In 1986, Vietnam veteran turned filmmaker Oliver Stone brought us the war film Platoon based on his wartime experiences. Among its cast was Tom Berenger as Sgt. Barnes, who has been driven crazy from the shellshock of the conflict. In addition to Charlie Sheen and Willem Dafoe, the film also featured early appearances from Johnny Depp and Keith David. Even 30 plus years after release, the film still holds up and is a classic Vietnam war film. I bring this up because American Dresser features both Berenger and David who happen to have served in Vietnam. I’m not entirely sure if this was just a coincidence, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was somewhat intentional. Also, given that this film concerns two guys driving through the continental US on motorcycles, it feels like Easy Rider. Honestly, the fact that this reminded me of better movies is not promising.
Berenger plays John Moore, whose wife (Gina Gershon in flashbacks) recently died of cancer. At his wife’s funeral, his daughters are unhappy that he’s there, and there’s clearly some tension going on. At the same time, Moore meets up with his former sergeant Charlie (Keith David), who’s recovering from a motorcycle accident. After finding a letter amongst some old belongings, Moore decides to take his bike all the way to Oregon. Charlie decides to tag along, and they soon meet a drifter named Willy (writer-director Carmine Cangialosi) who soon joins them. From there, it becomes a cross-country odyssey as they ride off to Oregon for some seemingly unknown purpose. Along the way, we meet characters like former biker King (Bruce Dern) and widow Vera (Penelope Ann Miller). Some other highlights include going to a party, having a run-in with the law, and learning more about each other.
Probably the best thing I can say about this movie is that it has a truly amazing cast. Between Oscar nominees Tom Berenger and Bruce Dern, you’ve also got character actors like Keith David and Jeff Fahey. While Dern, Gershon, Miller, and Fahey don’t have much screen time, they do shine and make the most of it. Berenger and David do a great job as the two leads, and they have fantastic chemistry with one another. The two really come off as old friends wanting to spend one last ride together despite their major life changes. Honestly, the acting is so good that it’s a shame the material isn’t all that great. While I’m not familiar with Cangialosi’s prior work, you can certainly tell this is a first-timer. His acting is pretty stiff and flat, and his direction is average at best.
The best way I can describe this movie is that it’s about average, nothing special but not awful. It’s got some great actors doing what they do best, but the script and the direction are flat and lifeless. At around 90 minutes, it won’t take up too much of your time if you have nothing better to do. This honestly feels like a direct-to-video movie that happens to have actors who are way too good for this. Overall, American Dresser takes elements from other and much better movies and doesn’t do much with it.
(left) Dickie Beau stars as Wague and (ctr) Keira Knightley as Colette in COLETTE, a Bleecker Street release. Photo credit: Robert Viglasky / Bleecker Street
Keira Knightley stars as French novelist Colette in director Wash Westmoreland’s gorgeous and gripping period biopic COLETTE. What a marvelous film!
In late 19th- early20th century Paris, Colette broke barriers of all sorts for women. Although the story is set in Paris more than a century ago, this tale of a woman’s awakening to her own worth, her struggle to be free and be herself, and to be recognized for her own work is as thrilling as ever, and surprisingly timely.
Although the film is about a French writer, Westmoreland’s film is mostly in English. The film is a take on Colette as a feminist icon. Those who might quibble that Colette was not a feminist as much as just a woman who just wanted credit for her work, should note this is not a documentary but a narrative film. Some liberties are allowed.
Colette’s story makes for a rousing tale. The story focuses on the writer’s early years. starting with the marriage of country girl Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley) to the older, famous Parisian writer known as Willy (Dominic West). Colette comes from a country family of good name but no money, so her disabled war-hero father Jules (Robert Pugh) is pleased to marry her off to a famous author. She is close to her father and mother Sido (Fiona Shaw), and sister Meg (Shannon Tarbet) but even in the country, Sidonie has a wild side.
Willy introduces his young country-girl wife to the wealthy salons and wild behavior of artistic Bohemian Paris, a world she take to quickly. Just as quickly, Colette learns that her husband’s freewheeling spending means they are always on the verge of bankruptcy.
Willy may have once been an author but now he is more of a celebrity brand, paying a stable of ghostwriters to churn out material under his name, while he lives high. Soon Colette is recruited to join the ranks of ghostwriters.
Willy mines his wife’s entertaining tales of her schoolgirl days for a novel they co-write but publish under his name. When “Claudine” becomes a huge hit, it alters their life and turns their marriage into a prison from which Colette must escape.
Knightley delivers a splendid performance, taking Colette from a country girl with brains to a worldly woman who was the most popular French woman author of her time, shattering barriers as she rose. Dominic West is very good as her husband, the charming manipulative Willy, who lost no time adding his wife to his stable of supporters. Willy professes his love for Colette repeatedly but he also locks her in her room to force her to write the next novel to fund his free-spending ways.
While Knightley is the brightest light in this well-crafted historical drama, all the cast turn in fine performances. Aiysha Hart is particularly good as Polaire, the actress who brings Colette’s character Claudine to life on stage. Colette’s and Willy’s daily lives include Willy’s ever-present backers and ghostwriters, with Al Weaver appearing as Schwob and Dickie Beau as Wague. Among their social circle are many glittering, interesting people, including Gaston and Jeanne De Caillavet (Jake Graf and Janine Harouni) and the new wife of an aging aristocrat, American heiress Georgie Raoul-Duval (Eleanor Tomlison). They also meet Marquise de Belbeuf, who goes by Missy (Denise Gough), an aristocratic woman who dresses in men’s clothing and embraces an non-conformist lifestyle, and who has a profound effect on their lives.
The period sets and costumes have all the authenticity one could hope for, and add a lush beauty to Giles Nuttens’ painterly cinematography.
