"Red Rocket" -- Movie Review

 

This week at The 59th New York FIlm Festival, I attended a screening of the new comedy-drama by Sean Baker, “Red Rocket”.   

Synopsis

When an ex-porn star returns to his hometown from Los Angeles, will he be able to adapt to his new surroundings -- and will the people there be able to adapt to him?

Story

Many years ago, Mikey (Simon Rex) left his small town home in the gulf area of Texas for the bright lights of Hollywood where he built a career as an adult film performer who worked under the name of Mikey Sabers.  Eventually, he aged out as newer, younger men entered the business and Mikey found jobs became fewer and further between.  Having spent all of the money he made as a performer on partying and living it up in the Los Angeles lifestyle, he must now return home to Texas City and somehow try to find a way to carve out a new life.  Unfortunately for Mikey, that’s easier said than done.

First, he returns to the home of his ex-wife Lexi (Bree Elrod) and begs her to allow him to crash there.  Her mother Lil is initially against the idea, but when he offers to pay a nominal amount to offset the costs, she consents.  Immediately, Mikey tries to find a job -- any job.  The problem is that he doesn’t have any marketable skills -- adding to that, when prospective employers learn that Mikey used to work in porn, they flat-out reject him.  Desperate, Mikey hunts down Leondria (Judy Hill), a local drug dealer.  Reluctantly, she agrees to hire him to sell weed around town -- after getting high on his own supply, he ultimately does start to make some money.

Eventually, Mikey meets a young woman whose nickname is Strawberry due to her bright red hair.  Strawberry, who’s weeks away from her 18th birthday, works as a cashier at a donut store.  After flirting with her for quite some time, she eventually agrees to go out on a date with Mikey.  Once they hook-up, Mikey is convinced that he’s discovered the next new porn star.  He decides to make her his protégé -- and his new meal ticket.  If he can convince Strawberry to move to Los Angeles with him, he will promise to make her a star in the adult film industry.  But when Lexi learns of Mikey’s plan to leave her again, will he still be able to make his dream come true?    

Review

One of the more interesting things about “Red Rocket” is that its protagonist is something of an antihero.  Mikey is narcissistic, ignorant of others’ pain and yet his personality is appealing and somewhat charming.  The fact that his quasi-sociopathic behavior is set against the backdrop of the 2016 presidential election is not a mere coincidence; any similarities between him and our former president are entirely intentional.  These deeply flawed characters are likely what Clinton was referring to when she characterized them as “The Deplorables” even though none of them seem to have any strong political convictions.      

If there is a criticism of “Red Rocket”, it would be the fact that its ending is something of a letdown.  There is a deliberate ambiguity here that’s annoying because the filmmakers want the audience to interpret it as they choose.  This is problematic because the social compact between the director and the audience is violated here; the director, as storyteller, is supposed to tell us a story with a beginning, middle and ending.  When the director does not give us an ending -- or the ending is unclear -- then the viewers will have an unsatisfactory experience with the movie.  Ultimately, the story is its ending and if we don’t know for certain what the ending is that can ruin the film, at least in part.    

Following the screening, there was a very brief interview with the director and some of the cast.  Director Sean Baker said that he wasn’t originally planning on making “Red Rocket” as his next movie -- however, due to Covid, he was forced to switch from his previously scheduled film to this one.  “Red Rocket” was something that was on the backburner -- a motion picture he intended to eventually make at some point down the road.  When his first choice got postponed in February of 2020, he took the next few months to regroup and eventually wound up shooting “Red Rocket” in September of 2020.  Baker said that he was fascinated by the idea of telling a story where the protagonist was what they refer to in the adult film industry as a “suitcase pimp”.      

 

"Titane" -- Movie Review

 

The first weekend of The 59th New York Film Festival  concluded with the U.S. Premiere of the French science fiction/horror movie “Titane”.  

Synopsis

When a young woman goes on a killing spree, she hides from the police by posing as a man’s missing child -- but how long can she pull off this scam?

Story

When Alexia was a little girl, she was in a terrible automobile accident which resulted in surgeons implanting a titanium plate in her skull to protect her brain.  When she grew up, the surgical procedure would leave a highly sensitive and ugly mark on the side of her head, where hair would never grow.  Fortunately, though, she would become a woman who was otherwise physically healthy -- but what about her mental state?  Sadly, she was not quite so lucky in that regard.  Although she wound up being a successful erotic dancer with quite a loyal fanbase, she nevertheless had some issues that would play out throughout the rest of her life.  

