What You Gonna Do … ? – Movie Review

Recently at Film At Lincoln Center, I attended the opening of the new documentary by Roberto Minervini , “What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire?”.

Synopsis

Given the current social climate, what is life like for members of the Black community in the southern portion of The United States?

Story

Ronaldo and Titus are brothers; Ronaldo, being the older of the two, is very protective of his younger brother Titus.  It’s unclear what other friends these kids have because it seems as though they only play with each other. They lack a consistent male influence in their life because their father is currently locked up.  Since nature abhors a vacuum, Ronaldo desperately tries to fill that void for Titus while still trying to balance that role with continuing to be a child himself. Unfortunately, given where they live, both boys are at risk of being shot because of the high crime and easy availability of guns.  

 

Judy is a New Orleans entrepreneur.  She owns and runs a popular bar in the neighborhood and when not working, takes care of her elderly mother.  Despite its frequent regular customers, the business is in danger of closing. A good deal of the problem can be traced to the gentrification that seems to be running rampant throughout.  Many long-time residents are being forced to move as the area becomes more upscale. Not only that, but Judy herself is feeling the pinch since her landlord is raising the rent on her bar.  With an ever-shrinking customer base, will Judy be able to make enough money to keep her establishment viable?

Crystal is an activist for Black causes.  She runs the local chapter of The New Black Panthers.  With news reports of lynchings and police shootings of Black men throughout the deep south, Crystal is understandably and justifiably disgusted.  She takes her small loyal army-like group to various protests of police headquarters and government offices, despite great risk of arrest. In addition, the group attempts to inform and educate others in the community about their reason for existing in the first place.  Racism is alive and well in this political era and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end any time soon.     

 

Review

Perhaps the most heartwarming part of “What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire?” is watching the relationship between the two brothers, Titus and Ronaldo; these two boys genuinely love and adore each other.  Titus truly looks up to his big brother Ronaldo and gets visibly upset when he is disappointed by him. Ronaldo, with their absentee father, assumes a role that combines both older brother and father; despite his own youth and inexperience, he does his best to mentor Titus, take care of him and look out for him.  It is one of the few bright spots in what is an otherwise grim documentary.

All of that having been said, the imperfections of the documentary are unavoidable to the point of distraction.  Presumably, the choice of shooting in black and white is to illustrate the bleakness of the situation. Although it illustrates both necessary and valuable stories to share, it doesn’t necessarily do a terribly good job of telling those stories.  There is no voice-over narration or use of on-screen titles to provide context (e.g., Who are we seeing? Where are they? What period of time has passed since the previous scene?). As a result, there is very little in the way of either shape or structure to the film.  From a narrative standpoint, it’s a bit flat

. 

Following the screening, there was an interview with Director Roberto Minervini and two of the movie’s subjects, Judy Hill and Crystal.  Minervini said that he originally set out to do a shoot about the music tradition of the Black community – specifically, his interest was the African influence on Jazz.  However, he got sidetracked when he visited Judy’s bar and wound up spending a great deal of time there. As he got a chance to meet more members of the community, he realized that there was a completely new and different story he could and should be telling.

“Where’d You Go, Bernadette”– Movie Review

This week at The New York Times Screen Times series, I attended an advance screening of the new comedy-drama, “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” starring Cate Blanchett and directed by Richard Linklater.

Synopsis

When a woman decides to go on a journey of self-discovery, will this drive her away from her family or only serve to make them closer?

 

Story

Bernadette (Blanchett) and her husband Elgie (Billy Crudup) have promised their daughter Bee (Emma Nelson) a family vacation in Antarctica before she heads off to boarding school.  But just as they start making plans, things begin to unravel for Bernadette. Miserable in an immense, dilapidated house in Seattle, she agreed to move there when Elgie got a job with Microsoft. She is no longer able to hide her disdain for the house, her obnoxious neighbors or the city itself.  Feeling trapped in an unyielding situation, Bernadette starts heavily self-medicating.

Noticing his wife’s strange behavior, Elgie tries to intercede, but Bernadette is having no part of this.  As a result, Elgie secretly hires Dr. Kurtz (Judy Greer), a therapist, whom he sees without Bernadette’s knowledge.  In his session with Dr. Kurtz, Elgie reveals a great deal about his wife, citing numerous setbacks, both personal and professional.  It turns out that Bernadette gave up a successful career as an architect in order to take care of the family and provide emotional support to her husband and daughter.  Dr. Kurtz recommends an intervention where they confront Bernadette with her unusual conduct and attempt to make the next steps to get her the help that she so desperately needs.