As a historical drama that hits all the marks for acting, story and sheer visual delight, COLETTE is not to be missed. Colette opens Friday, Sept. 28, at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.
Students entering International Science and Engineering Fair at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Photo courtesy of Univision and National Geographic
SCIENCE FAIR is a crowd-pleasing, entertaining look at a group of high schoolers competing for the top prize in an international science fair. And forget that baking soda “volcano” from grade school science fairs. These kids are doing real science, with research projects on real-world topics like the tackling the Zika virus, creating an improved stethoscope, and developing innovations in aeronautics.
Not kidding about the crowd-pleasing: SCIENCE FAIR won the Audience Choice Awards at both Sundance and SXSW. SCIENCE FAIR The film is a celebration of science kids, of geek culture in all its quirky and funny glory, but also of the smart kids who know how to work hard and will go on the have a real impact on out world.
The National Geographic documentary has a similar structure others about student competitions, for spelling bees or choirs or dance troupes, following a selection of young people as they prepare and finally participate in a top competition. Neither the audience nor the filmmakers know if the likable, talented kids they are spotlighting will win in the end, which is part of the excitement of these films. SCIENCE FAIR has an extra element that makes it even more intriguing: these young people are doing real science research and preparing for careers that can impact society directly. Spelling is important but it is hard to top finding a vaccine against the Zika virus.
It is that real world application that sets science fairs apart, and makes the kids featured so interesting. SCIENCE FAIR follows nine teenagers from diverse backgrounds, including two from other countries, as they work towards competing in the International Science and Engineering Fair. As smart, hard-working and creative as these kids are, there can be only one winner for Best in Fair.
Emmy-nominated filmmakers Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster selected an intriguing group of nine young people set on winning and fascinated by science and engineering. Some students submit projects as part of a team and others individually, and the film follows both teams and individuals. And of course, these are teens, so there is all the drama, rivalries and hormones of that age. The documentary also spotlights an inspiring teacher, Mrs. McCalla, who serves as a coach to several science fair hopefuls.
Anyone who as even gone to one of these high school science fairs know that these budding scientists are doing serious work, with months of experimental research represented in the small display space allotted to them. As the teens themselves explain, it is not just the research and analysis that matters but how that is presented.
Not surprisingly, students who attend high schools that specialize in science and engineering have an edge. The documentary follows two projects from one such school in Kentucky, one by a team of three boys and another by a determined young woman.
Anjali is kind of the veteran of the documentary, having entered science fairs before and strategizing her campaign like a general. A child prodigy who scored a perfect 36 on the ACT as a 13-year-old freshman, sophomore Anjali has a sparkling, outgoing personality and is working on an arsenic testing device, addressing a threat that can be found in some drinking water.
Ryan, Harsha and Abraham are seniors who has banded together to create what they hope will be a science fair winner, an electronic stethoscope that connects to a database of heart sounds, an advance on the traditional doctor’s instrument.
Other students come from schools with little or no interest in science, and have to work more on their own. Kashfia is a Muslim girl at a South Dakota high school that is much more about sports than science. The daughter of immigrants, she is socially isolated at school but a strong and self-reliant person focused on her educational goals. She finds unexpected ally in the football coach, who becomes her sponsor for the fair, and her well-educated immigrant parents provide the support and encouragement she needs.
Robbie is another student out of place, and one of the most interesting kids in the documentary. Living in West Virginia, he stands our like a giraffe in a herd of cows in his poor, rural community. A socially easy-going, mathematically-gifted computer whiz with quirky taste in clothes, Robbie finds little to interest him at his public school that is totally unprepared to educate gifted students like him. There is a heart-breaking scene where his math teacher tells about how he would ask her questions about advanced mathematical concepts, to which she responded by telling him to just focus on his homework. Not surprisingly, his grades are low even though his test scores are high, the hallmark of a gifted-student not challenged by an inadequate school. While his parents are emotionally supportive and committed to backing his ambitions but they lack the educational background and experience to do much more than cheer him on.
The three international students featured are a study in contrasts and must win their country’s science fairs to reach the International Science and Engineering Fair. One is a German boy, Ivo, with an enduring interest in aeronautics whose supportive parents and country provide him all the resources he needs for his project to redesign and improve an old single-wing aircraft. The other two are a team from Brazil, Myllena and Gabriel. The film focuses mostly on Myllena, a girl from a little rural village in an area of Brazil hard-hit by the Zika virus, Myllena’s family are poor farmers but they and her cash-strapped school do what they can to support her, as she and Gabriel work on their science project researching a solution to combat Zika.
SCIENCE FAIR is a total winner. We get wrapped up in the stories of these likable, brilliant kids, and cannot help but root for all of them, both at the science fair and in life. So often it is the athletes who get all the attention so it is a treat to see the smart kids get their chance to shine. The documentary opens Friday, Sept. 28, at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.
She’s the rapper that flipped off the camera at the Super Bowl. She’s the political activist that is critical of America. She’s the pop star that had a hit featuring kids singing the chorus layered over gunshots and a sample of The Clash’s “Straight to Hell.” Music critics and fans knew of M.I.A. starting with her breakthrough album Arular in 2005, but it wasn’t until her song “Paper Planes” was featured in the 2008 film SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (it went on to win Best Picture) that the general public became aware of the Sri Lankan artist which led to an unconventional radio hit. And with that came a series of controversial performances, music videos, and interviews, that all culminated in a 2012 Super Bowl halftime show alongside Madonna. Yet, for all of the headlines, articles, and think-pieces labeling the artist as an enfant terrible, many were more obsessed about the nature of her actions instead of listening to what she was saying.
In the years that followed that performance, M.I.A. released albums that pushed her mix of electronic hip-hop, African dance-hall beats, and tribal drums, into more experimental territory with mixed results. Whether intentional or not, her name disappeared from the media in recent years. As a result, this new documentary feels like a look back at a long-lost pop icon as well as a film that doesn’t feel as urgent as it might have been 4 or 5 years ago.
