"Baby Ruby" -- Movie Review

 

This week at Lincoln Center, I attended an advance screening of the new psychological thriller “Baby Ruby” starring Kit Harington and Noémie Merlant. 

Synopsis

Will a couple’s newborn baby drive her mother mad – or is someone really trying to kill her?

Story

Jo (Noémie Merlant) and her husband Spencer (Kit Harington) are expecting their first child any day now.  With the couple having moved to a secluded rustic suburb far from the city, Jo, an internet influencer, arranges her own baby shower; attendees include the team of support staff who work on her lifestyle web site.  Childbirth does not prove to be the beautiful experience Jo had originally envisioned; it is painful and messy and its aftermath altogether unpleasant.  Once she is discharged from the hospital, one of the nurses “gifts” her with the placenta because it is rich with nutrients. 

Upon getting baby Ruby home, Jo’s problems are just starting – and get increasingly worse.  To begin with, Ruby is incessantly crying – to the point that there’s precious little Jo can do to quiet her down; this is wearing on Jo because she’s losing sleep and is lacking in the mental and physical energy needed to maintain her web site.  Jo believes Ruby is displaying great hostility towards her; Ruby gets increasingly rough with Jo, biting her during breastfeeding and pulling off her earring to the point that it tears her earlobe, drawing blood.  Jo takes Ruby to the doctor and informs him about all of this, but he insists it’s normal behavior for an infant. 

Eventually, Jo comes to discover that she’s not alone – there are other young women in her area that are also recent mothers with infants to care for.  She eagerly befriends them in search of a support system but soon becomes suspicious of who they are and what their motives may be.  Are they really parents?  Do they even have babies at home?  Jo believes that everyone in her inner circle is against her because they believe she’s an incompetent mother – even Spencer and his mother, who assists in caring for Ruby.  Thinking she and her baby are in danger, Jo takes Ruby and hurriedly leaves – but will she really escape their supposed peril?     

Review

First-time director Bess Wohl certainly nailed the standards of this type of movie – stinger music, jump cuts, spooky lighting and so forth.  Unfortunately, the script is somewhat trite which is rather surprising given that Wohl’s career has primarily been as a writer.  Exactly who the antagonist is changes from moment to moment:  is it the baby or the creepy neighbors or the husband or the mother-in-law?  We are somewhat led to believe that this is going to be a supernatural or paranormal story, but it turns out that the heroine is actually confronting more of an internal nemesis. 

Ultimately, “Baby Ruby” comes across as a great advertisement for contraception; part way through the movie, you almost expect its denouement will be Amazon delivery workers to be dropping off crate after crate of condoms at the couple’s doorstep.  At its heart, what the film seems to want to convey is that mothers of a newborn – especially first-time mothers – have very little in the way of support from society and don’t have an outlet for their concerns.  Part of the problem with the motion picture is that it doesn't really seem to know what it wants to be – social commentary?  Horror?  Science Fiction?

Writer/Director Bess Wohl was interviewed following the screening.  Wohl’s career has primarily been spent as a playwright, although she has written a number of screenplays and teleplays, as she says, just to pay the bills in between stage plays.  “Baby Ruby” is not her first screenplay credit but it is her first credit as a director.  She sees this movie as something of a mixed genre – horror, drama, psychological thriller.  Wohl says that her influences for this film included “The Shining”, “Fatal Attraction” and “Rosemary’s Baby”.  The ending of  the motion picture is different from the script she originally wrote (which is what drew Kit Harington into the project); during the shoot, Noémie Merlant convinced her to change it and that’s the one that wound up in the final version. 

"Saint Omer" -- Movie Review

 

On the opening weekend of the official release of courtroom drama “Saint Omer”, I attended a special screening at Lincoln Center.

Synopsis

When a young woman goes on trial for killing her baby, will she be found guilty or is she merely being set up to take the fall?

