye only elevated by Marian Rivera and her co-star’s (won’t reveal to spare you of a spoiler) magnificent acting.

Image from Marian Rivera FB Page

But it’s this aspect that I find the weakest in the film. The film carries mainstream sensibilities – this is a film Oebanda needs people to see and so he casts Marian Rivera and creates a plot that is thrilling and exciting but carries with it an idealistic ending (but still with a sharp ending commentary) and a mainstream tone – but it’s shot and filmed like an indie movie. There’s a lot of holding back to try and keep the film grounded in its aesthetics and pacing. It’s not quick in its narrative rhythm as it likes to linger to try and evoke thought. There’s still a feel and an aesthetic that keeps it feeling like an indie film when the foundation of the story feels better suited for a mainstream film. It saddles uncomfortably in the middle and I feel the film would benefit more if it leaned in more to any other two sides.

But despite my observations, I love the performances in the film. Rivera manages to truly be in the moment and really captures all the layers that makes Emmy such an interesting character. She’s tough but loving and the way every character reacts to her as written is supported by the way Rivera realizes the character. She has a strong moral center but never makes it corny or fictional. She is vulnerable when her character is pushed to the limits, but you can also see her gather her strength when her character needs it. It’s a magnificent display of Rivera’s range. Everybody else manages to elevate the material with Royce Cabrera, Joel Saracho, and Gardo Versoza also showing off their immense range.

My Rating:

Balota is now showing! Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.

November 12, 2024
Movie Review: New Characters, Same Story, Same Tricks: ‘Smile 2’ Is Your Standard Horror Film

I don’t remember much from the first movie, ‘Smile,’ except its dramatic ending confrontation where the demon finally reveals itself and I thought the imagery of that was quite gruesome and original. But I don’t remember much about the story or the main character and what happened to the demon after the film. Luckily, the sequel, ‘Smile 2’ takes none of that story and just presents the demon and how it is victimizing new characters.

Unfortunately, this means that writer/director Parker Finn must establish his new protagonist and the world that she lives in and how the demon fits in all of this. Going over my review of the first film, I commented that Finn has an issue with drawing out scenes and overextending his moments and storytelling and he’s still at it. The film is a little over two hours and it gets exhausting. Finn has a good sense for creating tension with his camera but as a storyteller, he is constantly trying to scare you and after a while, we forget the story, we can’t invest in the characters, and we are just preparing for the scares.

Naomi Scott stars in Paramount Pictures Presents A Temple Hill Production A Parker Finn FIlm “SMILE 2”

In the sequel, the demon finds its way to haunt Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), a pop star who just got back from serious car accident. At the top of her game, she succumbed to the lure of drugs, and she is attempting a redemption tour, trying to stay sober while the death of her boyfriend who perished during the same car accident is still fresh in her mind. She has a new album and is preparing a tour and it’s the worst time ever for someone to be making a comeback but there is pressure from her management, who is also her mother (Rosemarie DeWitt).

Lukas Gage stars in Paramount Pictures Presents A Temple Hill Production A Parker Finn FIlm “SMILE 2”

So now Skye must rehearse, make appearances, fit for costumes, and psych herself up for her concert in just ten days while the demon begins to plant delusions in her head. What follows is a slow descent into madness for Skye and because the film never really takes the time to humanize her, it’s hard to be on her side and root for her to survive.

Naomi Scott does not have the most expressive face, and it creates a resistance to trying to connect with her. She comes off as cold and unfeeling and it may be part of the character but it’s a performance that doesn’t help us want to be on her side. When she’s performing as Skye – singing and dancing – you can see that she’s made for it, and she’s prepared. She looks amazing. But it’s a horror film. I have to root for her, and I don’t. Later on, when the hauntings escalate, she begins to really express her fear and frustrations; she really works double time to show us she’s going mad. It’s a committed portrayal but she needed a softer approach early on and that is a point against the film.