Ironically, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. has been in development for years. Director Steve Loveridge was given over 700 hours of footage chronicling the journey of a young girl who wanted to be a rapper and then a documentary filmmaker (going on tour with Britpop band Elastica) and then a singer and producer. How he was able to edit that down into a clear and cohesive 96 min narrative is an accomplishment in and of itself. Yet, it’s also an engaging portrait that shows how someone’s identity isn’t easily defined. So much ground is covered in this film – hence, the three names she goes by that are featured in the title – that you feel like you’re seeing multiple sides of an individual, which is uncommon in most documentaries. The cut and paste approach to the film presents the subject as if you are watching her life unfold naturally. The fact that it’s all told from and filmed (mostly) from her perspective gives us a chance to see Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam in a raw and unfiltered light. Albeit, a light very much controlled by the subject.
Loveridge serves more as a conduit for M.I.A. compared to the typical documentary filmmaker. He isn’t the provocateur asking questions, but given the footage, he has assembled intriguing pieces where we can see the foreshadowing of a young artist that saw the power and responsibility of being handed a microphone. Her escape from a civil war and her father’s position within that war bears a heavy presence on her mind and becomes a crucial part of her music. In the film, it becomes just as important to the narrative as her Super Bowl fallout (though the events of that day and the aftermath might be focused on a little too heavily).
What’s most intriguing is that following the documentary’s premiere at Sundance earlier this year, M.I.A. expressed disinterest in the film, going so far as saying that the director removed her “cool” element. Watching the film with this knowledge adds another layer to the outspoken performer and activist. If the film paints a portrait of an artist that is heavily inspired by the Sri Lankan civil war and the treatment of refugees in England and America, what is the “cool” side of the performer that we’re not seeing? If the title refers to a woman exploring her identity through three different personas, perhaps there is a fourth somewhere among the hundreds of hours of footage that we haven’t met. In the end, it’s hard to compartmentalize one’s life, and maybe that’s the point.
Overall score: 3.5 out of 5
MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. opens in select theaters Friday, September 28th, 2018
September, the month when many movie-goers return to school, is generally not prime release time for a big, raucous, “down ‘n’ dirty” (well, not too since this is PG-13, barely) comedy starring one of the most popular film “funnymen”, Kevin Hart. Aha, but what if the new movie comedy’s premise is his return to school. This could be inspired marketing timing. Speaking of timing, the very prolific Hart, who seemed to be in a new flick every five or six weeks, appears to be pacing himself, perhaps following his own marketing strategy. Aside from his Summer TV game show “TKO”, we’ve not seen him at the multiplex in over nine months, when Hart was part of the ensemble cast that made the reboot adventure JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE a surprise holiday hit. As with that smash, Hart is not alone this time out. Many of his biggest successes have been team-ups, from Ice Cube in the RIDE ALONG franchise to Dwayne Johnson (previous to J:WTTJ) in CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, though the Will Ferrell pairing in GET HARD fizzled. For this new romp, Hart is paired with a lady, a very funny lady. Tiffany Haddish is still Hollywood’s reigning comic “it” girl after her breakout role last year in GIRL’S NIGHT, for which she picked up a few nominations and a couple of awards. Since then she was under-utilized in the dreary TV ad-inspired UNCLE DREW as a gold-digging girlfriend this past Summer. Can her equal billing with Hart cement her “rep” as a movie comedy queen? More importantly, will this new pairing produce laughs and perhaps a few “sparks”? We should learn more when film fans enroll in their NIGHT SCHOOL.
But before night school, the story takes us back to high school in Atlanta circa 2001. Near the end of his senior year, the usually affable Teddy (Hart) is stressed about those college placement tests. On the big day, despite the encouragement of his BFF Marvin (Ben Schwartz), Teddy is overwhelmed. The numbers and figures leap from the page, and buzz about his head like pesky gnats. Angry and frustrated, Teddy leaps up and declares that the test, and all of high school, is for losers and “sheep”, as his nemesis Stewart (Taran Killam) gloats. Why, he’ll have a hot car and equally hot girlfriend despite dropping out, which he states as he leaves the gymnasium. Cut to today, and Teddy is indeed driving his gorgeous girlfriend, aspiring designer Lisa (Megalyn Echkunwoke) to her job in his fancy sports car. As for his job, Teddy is the star salesman at an upscale outdoor grill shop. Though he’s the darling of his boss (the walls are filled with his “salesman of the year” photos), Marvin, who’s an advisor at a big investment firm, tells Teddy that he’s dangerously “over-extended”. Of course, the fates bring Teddy down to Earth when the grill shop implodes (literally). No “prob”, Teddy can grab a spot at Marvin’s place. Ah, but they require a GED. Surely Teddy can run down to his old school and charm the principal into giving him the proper bookwork. But who’s in charge of Piedmont High, now? It’s Stewart, who is eager to show him the door. Teddy inquires about attending night school, but Stewart happily explains that they offer no such option. But one of the teachers, the “no BS” Carrie (Haddish) hears this and explains that there is an open spot in her night class (this despite being part of a “road rage” encounter with Teddy earlier that morning). Soon Teddy is part of the wacky group of misfits in Carries’ night “GED prep” class. But can he make it without those digits dancing around his head once more? More importantly, can he keep his after-hours activity a secret from Lisa, who thinks he’s already an investment advisor? For once, all of Teddy’s charm and hustle may not be enough.