Story

Rama (Kayije Kagame) is a successful author who has commenced to proceed on her next book:  a work about the mythical character Medea and how she overcame the patriarchy.  As part of her research for that tome, she leaves her family and her husband in Paris for a short trip to Saint Omer, a town in northern France.  While there, she will spend several days attending the trial of Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda), a Senegalese philosophy student in her mid-twenties, who is accused of murdering her 15-month-old daughter Ellise.  This turns out to be a trial that is captivating much of the nation, receiving extensive coverage by the news media.

During the trial, it comes out that Coly admits to the killing of her baby – however, she claims that it was not her fault.  She believes that sorcery was involved – specifically, she thinks that a curse was put on her by someone and it was this that caused her infant’s death.  In tracing her background, it turns out that the father of her baby is Luc Dumontet (Xavier Maly), a much older married man with whom she was engaging in an affair.  Dumontet was supporting her financially when Coly’s father stopped financing her studies in France.  With the presence of the unwanted baby, their relationship became even more strained.

As the trial wears on, it becomes evident that Rama is having a severe emotional reaction the more she listens to Coly; upon hearing about Coly’s dysfunctional relationship with her mother, Rama compares this to her own family situation and can easily relate.  Rama instantly becomes sympathetic to Coly’s situation.  But there’s much more to it than merely that.  It seems that Rama herself is several months pregnant; listening to Coly’s history, she begins to wonder if she would have a similar reaction to her own baby – or if she should even have the baby at all.  Given the similarities, will Rama decide to take her pregnancy to term? 

Review

“Saint Omer” has been one of those films that could be characterized as a darling of the critics; not only has it appeared at a number of film festivals in the past year, it has also either won or been nominated for quite a few awards.  All of that having been said, it lacks an emotional impact, keeping the characters at an arm’s length (or more), never truly humanizing them sufficiently for the audience to gain an interest in their outcome.  Although the story is about Coly’s trial, it is the character of Rama that appears to be the real protagonist here and she comes across as so distant and detached that one is left to merely shrug at the conclusion. 

Much of the movie has the static nature of a stage play because the majority takes place in the courtroom during the trial.  The reason why Rama feels so strongly about attending the trial remains somewhat vague for a good deal of the story; by the time her true motivation is revealed, it seems too little too late.  Some of this may be due to the director’s previous experience as a documentarian and “Saint Omer” is her first feature film narrative.  It is possible that the film’s impact may vary based on gender – that is to say women may find this motion picture of a more compelling nature than men.  The fact that Rama sees tying this into the mythic tale of Medea only serves to buttress this theory.   

Director Alice Diop and actress Guslagie Malanda (Laurence Coly) were interviewed following the screening.  Diop said that this is based on a real trial, which she and many other women in France followed rather closely because it spoke to maternity and motherhood.  She said that the reason why she did not make this as a documentary was because that by the time she decided she wanted to turn this into a film the trial was already over.  Malanda said that originally, there were 10 rehearsals scheduled but they wound up only needing two because they found both the story and the character to be rather straightforward.  She added that she prepared for the shoot for months in the same way that an athlete would leading up to a competition. 

 

Hedonism II At New Year's 2022-23 -- Trip Report

 Day1 Monday 12/26/22

Checked into Hedo today. Despite all of the craziness we've been seeing at the U.S. airports in the days leading up to Christmas, my flight was thankfully not cancelled -- but it was delayed considerably for a variety of reasons. As a result, the 7:30AM JetBlue flight did not take off for an hour and a half (9AM).

Anyway, I'm here now and that's the only thing that matters I guess.

Upon check-in, they handed me glossy cards: one was an invitation to the New Year's Eve party, themed "Amorous Attractions: Hedonistic Prom Night". The other card was titled "Lustful Liaison", which was just the theme nights for the last week of the year. Comparing this to the PDF of the events schedule downloaded from the QR Code they gave me at check-in (that's new, isn't it?) it appears that the only two nights that are different were Christmas ("The Naughty List: Boudoir de Mystique") and this Saturday (NYE, as described above).