As an adult, Alexia has evolved into a hostile sociopath with a disturbingly violent streak -- eventually, she turns to murder, the overwhelming majority of which are either unprovoked or unjustified.  After killing so many people, the police are finally on the case.  Once she is aware that she is being sought by the law, Alexia goes on the lam.  She drastically changes her appearance, cutting her hair, taping down her breasts and even going so far as to disfigure herself in order to look like someone other than the resemblance that has been drawn on the now widely-distributed wanted posters that have been seen around town and online.

 

Ultimately, the police bring her in -- but not as a murder suspect.  Instead, they believe her to be a missing person -- a child who was reported missing over a decade ago.  To the police, at least, Alexia appears to be a 17 year-old boy.  They contact Vincent, the man whom they believe is the father and he confirms that this person is his son, Adrien, so he takes Alexia home.  Despite Alexia’s resistance, Vincent tries his very best to get “Adrien” oriented and assimilated into a new life.  But when Alexia discovers that she is pregnant, will she be able to get rid of the baby or will she be forced to finally reveal her true identity to Vincent once and for all?  

Review

The movie gets its title“Titane” from the French word for titanium; titanium is a very strong, corrosion-resistant metal.  One might suggest that you may need to steel yourself before seeing this film (you saw that pun coming, didn’t you?).  Seriously though, despite the fact that this is an incredibly unique story, it does seem reminiscent of the original “Alien” motion picture, at least thematically.  In “Alien”, the theme was motherhood; “Titane” has a theme of fatherhood.  So, both are essentially about parenthood.  Also, both are similar in the sense that they are of the science fiction/horror genre and have violent content.         

“Titane” at times seems like some sort of a fever dream -- the only difference being that it is structured and the story’s resolution makes sense within the bizarre world that was created.  It is all at once ugly, horrifying, brutal, profane, sexy and beautiful.  If you think all of that can’t be successfully combined into a single movie, then that’s because you haven’t seen this one yet.  Keep in mind, however, that it’s not for everyone -- the necessary caveat here is that in addition to the brutal on-screen violence, there is quite a bit of nudity and sexuality.  That said, it’s such an unusual film, it’s definitely strongly recommended.      

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Julia Ducournau as well as stars Agathe Rousselle (Alexia/Adrien) and Vincent Lindon.  Ducournau said that she originally got the idea for this story while doing post-production for her previous film “Raw”.  Lindon told a story about how he thought Ducournau was kidding when she told him that she had a screenplay with him in mind.  Rousselle had to audition for the role; she found out about the opportunity through a message on Instagram.  She had four callbacks before finding out she got the part -- and it was not until then that he finally got to actually read the script.     

"The Souvenir Part II" -- Movie Review

This weekend at The 59^th New York Film Festival, I attended the North American Premiere of the new United Kingdom drama, “The Souvenir Part II”, by Joanna Hogg. 

Synopsis

Following the death of her lover, can a young artist recover and turn her pain into creative expression?

Story

After the death of her boyfriend, Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) is deeply distraught.  His death was not a total surprise, though – he was a drug addict, but it seems that in the end, he may have taken his own life.  She leaves the London apartment she shared with him and stays with her parents for a while as she emotionally heals.  Eventually, she realizes that it’s time to get on with the rest of her life – she returns to London to live in her old apartment as well as to finish her studies at film school.  She’s in her final year and hopes to graduate by making her student film – but her proposal is running into problems with the school committee.   

When Julie presents the screenplay for her final film to the committee of teachers, it is not met with great enthusiasm – in fact, the response is one of anger, disappointment and hostility.  They feel that having read her previous scripts over the years, this is far from her best work.  It is too experimental for a student who looks to graduate – she should stick to something more traditional, they believe.  While they don’t have the final say over whether she makes the film as written in the screenplay, they do make it clear to her that if she does go ahead with shooting this script, the school will not fully support the effort.    

Julie does in fact proceed with making a film from the screenplay exactly as it was written in the script.  She soon finds out, however, that doing so is not going to be quite as easy as she had originally imagined it would be.  For one thing, the actors have difficulty with the script and in following her direction.  Also, with Julie’s frequent changes in camera angles and scheduling of the shoots, there is a bit of a mutiny with the crew and some of them threaten to quit the production, which of course would delay things considerably.  With all of this hanging over her head – not to mention the questions she still has about her boyfriend’s death – will Julie be able to finish her film in time to graduate?