Though the role of Teddy is similar to many of his previous screen characters, Hart brings his near boundless energy once more as the story’s main focus. Of course, he’s got that inflated ego and motor-mouthed delivery to back up his empty-headed swagger, but we’re given a different aspect to the comic protagonist. Teddy’s saddled with challenges from real-life learning disabilities that make the often silly hero much more “human”. It’s a short time though before he’s doing the bodily function gags. Haddish has much of the same manic energy, particularly in her wild duel of put-downs with Hart in their initial meeting. Later, in her workspace, Haddish’s Carrie is a near unstoppable force of lightning-fast sass, cutting through all the ‘crapola”, be it from her students or boss. Said boss is the smarmy, entertaining Killam, who tries to emulate Morgan Freeman as Joe Clark in LEAN ON ME, using a baseball bat to project a funny phony street-wise demeanor. Happily, they share the laughs with many comedy veterans. Several comprise the main night class which has two great ex-“Daily Show” cut-ups. The “in your face” Rob Riggle is a blustery good-hearted doofus as “Big” Mac, while Al Madrigal is the scheming, seething (from his own history with Teddy), very ambitious Louis. Mary Lynn Rajskub (best known from TV’s “24”) grabs big laughs as the repressed, buttoned-up Theresa, a housewife (and longtime mother), eager to fly free as she repeats her mantra “I’m so blessed”. She plays well off of Romany Malco terrific take on the ole’ crazed conspiracy nut, who distrusts all tech. Keith Davis shines in a couple scenes as Teddy’s annoyed, sour poppa. Unfortunately, the very zany comic actor Schwartz (forever Jean-Ralphio on TV’s “Parks and Recreations”) is given little to do aside from being Teddy’s “Jiminy Cricket” and cheerleader. C’mon, this guy is a riot.
Director Malcolm D. Lee proves that he can keep a wacky comedy on track as well as he has put together his big ensemble “dramedies” like his BEST MAN franchise. His biggest challenge is finding the right tone for the often unwieldy script (credited to Hart and five others). It lurches from wild cartoony slapstick (at least Peter Seller’s Clouseau would need a band-aid, while Teddy and Mac should be “mummies” in traction) to compassionate and inspiring (Teddy’s gonna’ tame that darned Dyslexia). Speaking of the latter, should Carrie be using FIGHT CLUB tactics on Teddy after his diagnosis? Seems kinda’ mean-spirited. Plus characters are introduced to challenge Teddy (Lisa’s best pal Maya and Teddy’s sister Denise) disappear almost completely after the 20-minute mark (perhaps casualties of the many scripters). Speaking of MIA characters, what of Haddish as Carrie, who is gone for multiple chunks of time, absent so often you’d think she was hosting the Oscars? The marketers are selling this as a Hart/Haddish comedy (they’re the only ones on the main poster), but Teddy and Carrie (aside from the opening street showdown) never get truly personal. Her Carrie barely exists outside of the Piedmont High. Those fans hoping to see sparks stemming from some on-screen chemistry will feel a tad cheated. Aside from the good “never too late to be educated’ message, the flick just wallows in really vulgar bits ( Teddy and the dessert fork, Theresa’s “backdoor” musings), that would be more at home in an “R-rated” flick (now, now MPAA). Hart fans will get their laughs, but for those of us looking for a great new comedy pairing, well NIGHT SCHOOL doesn’t earn a passing grade.
Possessed of an interesting title – why is it called “The Toybox” if it’s about a family taking a ride in an RV which breaks down in the desert? – and a cast of a much higher calibre than the average indie horror movie – Denise Richards and Mischa Barton are two of the stars – I was looking forward to watching this.
Without being too critical, it’s never a good sign when you can predict how the first scene in a movie will play out. There’s a dirty, old-looking RV parked on a street, and a kid on his bicycle. The RV’s door swings open. My wife immediately chimes in with “that kid’s getting sucked into that RV and the door will slam shut”. I guessed “blood splatter on the windows, as seen from the outside”. We were both right!
But, originality is sometimes overrated, and it’s what you do with the building blocks that’s important, not which building blocks you use. A family, led by patriarch Charles (David Violand), is about to go for a trip in his newly-purchased RV. There’s son Steve (writer Jeff Denton), his wife Jennifer (Denise Richards) and their daughter Olivia (Malika Michelle); as well as black sheep son Jay (other writer Brian Nagel). Along the way, they stop to help out a brother and sister who are broken down by the side of the road – Mark (Matt Mercer) and Samantha (Mischa Barton). As they turn off the main road to go and look at some cave paintings, they break down in the middle of the middle of nowhere.
I find it difficult to shake logic at times. Like, put yourself in Charles’ position. You’ve bought some old RV and are planning to take it on a long journey through some inhospitable terrain. Do you:
get it checked out by a mechanic, stock up on supplies, and make sure you’ve got some method of contacting help if you get stuck; then maybe pop a bike on the back so you can drive to get help if all else fails?
Or
do absolutely nothing and assume it’ll all work out?
No prizes for guessing which one Charles picked. As they sit in the baking heat, trying to work out how to fix the RV, tensions – already at a pretty high level – rise further, and they also start seeing things, like figures out of the corner of their eye, or the broken TV will turn itself on, showing scenes from earlier in the movie, but with a blood-soaked ghostly figure in the middle of the action. And then people start dying. Can they figure out what’s going on or get out of danger before they all succumb?
There are lots and lots of problems with this movie, but I’m going to start with the obvious ones. They’re on a road, a small road, sure, but how far can they possibly be from either a busier road or a town? In 2018? Even with their poor preparedness, why not send one of the reasonably fit brothers with plenty of water to walk back to the road and find help / a working phone signal? There’s a strong feeling of “The Hills Have Eyes”, but that at least had the excuse of being made over 40 years ago. Also, did he not open a single drawer or cupboard in that RV before buying it?