What Finn creates are some gruesome and twisted imagery, playing off Skye’s own hurts and insecurities. He brings in the pain and the trauma from the car accident for some really strong visuals that can elicit horror. He also isn’t’ afraid to get silly, with a choreographed tableau that is equal parts frightening and funny. He keeps pushing and pushing for Skye to lose her mind and hoping that we’d all have fun seeing her break and at some point, I felt that the film may have gone far away from where it is set up to be, but it manages to turn back and deliver the ending that was needed for a film like this.

In the landscape of horror, ‘Smile 2’ has some vivid imagery that may find longevity as a meme but outside of its thrills in the cinema, it might just get lost in the shuffle of all the other horror films coming out this October for the month of Halloween. It’s a fun watch with a date or your barkada but it’s not something you need to rush to see.

My Rating:

Smile 2 is now showing! Check showtimes and buy tickets here.

October 18, 2024
Movie Review: An Unlikely Modern Family: A Review of ‘The Wild Robot’

The trailer of ‘The Wild Robot’ was enough to send shivers down my spine. I got goosebumps from the exquisite visuals and the soaring musical score. I was very much excited to watch this new animated full-length feature from Dreamworks studios; the same studio who gave us such lovely films like ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and ‘Bad Guys’ and directed and written by Chris Sanders, who co-directed and co-wrote ‘Lilo & Stitch’ and ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’ I was so sure this was going to be an event film.

The film opens with a crash; much like the trailer suggests, a hi-tech flying ship crashes into an uninhabited island and a robot, ROZZUM unit no 7134, is accidentally activated by otters who were inspecting the crash site. The robot is a servant robot who is programmed to follow orders but with no humans around to give it orders, it finds itself without purpose. It manages to frighten all the animals in the island and decides that if it can’t find a human to give it orders, it will take orders from any other living thing. It studies the languages of the animals so that it can talk to them.

(center) Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) in DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot, directed by Chris Sanders.

This is where I got surprised. I only saw the teaser, and not the trailer, and I didn’t realise the film had dialogue. After ROZZUM 7134 learns the language of the animals, it now speaks to everyone, and they don’t stop talking. I was a little annoyed by this change in tone. In an uninhabited island, the animals all spoke so western-like and operated with such modern language. It felt off to me, despite its fantastic cast like Pedro Pascal as a conniving fox, Catherine O’ Hara as a possum mother, and Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o as ROZZUM 7134.

Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) in DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot, directed by Chris Sanders.

In the attempt to find a task to perform, ROZZUM 7134 has a tussle with a bear and accidentally destroys a nest of goose eggs, except for one. The goose egg hatches and imprints itself on the robot, who it now identifies as its mother. The fox, Fink, who at first was trying to eat the egg, now assigns the robot its first task: it now must care for the goose. Fink plans to use ROZZUM 7134 for his own purposes but as time goes by, the three make an unlikely family.

I was resistant to the film as I found the anthropomorphication of the animals to be against my expectations. There’s so much beauty in the imagery (I read that Hayao Miyazaki was one of the inspirations of the visual design of the film) and the trailer was able to elicit so much emotion from me. I thought the film would be doing that here.

What I did not expect was how I was going to react by the second act of the movie. ‘The Wild Robot’ takes its time to build the family of the robot, now called Roz, Fink, and the young orphan gosling, Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor). Roz must help Brightbill learn to eat, swim and fly on his own if he will survive as a goose.

By halfway through the film, I started crying at every major scene. All the beauty and warmth and heart that was featured in the teaser I saw came out in full force in the second and third act of ‘The Wild Robot.’ Through its wonderful characters and how it establishes the ecosystem of that island, the film is able to highlight the power of community, of a family, and the joys of kindness and generosity. Despite my resistance, the film won me over. Through its depiction of a very modern family: Roz and Fink and Brightbill; it shows us what adoption looks like and feels like and how it is just like any other family. Through the film, it shows that family can also be a choice that you make.

Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) in DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot, directed by Chris Sanders.

It’s a story of motherhood, of family, and community. It also manages to make jabs and digs at the corporate world – because of course, the company that made Roz is going to want her back – and creates a lovely contrast between the world of men and the uninhabited world of the island. Lush imagery, unforgettable characters, and gorgeous musical score, ‘The Wild Robot’ is another stellar film out of Dreamworks.