During the intervention, Bernadette becomes enraged when she discovers that Dr. Kurtz and Elgie both want her institutionalized.  Unwilling to relent to their wishes, Bernadette escapes. Following an extensive search, Elgie and Bee learn that Bernadette has headed to Antarctica by herself.  Determined to find her, they both head off to the continent themselves, knowing full well that Bernadette may be in something of an unstable state. Once they believe they have tracked her down, Elgie and Bee decide to confront Bernadette with the intention of convincing her to return home.  But when Bernadette is startled by her family’s presence, will their intentions drive them further apart or will they support Bernadette’s endeavor to resurrect her career?      

Review

Even if you haven’t read the novel on which the movie is based, it’s not hard to appreciate the level of difficulty adapting such a sprawling story from book to screen.  What might work on the printed page (e.g., several pages of a description of something or a rant about one thing or another) usually never translates well in a film. This is the case with “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” as it seems all over the place much of the time.  Also, while it tries to bill itself as a comedy (or, at least, a comedy-drama), it takes so many dark and serious turns that it’s quite a stretch to consider it a comedy. The film is more quirky than funny.

The characters prove a bit problematic as well.  While Bernadette is supposed to be the protagonist here, her destructive behavior makes it something of a challenge to root for her.  It is not until we are about three-quarters of an hour into the movie that the audience gets more background about Bernadette which has caused her current state of emotional distress.  Although it’s never a good idea to dump too much exposition on the viewers all at once, the problem with layering out the character’s backstory, at least in this instance, is that by the time we can appreciate her situation, the behavior we have already observed by her thus far makes it difficult to see Bernadette as a sympathetic character. 

Following the screening, there was an interview with director Richard Linklater.  Linklater said that he spent a year editing the movie; the result was a two and three-quarter hour running time.  Realizing this was too long, he went back to the editing room and cut some more. He said that his approach to editing was essentially like sculpting the film down to find its story; Linklater feels it is character-driven and the spine of the story is the relationship between the mother and the daughter.  As a result, he wound up cutting out anything that did not serve that story well. Examples of what he removed were the TED talk (it was originally much longer) and the documentary about Bernadette (more of that was actually in the first cut of the motion picture).

“Fiddler: Miracle Of Miracles”– Movie Review

This week at Film At Lincoln Center, I attended an advance screening of the new documentary, “Fiddler:  A Miracle Of Miracles”. 

Story

The background of “Fiddler On The Roof” -- how both the musical and the movie were adapted.

Synopsis

The musical “Fiddler On The Roof” originally opened on Broadway in 1964.  Amazingly, it is still performed on stage to this day. Perhaps even more amazingly, despite being about the Jewish pogrom in eastern Europe during the early 20th Century, it is performed in many different languages and by many different cultures and countries around the world.  Some of them are professional productions, others are of an amateur nature (e.g., school plays). In fact, there was once a high school production in Brooklyn that did non-traditional casting in the sense that Black and Hispanic students were cast in the roles; Jewish teachers complained, fearing that the students would use this opportunity to make fun of their religion.

When the original Broadway production opened, it starred Zero Mostel as Tevye, the patriarch and protagonist; the production was directed by Jerome Robbins, who previously worked on “West Side Story”.  Robbins was hired in part because he himself was Jewish (his real name was Rabinowitz) and because having directed “West Side Story”, he knew how to tell a story where the characters did a great deal of moving, especially dancing.  Robbins’ hiring turned out to be problematic because he didn’t get along well with Mostel. What was behind their animosity towards each other was that Mostel resented Robbins for testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee and giving them names of people who were alleged communists. 

Early in its life, the book for the musical was titled “Tevye” because it was based on short stories about this character by author Sholem Aleichem; specifically, the inspiration was the story titled, “Tevye and His Daughters”.  As the play developed, it was later re-titled “Fiddler On The Roof”, based on a 1912 painting by Marc Chagall called “The Fiddler”. Sheldon Harnick was the composer and lyricist of the songs in “Fiddler On The Roof”; he said that if anyone ever read Aleichem’s stories, they would realize that Harnick “borrowed” many of his lyrics directly from Aleichem’s own language in the various tales about Tevye.             

