If you're not a QT fan, please return to this site in August for more summer movie review fun, including a new franchise review, and more scary movies and cult flicks about camping, summer camp and general outdoorsy mayhem. Now for my first June flick review...
It's intended to be a quick fix to save his house, which has gone into foreclosure, but Earl soon finds himself able to do things he wasn't able to do before: help his granddaughter (Taissa Farmiga, of American Horror Story) out with her impending nuptials, help out a local Vets' club that is in danger of going out of business, get a new truck, and so on. So, he keeps doing it, getting in deeper with the cartel, at a time when things are rapidly changing... and becoming more dangerous.
Remarkably based on a true story, if this proves to be Eastwood's swan song as an actor and/or a director, it's a solid one to go out on. Eastwood is wonderfully effective in the role, and makes you feel real sympathy for a man that has lost his identity as times have changed, with no one to help him out when things get rough. He's burned too many bridges with his family, save his granddaughter, but is able to mend a few relationships he once thought long beyond repair with his newfound cash, and generally improved attitude.
When tragedy strikes, as it inevitably does, Earl is forced to make a choice between his real family and his adopted one, with some serious consequences, either way. Will he make the right one? It's worth finding out in this leisurely-paced but engrossing drama that also stars Bradley Cooper as a DEA agent hot on his trail, Andy Garcia as the head of the cartel, and solid supporting turns from Lawrence Fishburne, Michael Peña and especially Dianne Wiest, as Earl's estranged ex-wife, who is understandably dubious of his newfound wealth and improved attitude.
The film first got on my radar via, of all things, a review from SNL stars Pete Davidson and John Mulaney, who sang its praises on the show in a hilarious fashion that was so amusing it made me want to see it. The movie does seem ludicrous at times- Earl has not one but two threesomes over the course of the film! - but it's also way better than I thought it would be, and lest we forget, it's based on a true story. If you like Eastwood, it's a must, but even if you don't and the story sounds interesting, you might dig it, anyway.
On paper, this one admittedly sounds like homework- it's basically a history lesson on how laws against sexual discrimination came to be in the first place, which wasn't as long ago as some of you might think. On the Basis of Sex follows a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the liberals' last shining rays of hope in the Supreme Court these days, in her early days as an aspiring lawyer at a time when such things were sadly uncommon.
Brit Felicity Jones (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) stars as the notorious RBG, doing a solid job of nailing that tricky New York accent, and also Ginsburg's determined way of hanging in there and getting things done at all costs, no matter how hard the going may be. Armie Hammer plays her husband, who is stricken by cancer at an early age- forcing Ginsberg to not only attend her own classes at Harvard, but his as well, in order for him to keep up with his studies while undergoing treatment! And mind you, this at a time in which women at Harvard were in the extreme minority.
Later on, in the early 70's, a case comes to her husband's attention that he knows will spark a fire in Ruth's belly, with her having all but abandoned the law when she was unable to get a job because of general discrimination. (One guy turns her down because he's afraid his wife will be jealous of her!) It deals with discrimination- but, ironically enough, of a man, not a woman.
However, Ginsburg recognizes it as a potential way in to generate real change in the outmoded system that could later have repercussions that ripple throughout the judicial branch and could help rectify the laws in a way that benefits everyone, not just the man she's helping. But, of course, only if she wins- and to do that, she'll have to keep her ego- and her temper- in check.
Even though most of us know how all of this ends, it's still a fascinating look at the way things get done in our government- it's never an overnight process: these things take time. But, with the right attitude and the right argument, anything is possible. Obviously, this film comes at a time in which it really does seem impossible for anything positive to get done, which is precisely why it's so uplifting and kind of the film I needed right now.
Yes, it plays like a history lesson, and, at times, like a glorified made-for-TV movie, quite frankly. But the cast- which also includes a wily Kathy Bates, Justin Theroux, Sam Waterston and Stephen Root, as well as a star-making turn from newcomer Cailee Spaeny (Bad Times at the El Royale)- is rock solid and Jones anchors the whole thing as the feisty RBG, who really is a force of nature, if you're unfamiliar.
It won't be everyone's cup of tea, I suppose, but if you're in need of a picker-upper, in light of how dire things have gotten politically, this should do the trick. Hell, it's worth seeing for Jones alone, but also to drive home the fact that, while the wheels of justice may move achingly slow at times, in the long run, they do tend to turn in the right direction, more often than not. Sometimes it just takes a nudge to get there, and the right person to do the nudging. Boy, could we use one right about now- hopefully we'll get one moving forward in 2020.