My Rating:

The Wild Robot is now showing! Check showtimes and buy tickets here.

October 15, 2024
Movie Review: Family First: A Review of ‘Mujigae’

It’s great to see director Randolph Longjas back to making full-length features. I remember seeing ‘Star na si Van Damme Stallone’ many years ago and being absolutely moved by the film. His latest movie, ‘Mujigae’ is his first feature-length film since 2016, and the warmth and tenderness are still there. In ‘Mujigae,’ he tackles and explores the idea of motherhood, in all its many forms, while also navigating the complex emotions around family and how the Filipino family is affected by economic factors that trigger separation due to immigration and finding better opportunities abroad.

The movie is centered on a 5-year-old girl called Mujigae (Ryrie Sophia), who is orphaned in South Korea when her mother, Rainalyn (Anna Luna) passes away. Her Korean father (Kim Jisoo) is nowhere to be found and she moves back to the Philippines to live with her grandfather (Richard Quan) and her aunt Sunny (Alexa Ilacad).

While the film is centered on the titular character, the film’s true protagonist is Sunny. Sunny is young woman with a lot of anger in her heart. She has a strained relationship with her sister Reinalyn, and the sudden appearance and inclusion of Mujigae into her life is a stark reminder of a painful past and heavy emotions. Her relationship with her father is also strained and this weaves into everything. Her friends and workmates at a salon, played with such warmth and pitch-perfect tonality by Donna Cariaga and Kate Alejandrino, are both positive about their ideas on motherhood. Cariaga’s Sushmita has several children already and is pregnant with another. Alejandrino’s character is hoping to get pregnant after several miscarriages. On the opposite end, Sunny doesn’t want to have children, rooted on her own relationship with her family. And so, the arrival of Mujigae amplifies all these emotions.

Longjas, alongside screenwriter Mark Raywin Tome, take their time setting up the story and establishing the characters and the world of their film. They carefully build up Sunny’s character and her relationship with her father, her friends, and with her new niece and really focus on pushing every button on Sunny’s character pushing her to the brink. It can drag out quite a bit, but it is necessary because the moment Sunny finds a moment to set aside past hurts and to really reconcile her feelings about her sister does the story take a turn and Sunny and Mujigae’s new journey bring the film to a different path.

There’s a lot of twists and turns in the film, as the trailer suggests that even Mujigae’s father comes back to turn the film around all over again. Kim Jisoo’s performance, coming quite late in the movie, invigorates the film at its tail-end, adding a strong presence that adds to the complications. That third act is really the meat of the film, and I wish there was more of it. The first two acts – the arrival of Mujigae into Sunny’s life and Sunny and Mujigae forming a bond – could have been shortened so that it could really play out the third act’s more complex emotional beats. There’s guilt and remorse and regret and hope that’s found in that crucial third act and while it’s done well; I feel that it could have sped through the first two acts and really lingered in the third.

But aside from its slow pacing, what makes ‘Mujigae’ shine is how Filipino the film is – from its tone to the way it examines and questions its idea of family and family obligations – and how it is unafraid to make its statements about motherhood, which I am still 50-50 on, but I am impressed by the conviction that the film has on the matter. It’s also supported by such powerful performances. Alexa Ilacad is a star in the making. I’ve seen her captivate a whole theater in ‘Walang Aray’ and she delivers that same presence here. The best scenes are when Ilacad, Cariaga, and Alejandrino are together, just being women, and talking about their lives. It’s such a tender, intimate moment that feels natural and just right. It’s moments like these that are so relatable and honest and authentic.

‘Mujigae’ is set in the Filipino melodrama mode. It has a warm, beautiful heart that is meant to really reach out and touch the Filipino audience. It has things to say about motherhood and family and presents it in a story that is tailor-fit for the Pinoy audience.

My Rating:

Mujigae is now showing! Check showtimes and buy tickets here.