Mischa Barton is excellent, not sure why she’s not getting bigger roles than this; she’s sadly the outlier. Richards is terrible, with a weirdly immobile face not really helping proceedings, and the two brothers are just painfully average. The lack of emotion shown when their nearest and dearest start dying is one of the more curious choices “The Toybox” makes. I’ve not mentioned one character, but when you see him you’ll definitely think “why is Fred Armisen doing an impression of someone from the 1970s in this movie?”
It’s not terrible. It’s shot handheld competently, although when I see those massive desert vistas, I don’t think they’re particularly beautiful, just empty. It’s just like so many other horror movies, the “spam in a can” genre with the can changed a little. It’s fine, and it does make a couple of bold choices, but if you’ve seen many horror movies, you’ll recognise perhaps a little too much of this one.
Peter Dinklage as Del, in Reed Morano’s post-apocalypse drama I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW. Courtesy of Momentum Pictures (c)
Peter Dinklage plays a man who has made a comfortable life alone in a post-apocalyptic world where he is the only person in a small town. Until a girl named Grace (Elle Fanning) turns up, and then wants to stay. You might think Del would be pleased to have company but he’s not.
I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW takes place in a world sometime after some disaster, presumably a disease, has wiped out most people, yet director/cinematographer Reed Morano makes that world looks surprisingly serene at this point. It is a strange kind of utopia for Del, only disturbed by those encounters with dry, dusty dead bodies he discovers while cleaning houses. It is a small town, so he knows they all, and he handles them with a solemn respect but no sentimentality.
Her past credits include directing early episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and cinematography on FROZEN RIVER, KILL YOUR DARLINGS and THE SKELETON TWINS. The small town Del has all to himself has an old-fashioned New England look, situated on a placid lake, although it could also be in the Midwest. Morano never says. As picaresque as it looks, everyone in Del’s small town is dead, and he’s fine with that. As far as he knows, he is the only person still alive on the whole planet. Until Grace arrives to prove him wrong.
I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW never explains what caused the catastrophe but it really doesn’t matter as far as the plot is concerned. This is not the first science fiction story built around two people left alone on the planet, but the strong acting performance by Peter Dinklage lifts this independent sci-fi/thriller/psychological drama above the flaws in its story.
Del has set up a quiet routine for himself that includes systematically checking and cleaning the empty houses in the town, salvaging any batteries or useful items, and burying the bodies he finds there. Del marks the pavement in front of each house with a white spray painted X to denote it has been cleaned, and also notes that on a map he keeps back at the library where he lives.
Del spends his days reading, occasionally fishing and systematically cleaning the houses, a task he carries out in his beat-up pickup truck, sporting a bandanna as a mask and to the tune of loud rock music. He has a whole routine he follows, checking for batteries, taking photos out of picture frames, wrapping the dead in quilts. He takes the wrapped bodies out to a neat, makeshift cemetery where he buries all the occupants of a house in a single grave with the help a backhoe. The family photos he finds, he files away in folders at the library, creating a kind of archive of the past. The batteries he uses. In the evening, he dines elegantly with wine and a fine sunset view out the large plate glass in the library’s main room.
It is clear Del enjoys living in the library surrounded by books and treating the whole town as his personal domain, using his cleaning project as a way to occupy his time. he seems content rather than lonely. It is also clear he would rather keep it that way, judging from his reaction when he finds that the young woman slumped over the steering wheel of a car is still alive. Del is a hermit but a kindly one and patches up the girl, expecting to send her on her way. Unfortunately, she would rather stay.
Grace is young, a teenager in fact, and is completely puzzled by Del’s preference for solitude. Del is wary of Grace but eventually allows her to stay – on a trial basis, as he tells her – perhaps because she has nowhere else to go. Del has to find a way to fit her into his orderly world, as they form a kind of mismatched friendship.
The film goes along this path for sometime, revealing things about Del’s past and who he is now. Dinklage displays his considerable gift for expressing his character’s inner life as the drama follows these two people struggle to find a way to coexist. Grace, however, remains more opaque, hinting at secrets.
The film seems like it is going to be a psychological exploration of human nature and there is a kind of metaphor for human life in the interactions of these two people. But the film then takes a turn into a different direction, which reveals Grace’s secret in jarring fashion. The film then seems to shift from a introspective human drama to a sci-fi story with more heavy-handed symbolism and social commentary, losing the delicate touch of the first part. After a strong beginning, the story unravels a bit after that turn, moving towards an ending that may not satisfy.
A major reason for seeing this film are the very fine acting performances, particularly by Peter Dinklage. Further, although the film is obviously low-budget, it makes to most of its locations, and features striking photography that effectively evokes a sense of emptiness and suggests a frontier spirit among the survivors. The film also has a striking score, alternating between the driving rock music Del likes to listen to and an eerie modern score that creates a powerful sci-fi thriller mood. If only the script was a strong as these three elements.
Still, I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW is worth a look for fans of contemplative sci-fi/fantasy themes, or at least the first two-thirds. The pacing is deliberate and this is not a film for audiences who demand constant action. The scale is human and small, and has rewards for those willing to proceed at its pace. The problem has to do with the turn and the ending, which takes the film into a kind of heavy-handed social commentary that does not match the film’s graceful, thoughtful beginnings. If only the story could have continued down the road it started on, it would have been a more meaningful film.
I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW is available on demand Sept. 21 and in theaters in select cities.
Lizzie Borden and the gruesome murders of her parents remain in the public imagination, due in part to that memorable childhood rhyme about 40 whacks. Andrew and Abby Borden were found brutally murdered in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts on August 4, 1892, when no one else was there except Lizzie and a servant girl. Yet Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murders, partly because the jury just could not believe that such a well-brought up young lady from a respectable family could possibly have committed such a horrible crime.
Over the years, there have been lots of theories about what happened that day. LIZZIE is a psychological thriller that tells one possible version, one that delves into the family dynamics within the Borden family and the restrictive lives of women in that patriarchal era, particularly unmarried, respectable ones like Lizzie.
