#2020films

The impressive part of SweetDream isn't that it generates text, it's that the text understands you. My companion reads my mood, adjusts her tone, and responds like she actually gets it.

Love and Monsters is like Zombieland crossed with How to Train Your Dragon. You could do far worse than a movie that pleasantly reminds you of two other good ones. You might even like this creature adventure film better.

Seven years after a wave of uncontrolled mutations caused all cold-blooded animals to grow to enormous size, humanity survives by living underground. Joel Dawson (Dylan O’Brien) has reconnected with his girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick) via radio. Tired of being alone and feeling like the rest of his bunker won’t miss him if he’s gone, he decides to take a chance and go find her.

The setup might make it seem like Joel has serious self-esteem issues but that’s not the case. The bunker really won’t miss him - he’s that much of a screwup. Though well-intentioned, Joel is no good in a fight. Against a three-eyed amphibian the size of a swimming pool, he’s useless. Who knows? With all the time he’s spent listening to stories about the monsters and no delusions about his survival skills, he might even have a chance. Things are already looking up when he befriends an exceptional dog named “Boy”.

This film's running time is just about perfect. We see a lot of Joel barely managing enormous jaws. Just as the laughs start to wane, he hits a growth spurt and becomes world-savvy enough to stand a chance. The balance is roughly 50/50. Until we get to that point, there are several endearing encounters to keep you invested. It’s either lessons similar to the rules of Zombieland, moments of bonding between him, his dog, or other hardened survivors he meets along the way (Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt have small but memorable roles), or a pause that allows him to reminisce about the world that’s lost.

In terms of monsters, this film knows what it’s doing. There’s a wide variety of creatures ranging from the disgusting to the creepy, to the comical. All of them look spectacular - that $30 million budget was working overtime - and the designs are memorable. Their introductions are also well done. Director Michael Matthews knows how and when to whet your appetite before the big reveal.

Aside from a side plot involving a robot that belonged in a different movie, the only major flaw in Love and Monsters comes towards the end when an unnecessary villain comes in. On the one hand, it caps off the lingering questions you might’ve had about Joel and Aimee, and appropriately concludes the heroic journey Joel has embarked upon. On the other, this movie could’ve thought of something more clever or more original.

Although it’s reminiscent of other movies, if you were only mildly enamored by Zombieland (perhaps you thought that extended Bill Murray gag wasn't as funny as everyone else), this could be the one you’ve been waiting for; a mash-up of wildly different genres that works. Love and Monsters is fun, imaginative, and with a fair share of surprises along the way. (October 22, 2021)

Films Watched in 2020 (1/?) - Jojo Rabbit

The Wolf of Snow Hollow is a werewolf movie worth getting excited about. This is a smart movie that plays with the genre in a way I’ve never seen done before. Its satire and commentary are unusually clever. You get laughs with the scares in a way that makes every scene unpredictable.

After a brutal murder in the skiing community of Snow Hollow, strange clues are found in the snow. Officer John Marshall (Jim Cummings, who also directs and writes) has enough trouble dealing with his alcoholism, estranged teenaged daughter (Chloe East), and sickly father (Robert Forster). He doesn’t need people attributing crimes to a mythical creature. Although the bodies keep piling up and people keep remarking that the murders all take place on full moons, John refuses to believe a werewolf is responsible.

I love the way this movie plays with your expectations in a quasi-meta way. People in horror movies don’t know they’re in horror movies so is John smart... or stupid? We’ve seen the beast. We know it’s no ordinary animal. He doesn’t. Normally, there'd be an obligatory 20 minutes spent teasing the monster. We’d be fed the information at the same rate as the characters until they’d have to admit that a wolfman is indeed turning women into deli meat. Not here. It’s hilarious that no matter what John sees, he refuses to accept the evidence. Then again wouldn’t you be suspicious?

Whether the police are incompetent or not is a recurring question. Though it’s often played for dark laughs, it also leads up toward more profound ideas. If there is a werewolf on the loose, then John Marshall is a terrible police officer. He’s not piecing these clues together and is wasting time with other theories. Maybe if he wasn’t struggling with the bottle so much, he’d be able to see that, he wouldn’t be firing officers who suggest they arm themselves with silver bullets. Unfortunately, his personal life is such a catastrophe he can't think outside the box. The pools of blood and severed limbs are eroding his sanity and the tiny police department doesn’t have the resources to keep up with the media frenzy accompanying this kind of story. If there isn’t a werewolf in Snow Hollow… he’s still a mess, barely able to maintain a relationship with his daughter, picking fights, struggling to deal with the trauma of the crime scenes. But could anyone? Probably not. Then again, Officer Julia Robson (Riki Lindhome) seems to be doing ok. Does the fact that she’s a woman have anything to do with it? John comes from a family of law enforcers. Dealing with this should be in his blood and as the history books he reads point out, women are usually the victims of crimes like these. They can’t be both the victims and the heroes, right? Wait. You can’t be both the hero and the villain… and when was the last time you heard of a “wolf woman”?