October 10, 2024
REVIEW: Unrestrained Absurdity: A Review of ‘Kinds of Kindness’

The director of captivating absurdist films such as ‘The Lobster’ and ‘The Favourite’ and ‘Poor Things,’ Yorgos Lanthimos goes deeper into the absurdity with his latest film, the triptych ‘Kinds of Kindness,’ which opened to limited release worldwide before finding its way to Disney+. At 164 minutes, the anthology of three loosely related short films (connected mostly by theme) feature actors that the director has worked with in the past – Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn – as well as Jesse Plemons, Hong Chau, and Mamoudou Athie all playing different characters in each of the three segments.

In the first segment, “The Death of RMF,” Plemons plays a man whose life is controlled down to its most tiniest details by Willem Defoe’s eccentric wealthy corporate overlord-type. The relationship between Plemons and Defoe is romantic, though Plemons’ character is married to Hong Chau and Defoe is living with a woman (Qualley). When Plemons is unable to carry out a task that he was instructed to do, he is cut off from Defoe and he finds himself lost and directionless until he meets Emma Stone’s character, who seems strangely familiar.

“RMF is Flying” is the second segment where Plemons plays a policeman who is distracted by the loss of his wife (Emma Stone) who is missing out at sea. But when she is found and returns home, Plemons begins to suspect that the woman who looks like his wife is not his wife. As the policeman tries to keep his distance, the wife will do anything to try and convince him that she’s really her. Things take a very bloody turn as the policeman makes unbelievable demands.

The final piece, “RMF Eats a Sandwich” centers around Emma Stone’s character who is working for a cult, led by Willem Dafoe and Hong Chau. Stone, along with Plemons, goes around the city searching for a messiah-like figure but secretly, she takes trips to visit her home to leave gifts for her daughter. When she is spotted by her daughter and her husband (Joe Alwyn), one thing leads to another and she finds herself breaking the tenets of the cult just as she is about to come face-to-face with the messiah (Margaret Qualley).

All three stories are told with the signature style of Lanthimos, with the cinematography and musical score that is set to distort your experience of the story by highlighting the weirdness of each scene. The dialogue is more reminiscent with Lanthimos’ older work like ‘The Lobster’ and ‘Killing of the Sacred Deer’ as the film reunites him with his co-writer Efthimis Filippou, who has a gift for creating extremely stilted, awkward dialogue as evidenced by the movies aforementioned. In ‘Kinds of Kindness,’ the literal, non-nonsensical word and phrase choices are apparent, but the actors are able to deliver it with more emotion than in ‘The Lobster’ or ‘Killing of a Sacred Deer.’ But with all these cinematic elements working in conjunction, the film is intellectually demanding as one has to really peel off the layers of artifice to get at the meat of the films.

Hong Chau and Jesse Plemons in KINDS OF KINDNESS. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

It’s the leaning into the formalist aesthetic that Yorgos Lanthimos is really an expert at and it makes his films so enjoyable because they come off as really unexpected and irreverent, which makes them really, really funny. It’s a deadpan humor that forces you to just laugh because otherwise you’d feel bad about yourself because what these movies have in common – the interconnected theme that weaves in and out of the three films – is the dangerous determination of the human spirit. In all three films, the main characters – Plemons in the first two movies, Stone in the final one – all are driven to the point of being blinded to anything else like logic, morals, dignity, rationality. There’s a passionate need that drives these characters forward and they come bulldozing into every moment and creates more havoc and chaos that creates a cynical and jaded look into modern human nature.

Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley in KINDS OF KINDNESS. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

Lanthimos creates a satire with ‘Kinds of Kindness,’ and he is making fun of all of us with our unyielding loyalty to the things we hold dear: religion, idols, conspiracy theories. What makes it all work is that he never takes it too seriously but his actors manage to make it all feel so real without every losing the tonality of the film being a satire set in the absurdist mode.

I’ve been told, ‘Kinds of Kindness’ is Lanthimos’ English work that feels closest to his Greek work and I’m glad for a taste of it (as his earlier Greek films are hard to come by over streaming). I love his other works, though, with Poor Things being one of my favorite cinematic experiences last year. While watching Kinds of Kindness on my iPad via Disney+ may not be ideal, the fact that it is less of a spectacle and more of an intellectual exercise makes it suitable for the medium.

My Rating:

KINDS OF KINDNESS is now streaming on Disney+. Watch it here and experience the absurd brilliance of Yorgos Lanthimos!