From one feisty real-life super-heroine to another inspirational fictional one, this film marks the umpteenth version of the much-beloved super-sleuth, this one executive produced by none other than Ellen DeGeneres and featuring IT star Sophia Lillis in the titular role. Lillis lacks the high fashion sense of Emma Roberts and the drop dead sexiness of 70's-era Pamela Sue Martin, but she does split the difference between OG Nancy star Bonita Granville (who also starred in an adaptation of this story of her own) and Psych-star Maggie Lawson, who took a brief stab at it in the early 2000's.
While the film tries too hard to update the character for a new generation early on- this Nancy is a bit of a tomboy, who rides a skateboard and knows her way around social media- once the story has a little time to settle in, Lillis proves to be a worthy addition to the canon. IT fans will be happy to know there's a slight horror angle, involving a would-be haunted house that Nancy rightfully suspects may be a hoax of some kind.
There's a solid message here about learning to work with your rivals to achieve a common end that is well-intentioned and might even inspire some to do the same, as Nancy and her crew are forced to work with the local mean girl (Laura Wiggins, of Shameless and Rings) to solve the case, who turns out to not be as bad as she seems. Perhaps the whole working-across-the-aisle thing will inspire others to do the same IRL? Yeah, probably not, but maybe it will do the trick for its intended teen girl audience, at least, assuming their mean girls have a secret heart of gold like the one here.
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase is basically an old-fashioned glorified Scooby Doo-style mystery at heart, but it's well-intentioned and should do the trick for those who are into this sort of thing, and let's face it, old Scooby and the gang owe a debt of gratitude to Nancy, who, lest we forget, has been around in one incarnation or another since 1930, a damn sight longer than Scoob. (A new small-screen version is due to hit the CW this fall, BTW, with newcomer Kennedy McMann in the role.)
Adults will probably find it a bit slight, but it's ideal for younger teens and the young at heart, with a solid cast that includes True Blood-vet Sam Trammell (no relation, lol) and Linda Lavin (TV's Alice) and some engaging newcomers, like Zoe Renee and Mackenzie Graham as Nancy's crew. I thought it was fine, and if you liked Lillis in IT, you'll probably like her here, though, needless to say, it's considerably less dark than that movie.
If more adult, but still female-friendly, mysteries are your thing, then Greta should be just the ticket for you. Featuring the always-welcome Chloë Grace Moretz as Frances, a newly-transplanted New Yorker who just lost her mother to cancer and is somewhat estranged from her father, who remarried quickly- a little too quickly for her tastes- and is struggling to adjust to life in the Big City, in spite of the support of her formidable BFF and roommate, Erica (Maika Monroe, of It Follows).
One day, while riding the subway, she spots a purse someone left behind and decides to bring it directly to its owner, the titular Greta (Isabelle Huppert, I Heart Huckabees), a lonely widower, who lives alone ever since her daughter left to study music in Paris. The two strike up a friendship, despite the disbelief and protests of Erica, who warns her about the ever-present breed of crazy New Yorkers out there. As you might guess, she's not wrong.
Greta does indeed possess quite a few secrets, and the closer Frances comes to figuring them out, the more imperiled she becomes, especially as Greta's behavior becomes more and more erratic. Is she really just a harmless older woman, or is she up to something more heinous? All signs point to yes on the latter.
Co-written (along with Ray Wright) and directed by the great Neil Jordan, of Interview with the Vampire and The Crying Game fame, Greta is nothing you haven't seen before, and will play like gangbusters with the Lifetime female-trauma-of-the-week contingent, but it does have a great cast and a few minor tricks up its sleeve, including a late-in-the-game twist that some will see coming (as I did) and others will be pleasantly surprised by.
It's basically Fatal Attraction divided by Single White Female, more or less, but made interesting by the fact that the main stars are all female, and there's nary a love interest in sight to clutter up the works with unnecessary schmaltz, although one could make a case for the BFFs at the heart of the film, I suppose, though there's nary a hint of lesbian vibes here. Maybe a little with Greta and Frances, perhaps, but really, it's more of a surrogate mother/surrogate daughter kind of thing.
Ultimately, it's a decent enough time-waster that's nothing earth-shattering, but well-worth a look for fans of Moretz, Monroe and/or Huppert. Jordan is undeniably coasting here, but he does give the proceedings some oomph here and there, and, as ever, continues to keep Stephen Rea gainfully employed, which is something. Check it out, if you have said time to waste, but don't expect too much.
