Tag: review

Movie review: The Whale

Director Darren Aronofsky

The WhaleWhen I went to see The Whale at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany with my wife in late January, I was concerned.

Would the film be fatphobic? I don’t believe it was.  This is a man named Charlie (Brendan Fraser) who is in pain, and food is his drug of choice. At some level, I understand that. So the reviewers that complain that his eating disorder wasn’t adequately explained confound me.

Yes, the movie was claustrophobic. Long before reading the end credits, I knew the piece had to have been based on a play that Samuel D. Hunter wrote. For me, this works in its favor.

Charlie has closed himself off. He teaches an online English class, but his video on the laptop “doesn’t work.” His only friend, Liz (Hong Chau) is alternatingly irritated with him and understanding. She’s linked to him in another way.

He misses his daughter, who he had left along with his wife when the girl was just eight. The now-seventeen-year-old Ellie (Sadie Sink) unexpectedly shows up at his house against the express wishes of her mother. She plays mind games with both Charlie and the young evangelist Thomas (Ty Simkins), who keeps showing up at Charlie’s place.

Much has been made of Fraser’s Oscar-nominated performance, and for a good reason. Even those who don’t like the film praise the actor. Chau is also nominated. The performance of Samatha Morton as Mary, Charlie’s ex and Ellie’s mom, really jumped out for me..

Action

Director Darren Aronofsky is the source of much of mixed feelings about the movie. One critic said The Whale didn’t need the director’s “heavy darkness to be effective.” I thought it was appropriate.

Another said the adaptation was “empathetic and soulful,” which I agree with. A third:  the “questions about its purpose – why is this difficult movie about a very difficult man even made – unanswered.”  I don’t understand that observation.

Aronofsky directed one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. In Requiem for a Dream (2000), Ellen Burstyn was nominated for Best Actress. She should have won but lost out to Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich, who was fine in that picture.

While I saw The Whale at a cinema, I think it could survive being streamed more than, say, the current Avatar film.

Review – Avatar: The Way of Water

sequel to the 2009 film

way of waterHere’s my problem when I watched Avatar: The Way of Water – I never saw the original 2009 film. So I didn’t know what supposedly terrible, traitorous thing Jake (Sam Worthington), the primary male character, did to trigger the massive military response. I’ve subsequently read a  summary of the first movie. Oh, THAT’S what was going on.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed trying to figure out the relationship among the primary family. Jake and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have sons Neteyam and Lo’ak and daughters Tuk and Kiri. There’s also a  human boy named Spider,  who relates more to the Na’vi culture.  Jake accepts him, but Neytiri is distrustful.

Their tranquility is broken when a spaceship of humans returns to Pandora to capture it. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) has been cloned into a Na’vi body. The attack, even out of context, reminded me of how powerful the military-industrial complex is. Even in this fictional space, it always seems to find a way to pay for heavy-duty armaments and technology.

Jake, Neytiri, and their family flee from the Omaticaya Clan and retreat to the coast of Metkayina. It’s at this point that not knowing what had happened previously didn’t much matter. There is a period of adjustment for both the sojourners and their hosts.  Eventually, the space invaders come looking for the family.

Loverly

I found these worlds visually stunning, and even without the story were almost worth watching, irrespective of the narrative. This is probably a movie that is best seen in a cinema.

The story addressed imperialism, racism, and environmental injustice, sometimes with success and occasionally a bit hamfisted.  It was interesting to me that the parenting skills of Neytaki and especially Jake sounded very much like almost every parent I grew up around.

The movie, at 195 minutes, is LONG, maybe overlong. I assume James Cameron allows his editors to work.

Ultimately, I guess I need to watch the first film to ascertain whether Way Of Water has fixed the flaws of the original or if it is too much of the same thing. I’ve read multiple reviews with each point of view.

I saw the film at a weekday matinee at Madison Theatre in Albany, and as has happened twice before, I was the only person present.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The legendary James Hong

Everything Everywhere All at OnceWhen my wife and I went to see Everything Everywhere All at Once at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany in late January, the cashier said, “It’s a wild ride, but it’s worth it.” That’s true.

The IMDb description: “A middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.”

It’s very clever that it starts in such a mundane manner, with Evelyn Wang  (Michelle Yeoh) trying to sort through the business receipts for the laundromat that she and her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), own. She’s preparing for their meeting with scary IRS agent  Deirdre Beaubeirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Also, she’s trying to say the right thing to her daughter Joy  (Stephanie Hsu), who’s in a relationship with non-Asian Becky (Tallie Medel).    To boot, she needs to tend to her father, Gong Gong  (the legendary James Hong).

Then the film takes an unexpected and surreal turn. Which Waymond is she talking with, her familiar or someone from another metaverse? Explaining this further is both difficult and ultimately pointless.