October 9, 2024
Movie Review: Songs in the Key of Bleak: A Review of ‘Joker: Folies a Deux’

‘Joker: Folie a Deux,’ as expressed by director and co-writer Todd Phillips, is meant to put the focus on Gotham’s fascination with what Arthur Fleck did in the first film, a means to explore the dangers of turning news into entertainment and how his mental breakdown, captured in the public sphere through a televised trial is symbolic to the world’s current deterioration of morals and values. The film, the sequel to the massively successful ‘Joker,’ which won Joaquin Phoenix an Academy Award for Best Actor, follows the events of the first film and finds Arthur Fleck in Arkham Prison and Hospital, awaiting trial for the five murders he committed. He’s become sort of a celebrity, having killed a man on live television, Phillips imagines that he has awakened something among the desperate of the population. Trouble starts when Arthur meets Lee (Lady Gaga) at a rehabilitation program that uses music as a form of therapy, and he discovers that she’s a fan.

While there a number of scenes that supports Phillips intention to showcase the public’s fascination with Fleck and how his trial is stirring up the worst in people, most of the 138-minute running-time is spent on Arthur and Lee’s dangerous bond. Lee emboldens Arthur, makes him feel seen and loved and, by doing so, pushes him to be more confident, more like the Joker. Fusing the music program into Fleck’s psychosis, it drives him to sing – the musical numbers that play out in his head – and it seems that only Lee can hear it as she also sings along. ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ is just as much a musical as it is a bleak commentary on mental health (and the lack of support for people who suffer from it), justice, and our twisted media representation that turns criminals into celebrities.

Just like the first film, ‘Joke: Folies a Deux’ is grounded by stellar performances. I may not have liked the first movie, but Phoenix had a transformative portrayal of Arthur Fleck, creating a mesmerizing study of pain and loneliness with his entire body. He does it again, and this time throws some incredible vocal performances in the songs. We know he can sing from his performance of Johnny Cash in ‘Walk the Line’, but he uses none of that bravado or vocal strength here. He sings as Arthur Fleck, not a trained singer and he can go hoarse, he can get caught up in the emotions and the effect can be chilling. Same with Lady Gaga. As Lee, she is unhinged, and she has been quoted in interviews stating that she had to unlearn how to sing because Lee was not a trained singer. But in certain songs, when Arthur was fully consumed by his fantasy, Lady Gaga could let it rip; but when she was being restrained in her vocals for the most part, she was giving it her all in every other part.

Very little is actually explored on Lee’s past or her own psychosis. She is merely a fan, unhinged, maybe even sociopathic, but all she does is really push Arthur to the point that he takes on the Joker mantle. Why? It’s never really revealed but Lady Gaga infuses her with so much bravado that it doesn’t need to be explored. It’s there in the way she looks at him, the way she sings along, and the way she shifts when the story begins to turn another way.

Also adding to the film’s world is Brendan Gleeson as a prison warden who has equal parts soft and warm and tough and brutal. He is given moments that really steal the spotlight from Phoenix (and that’s hard). Also, Catherine Keener also gives a solid performance as Arthur’s lawyer, who genuinely seems worried about him and hopes that he gets the help that he needs.

But other than Keener’s lawyer or the few moments of Gleeson’s prison warden showing his humanity, there’s very little joy here in Phillips’ ‘Joker: Folies a Deux.’ The world is grey and cold and dark. Even when they enter into their musical numbers, there is an air of dread that permeates the scene, especially when you know that it’s really all in Arthur’s head. The connection that Arthur and Lee have that is at the crux of the film is actually detrimental effect on our protagonist so it’s not even something for the audience to root for. For a large portion of the film, it feels like we are meant to feel sorry for Arthur; despite the fact that he has killed six people in the previous installment. Yes, he needs psychiatric help, but the movie also positions that there’s none that is available for him to get.

This heaviness that hangs upon the film never ever lifts, and with over a dozen musical numbers that pretty much repeats the same themes over and over, ‘Joker: Folies a Deux’ feels a little belabored and bloated. It spends a good three quarters of the film saying the same thing and by the time it shifts to try and say something new, the audience feels a bit exhausted already that the connection is lost.