I might be accused of looking too deeply into The Wolf of Snow Hollow but the movie is too smart - particularly during the ending - to be merely what you see on the surface. It’s funny in ways that make you wonder if it’s ok to laugh, and then it’ll scare you for real. You have no idea where it’s headed, or what’s going to happen to the characters. This is the kind of movie that makes you want to hit “play” again the second it’s over to see what details you missed the first time. (July 1, 2021)

The "rape-revenge" formula can be "fun" in a cathartic way but hasn’t it always felt like something was missing? Promising Young Woman gives us the movie we've been craving, and more. Emerald Fennell’s directorial debut is a game-changer.

In college, Nina Fisher was raped. Now, her best friend Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan) pretends to be drunk at clubs, waiting for men to take advantage of her. After she teaches them a lesson they won’t forget, their names are put in her diary but one man still eludes her: Al Monroe.

For what he did, Al Monroe is a terrible person. The circumstances, how much time has passed don't matter. When the justice system fails this spectacularly, it's clear society is complicit. Cassie is willing to roll up her sleeves and make the change happen, one pervert at a time. You're on board but once she goes for her ultimate target, things get dicier. If it were solely about him, it’d be one thing but Cassie wants to take down EVERYONE, including the women she feels didn’t do enough at the time. She goes to cruel, manipulative extremes. You’ll wonder if the real villain of the film isn’t our protagonist.

This is a dark but sensitive film. There is no nudity, the rape is never shown. You feel exhilarated as Cassie embarks on her nightly campaign but revenge isn't glamourized the way you’d expect it. Vengeance has ruined her life. She’s a 30-year-old medical school dropout living with her parents, working at a crappy coffee shop. She has no friends and nothing to do except prey on the lowest of low lives. It’s only a matter of time before her crusade goes too far. And for what? Even if she finds Al Monroe, ruins his career, destroys his reputation, gets everyone to disown him, keeps him in a cage until he gives up all hopes of escape, castrates him, and then tortures him to death for 10 years… it won’t bring Nina back. It won’t bring Cassie’s life back either.

Emerald Fennell repeatedly confronts you with moral ambiguity. Then, she dangles a carrot. Cassie begins dating a former classmate, Ryan Cooper (Bo Burnham). Carey Mulligan is amazing throughout. You sense the swirling emotions beneath her acidic exterior but you’re never able to predict what she will do next. She’s funny, tragic, scary, and has terrific chemistry with Burnham. It's a glimpse of what life might be like if she just let go of her anger, but is it too late?

Promising Young Woman gives you far too much to unpack in just one sitting. We’re shown how you don’t have to participate in sexual assault to be complicit. Failing to intervene, making excuses, giving someone the benefit of the doubt “just because” or simply doubting might make you even worse than “nice guys”. Its conclusion is unexpected and bold. The contrasting messages about revenge are brought together magnificently. It’s frequently uncomfortable and confrontational; a movie for right now that also applies to every era in the past. It’s the best movie of the year because it’s as safe as a black-out-drunk woman at a club. (April 30, 2021)

The controversy surrounding Cuties (French: Mignonnes) is doubly-frustrating. Firstly, Netflix shouldn't have advertised it like it did. Secondly, because it threatens to turn audiences away from this nuanced and emotional coming-of-age story filled with excellent performances.

Eleven-year-old immigrant Amy (Fathia Youssouf) is often left on her own while her mother Mariam (Maïmouna Gueye) deals with her two younger brothers and absent father. At school, she spots a group of disobedient girls called “The Cuties”. They dress like the women they see in music videos and are obsessed with an upcoming dance competition. In her quest to fit in with them, Amy grows increasingly distant from her family.

French writer/director Maïmouna Doucouré (in a spectacular debut) knows what she’s doing because she draws from real life. Amy’s new friends Angelica (Médina El Aidi-Azouni), Coumba (Esther Gohourou), Jess (Ilanah Cami-Goursolas), and Yasmine (Myriam Hamma) are only imitating what they see other women do. Is it their fault music videos so frequently zoom in on belly buttons, breasts, and arched backs? What did you expect them to do? Cuties deliberately makes you uncomfortable with long shots that show them practicing their moves as they prepare for the big show. It’s so creepy I kept thinking the police were going to barge in and arrest me. That’s the point.