One other thing about check-in: in addition to the credit card, they also asked me for my Driver's License. I don't recall being asked for this before. This is definitely new. What's the purpose? I was asked for my passport, too, but then she asked for my license, which I thought was odd.

Initially I was asked for my passport (as they usually do) and handed it over. Then, she immediately handed it back to me without even looking at it and said, "You know what would be better? If you gave me your driver's license instead". At that point, I handed over the driver's license and she made a copy of that, not both the license and the passport. I needed the passport anyway because on the form they make you fill out during check-in you have to enter your passport number. I have since learned that they are supposed to ask for either or.  So, my best guess is that she probably misspoke because she is used to asking for the passport alone and the driver's license thing is somewhat new.

Based on the weather reports I’ve been checking, this week could be a wet one. It rained slightly on my way from the airport and rained heavily late in the afternoon, stopping just in time for dinner.

Day 2 Tuesday 12/27/22

No rain today, thankfully.  A little annoyed that they didn't give me a notice about the repeaters party scheduled for tonight so I missed that. Since I checked in yesterday, they obviously knew I was here.  On a positive note, I did begin to see quite a few new arrivals tonight, including many familiar faces from New Year’s trips past.  The downside to the new incoming guests was that it was more of a challenge for me to find a seat at dinner (Asian Cuisine night, it seemed).

Day 3 Wednesday 12/28/22

After an ill-advised post-dinner latte, I'm pretty wired-up on caffeine tonight – at least it’s helping me to stay up late without feeling drowsy. 

Next, the piano bar. Monday night there was entertainment but no Eldon; Tuesday night was karaoke (ICK!) and still no Eldon. Tonight, the piano player returned and so did Eldon! Eldon told me that after his horrible accident earlier in the year he's about 80-85% right now; he wasn't able to work for four months, getting injured in June and returning in October. It never ceases to amaze me how he's able to not only recognize me but also call me by name and immediately pour my usual drink without having to be asked.

Lastly, apparently the disco is a thing again -- or at least it was for tonight, anyway. Monday, I tried to go in but the door was locked; Tuesday I didn't even bother. Tonight, when the piano bar cleared out, I left and heard music coming from the disco; when I entered I found the dancefloor packed with people stomping to Pitbull's "Fireball". The bar, however, seemed relatively empty. But at least the disco was back -- if only for one night.

Day 4 Thursday 12/29/22

Plenty of activity around the pool and in the hot tub today, but there has been a pattern of clouds mid to late afternoon which resulted in not only little sun but also no chance to view the sunset later in the day. 

Day 5 Friday 12/30/22

Around 4:30PM today was the first significant rainfall, but thankfully, it didn’t last too long; just as I was getting ready to leave, the rain stopped – as a result, I just swapped for some dry towels and stuck around for a while longer. 

Day 6 Saturday 12/31/22

Friday night as I was preparing for dinner, a note was slipped under my door stating that starting Saturday AM, the main pool deck would be unavailable all day because they were constructing the set for New Year's Eve. As of shortly before dinner at 7PM, they were still putting on the finishing touches, so they just barely completed by the time dinner was officially served.

Dinner consisted of the usual fare for New Year's Eve (i.e. the Friday Gala was moved to Saturday so we had lobster).

Mojito bar set up on the pool deck, martini bar near the courtyard (in that space where the pool/ping pong tables are located).

Went into the piano bar to get away from all the noise; no piano player that night but some folks volunteered to tickle the ivories.

Just as they've done the past few years, the countdown to midnight took place in the courtyard which had more than enough space for folks to dance.

This year and last year, it didn't seem like the place was all that full for the party -- appeared to be quite a few of the resort guests but not that many night passes. I say that because there were plenty of places set for dinner but a number of them were left unoccupied (at least that meant I had no trouble finding a place to sit down to eat dinner).

Day 7 Sunday 1/1/23

Hangover day for many folks so it was rather quiet; what added to the quiet atmosphere was that a few folks had already departed. 