The film is well-made. The cinematography and the score are incredible. The musical arrangements are just stellar with Phoenix and Lady Gaga at the mic, killing every song. But the movie is overdrawn, spending too much time talking about the same thing that all that emotions start to dwindle halfway through its extended running time. By the time it attempts to say something different – something about redemption – it’s far too late in the movie and then it undercuts it again with more of its cynical and bleak depiction of the world coming in to further push Arthur to the brink.

For all its big themes and daring to be a musical above what it has already done since ‘Joker,’ ‘Joker: Folies a Deux’ gives off the feeling that this was more a vanity project than a full-on meditation on mental health or crime.

My Rating:

Joker: Folies a Deux is now showing! Check showtimes and buy tickets here.

October 4, 2024
Movie Review: Bloody Beautiful: a review of ‘The Substance’

Aside from Demi Moore’s explosive performance or Coralie Fargeat’s razor-sharp screenplay or bold direction, what I really loved the most about ‘The Substance’ is how the film manages to criticize not just the obscene standards for beauty that we impose upon women (and that women impose upon themselves because that’s how society has programmed them) but–and this is me just digging deeper–also the way we idolize and praise people for their beauty and their looks and it’s really so shallow and worthless, the way ‘The Substance’ manages to position it within the frame.

‘The Substance’ is about an aging actress, Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), who has managed to stay in the public eye by hosting aerobics show. When she discovers her producer (Dennis Quaid) is replacing her with “someone younger” on her birthday, she gets distracted while on the road and suffers an accident. At the hospital, someone hands her a mysterious flash drive with a promotion for a drug called The Substance, a radical treatment that will create a younger, “better” version of the user who will stay active for seven days before having to switch again with the older body. Desperate to stay in the limelight, Elisabeth takes The Substance and finds her younger self to be played by Margaret Qualley who now calls herself Sue. As Sue, she auditions for Elisabeth’s old show and finds herself the hottest new face in Hollywood. With a new lease on life, she finds that balancing her life between bodies for a week each is too limiting, and Sue starts to break the rules to disastrous results for Elisabeth.

Image from CreaZion Studios FB

From the get-go, the movie leans on the formalist aesthetic and takes on an absurdist mode. Everything from the cinematography to the production design and sound design is exaggerated to the highest levels. Even the acting is almost comical, especially for Dennis Quaid. It’s only Demi Moore who can play grounded as she must deal with the struggles of society’s unrealistic expectations for women’s aging. Later, she shifts to the outrageous when the scene calls for it, but her fear is real; her portrayal of it is palpable and jumps off the screen.

But while Moore works her magic on the film’s heart, Fargeat is off having mad fun with the rest of the film. ‘The Substance’ is in the genre of body horror and she is unafraid to be gross and grotesque and brutal. The forming of the new, younger body is a violent act, where the old body is ripped open like a shell. There’s blood and organs and later on when things get really messy, there’s violence that is enhanced by extreme close-ups of flesh and blood and the sound of bones cracking and flesh on liquid. It’s a sensory assault that disturbs as much as it can amuse.

Image from CreaZion Studios FB

The other way by which Fargeat subverts the body horror genre is how the camera is as equally obsessed by beautiful bodies of women. As Sue, Elisabeth can reclaim the glory she had in her past and she’s out there gyrating and exercising and showing off every curve of her body: butt, cleavage, crotch. While it definitely objectifies the woman’s body but, interestingly enough, while this obsession for youth and beauty is imposed by men, it is framed by Elisabeth’s own obsession with her body. As much as it is the male gaze at work, it is also the female gaze who, by submitting to men’s wants and desires, wants to have this body and to show it off. The constant exposure of these body parts, where at first comes off as alluring, later on becomes a sort of prison. The perfection of Margaret Qualley’s body becomes part of the horror because it’s the symbol of Elisabeth’s own entrapment to the society’s unrealistic expectation of women’s body.