Review

This passion project by director/producer Max Lewkowicz is informative for people who have enjoyed “Fiddler” in various forms over the years, even if you only have a passing familiarity with the play, movie or songs.  While it contains a great deal of talking heads combined with old footage and photographs, where you get drawn into the documentary is when Lin-Manuel Miranda appears; he manages to modernize it a bit (he appeared in a stage production as a schoolboy) and also conducts some on-screen interviews with one of the creators of the original musical.  His interest and enthusiasm can make this more palatable for younger audiences. 

One thing that’s somewhat curious is the fact that there is a writing credit.  There aren’t too many documentaries around where you will see a writing credit.  Presumably, this refers to the voice-over narration that is used in certain segments rather than the interviews themselves.  This, however, must be done after the fact – until you have thoroughly researched the subject of the documentary, you won’t know what to write or why it needs to be written.  Obviously, this differs from feature films in the sense that the writing is typically done prior to the commencement of the shooting. Depending on the time and/or budget, documentaries can sometimes develop their narration during the editing process (and are occasionally improvised rather than formally written). 

Following the screening there was an interview with the filmmakers, Lewkowicz and his co-writer Valerie Thomas.  Thomas said that the documentary began with talking to Harnik about how the musical came to be; they then started filming him about three and a half years ago because he had so much information and was a terrific storyteller.  Lewkowicz observed that the story of hatred for someone’s race/religion is sadly one that still resonates to this day, citing the recent mass shootings over the past weekend as an example.  Originally from Montreal, Lewkowicz said that his first experience with “Fiddler” was the movie version which he saw as a boy; it wasn’t until he saw the Broadway version a decade later that he had an emotional reaction to it because he is the son of a Holocaust survivor.       

IMDB

“The Nightingale”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a sneak preview of the new drama “The Nightingale” at Film At Lincoln Center; it was written and directed by Jennifer Kent. 

Synopsis

When a woman is dehumanized by a military officer, she seeks revenge – but can she track him down in a trek across dangerous terrain?

Story

In 1825, England deployed its military to the Australian island of Tasmania.  The intent of their occupation is colonization; in order to do so, however, they believe they must effectively commit genocide by killing The Aborigines, the island’s native inhabitants.  The English demonize the Aborigines and in so doing, are reciprocally demonized by the indigenous people themselves. This period in history came to be known as “The Black War”. Accompanying the military are Irish convicts; they are basically indentured servants waiting for their sentence to be completed so they can be freed.

One such convict is Clare (Aisling Franciosi), who works as a barmaid and singer to entertain the troops; she lives there with her husband and their infant.  Clare suffers under mistreatment by the soldiers – not only by the enlisted men, but especially by their leader, Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin), a man who is both sadistic and ambitious in equal measure.  After finding herself the victim of multiple horrifying crimes at the hands of Hawkins and his men, Clare has had enough. When she tries unsuccessfully to seek justice, Clare becomes determined to mete out her own form of justice. 

Hawkins starts off on a journey to the northern part of the island where he will meet with his superiors in order to entreaty them for the promotion he feels he has earned and deserves.  After Clare learns of this, she decides to chase after him. But in a foreign land that for the most part hasn’t been settled, she cannot traverse the hazardous jungles and forests alone.  As a result, she winds up hiring Billy (Baykali Ganambarr) a young Aborigine who reluctantly serves as her guide. Despite Billy being an expert, the two encounter numerous challenges along the way.  Will they both survive the voyage in order for Clare to exact her revenge on Hawkins?

Review

Screenwriter/director Jennifer Kent’s previous effort (her debut as a feature director) was “The Babadook” from five years ago.  It was an extremely well-received horror film. Although “The Nightingale” is an historical drama, it is equally if not more horrifying than “The Babadook”, largely because it is in fact based in part on an ugly part of world history, and English history in particular.  You certainly come away from this movie viewing the English a bit differently and having tremendous sympathy for the indigenous Aboriginal people of Tasmania. This motion picture serves as an excellent reminder that both racism and vengeance have survived over the centuries.