I initially dismissed Patient Zero as one of those Outbreak/Contagion-type movies, which admittedly make me cringe, but, as it turns out, it's actually more akin to George Romero's Day of the Dead crossed with the 28 Days/Weeks Later franchise. Basically, the set-up is this: a group of scientists under military protection in an underground secret bunker frantically work overtime to figure out what's causing a virus that is making its victims out-of-control violent and is in danger of taking out everyone on the planet, due to its decidedly short incubation process, which is around 90 seconds for infection.
Their only hope is to find the titular so-called "Patient Zero" and figure out what caused the virus in the first place, before they have any hope of stopping it. In their corner is Morgan (Matt Smith, of Dr. Who), a man who was bitten by the infected but lived to tell the tale, and has the ability to interpret and talk to the infected. By capturing the infecting and interrogating them, the head scientist, Dr. Gina Rose (Natalie Dormer, Game of Thrones) hopes to figure out where the infection began and track down patient zero and go from there.
Basically, like I said, it's a variation on Day of the Dead, only with more action and fast-moving zombies. In this movie, of all people, Stanley Tucci is the "Bub" of the proceedings, which is to say, the "zombie" that most has the ability to communicate in a rational manner. But will he cooperate? And if so, why? Might he have a hidden agenda? Of course he does, or we wouldn't have a movie.
It's fun seeing Tucci in a film like this, and going berserk when the film calls for him to go nuts and eat people, lol. I can only imagine that Tucci must be a closet zombie fan to have done this, which only makes me like him more as an actor, and I was already a fan. Ditto Dormer, who I've had a crush on ever since The Tudors, and is in fine, smart form here. (I'm not really a Dr. Who person, but Smith is good here, for whatever that's worth, and Dormer's former GOT co-star John Bradley West- aka Samwell Tarly- is always a good time.)
I liked the twist with the music, which drives the infected nuts, and the whole "zombie rat" thing was cool, especially since you know that thing is going to get loose and when it does... let the fun begin. Patient Zero is a bit of a slow burn, but when Tucci shows up about halfway through, things immediately get more interesting, and it isn't long after that that all hell breaks loose and fast zombie mayhem ensues.
Patient Zero doesn't reinvent the wheel, but if you liked Day of the Dead but wished it moved quicker, literally and figuratively, or loved the 28 Days/Weeks Later films, then you'll probably dig this, which plays like an offshoot of the latter films above all. The door is obviously left open for a sequel, as well, so we'll see if that transpires. For what it's worth, I'd watch it, even though this film was more or less just okay.
And now for an infection of another kind. If you grew up in the 80's like I did, you no doubt remember the walking STD that was the then-popular hair metal scene before alternative rock and grunge got rid of all that nonsense, for better or worse. I hated that stuff for a long time- my sister loved it- but whether it's pure nostalgia or absence making the heart grow fonder, it's actually kind of fun in retrospect, if you can get past the rampant misogyny and bad behavior. Actually, that's kind of the crux of the hair metal scene, really, TBH.
Say what you will about their music, which I can take or leave for the most part- though they do have some admittedly catchy tunes here and there- aside from maybe Van Halen (who I do like a lot), Mötley Crüe was probably the epitome of the hair metal scene, and one of their better bands overall, and certainly one of the longest-lasting. Landing somewhere between glam rock and punk, with a healthy dose of firmly tongue-in-cheek metal silliness (it's "Shout AT the devil, not WITH him," as my friend used to say), the band rose to fame on the backs of a crowd of people that purely reveled in hedonism.
Perhaps, if I'm being honest, it's because a lot of us missed that particular train before STDs became deadly, that it's easy to be dismissive of such bands. After all, they got to have all the fun without all the consequences. Except, as it turns out, there were other kinds of consequences.
Founding member Nikki Sixx (Douglas Booth, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies) has a near-fatal heroin addiction that nearly takes his life on more than one occasion. Eldest member Mick Mars (hilariously played with an constant RBF by Game of Thrones alum Iwan Rheon) has an inflammatory back condition that makes it tough to get around and requires constant "medication," prescribed and otherwise.
Typically happy-go-lucky dude-bro Tommy Lee (Colson Baker, aka rapper Machine Gun Kelly) has a dark side that comes out when he overindulges that can result in heated attention from the cops and violence towards women. And singer Vince Neil (Daniel Webber, The Punisher) famously drove drunk one night and outright killed fellow rocker Razzle (Max Milner), and mostly skated for his crime before karma took a big old bite out of him later on, in regards to his family.