Review

Part One of “The Souvenir” was previously reviewed here two years ago.  The second part of this movie is not much better – in fact, it’s worse.  How Hogg expects average people to sympathize with problems of the wealthy is hard to fathom.  This sequel suffers from the same issue as the first in the sense that it’s narcissistic self-indulgent elitist drivel; these characters seem so cold and distant – not to mention incredibly rich – that it is hard to relate to any of them.  Apparently, we are supposed to feel sorry for Julie and root for her character despite her white privilege.  To the filmmakers, a resounding “Spare me!” is the only reasonable reply. 

The pretentious nature of both parts of “The Souvenir” is particularly offensive.  After all, this character of Julie is not necessarily pursuing the most noble of professions – she’s going to film school and living in a duplex apartment in the heart of London during the 1980’s.  Oh, and by the way, her parents are paying for her film school as well as the apartment (not to mention the fact that she also borrows $10,000 from her parents).  Apparently, the fact that Julie has lost her young good-for-nothing junkie boyfriend is sufficient reason to care about her.    

Following the screening, there was an interview with director/screenwriter Joanna Hogg.  Hogg said that she wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to attend the screening because, travelling from England, she was having issues securing a visa; it was only two days earlier that she knew she’d be able to fly to New York City.  The movie’s star, Honor Swinton Byrne, was supposed to accompany her, but because her own visa approval hadn’t been finalized yet, she was still in England.  The director said that she had originally wanted to shoot both parts all at once but was unable to do so because she could only secure the funding for one film at a time; it took a year to get funding approval for part two, so this delayed the production.  

"Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn" -- Movie Review

 

This weekend at The New York Film Festival, I attended the U.S. Premiere of the new Romanian comedy-drama, “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn”. 

Synopsis

When it is discovered that a schoolteacher has a sex video on the Internet, will she lose her job, her reputation and her husband?

Story

Emi is frantic.  As a highly-regarded high school teacher in Bucharest, she suddenly finds that both her career and reputation are at risk because she and her husband Eugen made a sex video, which he uploaded to the Internet.  Although he eventually took it down, it was too late because the damage had been done.  Not only have people in the community already found out about it (and in some cases viewed it), others saw it too – and they downloaded the video, posting it to other Web sites, including PornHub.  While her husband is apologetic, Emi tries to cover up for him by telling people that it was the mischievous technicians at the repair shop who uploaded the video when the computer was brought in to have a problem fixed. 

Although she has a small but loyal support group, Emi has been officially warned that she must face a tribunal that will decide her fate.  The tribunal will be held at the school where she teaches and led by the school’s headmistress.  Attending will be parents of her current and former students as well as community activists who will hear not only the accusations but also Emi’s side of the story before voting on how things should be handled.  Emi will have no representation, so she will have to speak on her own behalf and provide reasons why she should ultimately keep her job. 

Upon the evening of the hearing, the headmistress discusses the reason why they are all gathered together and shows Emi’s video to everyone.  Before letting Emi speak, the headmistress reminds those gathered that Emi has been teaching at the school for a very long time and until now, has had no incidents.  In fact, the parents are reminded of the fact that Emi is such a good teacher that she has sent many of her students to various academic competitions.  With this in mind, can the community afford to lose such a valuable asset or will cooler heads prevail and consider some kind of alternative punishment?     

Review

During the introduction of this screening, it was noted that this film had perhaps the best title of any being shown at the festival.  That’s certainly true, but it is also the bawdiest movie to be shown here; at times, it is so explicit that you almost feel as though you’re watching actual pornography – there is not only nudity but also scenes where penetration between the actors appears to occur.  As a result, “Bad Banging” may not necessarily be a motion picture for every taste, especially if you are offended by such things – despite its occasional absurdities, it does tend to make some valid points politically, socially and culturally. 

If you're exceptionally open-minded and can appreciate going on something of a wild ride, then you may want to consider watching “Bad Banging”.  The story is told in three chapters, to go with the traditional three-act story telling structure.  That’s about where its adherence to customary filmmaking ends.  While the first and third acts deal directly with the teacher’s issue, the second act takes something of a detour in an attempt to display the hypocrisy of the disproportionate focus on her story in comparison to more urgent matters currently facing the country.  This going a bit off-track may be somewhat frustrating for the audience, but again, you really have to fasten your seatbelt when it comes to this one.   

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Radu Jude; since he was unable to travel to New York City, he conducted the interview remotely over the Internet from Romania.  Jude said that he got the inspiration for this movie from a tabloid story that made the rounds in Romania a few years ago.  While he saw the issue as relatively trivial, it got quite a bit of attention from the media due to its salacious nature.  What he found disturbing about this is that there were many more serious matters that he felt the country should be dealing with but weren’t getting anywhere near the notoriety in the national news.  