Kent’s outstanding screenplay draws its characters perfectly:  each is unique and their individual motivations for either doing or not doing something are crystal clear.  Heroes and villains are painfully obvious. The protagonists have a perceptible arc, but not so much the antagonists.  Many movies can have a second act that drags but “The Nightingale” is able to add so many twists in its second act that you still feel a sense of a forward momentum in the story; where it becomes a bit of a slog is in its third act (more on that below).  While we may come away feeling educated and with greater insight, it can seem like more of an endurance contest the further along we get; it is difficult to imagine watching something more chilling or more devastating..   

If there is a criticism of “The Nightingale”, it would be its length; at two and a quarter hours, it feels much longer because of the relentless cruelty seen throughout and from different sources.  The audience is basically visually assaulted with scenes of brutality so extreme and so frequent that one almost wants to give up on the movie. While the film has somewhat of a satisfying ending, it could’ve come sooner.  It’s almost as though Kent wants to torture her audience as a punishment for watching the motion picture. Once it is finally over, it’s understandable that a feeling of great relief overcomes you.

“Remember My Name”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a New York Times ScreenTimes screening of the new documentary about musician David Crosby, “Remember My Name”.

Synopsis

In the twilight of his years, songwriter David Crosby consents to a series of interviews about his life. 

Story

Now in his mid-70’s and in ever-failing health (a diabetic with eight heart stents), legendary musician and master songwriter David Crosby alternates between reflective moods and focusing on the present – mainly because his future is uncertain, to put it mildly.   When you catch him during one of his more introspective periods, he fully admits to the many mistakes he’s made and how unnecessarily difficult he’s made his own life because of them.  He’s acted crazy – and whether it’s been a direct result of his drug use or independent of that – he’s turned off many of the people who mattered most to him.

Filmmaker and former journalist for Rolling Stone magazine Cameron Crowe is off screen interviewing Crosby in a sometimes easy, sometimes freewheeling style.  If Crosby is in danger of rambling, it either gets edited out of the movie or Crowe is able to get him back on track.  The familiarity and comfort the two have with each other is palpable.  Crowe can just as easily get stories about the good old days out of Crosby as he can get him to talk funereally about his inevitable end.  Crosby ponders about old friends who have long since passed living the same type of life he has and he is left to wonder why he survived. 

A few years back, when he turned 72, Crosby had an unlikely creative resurgence and began making music again.  While he’s recording some, he’s largely touring because it earns him the most money – and to hear him tell it, he has to do it in order to pay the bills.  Apparently, his poor lifestyle choices in the past have caused him to not have very much in the way of a nest egg in his old age, so he’s forced to go back to work.  These days, he has his own band and performs chiefly as a solo act.  He’s angered too many of his past collaborators to be able to tour with them, even though that would likely generate even more money. 

Review

One thing you can say about David Crosby after watching this movie:  he pulls no punches – either with himself or anyone else.  You will know where he stands with you and this is one of the reasons why he has lost (or maybe ruined is a better word) so many friendships over the years.  Of course, his substance abuse in past years has certainly had something to do with it as well; he admits to that, too.  Regrets, he has a few – but then again, he’s more focused on what he can do with his life now and in what little time he has left.

While “Remember My Name” (taken after the title of one of Crosby’s solo albums) is an entertaining movie, it is by no means any great feat of filmmaking.  What makes the film is Crosby’s uncanny ability to spin a yarn as well as Crowe’s interviewing style; he’s able to get so much out of Crosby because the two have known each other for decades.  It is unfortunate that recent interviews with former band mates were not included; Roger McGuinn is the lone exception here.  The only interviews with Graham Nash and Neil Young were old ones; likely the reason here is that hard feelings with Crosby persist and they did not want to contribute.       

Following the screening, there was an interview with the filmmakers.  Director A.J. Eaton had to talk Crosby into letting him shoot his recording sessions for posterity.  Since they had no financing, he was just storing the footage.  Eventually, he met interviewer Cameron Crowe and showed him the footage that had up to that point; Crowe agreed to join the project because he liked what he saw thus far.  Crowe, who has known Crosby since he was 15 years old, advised Eaton, “Just point the camera at him and let him tell his stories”. Crosby is such a good storyteller, says Crowe, that he likens him to Garrison Keillor.  As far as Crosby’s take on the documentary, he feels it asks the central question, “What do you do with the time you have left?”

