Month: January 2020

Joker Left Me Shrugging

Joker

The review:

Todd Phillips attempts to bring gravitas to the comic book movie genre with Joker. While the brouhaha was strong for this movie* the film exists so that Joaquin Phoenix can remind us that he is the best actor of his generation. The movie is not nearly as bloody as I had assumed from the chatter, but the story didn’t hold** and ultimately I was left shrugging.

The verdict: Skip

Cost: $1.80 via Redbox
Where watched: at home

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*Joker is horrible, the worst of modern movies, Todd Phillips is a hack/Joker is a masterpiece, the pinnacle of achievement, Todd Phillips is a genius.
**I’m on bored with Arthur Fleck’s descent into madness, it’s just he’s so incredibly fragile it seems there is no way he can recover enough to actually plot crimes to try and defeat Batman. I see there is a Joker 2 in the works, so presumably we will get a follow up.

Questions:

  • If you thought this film was a masterpiece, what qualities elevated it for you?
  • If you thought this film was horrible, what qualities left you with that impression?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Joaquin Phoenix said about the 52 lb weight loss: “Once you reach the target weight, everything changes. Like so much of what’s difficult is waking up every day and being obsessed over like 0.3 pounds. Right? And you really develop like a disorder. I mean, it’s wild. But I think the interesting thing for me is what I had expected and anticipated with the weight loss was these feelings of dissatisfaction, hunger, a certain kind of vulnerability and a weakness. But what I didn’t anticipate was this feeling of kind of fluidity that I felt physically. I felt like I could move my body in ways that I hadn’t been able to before. And I think that really lent itself to some of the physical movement that started to emerge as an important part of the character.”

Other reviews:

Joker

1917: Does the Movie Deserve Accolades?

1917

The review:

Sam Mendes’s 1917 is vacuuming up all the praise and it’s very good at being a tense war movie that is crafted as if it was filmed in one shot.* And yet, when we step a bit back from the cinematography shenanigans, is there enough story? I’m feeling torn, but I can tell you that I enjoyed both Dean-Charles Chapman** and George MacKay, *** I found one scene late at night in a town unbelievable, and I thought the depictions of rats was on point.****

The verdict: Good

(There will be much grumbling if this wins Best Picture. Not Green Book levels of grumbling—there will be no assigned reading—but grumbling nevertheless)

Cost: $9.50
Where watched: Cinema 21 with Matt, who enjoyed it.
(Also, I noticed for the first time a private screening area in the balcony.)

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*It was not.
**Although the preview clued me in about him
***He was the oldest son of Viggo Mortenson in Captain Fantastic
****Also, I’m quite happy to have avoided service during the Great War.

Questions:

  • What other movie razzle-dazzle (more easily created with CGI) do you want to see come back?
  • What would you lean on to get through fighting a terrible war?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Mendes says his grandfather Alfred, who entered WWI in 1916 as a 17-year-old, did indeed carry messages through no-man’s land, as per the mission in this film. His advantage was that he was only 5’4″ tall, and was often hidden by the battleground’s winter mist that usually hung as high as 6 feet. And after soldiering for two years in the muddy trenches, grandfather Alfred had a lifelong habit of constantly washing his hands. Yet, he never talked about his wartime experience until he was in his 70s.

(Short people for the win!)

Other reviews:

1917

Beautiful Boy: A Father/Son Tale of Addiction

Beautiful Boy

The review:

Felix van Groeningen’s Beautiful Boy follows the standard drug addict movie format;* the difference here is that the father-son relationship is the focus. I loved the performances of both Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet** and that the movie doesn’t point to a cause of the addiction, just the things that happen because of it. While I don’t feel this broke any new ground on the drug addict movie front, there was a lot worth watching.

The verdict: Good

Cost: Free due to Amazon 30-day Prime trial
(I’ve been stalking this movie for months now and it’s been stuck behind the Amazon paywall and has too many holds at the library)
Where watched: at home.

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Drugs are used/fun. Drugs are abused and bad things happen. The rituals of drug use are fetishized. Drug addict hits bottom. Rehab. Either the hopeful ending (rehab goes well) or the not hopeful ending (character dies or goes back to drugs.)
**I really love Steve Carell’s serious roles (and his comedy) and I was also happy to see Maura Tierney and Amy Ryan in this. Plus Kaitlyn Dever makes an appearance.

Questions:

Do you think the divorce of his parents contributed to Nic Sheff’s drug addition?
What was the hardest sequence in this film?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Cameron Crowe was once attached to direct with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role.
(So this movie has been kicking around for a bit, then.)

Other reviews:

Beautiful Boy

Honey Boy: Sometimes Recovery Means a Fine Movie

Honey Boy

The review:

Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy stuck with me after the credits had rolled, and it excelled at balancing the story of young Otis and his father with older Otis and his PTSD.* The scenes of LaBeouf’s questionable parenting choices were a great counterpoint to the scenes with rehab counselors.** While this movie lacked an ending*** it’s worth seeing for the performances and the nuance around what love looks like when you have a stunted alcoholic dad cheering for you.