“The Worst Person In The World” -- Movie Review

 

On the opening weekend of The 59^th New York Film Festival, I attended the U.S. Premiere of the new Norwegian comedy-drama, “The Worst Person In The World”. 

Synopsis

When a young woman abandons a promising career in order to focus on her personal life, will she find happiness in either?

Story

In Oslo, Julie, who is approaching her 30^th birthday, is attending medical school.  Although she aspires to be a physician, she doesn’t really seem to have much enthusiasm for the profession.  Seeing her interest wane over time, she decides to drop out and pursue other things that hold her attention – such as photography.  Julie takes a job at a bookstore in order to support herself while she studies photography – but there are other pressing matters in her life as well.  The time it took to attend classes and study in medical school didn’t afford her much of an opportunity to have a satisfying love life.  This also needs to be fixed. 

Julie, it turns out, has no problem meeting men.  The problem is meeting the right man.  She gets to know quite a few – some of them are either one-nighters, others brief flings, but rarely anyone with whom she feels a strong connection.  One night, while she is dating another man, she meets Aksel, a successful cartoonist; he has a series of comic books where the protagonist is a politically incorrect bobcat – stories that are very popular with young men.  Although Aksel and Julie develop a relationship, both are acutely aware of the possible impediment of their age difference:  he is in his mid-forties and she in her late-twenties. 

Eventually, when Aksel has to focus on his various career opportunities, Julie attends a party by herself, where she meets Eivind, a more age-appropriate man.  The two hit it off immediately and spend the remainder of the evening talking to each other and ignoring the other guests.  Nothing immediately comes of this since both are currently in a committed relationship.  Later on, the two accidentally run into each other at the bookstore where she works and they wind up realizing they need to be together.  Julie has a difficult conversation with Aksel and she leaves him for Eivind – but after living with Eivind, she suddenly learns she’s pregnant.  Is Julie ready to be a mother at this point?  

Review

“The Worst Person In The World” is told in twelve chapters (plus a prologue and epilogue).  It is entertaining and mostly amusing, until taking a somewhat dark turn in the last few chapters.  One of the nicer surprises is that the movie has an excellent soundtrack, not the least of which being Antonio Carlos Jobim’s bittersweet “Waters Of March” (“Aguas de Marco”).  The screenplay is well-crafted and the directing choices enhance the telling of the story (especially true in the scene where the friends experiment with hallucinogenics as well as a judicious use of some animation).

On balance, “The Worst Person In The World” is highly recommended, but not without one major caveat – and that being of a technical nature.  In the print that was shown during this screening, the subtitles were extremely problematic.  In some cases, the subtitles flashed on the screen so quickly that they could not be read (a speed-reading course would have been a useful prerequisite here).  Also, in other cases, there were subtitles that overlapped other subtitles to the point that neither could be read.  Of all the foreign films reviewed on this web site, this was one of the most dispiriting exercise in reading subtitles experienced in quite a long time.         

Following the screening, there was a very entertaining question and answer session with the director Joachim Trier and cast members Renate Reinsve (Julie) and Anders Danielsen Lie (Aksel).  When Trier gave his screenplay to actors to read, the feedback he received was that it seemed like part of a trilogy; this was not a response he expected because he didn’t conceive of it in that way.  Trier said he wrote the script for Renate, with whom he worked previously, but had a very small role in one of his films.  Reinsve felt that despite the fact that it was written by two men, it accurately portrayed how a woman would behave.  Lie said that he is a part-time actor; he is trained as a physician and worked in that capacity during the height of the Covid crisis when acting jobs were unavailable.    

 

"The Tragedy Of Macbeth" -- Movie Review

On the opening night of The 59^th New York Film Festival, I attended the World Premiere of Joel Coen’s new adaptation of the Shakespeare classic, “The Tragedy Of Macbeth”.

Synopsis

When General Macbeth schemes to become king of Scotland, what price must he pay for his treachery?

Story

Since the story of “Macbeth” is well-known, you’ll be spared the details here; if you don’t know the details of this 400-year-old play, feel free to look it up online.