“Yesterday”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a New York Times ScreenTimes advance screening of the new romantic comedy, “Yesterday”, written by Richard Curtis and directed by Danny Boyle.

Synopsis

When a young man wakes up to a world where he is the only one who remembers The Beatles, can he become a music sensation?

Story

Jack (Patel) is a struggling musician.  Despite the fact that he’s been hoping to hook the brass ring of success for many years, his manager and childhood friend Ellie (Lily James) remains his biggest fan and supporter; while holding a job as a schoolteacher, she works hard to book every single performance she can grab for him, just so he’ll remain in his long-time pursuit of becoming a professional musician.  Even when Jack begins to lose faith in himself, Ellie is the one who keeps the faith in him.  Beyond being a good manager, she’s a good friend. 

When Jack thinks it’s time to pack it in, the planet earth experiences an unusual occurrence:  a worldwide blackout.  A variety of things occur when this happens, but one of them is the fact that Jack, while bicycling home, is accidentally hit by a bus and winds up being hospitalized.  After he is discharged from the hospital, he learns an unusual fact:  Jack is the only one in the world who remembers the musical group The Beatles.  Once he starts performing their songs, people believe he composed them all.  Thinking he’s written them all, they see him as a genius and soon he earns a recording contract which gains him great popularity.

As Jack heads out on the road to success, he meets such luminaries as popular music star Ed Sheeran and his manager Debra (Kate McKinnon), who sees him as the new Big Thing in the music industry.  Naturally, she gloms onto him once she realizes he’s a better songwriter than her current client, Sheeran, whom she virtually abandons in favor of Jack’s more promising career.  But as Jack’s success turns out of control, he realizes that he has turned into someone who he is not and this bothers him deeply.  Will he be able to bury these feelings and continue to pursue financial rewards or will his guilt force him to return to a world that is more in his control? 

Review

“Yesterday” is a pleasant, entertaining movie that the audience at this screening seemed to enjoy quite a bit; the film itself was enthusiastically applauded at the closing credits and when the filmmakers took the stage afterwards, they were warmly greeted with a standing ovation.  It is something of a hybrid genre: sci-fi/comedy (or sci-fi/romantic comedy – take your pick). One of the keys to enjoying “Yesterday” is buying its unlikely premise; if you are able to sufficiently suspend your disbelief for that, then it should wind up being a good deal of fun. Otherwise, it may very well wind up being a bit too hokey.  

The other key to whether or not you’ll like “Yesterday” is equally obvious:  both your knowledge and appreciation of The Beatles. Will younger people enjoy this movie, despite a limited experience of this world famous musical group?  It’s hard to say, but even if they have only a basic understanding of who The Beatles were and their impact on our culture, a younger audience might likely be able to latch onto the romantic comedy aspect of the film.  Of course, older folks – who don’t tend to go out to theaters quite as much – would have a deeper connection to this motion picture.  

Following the screening, there was a question and answer session with screenwriter Richard Curtis, director Danny Boyle and star Himesh Patel.  Curtis originally got the idea from another writer (who got a story credit on the movie). He was a big fan of The Beatles in his youth and it continued throughout the rest of his life.  Boyle contacted Curtis and asked if he had any material he should see; Curtis immediately sent him the script for “Yesterday” and Boyle wanted to make it into a film. Patel was informed about the casting and submitted an audition tape that included him singing a song by Coldplay and performing a monolog.  Ed Sheeran was not the original choice for the appearance in the motion picture; they first went to Chris Martin, who turned it down due to a scheduling conflict.  

“The Dead Don’t Die”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a New York Times Screentimes advance screening of the new comedy-horror, “The Dead Don’t Die”, starring Bill Murray and Adam Driver; written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. 

Synopsis

When a small town is overtaken by zombies, can its understaffed and inexperienced sheriff's office sufficiently defend its citizens?

 

Story

Things are usually pretty quiet in Centerville; as a result, Chief Cliff Robertson (Murray) pretty much has things under control, with the help of Officers Ronnie Peterson (Driver) and Mindy Morrison (Chloë Sevigny).  The town suddenly finds itself shrouded in strangeness when various odd behavior is noticed -- late sunsets, non-functioning cell phones and broken-up television and radio transmissions. Based on what’s being reported in the news lately, some people are of the belief that all of this is being caused by what’s referred to as “Polar Fracking” -- fracking occuring at the polar ice caps which have theoretically knocked the earth off its axis. 