Chloe Sevigny plays Lizzie Borden, with Kristen Stewart as the Bordens’ young Irish servant girl Bridget. Making a film about Lizzie Borden has been a years-long passion of Sevigny, who grew up in New England, after she visited the Borden home and learned about the many mysteries and myths surrounding the murders. The film is directed by Craig William Macneill from a script by Bryce Kass, which had been commissioned by star and producer Chloe Sevigny.
LIZZIE is a moody, atmospheric film that focuses on what may have driven the well-brought up Lizzie Borden to such extremes, a told with a feminist bent. The Bordens were a prosperous, well-respected Massachusetts family. As expected for an unmarried woman of her era, Lizzie lived in the home where she grew up, with her stern father Andrew (Jamey Sheridan), her stepmother Abby (Fiona Shaw), and her also unmarried older sister Emma (Kim Dickens).
Andrew Borden was a very wealthy man but he was also frugal with his money, refusing to install electricity or even indoor plumbing in their house, although those amenities were common in the homes of people with their degree of wealth. While the family was well-respected in the community, Andrew Borden is more feared than loved, and had made many enemies.
Lizzie’s father was concerned about presenting the proper respectable public image to the community, and was strict, even controlling, towards his daughters. At 32, Lizzie was already considered an “old maid” and was expected, by the social rules of the time, in remain in her parents’ home and live there unobtrusively for the rest of her life. While her older sister accepted this fate, Lizzie chafed at the restraints placed on her as an unmarried woman, particularly for a socially prominent family like the Bordens. Lizzie had no money of her own, as women of her social standing did not work outside the home, and was dependent on her father.
Abby has never been close to either of her stepdaughters, as she tells their new maid. Feeling isolated, Lizzie forms a bond with the new maid Bridget, despite the differences in their social stations.
Sevigny delivers a tour-de-force performance that conveys the frustration at the suffocating circumstances under which Lizzie must live. Sevigny paints Lizzie as an intelligent, independent woman who is also a bit of an eccentric with a feminist bent ahead of her time.
The film focuses on the events leading up to the murders and the gruesome killings rather than the trial that followed. The friendship between Lizzie and Bridget grows into something more, something that had been rumored about the real Lizzie Borden. We frequently see Lizzie rebelling against her strict father Andrew, and her defiant behavior leads to talk of sending her to asylum, something completely within her father’s legal power. At the same time, we see her father making arrangements for his wealth and business matters to be handled by his brother-in-law John (Denis O’Hare), an oily social climber that Lizzie dislikes.
Fine acting and the strong cast are a major factor in making this film work. Kristen Stewart brings a depth to her often silent character, which acts as a sympathetic ear to the stressed and lonely Lizzie, and makes it believable that they could grow close.
Sevigny is the real creative force behind this film and she is well-cast as Lizzie Borden, bringing an intelligence and complexity to the character, and the sense of a woman suffocating under the restrictions of the era, her social position and her family.
Fine acting and the strong cast are a major factor in making this film work. Kristen Stewart brings a depth to her often-silent character, which acts as a sympathetic ear to the stressed and lonely Lizzie, and makes it believable that they could grow close. Jamey Sheridan’s natural warmth helps moderate Andrew Borden’s nasty behavior, suggesting an element of over-protectiveness towards his daughter although it does nothing to excuse his habit of foreclosing on properties. Fiona Shaw’s Abby Borden seems simply disconnected from her stepdaughters rather but Denis O’Hare brings a sinister cunning to his role as her brother John, raising questions about her motives.
All in all, the cast paints a more complex picture of the Borden family than we expect, as well as a surprisingly complicated Lizzie.
Photography by Noah Greenberg gives the film an unsettling sense of voyeurism as well as foreboding. Many scenes take place in the Borden home, where a spare and sparsely decorated space lends a feeling of claustrophobia despite the relative emptiness. As we follow Lizzie around the house, going through her daily routine, a sense of tension and oppressiveness builds. The cramped and cluttered space of the shed just outside the house seem free and relaxed, as well as hidden, by comparison.
The film focuses on psychological tensions and brooding mood, more than action and confrontation, which some audiences might find dull at times. Once we get to the murders, that shifts.
Sevigny and screenwriter Kass used trial testimony as inspiration to help capture Lizzie’s personality, transcripts that Sevigny felt revealed a forthright woman with a dry sense of humor, quite bold, even feminist, for her time. With little known about what actually happened the day of the murders, the filmmakers were forced to invent a plausible scenario, and the version they come up with is an intriguing one, the act of a woman with limited options and driven to extremes to escape an insufferable situation.
LIZZIE opens Friday, Sept. 21, at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema and the Tivoli Theater.
This week’s major studio (well, Amazon has snagged an Oscar or two) release is a big, star-studded bit of Oscar bait (it’s now Fall, ya’ know) that tries to answer a sixty-or-so year old question: can a current TV “wunderkind” also strike gold at the box office while being at the top of the Nielsen TV ratings? Yes, Dan Fogelman hopes to be a multi-media, double threat. His TV show, “This is Us”, is a real rarity, a broadcast network (NBC) show that has as fervent a fan base as those programs on cable (basic and premium) and streaming (oh, Amazon does that, too). He wants to expand that base into the nation’s multiplexes this weekend with this “quasi-anthology” storyline (well, storylines) jumping back and forth between cultures and countries (subtitles=serious cinema). So, will we be treated to another TRAFFIC or BABEL, or will it land with a loud, pretentious thud like THIRD PERSON (one of its stars is in this one also)? Well, the box office numbers are almost as unpredictable as LIFE ITSELF.