The Dirt dives into these tragic, oft-ugly events with as much aplomb as the more fun, balls-to-the-wall rocker antics we would expect from such a film, often to its overall credit, where a lot of similar biopics would gloss over them. However, it also can make the film a bit of a slog at times, as, at nearly two hours long, the film definitely wallows in its own agony at times.
I mean, what happened happened, obviously, and kudos for telling the truth here, but the film wants to have its cake and eat it too by trying to maintain the Crüe's likability, even as they do questionable things- and they do a LOT of questionable things.
So, as a direct result, the film suffers a bit by actually being on the level, oddly enough. Those looking for a "fun" musical biopic might be surprised at how dark things get here. Maybe there's a reason most of these things gloss over the truth after all. Still, if you're a fan, there's enough fun stuff here to make you happy, and there's something to be said for a biopic that wears its sleaze on its bile-covered (and occasionally flame-covered) sleeve.
Needless to say, you'll know if this is the movie for you when it opens up with Neil banging a guy's girlfriend in the bathroom while her none-the-wiser BF waits patiently to use it outside the door, while Tommy Lee goes down on a groupie in full view of a party, making her do something that one typically only sees in, shall we say, more colorful porn films.
Trust me, the filmmakers make ample use of Netflix's no-holds-barred no-rating-system here, and if you think there's any substantial roles for women here, boy are you barking up the wrong rock band. This film is not one for the feminist crowd, that's for sure.
Oh, and sorry, Pamela Anderson fans, the film doesn't feature her as a character, as it stops shortly after the band's initial reunion after replacing Vince Neil for a time with another vocalist. It does, however, feature actress Rebekah Graf as Heather Locklear, Lee's first wife, and "cameos" from David Lee Roth and Ozzy Osbourne, via actors Christian Gehring and Tony Cavalero, respectively. And yes, the infamous "ant-snorting" incident is present and accounted for. (If you have to ask...)
I suppose it's ridiculous to criticize a hair metal band biopic for being shallow, but yeah, it totally is- but I suspect fans wouldn't have it any other way. Still, incidents that should have had a bigger impact land with a bit of a thud, as it's hard to sympathize with people that intentionally put themselves in these (same old) situations. At least Walk Hard was funny, you know? The Dirt is just meh. For hardcore fans only, really. You know who you are.
Keeping on the musical tip, Vox Lux is basically A Star is Born, pop star edition. With a host of original songs from beloved songwriter Sia and a solid assist from singer-songwriter Scott Walker, who also scores the film, Vox Lux at least has the tunes covered, though star Natalie Portman is no Sia, vocal-wise. But neither does she embarrass herself, and co-star Raffey Cassidy, who plays the teen version of Celeste, the main character Portman plays (as well as, in a clever bit of casting, her daughter later on), picks up the slack nicely, with a yearning singing voice that captures Sia's vibe even better.
Vox Lux tells the fictional tale of a teen student that miraculously survives a school shooting that takes the lives of her entire class and the teacher, by a classmate with an unrequited crush on her. Saddled with a near-crippling case of survivor's guilt, young Celeste funnels her trauma into music, and a song she writes as a eulogy for her fallen classmates and teacher becomes a smash hit in the wake of, well, the wake.
This leads her and her older sister, Ellie (Stacy Martin, Nymphomaniac), who helps write her songs, to massive super-stardom and all that entails. A rift develops early on between the sisters when Ellie engages in an affair with their manager (Jude Law), which doesn't sit well with Celeste. The two never quite recover from that slight, especially with Ellie stuck behind the scenes while Celeste receives the lion's share of the kudos as the singer out front, while she languishes in the shadows.
Flash forward and a now 30-something Celeste is a global superstar, with all that accompanies typical rock superstardom, including a strained relationship with her daughter and a nasty drinking habit. To makes matters worse, a terrorist attack committed by a group of men clad in masks straight out of one of her most popular videos puts an onus on her that hasn't been there since the beginning, when her career was definitively coupled with the traumatic school shooting she nearly died in. Will she self-destruct before her big concert? Or will the show go on?
Vox Lux is basically a smaller-scale Star is Born, if the focus was more on the Lady Gaga character than the Bradley Cooper one. The tie-in to the school shooting thing is a clever one, which allows the movie to comment on current events, albeit in a mostly surface-level way, but still, points for trying. Portman is great, as per usual, but it's admittedly Cassidy (of Tomorrowland and The Killing of a Sacred Deer fame) that steals the show here. She's the heart and soul of the movie, and Portman rightfully shouted her work here to the hilltops with praise. It's no wonder they double-cast her in the movie- the second half would have felt empty without her.
Overall, the film is a bit of a drag, TBH- if The Dirt hit all the low-points as quickly as it could to not drag things down too much, not entirely successfully, then Vox Lux positively wallows in them- they ARE the movie, quite frankly. As such, it's a bit of a downer for the most part, but the film does pull out the stops at the end, with a rousing concert performance from Portman, which isn't as good as one might hope with Sia on-board, but isn't so bad, either.
Portman is solid, as ever, but there's no denying that, if an actual star is born here, it's absolutely Raffey Cassidy. Now, if she could only land a more mainstream project she might just be one to watch for some super-stardom of her own. We'll see. Until then, she's alone worth seeing this film for. Check it out, but be forewarned, it's a bit of a downer. Good soundtrack, though, which is worth a listen on its own, which you can do here.
Bonus Review: "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" - Black Mirror, Season Five, Episode 3
While we're on the topic of rogue pop stars, they don't get much more out-there than Miley Cyrus, who gamely spoofs her own image in this entertaining installment of the Twilight Zone of new tech, the ongoing anthology series Black Mirror. Much has been made of the show's unremittingly dark vision, the noteworthy exception of the episode "San Junipero" notwithstanding, which nonetheless, had its dark moments, untraditional happy ending aside.
Add to that this episode, which likewise ends on a more-or-less happier note- if not literally, given that it ends with a rendition of Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like a Hole" performed by Cyrus herself, which may rub some the wrong way that grew up with their music. (Trent Reznor, for the record, got a kick out of it, as did he of the episode's thinly-veiled variations of some of his songs, which Cyrus also performs.)
The story revolves around a teen, Rachel (Angourie Rice, of The Nice Guys and the current incarnation of Spider-Man, who has a sort of Hannah Murray, of GOT, vibe), who is still reeling from the loss of her mother, and is a die-hard fan of pop star Ashley (Cyrus). She begs for, and gets an Alexa-type AI Ashley-inspired robot that can "dance" and "sing" and knows about all things Ashley, and with good reason, too.
A la Alexa, she also memorizes things about Rachel and her family, much to the derision of her sister, the grumpy, grunge-loving Jack (Madison Davenport, Sharp Objects), an aspiring rocker that hates everything Ashley stands for. When tragedy strikes the real Ashley and the AI one finds out about it, it freaks out and the girls must work together to get to the bottom of what's up with the robot Ashley, which, in turn, leads them straight into a mystery about the real one, in amusing fashion, leading to a caper of sorts.
It's all pretty silly by typical Black Mirror standards, which is precisely why it's so much fun- it's nice to see the show not take itself so seriously for once. And the totally game Cyrus has a blast sending up her own persona (and arguably lamenting Britney Spears' situation, in the process), and if you ever wanted to hear an AI voiced by Cyrus dropping F-bombs left and right, boy, have you come to the right place. Hannah Montana, this is not.
It's all a bit slight, and doesn't really feel like a proper episode of the show, but it's a lot of fun, especially for longtime Cyrus fans that are old enough to find amusement in her taking jabs at her old pop star persona. Also, Rice and Davenport are really excellent, and the show really kicks into overdrive when the two find get over their understandable differences and team up to get to the bottom of what's really going on.
If you're a fan of any of the above people, this is an absolute must-see, and even if you're not that into Cyrus, you might be surprised to find how much you like her when she's allowed to go completely off the rails. Hardcore Black Mirror fans might be a little disappointed, but I really had fun with it overall, and it's the perfect antidote to the dreariness of Vox Lux, which I watched this with as a sort of pop star movie double feature.
Also, if you pay attention, there are some great digs at the state of pop music, even if the episode is ostensibly set in the future. (Loved the "happy mode" auto-tune, for instance.) In addition, there are the by-now expected nods to other BM episodes, which you have to really pay attention for- hint: look out for the news crawl on the TV reports for some of the allusions to past episodes.
Of all the stuff I watched last month, not counting the oldies, this may well have been my favorite. It just put a big old smile on my face when I really needed it. It also made me totally want an "Ashley 2," lol. Hopefully, it'll do the same for you. And when's the last time you could say that about an episode of Black Mirror? By all means, check this one out. 😊😛😍
Join me later this week, for my exclusive look back at the film (and occasional TV) career of writer-director Quentin Tarantino. See you then, and, as always, thanks for reading! 😚
No comments:
Post a Comment