Folks try not to make too much of this since they have their own lives to live -- until they don’t.  In the local cemetery, long-dead corpses suddenly arise from their graves and start trawling Centerville for victims -- in this case, these are not the brain-eating zombies that are familiar to many, but instead, zombies that consume human viscera and limbs.  It all starts when employees at the town’s diner are discovered murdered -- both of them eviscerated in a similar manner. Was this the work of a wild beast? A pack of beasts? The thought that it could’ve been zombies doesn’t even occur to Chief Robertson -- until, that is, he and his team start encountering the  roaming un-dead themselves.

Thanks to Officer Peterson’s familiarity with zombie lore, he explains to his team that the only way these beings can be neutralized is through decapitation.  So, armed with machetes, swords and shotguns to be aimed directly at a zombie head, Roberton and Peterson set out to rid the town of Centerville of this deadly scourge.  But the more they patrol the town, the more zombies they find. By the time they reach the cemetery, they find that the zombies have self-exhumed -- even those of the children, which were located in a separate area.  Seeing that they are now outnumbered, Robertson, Peterson and Morrison find that the hunters have now become the prey. Despite this, can they find a way to save the remaining town members?

 

Review

As a comedy-horror movie, “The Dead Don’t Die” is something of a genre hybrid.  Yet, it doesn’t altogether work as either. It is neither scary enough to be a horror movie nor is it quite funny enough to be a comedy.  Ironically, the reason why it is not scary enough to be a horror flick is due in large part to the comedy element; it is undercut by the fact that it doesn’t take itself terribly seriously.   Regarding being a comedy, there are certainly amusing moments, but precious little that could be characterized as laugh-out-loud funny. Many of the jokes are predictable and the humor isn’t terribly innovative; in some regards, the film is a little bit past its time as the zombie horror genre has already been parodied in a much more successful fashion (e.g., “Zombieland”, “Shaun Of The Dead”).

While “The Dead Don’t Die” isn’t a terrible movie, it is a bit disappointing when you consider all of the talent involved.  Judging from his past films, Jarmusch can be very funny when he’s not trying to make a comedy; here, however, he seems to be working a bit too hard.  At times, he almost appears to be trying to channel David Lynch-type weirdness. Additionally, without giving away too much, Jarmusch makes several attempts to derive humor from dialog that pierces the fourth wall, but most of it largely falls flat.  As entertaining as some of the performances may be when you see all of these famous names on screen together, it’s not nearly enough to elevate the rest of the motion picture (Tilda Swinton’s turn as a Scottish mortician is particularly memorable in its strangeness alone).    

“Booksmart”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a New York Times Screentimes advance screening of the new comedy, “Booksmart”, directed by Olivia Wilde.

Synopsis

When a couple of high school girls try to celebrate the night before graduation, will their friendship survive the experience?

Story

You can’t blame Amy and Molly (Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein) for feeling pretty good about themselves these days.  With their high school career soon behind them, they have already been assured that they will be going to an exceptional college.   For the past four years, they have been diligently studying and making a great many personal sacrifices such as foregoing socializing with their fellow classmates in order to remain focused on their studies.  Instead of dating and doing the many other fun activities teenagers engage in, they have remained dedicated to the task at hand. Understandably, they are rather proud of themselves for seeing their plan come to fruition.  

Not so fast, ladies.  As their school days draw to a close, Amy and Molly are forced to confront an unforeseen reality:  their fellow students who spent the past four years partying also managed to get into good colleges, too.  Neither of these young women can quite grasp this: Did they waste their time keeping their nose in their textbooks while the other teenagers were living their best life and having more fun than they were?  Is it possible they could have partied, socialized (and even lost their virginity) and still have gotten good grades and high SAT scores that would earn them acceptance into a quality university?

Clearly, these two young women need to re-think things because they have obviously made a rather severe miscalculation.  But just when they fear that things may be too late, it suddenly occurs to them: it’s the night before graduation! Many of the students from their school are going to be having massive blow-out parties.  All they have to do is attend one (or several) in order to have one memorable night and prove to everyone that they are not at all the dull, snobby anti-social types many believe them to be. But since they haven’t been officially invited to any of these parties, can they figure out a way to crash the coolest one of all?