Day 8 Monday 1/2/23

An even slower and quieter day today as even more people I know left; quite a depressing day.  Late day rain forced me to pack up and head back to my room a little earlier than I would have preferred.  One last night of the party before the fun of packing begins. 

Day 9 Tuesday 1/3/23

Got up a little bit earlier than usual so that I could get a head start on packing and grab a quick breakfast prior to check-out.  Pick-up for the ride to the airport was early, so I got to check-in for my JetBlue flight with plenty of time to spare.  Encountered a great deal of difficulty using the kiosk at MBJ; fortunately, there was a JetBlue employee there to assist (albeit begrudgingly).  Long wait to check my bag and an almost as long wait to retrieve my ticket to enter Club MoBay.  Once I got to the lounge, I discovered the flight had been delayed; what started out as a 2:30PM flight eventually didn’t take off until 6PM.  Fortunately, the airport pickup driver was on top of it and delayed meeting with me at the gate.  JetBlue eventually got in touch with me to apologize for the delay by giving me a credit on my next flight – but since it’s only $50, I doubt it’ll help very much (and not much in the way of compensation for all of the time lost and inconvenience suffered). 

 

 

"The Quotable Hitchens" -- Book Review

During my recent winter vacation, I read “The Quotable Hitchens”, edited by Windsor Mann. 

The full title of the book is “The Quotable Hitchens:  The Very Best Of Christopher Hitchens”; the book was published over a decade ago, around the time that Hitchens had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and roughly a year before his death.  Editor Windsor Mann was a friend of Hitchens and decided to assemble this collection as a way of appreciation for Hitchens’ work over the years – a gift to the writer prior to his passing.  For those unfamiliar with the writings of Hitchens, he was primarily a journalist but was also known as an expert polemicist – someone with whom you would not want to debate. 

Hitchens was known to have a mind and wit that were both equally razor sharp and capable of (virtually) drawing blood anytime he wanted, largely for his own personal amusement.  He was known to be a contrarian and a gadfly, getting under the skin of  political foes, regardless whether they were from the left or the right.  His disdain for religion was found equally irritating by the devout.  There was rarely someone whom he didn’t anger with his opinions and observations about life, society, culture, or any other subject. 

Structurally, the book is not divided into sections or chapters; instead, it lists the topics of Hitchens’ quotes alphabetically.  The cover of the book bears the subtitle “From Alcohol To Zionism”, but this is not entirely accurate; although the last topic of the book is in fact Zionism, the first quote is actually regarding Abortion.  In fact, Alcohol is covered, but that does not come until much later in the “A” portion.  The quotes are derived from a wide variety of sources; some of the quotes are from his writings (books, magazine articles, essays), others from interviews he's given (television, radio and print media) and still others come from various formal debates in which he participated. 

There is the old saying, “Brevity is the soul of wit”.  One is reminded of this when reading Hitchens’ quotes on various subjects.  Some of the longer passages just don’t quite have the impact as the shorter ones – he was clearly a master of the one-liner and the clever rejoinder that could pierce a bloated ego.  By far and away, the subject that has the greatest number of quotes in this book is Bill Clinton, whom he hated.  Quotes about the former president weigh in at a whopping nine pages.  On Religion, there is, unsurprisingly 11 pages.         

What’s great about this book is the fact that you don’t necessarily have to read it in order; you could just pick it up and randomly select any subject.  One of the best examples is his quote on the matter of martinis:  “On the whole, observe the same rule about gin martinis – and all gin drinks – that you would in judging female breasts:  one is far too few and three is one too many”.  Regarding Etiquette:  “It’s often necessary to be rudest to the nicest people” – a remarkably insightful observation on his part. 

If you are a Hitchens fan, then you’ve likely already read this book; if you are a Hitchens fan and this work has somehow managed to elude you, then your duty is both clear and immediate to get on it right away.  However, if you are not already a Hitchens fan, then this book might be something of a waste of time for you – at least until you’ve sufficiently devoured a good deal of this man’s work.  There isn’t a day when one wishes that Hitchens was still around to comment on today’s current events, not to mention the Trump years.