Review

For purists of Shakespeare, this adaptation of “Macbeth” may make some squirm; after all, not only does the film version take liberties with the source material (Coen’s version comes in at under two hours), it’s significantly more sanguinary than what some may be comfortable with.  That said, it does raise the question of whether or not “The Tragedy Of Macbeth” will attract movie goers.  Basically, you’ve got major stars playing Shakespearean roles in a famous play that’s shot film noir style (the entire motion picture is in black and white).  While it looks great, if you’re lauding the cinematography, is that going to move audiences to take a chance?

“Macbeth” the stage play has something of an infamous history.  The more superstitious members of the acting community never utter its name; instead, they merely refer to it as “The Scottish Play”.  Why this is done is because of a belief that if anyone utters the actual name of the play, then some kind of misfortune will befall the production.  There have been a number of film adaptations of this play over the decades – some of which being better than others.  Coen’s interpretation of “Macbeth” is truly a very cinematic one, but aside from fans of his, the lead actors and Shakespeare himself, questions remain about whether or not this will gain a significant following. 

Following the screening, there was a brief question and answer session with the cast and director, Joel Coen.  Coen also introduced the film; in his introduction, he said that they had begun production prior to Covid, which then caused a significant pause in the proceedings.  During the question-and-answer period post-screening, the cast unanimously agreed that part of the pleasure from participating in this project came from the fact that they had the luxury of having an extended rehearsal time before they actually began shooting.  This allowed them to try out different things and to experiment.   

"Apropos Of Nothing" -- Book Review

 

This summer, I read “Apropos Of Nothing”, Woody Allen’s autobiography. 

Review

Allow me to simplify this for you right from the start:  if you are a Woody Allen fan who does not believe he is guilty of what he has been accused of, then this book is a must read.  On the other hand, if you are one of those people who believes he is guilty without any proof of such guilt, then you’ll obviously not read this book.  In fact, you probably shouldn’t even read this review.  If you’ve even read this far, it’s surprising.  Obviously, if I have read this book, I’m a member of the former rather than the latter. 

If you want to know why, then you’ll just have to do your own research, which would include watching the documentary, “By The Way, Woody Allen Is Innocent”, because there’s a significant amount of information there to make you question the accusations (not to mention the blogs of his adopted son Moses, which is a first-hand account that refutes many of the family’s accusations). Additionally, there is the information Allen provides in this book – but whether or not you choose to believe what’s already in the public record, that’s completely up to you.

As for the book itself, it is somewhat unconventional – not unlike its subject.  Specifically, it is not divided into actual numbered or even titled chapters; instead, it is divided into sections of anywhere from 15 to 30 pages, presumably done to create a sense of continuous flow of a single story.  That said, however, Allen does traverse his tale in a more or less chronological fashion.  Despite the relentlessly bad press he’s suffered through over the past few years, Allen never comes across as ever feeling sorry for himself; quite the opposite in fact – he often wonders at how unbelievably lucky he has been throughout the majority of his life. 

Once Allen reaches the point where he begins his filmmaking career, he starts alternating between his experiences making each movie and his personal life at that time.  “Husbands And Wives” was the last film he made with Mia Farrow – and despite the fact that they were in the middle of their very controversial and public breakup at that point, he claims that everyone remained professional enough to be able to finish the shoot in a timely fashion.  If you are looking for detailed technical information about precisely how Allen shot his motion pictures as a director, you’ll be sorely disappointed; he claims that it’s not a subject that’s interested him and that he was always too lazy to learn the specifics (which is why he left everything to the knowledgeable professionals).

The book is neither a text on moviemaking nor a tabloid-like tell-all; that said, it’s certainly not a boring read – in fact, it’s quite entertaining.  Unsurprisingly, Allen tosses in some good jokes periodically – and they pay-off particularly well due to the fact that they take the reader completely by surprise.  Most of these jokes, of course, are in the typical Allen self-effacing style, so they should be rather familiar to his fans.  Also, as an accomplished writer, Allen inserts some quite literary references, so as not to disappoint his more erudite fans. 

If there is any criticism of this book, it is in the lack of certain details regarding his personal life – and I’m not talking about the sleazy details between Allen and Farrow.  Instead, it would have to do with two of his long-time friends and collaborators.  For example, he mentions Mickey Rose and Marshall Brickman, but never explains exactly why he stopped co-writing screenplays with them.  This is particularly curious given the fact that that Rose, Allen’s friend since their childhood in Brooklyn, passed away a few years ago.  He also makes no direct allusions to Eric Lax, who wrote two of Allen’s biographies, but does seem to suggest that he may have hoodwinked Lax regarding the origin of how Allen Stewart Konigsberg changed his name to Woody Allen.