After the Amazon (and other companies) logo, the screen goes to black. White letters dissolve in with a “chapter” number and title (oh, oh..literary aspirations). We get a quirky funny sequence (hey, maybe it’s not too arty after all), narrated by a fave foul-mouthed star, that is not really the film’s true first subplot. We then meet mopey, disheveled Will (Oscar Isaac) acting up at a coffee shop (and being asked to leave) as he’s on his way to a court-mandated session with therapist Dr. Morris (Annette Benning). Will finally decides to open up about his ex-girlfriend Abby (Olivia Wilde). We hear of her sad childhood, then bounce ahead to her hooking up with Will while in college as she writes her major thesis on “the unreliable narrator” (could that be a…clue). Will and his doc roam about the fun times in the relationship (the couple even dress up as characters from a vastly superior flick for a costume party) before the “session” comes to an abrupt end and we’re off to “chapter two”. We zoom ahead to meet Will and Abby’s offspring Dylan (Olivia Cooke), a twenty-one-year-old hellion who’s making her grandpa’ Irwin’s (Mandy Patinkin) hair turn white with worry. After a thrashin’ punk rock concert, she punches out a chick that films her making out with her bass player. She races into the NYC night and sees a little Hispanic boy standing at the front of a city bus. For his backstory (and chapter), we hop across the pond to Spain and the opulent olive farm/ranch of Mr. Saccione (Antonio Banderas). He notices one of his workers who gently plucks the olives while others use rakes and nets. That worker, Javier (Sergio Paris-Mencheta) is called in to meet with the big boss in his study. Saccione tells Javier of his rough childhood and his rise to power. But after much vocal prodding, Javier refuses to share any personal history. Nonetheless, Saccione offers him a promotion to foreman which comes with a small dwelling on the big estate. Javier rushes to the town square where his girlfriend Isabel (Laia Costa) is finishing her shift at a tavern. Javier tells her of the new position and proposes to her. The two make a home at the ranch, eventually raising a baby son named Rodrigo. As the boy matures, Saccione spends most of his afternoons with him and ‘Rigo’s mother. His boss’s interest in his family begins to eat away at the usually easy-going Javier. It all comes to a boil when Saccione helps them out financially after a traumatic event. So just how will this tie into the family drama over in the “Big Apple”, or Nueva York? That’s for a couple more “chapters”.
A talented cast really works hard to make the often ludicrous twists and turns of the script work. The first act is almost a two-person play with dialogue bouncing back and forth like a tennis match with doctor and patient on either side of the net. As said patient, Isaac continues to be a most compelling actor, showing us the spark of new love in his eyes during the college sequence, then showing us that the spark has been extinguished in the present day. Will is a hair trigger, exploding then retreating with just a word or prompt. The always superb Benning is part prodding inquisitor, part animal trainer as she navigates through the dark recesses of the damaged man’s psyche. Though Will tries to dismiss her, Benning stands her ground and never lets him slither away. Wilde gets to show more of her witty, intelligent side (usually just seen on her TV talk show interviews) as Abby, but the script puts her back on the pedestal too quickly, making her the “dream girl” once again, rather than a complex character. Of course, the camera still loves her, but Wilde deserves much more interesting roles. Cooke as their daughter Dylan alternates between dead-eyed and emotionally drained to a tightly wound ball of fury ready to explode at the most mundane slight or offense. She’s a stark counterpoint to Patinkin’s calm, caring, but still tough and cynical Irwin. Though his days are dwindling, he still thinks he can get through to his often surly charge. In flashbacks, we see him as a warm sparring partner to the boisterous Jean Smart as his wife Linda, a lady with no filter, who never sugar coats her often dark thoughts. In the overseas “chapters”, Banderas gets to speak in his native tongue as the cultured gentleman drawn to his hard-edged helpers. He may seem aloof, but Banderas shows us the sadness that all his wealth can’t hide. His gloom is lifted with his surrogate family as Saccione delights in his “Dutch uncle” role. Peris-Mencheta is more of a mystery as Javier, who appreciates his boss, but tries to keep an emotional distance from him. Of course, there’s no wall between him and Costa as his adored lady love. Her Isabel goes through the most emotional changes, going from flighty waitress to adoring mother, and later as a fighter trying to hold her marriage and family together. The young adult version of Rodrigo is played with brooding intensity by Alex Monner, while Lorenza Izzo is full of emotion as the family member who tries to tie it all together in the story’s epilogue.
Writer/director Fogelman is aiming for the fences, attempting to make a sprawling epic that has an emotional family saga at its core. It seems to work best in the opening chapter with the story of Abby, Will, and his “shrink”, though it’s peppered with far too many “F-bombs” (maybe a reaction to dealing with network censors for two years). There are a few nice narrative flourishes that employ some neat bits of FX wizardry (bearded older Will caressing the soft shaven cheek of college Will, and later he and Doc Morris walk through a snowy park full of frolicking Abbys), but several sudden bursts of bloody violence are over the top with cartoon-like gore. The punk world of Dylan feels like a TV version of a dance club frozen in amber since the early 1980’s. Then the action truly grinds to a halt in dusty Spain with a booze-filled “back story-time” that never seems to end (or get interesting). This leads to a turgid tale of jealousy and class resentment that might feel more at home on the soap operas of the Telemundo cable channel, complete with a medical crisis that slowly weakens a major character. As the two-hour mark draws ever closer, Fogelman hastily crashes the stories into each other, culminating in a romance that we’re only told about. Which leads to the final lecture/denouncement that’s overstuffed with enough flowery platitudes to fill an airport gift shop and a month of social media posts and GIFs. All the clever stylings of the opening minutes are burned away by the final fade out. LIFE ITSELF pummels at the heartstrings, but never engages our intellect. Save the tissues for the new season of Fogelman’sTV prime time “sob show”.