Ultimately

Yes, EEAAO is weird, bonkers, strange, absurd,  often hilarious, and occasionally exhausting. Sentient rocks, a dangerous vortex, and my need to rethink eating hot dogs are all here. The costumes, especially those worn by Joy, are fantastic in every sense of the word.

Yet, at the core of the story by Oscar-nominated writers/directors The Daniels, who are Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, is the conventional story. It’s about a second-generation, sandwich-generation American woman who is contemplating her life choices. At some level, I liked it more when it was over than when I was watching it. My wife wants to see it again.

The Academy Awards buzz is warranted for all the actors nominated but also for costume designer Shirley Kurata.

Movie review: The Fabelmans

Director/co-writer Steven Spielberg

FabelmansI believe the film The Fabelmans is underrated. That may seem to be an odd conclusion, given the fact that it won the Golden Globe for Best Drama and director Steven Spielberg. Plus, it’s been nominated for seven Academy Awards.

It’s the commentaries, and I’ve read a few of them, that say, e.g., that “the ending is something of a foregone conclusion, as we all know what happened to Spielberg.” I think this is a banal observation, given the number of movies based on actual events for which the audience may know the outcome.

In any case, the protagonist is Sammy Fabelman (Gabrielle LaBelle), whose life is a fictionalized portrayal of Spielberg’s journey. It’s the journey that is interesting.

His mother, Mitzi (Michelle Williams), is a talented pianist without much chance to express it. Her artistic outlet was supporting Sammy’s desire to film everything, a passion that started after a family outing to a movie.

His dad, Burt (Paul Dano), a technological innovator, tolerates his son’s “hobby,” a term Sammy rails against.  Burt’s friend and colleague Bennie (Seth Rogan) is a like an uncle to the Fabelman kids.

Family

The movie worked for me because it shared some universal truths about family dynamics. Couples are complicated. Secrets are kept. For instance,  that uncle Boris (Judd Hirsch), who Mitzi’s mother warned Mitzi about from the grave, shows up.

Mostly, it’s about how, sometimes, an artist is compelled to do their art. Looking back at his growing up so late in his career may have given Spielberg the perspective a younger writer-director could not have mined as well.

Some critics thought it was overly sentimental. Sentimental, sure, but it also shows some family members as fish out of water, especially when the Fabelmans leave the relative comfort of Arizona for the foreign land that is California.

All the Oscar nominees are deserving. I was particularly taken by the not-nominated Paul Dano, whose Burt is walking a tightrope between being the left-brained breadwinner and trying to address his wife’s and son’s more right-brained passions.I’ve never favored the idea of a performance being ‘snubbed,” but some have used the term about his performance.

My wife and I saw the film at Albany’s Spectrum Theatre in mid-January.

Review: The Banshees of Inisherin

Nine Oscar noms

Banshees of InisherinAfter mulling it over for a few weeks, I’ve decided that  The Banshees of Inisherin is a COVID movie. I don’t mean this literally; it’s set in 1923 Ireland.

But there’s a specific isolation that the film, set on a small island, imbues.  Pádraic (Colin Farrell) is confounded when the musician Colm (Brendon Gleeson), without provocation, ends their friendship. Pádraic keeps wanting an explanation. Ultimately, there’s no profound reason for the fissure.

And Pádraic is a nice guy, as he reminds everyone in earshot, including his bright but underemployed sister Siobhán (Kerry Conlon), the troubled young Dominic (Barry Keoghan), an increasingly frustrated Colm, even Pádraic’s pet donkey (Jenny). All of the above actors, except Jenny, were nominated for Oscars, and understandably so.

WTOP film critic Jason Fraley wrote: “A beautifully bizarre tale of wistfulness that actually caused me to laugh out loud from its tragicomic tone. It certainly won’t be for everyone (I can’t quite put my finger on why…), but if you don’t absolutely hate it, you just might love it.”

My wife and I got into a conversation with the people sitting behind us at Albany’s Spectrum Theatre about the greater message in the film. Sometimes you do outgrow another person. And it got me thinking about who, between the former friends, is the wronged one.

I certainly didn’t hate the movie, which is listed as a comedy (comedy?) or a comedy-drama. The priest (David Pearse) in this remote locale WAS funny in his less-than-professional demeanor.

But the “solution” to the main conflict in the film is counterintuitive, let’s say. It’s certainly strange.

Academy Award noms

The Banshees of Inisherin was also nominated for Oscars in the categories of best picture,  original score (Carter Burwell), film editing (Mikkel E. G. Nielsen), original screenplay, director, and best picture (all Martin McDonagh, the latter with two others). It looks charming, and the score is enjoyable. It won some earlier awards. 

The movie may be, at 114 minutes – not that lengthy by current movie standards – too long for the story that’s being told. Still, it does show its craft. You may enjoy it more than I and possibly far more than my wife did.

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