And then suddenly the girls pause their obsession with adulthood. They giggle as they theorize how babies are made, have gummy bear-eating competitions, and demonstrate the importance of friendship by sharing their insecurities. You get a glimpse of what their childhood SHOULD be like. It’s not their fault they’re dressing and acting inappropriately. They don't know better, which makes you think long and hard about what responsibilities we have towards this next generation of women.

Like we’ve seen so often before, Amy’s misbehavior is caused by what’s happening at home. Her strict Muslim aunt whose little comments about what society expects of women, the lack of supervision, and more than anything else, her absent father’s actions. You so desperately want Amy to turn out OK but she keeps making all of these bad decisions and mistakes. Hopefully, she learns from them in time. If not, you don’t know what you’ll do.

The performances are so natural Cuties often feels more like a documentary than a drama. All the details are perfect. The jokes the girls tell, the way bullying is portrayed, the way they react to big issues, or ignore them completely because they’re too young to understand what’s happening. It’s addressing the issues we face here and now but this story is universal. It'll remain truthful even after we finally figure out at what age it’s appropriate to give kids smartphones and internet access.

Maïmouna Doucouré has made a film that's often uncomfortable and difficult to watch. Trust in it. Stick with it. In the end, the emotions converge, and Cuties leaves you enlightened and elated while still melancholic. This one will be hard to forget. (Original French version, September 9, 2020)

I know Hamilton already has fans but until I saw this live recording of the 2015 musical, I wasn’t among them. Now, I see what the big deal is. While no film can quite capture the energy of a live performance, this presentation gives you a view and an experience no box-office seat could match. Packed with terrific songs, excellent performances, and impressive visuals, you’ll want to watch it over and over.

In 1776, 19-year-old Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) arrives in New York City. There, he quickly makes a name for himself despite his empty pockets and lowly status as an orphaned immigrant from the Caribbean. His wit and unquenchable desire for more leads him to greatness and setup his downfall. The film - divided into two acts - follows his career as the aide-de-camp to General George Washington (Christopher Jackson), the first Secretary of the Treasury, his marriage to Eliza Schuyler (Phillipa Soo), personal tragedies, and his eventual death.

At 160 minutes, Hamilton can seem intimidating but don't worry. It includes a handy-dandy intermission during which you can stretch your legs. Theoretically, you could also stop it there and resume play at a later time. I doubt you'll want to. Once Hamilton gets going, you don’t want it to stop. This movie is no ordinary history lesson. Packed with wall-to-wall songs inspired by modern genres like hip hop, R&B, pop, and soul, the plot moves quickly through eras and events you’re familiar with (even if all you have is a rudimentary knowledge of American history) while revealing "new" events. Many of the lyrics come in so fast you’ll struggle to keep up but the performances fill in the gaps. You can always tell who’s who, what’s going on, and most importantly, what it means to Alexander Hamilton. He’s the focus of the story, a complicated person we’ve not had the chance to meet until now.

Another modern aspect is the cast. Normally I’d raise an eyebrow at the willy-nilly swapping of real-life people’s races - it'd be doubly uncomfortable considering we see extremely racist real-life people morphed into something they weren't… that rule doesn’t apply here. This is a movie and a play too, and plays exist in a different kind of reality. A staircase from which King George III (Jonathan Groff) descends is a symbol of much more. A couple of chairs transports us from a port to a bar. An actor playing double roles is just an opportunity to see them again. You won’t have to use your imagination as much as you’re used to, however. This is a first-rate production brilliantly directed by Thomas Kail. There are many interesting and novel choices made throughout, more than enough to make you overlook the few points where the camera could’ve been slightly better positioned. There are few edits and when they are used, they pack a punch.

Even without the marvelous cast, Hamilton would be a sight to behold. The performers’ arresting voices and the songs elevates this to a level that may have some people thinking they needn’t bother with a live performance. Or maybe they’ll see this as a way to watch and re-watch the show enough times to memorize all of the tunes - there’s no way you could pick just one favorite. When you see the cast of Hamilton bow, the o-screen audience won’t be the only one getting up to cheer. (January 16, 2021)

Nomadland is a great film I can understand some not “getting”. Its story is small, quiet, lonely, and sad. I doubt it will imprint itself in your memory the way you expect an Academy Award winner for “Best Picture” to. That said, it’s superbly shot and acted. Its story and characters are rich. Some will find its story powerful, and emotional.