With the year’s end “light at the end of the tunnel” in sight, 2018’s parade of distinguished feature documentaries marches on with another “crowd-pleaser” bringing up the rear. Cinemas have been host to truly exceptional works of non-fiction filmmaking. This week’s release joins the impressive list of the “celebrity showbiz profile” sub-genre that includes the box office hit WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR along with WHITNEY, MCQUEEN, and QUINCY. Though music doesn’t play as big a role in this subject’s life as in several of these films, she made her greatest cultural impact on television, just as NEIGHBOR’s Fred Rogers. Oh, and her works were much more “adult” in nature, While Rogers was a daytime TV king to countless kids, she was the first real “queen of late-night TV comedy”. And while she’s been gone for nearly three decades, her influence seems to be felt now, more than ever. This film profiles Ms. Radner, the superstar who ended nearly all her writings with two simple words: LOVE, GILDA.
The film begins with footage from the show that made her famous, with Gilda commanding everyone’s attention at a trendy “watering hole”. It then backtracks over twenty years with snapshots and jittery old 8mm silent home movie footage of plump-cheeked little Gilda, perhaps 6 or 7 years old, her eyes darting about in search of the camera, ready to perform a dance or make a funny face. Older brother Michael tells us of the food issues that started very early, and how her mom got “diet pills” (speed, basically) prescribed for the out-going, “zaftig” ten-year-old. Then her journals and diaries are brought out. When Gilda’s own voice isn’t availible, several current comic actors are enlisted to provide the audible. Many are connected to Gilda’s TV alma mater “Saturday Night Live”. Frequent “guest host” and current “queen of movie comedy” Melissa McCarthy, current SNL cast member Cecily Strong, and SNL vets Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, and (token fella’) Bill Hader read different passages (Hader seems like Indiana Jones finding a long-hidden treasure, stifling a plea that “These belong in a museum!”). We’re told of Gilda receiving love from an elderly nanny named “Dibby” while poppa and mama were too busy with business and high society in Detroit. When she left home for the University of Michigan, Gilda continued to search for love, amassing many boyfriends, before following one, a sculptor, to Canada. When that romance fizzled, Gilda plunged into the theatre scene, and became part of the Toronto cast of “Godspell”. Show creator Stephen Schwartz, piano accompaniest Paul Shaffer, and fellow castmate, and former beau, Martin Short share their memories, along with a funny audio recording. We see Gilda jump from the stages of the Toronto Second City to the NYC sound booth of the National Lampoon as part of their radio show and comedy album ensemble (and her first encounter with John Belushi). After a couple of NatLamp stage shows, Lorne Michaels signed her up (really, Gilda was the first to be hired) for a new live weekend late night comedy/music NBC show. Michaels is interviewed along with fellow SNL-ers Chevy Chase and Laraine Newman, and writers Anne Beatts, Rosie Shuster, and Alan Zweibel. The filmmakers provide us with a refresher course on the many characters Gilda inhabited during her five year run on the show, all while still searching for her soul mate (much is made of the long affair with Bill Murray), and battling various eating disorders. We’re treated to several behind-the-scenes videos from her Broadway show (turned into the feature film GILDA LIVE!), and see her cavorting with future husband, guitarist G.E. Smith. When her stint at SNL ended, Gilda was adrift until landing a movie role in the film HANKY PANKY opposite movie “comedy king” Gene Wilder. After divorcing Smith, she married Gene, then signing letters with “love, Gilda Radner-Wilder”. This should have been her “happily ever after”, but several failed pregnancies eventually led to the discovery of Ovarian cancer. The film then chronicles Gilda’s health struggles, her remission, an attempted comeback via TV’s “It’s Gary Shandling’s Show”, and the disease’s final fatal return. Aside from her TV comedy legacy, several cancer screenings programs bear her name along with many cancer-affected family support centers around the world bearing her name and image, “Gilda’s Club”.
First-time feature director Lisa Dapolito has done a terrific job of wrangling the massive amount of archive footage while eliciting funny, honest responses from her interview subjects. While viewers might wish for more complete SNL sketches (the inspired Fellini parody “La Dolce Gilda” would have best illustrated her complex, conflicting thoughts on fame), but we get enough of on insight on her many recurring characters (a taste of Emily Litella, Roseanne Roseannadanna, etc.) to grasp her importance on the show’s infancy. And some still living folks are sorely missing from the “talking heads” clips. The third of “Chevy’s Angels”, Jane Curtain might have some great backstage stories. And any comments from Bill Murray would have been a major coup (doubtful of that ever happening, since Gilda barely mentioned him in her memoir, “It’s Always Something”). I was hoping to know a bit more about the time just after SNL. No mention of THE FIRST FAMILY, Gilda’s first big-time feature film, post-SNL, which bombed. Nor do we hear of her part in Jean Kerr’s play “Lunch Hour”, which bounced around to several theatres to little fanfare. This would help explain those limbo years, the very early 1980’s, in which the studios had no idea how to capitalize on her incredible popularity. It’s a great choice to have much of Gilda’s written thoughts interpreted by several members of the exclusive comedy club she helped establish. The stars bring the prose to life along with graphics that highlight passages for dramatic effect. And the early childhood home movie footage bookended with the jumpy video-cam shot scenes of domestic bliss with family and friends at Casa de Wilder give the film an extraordinary intimacy. The comic icon morphs into a warm, sympathetic human being. While many big fans (myself very much included) bemoan some exclusions, the rarities included, particularly the awkward spot with Tom Snyder on “Tomorrow” and the chaotic live prime time New Orleans SNL special (in which the cast realized that they were akin to rock stars), more than make this a pop culture event. Though the tale comes to a real tragic conclusion, the film is a real celebration of a remarkable talent who truly reached through the TV screen and grabbed the public by the “funny bone” and the heart. All those touched by her story should love LOVE, GILDA.
4.5 Out of 5
LOVE, GILDA opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas
