The Friday 6/14/2024

Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Tuesday (A24)

My piece for the Scarecrow blog this week.

Tuesday/In Our Day. “To be a truly funny actor invariably requires a level of honesty, and Louis-Dreyfus brings an unvarnished plainness to this film’s most emotional scenes—and does it without the need to let you know she’s “acting.”/”A slim and wistful entry in Hong’s work, a modest example of his offhand style. But it has its moments.”

Movie Diary 6/12/2024

Kinds of Kindness (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2024). Will review soon. In the meantime, we can say that this is indeed a return to Lanthimos’s earlier, weirder films, three separate stories that take place in recognizable but skewed worlds.

Under Paris (Xavier Gens, 2024). Gigantic shark swims up the Seine; mayhem ensues. You have to credit Gens and star Berenice Bejo for committing to the idiotic material, and there are a handful of shots that convey a dizzying level of crackpot glee. Plus, it’s all about climate change and the trashing of the planet, so this genre exercise has that covered.

Movie Diary 6/10/2024

Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011). The three-hour director’s cut, screened last night at the Paris Theatre as part of a “Bleak Week” program. My top film of 2012, for what that’s worth, and not a bleak film at all, but I get where they’re coming from. The director, J. Cameron-Smith, and Anna Paquin attended and provided a warm, thoughtful, but also fierce Q&A after the movie. One thing: For an event like this, the movie should’ve looked better. I do not know what was being projected, but the film deserves more – and for the opening ten minutes, it was even masked incorrectly, leading Lonergan himself to pop out of his seat and run back to tell somebody. There is no excuse for that.

Movie Diary 6/9/2024

Hit Man (Richard Linklater, 2023). The reviews about this comedy-romance being delightful are not wrong, but it is also a very interestingly strange film, especially in its final ten minutes. At the core is one of my favorite narrative themes – how role-playing might lead to something truthful – so I am inclined to like this movie.

Tuesday (Daina Oniunas-Pusic, 2023). Death – in the form of an animated tropical bird – comes for a teenager (Lola Petticrew), but not if the girl’s mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) can stop it. Will write more about it.

The Friday 6/7/2024

David Bowie: Glastonbury

My piece for the Scarecrow blog.

Glastonbury. “The final two songs bring everything together at the end of the overlong film: Pulp’s “Common People,” and David Bowie’s majestic “Heroes,” which together lend a benediction to the faithful Glastonbury-goers.”

Movie Diary 6/5/2024

Another listing of the titles I watched for the Brooklyn Film Festival narrative feature jury; the awards have not yet been announced, so no editorial comment.

Ovid, New York (Vito A. Rowlands, 2024). A series of stories, all derived from Ovid’s transformation tales, but given a playful, experimental update. US.

Crookedfinger (Julia Halperin, Jason Courtland, 2023). In the aftermath of a shocking end to their parents’ lives, two siblings (Paula Jon DeRose, Blake DeLong) sort through the baggage of accumulated years. US.

The Faerie Queen (Lenny Luo, 2023). Students in Hong Kong navigate the serious business of romance and partying and outdated sexual politics. The director is still in his teens. Hong Kong.

Distancia (T.S. Meeks, 2024). Shot in a black-and-white immersive style, this close-to-non-narrative drama follows an undocumented immigrant (Javier B. Suarez) as he reels through life after the death of his wife. US.

Under My Skin (Pascal Tessaud, 2024). In Marseille, an ex-con is determined to go straight, which in his case means teaching krump dancing and maybe competing in the occasional dance-off. The streets and the past have other plans. France.

Weeknights (Alfred Giancarli, 2023). Almost-still-life portraits of in-between times and spaces, generally arranged around some all-night work. US.

Movie Diary 6/4/2024

I’m on the narrative feature jury for the Brooklyn Film Festival again. Our award hasn’t been announced, so I will list some of the titles over the next couple of days with a minimum of critical comment.

Atikamekw Suns (Chloe Leriche, 2023). In 1977, five tribal members in a First Nations community in Quebec died under mysterious circumstances. This film (not a documentary) examines the case in lyrical, committed fashion. Canada.

The Teacher (Farah Nabulsi, 2024). A responsible Palestinian schoolteacher (Saleh Bakri) is also a clandestine member of the resistance, something that comes to a head during a time of crisis. Nabulsi’s first feature was The Present. UK/Palestine/Qatar.

Heavier Is the Sky (Petrus Cariry, 2024). Two people cross paths on the road, which is a very dangerous place in this unsparing survey of life at the fringes. Brazil.

Ben and Suzanne, a Reunion in 4 Parts (Shaun Seneviratne, 2023). Relationship comedy, about two people meeting up in Sri Lanka after a few months apart – lots of banter and scenery included. US/Sri Lanka.

OnlyHuman (Yana Klimova-Yusupova, 2022). A Russian man plans to move to Spain with his girlfriend, but is haunted by the possibility of finding his birth mother before they go. Russia.

Chaperone (Zoe Eisenberg, 2023). In Hawaii: A 29-year-old woman, perpetually at loose ends, inadvertently takes up with a high school student, a situation that becomes increasingly uncomfortable (especially because he doesn’t know her age). US.

Movie Diary 6/2/2024

Handling the Undead (Thea Hvistendahl, 2024). A kind of somber, slowed-down arthouse zombie film from Norway. Three stories weave together, each marked by a loved one whose recent loss has been further darkened by the fact that the dead have returned (breathing and moving around, but looking pretty dazed) thanks to a strange environmental event. The movie gets off to a strong, moody start, and there are some stunning shots – a half-lit chapel with coffin looks like an eerie blend of Ingmar Bergman and Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It’s based on a novel by the author of Let the Right One In and Border, but in some ways the weakest element of the film is in the actual plot material; beyond the overall set-up, the individual stories aren’t really that interesting, nor the characters that compelling. The stronger elements include the grief-stricken atmosphere, Peter Raeburn’s music, and the presence of two actors from The Worst Person in the World, Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielson Lie. A worthy attempt, although the overall muddiness keeps it from something greater.

Movie Diary 6/1/2024

Messiah of Evil (Willard Huyck, 1974). Had never gotten around to seeing this Huyck-Katz underground semi-cult picture, which apparently was not finished, and then edited by somebody else. Which is how it plays. That low-budget quality is part of what’s effective about it, even as there are extremely slow sections and lousy acting. There are definitely some unsettling images in a post-Manson way, like the gas station attendant shooting his gun into the bushes at night – what the hell? Marianna Hill floats through it, Joy Bang is killed in a movie theater, and Royal Dano and Elisha Cook Jr. lend the movie-history cred. Not truly worthy of “late-discovered horror classic” status, but almost as interesting as Incubus or something.

The Friday 5/31/2024

Niels Schneider, Lou de Laâge: Coup de chance

My piece for the Scarecrow blog this week.

Coup de chance. “His bleakest movie since Blue Jasmine. The story is one of his murder tales, but that’s not specifically the source of the bleakness; what really chills is the shrug of withdrawal in its final moments.”