After the US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada, shuts down, so does the town. Fern (Frances McDormand) sells her possessions and begins living out of her van. She is part of a group of people who’ve found they cannot live on their retirement savings and now embrace a nomadic life.

There isn’t much of a plot to Nomadland. We follow Fern from job to job, as she befriends other nomads, parts ways with them, reconnects months later, and deals with the struggles unique to her situation. The most significant event is when her engine breaks down and she asks her sister (Melissa Smith) for help. Even then, it’s just life. Like the nomads, you don't know what tomorrow will bring.

No one is rebelling against a system they hate and hoping to see break down. It's simply that some people don’t fit in “normal” society. Most often, it’s because of grief. When you think of living on the road, you think of happiness, freedom. That’s not the case here. The travelers we meet may be unshackled by material possessions but many of them are lonely. Chloé Zhao (who also wrote and edited the film) isn’t suggesting this lifestyle is what we all need. She’s merely asking us to look at these people's lives, to see what works, what doesn't, and to learn from it.

As Fern, Frances McDormand is excellent. She’s so natural, it feels like a documentary rather than fiction. Even before the end credits confirm it, you kind of know most of those we’ve met are just playing themselves.

Also noteworthy is the cinematography. Usually, this means grandiose images full of bold colors, the kind you’d print on a huge canvas for guests to admire. Such a reaction would be out of place in Nomadland. The images we see - beautiful as they are - would be more suited to small 8 in. x 10 in. frames, or a photo album. The innocuous shot of a cactus, of Fern posing next to a landmark, of friends, are memories of a life you only truly appreciate by understanding the stories behind them - and you will after seeing Nomadland.

Like Zhao's 2017 film The Rider, Nomadland feels deeply personal. It wasn't made to scoop up awards or even be seen by the masses. It was made because Zhao needed to make it; because these people needed to tell this story. Maybe it will stick in your mind after it’s over. If it doesn’t, that’s ok. Nomadland doesn’t seem like the kind of movie that would care. It knows what impact it had on you while it played. That’s what matters. (April 27, 2021)

With David Cronenberg moving away from the body horror genre, his son has picked up the torch. With Antiviral and now, Possessor Brandon Cronenberg shows an eerie affinity for it. This film will have you checking your fingers to make sure they’re still there and feeling your scalp to make sure no holes have appeared. It’s strikingly original, with excellent performances. Particularly effective are the special effects and makeup. Not because they make you wonder how they were done; because of the way they’re utilized.

Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is a professional assassin working for a high-tech organization. They leave no crime to investigate because the killer is always someone close to the victim; someone whose body Tasya has taken over before committing suicide and returning to her body. Her career has made Tasya increasingly distant from her husband, Michael (Rossif Sutherland), and son, Ira (Gage Graham-Arbuthnot). Her boss, Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh), doubts her ability to do the job and retain a normal life. Tasya nonetheless accepts a new assignment.

Possessor brings discomfort on so many levels. First, there’s the premise. Killing people for profit is bad enough but it’s the way they're murdered. I don’t mean the brutality of Tasya’s crimes - though their savagery will have you reeling. It’s the idea of taking someone over and then pinning the crime on them. The victim can't even plead innocence in court because each assignment ends with Tasya putting a gun in her mouth. It’s a whole new level of cold, and this is an organization. They have doctors who implant devices into people’s skulls, lab technicians that work the machine Tasya's plugged into, researchers, moles, and more. Do they not see what we see? probably not. Cronenberg (who also wrote the screenplay) brings the camera super close when blood flows, allowing us to see the teeth being knocked out of the place, and the blades penetrate the skin. Still, this has been going on for years.

Little details throughout also make you uneasy. Andrea Riseborough’s look, for instance. The way she moves, her hair, the way she speaks to her victims and family. It’s like she’s not even human anymore. Her latest possession, Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott). His job is the kind of creepy voyeurist grind you imagine happening in real life. Some unscrupulous corporation must be paying people to do what he does… but Cronenberg shows it to you. Even if we close our eyes, the imagines we’ve seen won't go away. I doubt even shards of glass plunged deep into our eye sockets would reach far enough to extract them.

Then, we see these relatively simple but deeply effective visions/dreams. The symbolism is as easy to decipher as 2+2, which makes them even more unsettling. You know more horror is coming but what kind? It leads to a conclusion that's brilliant and chilling. I had to watch it a second time to make sure it happened like I thought it did. I'm almost sorry I double-checked. Now I've got to find a way to shake that feeling. The brilliant originality of Possessor and its stylish direction make you eager to see what is coming next. (April 24, 2021)