Image from CreaZion Studios FB

But the most ironic thing about all this is that Demi Moore, a woman in her early 60s, looks absolutely amazing. She looks just as good as Margaret Qualley when you consider her age and so when the film through Dennis Quaid’s character calls her old and undesirable, it underlines and amplifies the film’s message. Outside this cartoon world that Fargeat wrote and directed, Demi Moore is old and unfit for television but, in reality, she’s absolutely divine. And this idea plays out in Demi Moore’s performance that it adds an extra layer that makes the film so much fun to watch.

The film gets crazier and crazier as it unfolds. In fact, I found two scenes, two great moments when the film could have ended but it kept going, pushing the boundaries of taste and horror to its limits. I feel that the message was already made but the extra twenty minutes of blood and gore and violence is still a lot of fun.

My Rating:

The Substance is now showing! Check showtimes and buy tickets here.

October 2, 2024
Movie Review: An early reveal keeps ‘I, the Executioner’ a tense-filled movie that’s action-packed

While ‘I, the Executioner’ is the sequel to the 2015 film ‘Veteran,’ you don’t need to have seen the first movie to still find a lot to enjoy in ‘I, the Executioner,’ though the main characters’ personal story arcs are not in focus in this installment, and instead, it seems more focused on the suspense and social commentary that is proposed by its choice of plot.

In this film, the Violent Crimes Investigation Unit must solve a possible serial killer, whom online tabloid journalists have called “Haechi,” after a symbol of justice. Haechi’s victims are all murderers in their own right but have managed to avoid any harsh sentencing of the law through loop holes or, what is seen as, a weak justice system. Haechi murders them in the exact place and manner that they committed their own murders. While the Violent Crimes Unit, led by Detective Seo Do-cheol (Hwang Jung-min) must find the killer, they also face backlash from a public who sees Haechi’s brand of justice as righteous.

To my surprise, very early on, director Ryeo Sung-hwan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lee Won-jae, reveals the identity of Haechi very early, and he is part of the team. Working alongside with the police, Haechi is always one step ahead of them and thus the film takes a more suspenseful route because you are just wondering how Seo Do-cheol and his team will outsmart someone who knows their every step and move.

Interestingly enough, Ryeo Sung-hwan adds another layer to the mix by giving a voice to some of the police who are actually thinking that Haechi is doing them a favour. The film manages to explore this discourse and express its disappointment in the South Korean justice system in-between all the suspense and the high-octane action that makes up for the movie. It’s this layer of political discourse that just lingers in the periphery that makes ‘I, the Executioner’ more than just a straight-up action/suspense commercial film.

Because it’s very enjoyable when taken for all its commercial elements. The opening sequence is surprisingly goofy and funny. It has hilarious timed-slapstick and other forms of physical comedy that brings in its mainstream appeal. But the moment Haechi strikes, the film gets really serious. The cinematography is dark and gritty, creating an atmosphere of dread and danger. And there are three major action sequences with great fight choreography (quite unrealistic, but very hard-hitting and enjoyable to see on the big screen) and tense moments when the cat-and-mouse moments are at play.

Hwang Jung-min makes for a fascinating lead. He’s not a nice guy but despite his brusque and rough manner, he does mean well, and you can still root for him, even when he chooses his work over his son (Byung Hong-jun) and his problems in school, which finds its way into the mess with Haechi later on. Joining the cast as a rookie cop is Jung Hae In, who once again proves that his acting range is unlimited by playing an eager young cop who is quick on his feet and smarter than he looks. A welcome surprise is a guest appearance by Ahn Bo Hyun, who makes full use of his physicality and his vulnerability for a character with an interesting connection to the crime.

‘I, the Executioner’ is a fast-paced, hard-hitting, and is clever in the way that it reveals what it needs to so that the film is just bubbling with tension all-throughout. Hwang Jung-min’s character feels like his growth from the last film is being tested in this one, so there’s not much character development for us to track here. Instead, we are presented with a moral dilemma that the film doesn’t really give an answer for. While it does paint Haechi as a criminal, the film makes no real stand on whether what he does is truly bad, which makes the film a little dangerous and a whole lot more interesting than it appears.

My Rating:

I, The Executioner is now showing! Check showtimes and buy tickets here.

October 1, 2024