Review

“Booksmart” is just the type of raucous, outrageous comedy that is the perfect start to the summer season (no offense to fans of action or super-hero movies).  It is the kind of movie you’ll want to see with as large a group of friends as you can gather together.  There are so many laugh-out-loud moments among the numerous jokes and sight-gags that you’ll feel you got your money’s worth (and then some).  Perhaps the greatest compliment one could give this film is that you’ll likely want to see it twice (at least).  Olivia Wilde’s feature film directorial debut is an unqualified success.

Inevitably, “Booksmart” will likely be favorably compared to films like “Bridesmaids” or a distaff version of “Superbad”.  If you found either (or both) of those movies to be uproariously funny, then you’ll probably enjoy “Booksmart”, too.  Without giving away too much, there is a scene that’s come to be known as “The Barbie Doll Scene” which is worth seeing the film merely for that alone.  It’s clever, original and raunchy – which could also describe the rest of the motion picture as well.  “Booksmrt” is a rollercoaster ride that’s topped-off with a terrifically satisfying resolution. 

Following the screening, there was an interview with the director of “Booksmart”, Olivia Wilde, and its two stars, Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein.  Feldstein said that Wilde required the cast to go off-book during the shoot (i.e., they were not allowed to have their copy of the script on-set).  Wilde stated that this idea was something she borrowed from Martin Scorsese; this way, she made sure that everyone knew their lines.  Requiring them to do extensive preparation gave them the freedom to loosen up and experiment in various scenes.  Wilde observed, “you have to know the rules in order to break them”. 

“Late Night”– Movie Review

This week at Lincoln Center, I attended an advance screening of the new comedy, “Late Night”, starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling (who also wrote the screenplay).

Synopsis

When a young woman gets her big break as a comedy writer for a talk show, will she be able to keep her job once the show is threatened with cancellation?

Story

Katherine Newbury (Thompson) is a television legend.  For over a quarter of a century, she has been the host of a popular American talk show based in New York City.  But over the past few years, that popularity has been on the wane. Her viewership has been in steady decline as she has been booking guests that the majority of the television audience isn’t interested in seeing interviewed.  Perhaps this can be traced back to the medical diagnosis of her husband Walter (John Lithgow), who has been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease for the past four years. Katherine’s interest in her television show has taken a distant second place to Walter’s well-being. 

One of the other problems with the show is that it is somewhat stuck in time:  Katherine’s writing staff is all-male (and all-white). Much to her chagrin, Katherine is forced to hire a writer that will add more diversity to her group.  That’s where Molly Patel (Kaling) comes in. A young woman of Indian descent, she applies for the job even though she has no professional experience either writing for television or writing comedy.  Instead, she’s been working as a Quality Control Analyst at a chemical plant. But there’s one thing she’s got going for her: she’s a big fan of Katherine’s work and has been following her for many years.

Desperate, Katherine hires Molly, who immediately encounters a great deal of resistance from the other members of the writing writers.  Over time, she eventually finds her place among them when she starts pitching jokes and ideas that Katherine decides to use on the air.  In fact, not only does she use Molly’s material, but since her jokes and sketches add a new voice, Katherine’s ratings start to take a turn for the better when they all start to go viral.  In spite of the fact that she’s finding a new audience, Katherine learns that a network executive plans on replacing her with a younger comedian. Can Molly somehow manage to help Katherine stay on the air and in doing so keep her job?

Review

Perhaps the nicest thing you could possibly say about “Late Night” is that it is quaint.  Unfortunately, that may also be the worst thing you could say about it, too.  It’s takes a great many swings, but doesn’t land enough punches – or is that punchlines?  While there are times when it connects with certain gags, a number of the scenes where someone is performing a stand-up comedy routine just fall completely flat.  At this particular screening, quite a few of the site gags got a better response than the verbal jokes themselves.  After failing so often, it can be difficult to regain an audience’s trust that subsequent jokes will hit their intended mark.

Mindy Kaling is adorable, as usual, but a good deal of the jokes lack the edginess a comedy like this needs and deserves; it seems her screenplay is more concerned with being nice than being funny.  It’s too bad, because there were many opportunities for her to take advantage of her role and give herself the best lines, but she didn’t want her character to appear mean.  Meanness was instead reserved for Emma Thompson’s character, who again, isn’t as funny as she should be.  Thompson is good at comedy so it’s distressing she was given a role that was a little too dramatic. 

“Late Night” is a movie of unfulfilled promise.  It has the look and feel of a movie that might have been more successful twenty or twenty-five years ago.  For this era, however, it is merely an inconsequentially tedious trifle.  No doubt, this film will find itself an audience – but realistically, it will likely be a significantly older crowd that believes it’s doing something “hip”.  They may not be able to help the producers earn enough to recoup its budget.  A diffuse resolution certainly doesn’t serve the motion picture well either; this occurs when Katherine must seek redemption for a misdeed from her past. At that stage, it feels as though the script was grasping for plot points because its main story was insufficient to carry it through.           

“The Souvenir”– Movie Review

This week at Film At Lincoln Center, I attended a sneak preview of the new drama, “The Souvenir”, starring Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke and Tilda Swinton. 

Synopsis

When a young film student discovers her boyfriend is a drug addict, how will it impact her career aspirations?

Story

No one ever said that being 24 years of age in England during the 1980’s was going to be easy for anyone – but it was especially difficult for Julie (Swinton Byrne), a young film student anxiously searching for her identity and voice in her artistic endeavors.  As challenging as her classes and projects were, she was also faced with something else that would take up a considerable amount of her time and energy: Anthony (Tom Burke), a stylishly dressed young man of surprising intellect and insight into matters of art and philosophy.  After exchanging many ideas on wide-ranging subject matters, a mutual attraction develops and Anthony winds up moving into Julie’s apartment.

As worldly and sophisticated as Anthony seems to be, it’s a bit unclear how he earns a living.  Julie, for her part, isn’t overly concerned with this because she’s enjoying Anthony’s company so much as they spend a great deal of time together going out to dinner and on exotic European trips But exactly who is paying for all of this?  It appears that this extravagant lifestyle may be, at least in part, subsidized by Julie’s mother Rosalind (Swinton). Regardless, it doesn’t appear to be too much of an issue – at least not yet, anyway. But once Julie learns that Anthony is addicted to heroin, that’s when she starts to take notice of some rather strange behavioral issues that are difficult to overlook. 

Eventually, it all becomes too much and Julie breaks up with him – but even that doesn’t last terribly long.  When they make an attempt to reconcile, things don’t exactly go as well as they both had hoped. By now, Anthony seems even more deeply consumed by his addiction and very possibly beyond help.  One night, when he was expected to show up at Julie’s apartment, he turns out to be a no-show. Has Anthony decided he no longer wishes to be involved with Julie or is there yet another reason for his absence?   

Review

Although “The Souvenir” has an interesting story that’s worth telling, it feels rather disjointed in areas and seems to leave too many loose threads hanging.  According to the filmmaker, this was done intentionally, to leave open areas for the audience to draw their own conclusions. However, it only leads to a confusing experience.  You wind up asking yourself what happened in a particular scene, why it happened or questioning its relevance to the rest of the story. For example, there is a scene where Julie gets sick; much is made of this but then it’s suddenly dropped and never referenced again.

Certainly, there are good performances and “The Souvenir” is lovely to gaze upon – not unlike the 1778 painting from which it takes its title.  But when it becomes something of a challenge to put together the pieces of the puzzle that is this story, it rapidly transmogrifies into a thoroughly exhausting experience.  There is also the matter of why Julie is so strongly drawn to Anthony, especially when he’s dragging her down so much. Aside from sex, they don’t appear to share too much (she doesn’t do drugs); the only conclusion left to be inferred is the fact that he’s terribly supportive of her career goals and she can enjoy deeply intellectual conversations with him. 

Following the screening, there was in interview with the writer/director of “The Souvenir”, Joanna Hogg as well as the film’s star, Honor Swinton Byrne and her co-star (and mother) Tilda Swinton.  As a semi-autobiographical story, Hogg said she started writing notes about it in 1988, approximately three years after the end of the relationship. The story is told in two parts; this evening’s screening was Part 1, which dealt with the relationship itself.  Part 2, for which shooting should begin in about a month, will deal with the aftermath of the relationship. Her style of filmmaking is non-traditional in the sense that Hogg doesn’t actually write a typical screenplay containing dialog; instead, she writes notes about the scenes and describes the scenes to the actors – if she needs a particular word or phrase used, she’ll tell them (otherwise they’re on their own).