The verdict: Good

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*LaBeouf’s portrayal of James Lort had his signature mesmer (I found it hard to look away from him) both Otises (Noah Jupe and Lucas Hedges) were great. Noah Jupe was both world-weary, exceedingly cautious, and at times a normal 12-year-old. Lucas Hedges captured the stony resistance of older PTSD Otis.
**Martin Starr! Laura San Giacomo! (Also fun: Byron Bowers as the rehab roommate.)
***Much like the enjoyable directing debut of Jonah Hill: Mid90s

Questions:

  • I had trouble cobbling together a list of complex/abusive father-son movies. Can you think of any?
  • What was the most disturbing aspect of young Otis’s life?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Shia LaBeouf was arrested for public intoxication in July, 2017 in Savannah, Georgia. He was ordered to attend a 10-week rehab program, where he discovered that he had PTSD and began writing the screenplay for Honey Boy. Filming for the movie started two weeks after Shia got out of rehab.

Other reviews:

Honey Boy

Margot at the Wedding: Disaffected Adults, Bad Choices

Margot at the Wedding

The review:

Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding has the usual pre-Gerwig vibe* of disaffected adults who speak with a bored affect** and are their own worst enemies. And while that first sentence sounds like I didn’t like the film, this second sentence is here to say that I greatly enjoyed this movie from the performances to the ridiculous actions taken by the characters.*** Chalk this up as yet another Baumbach film with people I couldn’t be in the room with in real life, but greatly enjoy on screen.

The verdict: Good

Cost: free via Kanopy
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

Further sentences:

*Greta Gerwig has injected so much more FUN into his movies.
**Even Jack Black—usually the reliably manic character—is running at about 40% power.
***Granted, this is enjoyment like chewing aluminum foil with braces on, or putting a 9-volt battery on your tongue. It’s exhilarating and uncomfortable.

Questions:

  • Which character in this film is the most competent parent?
  • Who did you identify with the most?

Favorite IMDB Trivia item:

Cinematographer Harris Savides used old lenses and shot mostly in natural light to get the dim, ominous look of the film.

Other reviews:

Margot at the Wedding

The End of Byways Cafe. Another Portland Classic Shuttered

Byways has been a classic cafe for the entire time I’ve lived in Portland. It provides solid, delicious food and a fun, kitschy setting.

The owners made the decision to close because they were unable to negotiate a new lease with their landlords. I’m guessing from this for-sale sign, the building owners would rather market a mostly empty building to potential buyers. It’s easier to tear down and put up something bigger.

There were a lot of feelings about this loss in the local newspapers (the daily and weeklies) and on social media.

I will miss this Portland institution.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette is Entertaining

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

The review:

Richard Linklater does a great job transforming Where’d You Go, Bernadette from an epistolary novel into a coherent film—though the film stumbles at the end. I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would, mostly because Cate Blanchett having a mental crisis is so much fun to watch.* There’s a big, old, moldering house,** some really great mean girl mom stuff,*** good performances by Billy Crudup and Emma Nelson (in her debut: she plays Bernadette’s daughter) plus a bunch of bit parts with actors I love.****

The verdict: Good

(I greatly enjoyed this book and can recommend it.)

Cost: $1.25 at Redbox
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching

Further sentences:

*The Academy also agrees: she won an Oscar for Blue Jasmine, which is another story of a woman in mental crisis. And parts of her performance brought to mind Katherine Hepburn, whom she portrayed in the Aviator and for which the Academy also bestowed her with an Oscar.
**Something about moldering houses inspires glee in me. My favorite YA novel of 2019, Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh, also featured a moldering house.
***Kristen Wiig is so very good!
****Judy Greer, Steven Zahn, Megan Mullally, Laurence Fishburne

Questions:

  • If you have taken in both book and movie, which worked better for you?
  • What’s your favorite movie set in a moldering old house?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Bernadette refers to Dr. Kurtz, the Judy Greer character, as “Colonel Kurtz” at one point. Colonel Kurtz was the enigmatic figure in the film Apocalyse Now in which Laurence Fishburne, who plays Bernadette’s former colleague Paul Jellinek, had a part as Tyrone ‘Clean’ Miller, the youngest member on the boat.

Other reviews:

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Rocketman is Mostly a Disappointment

Rocketman

The review:

I had high hopes that Rocketman, Dexter Fletcher’s biopic of Elton John was going to bypass a lot of the biopic dreck and do something unusual* and these hopes were smashed on the shores of the very crowded Biopic Beach. So it is that we get much too many scenes of rock star excess** plus the movie’s jukebox musical format made everything confusing.*** I did enjoy the costumes (which are the usual perk of the biopic) and Taron Egerton’s performance, including watching his hair thin and recede.

The verdict: skip

(or watch it for the clothing)

Cost: $1.25 via Redbox
Where watched: at home (first movie of 2020!)

Consider watching instead:

Further sentences:

*This was primarily because of the interesting levitation shown during the preview. I thought there would be more magical realism in the movie. While I think the levitation did nicely get across the feeling of “that was the night that everything started and everyone there knew it” there wasn’t much magical realism in this movie.
**Props for showing some bulimia to augment the standard drug/alcohol tropes. Eating disorders often go along with addiction and it is very rare to see a portrayal of a man with an eating disorder.
***The jukebox musical format worked better in Blinded by the Light where the songs of a singer were sung and danced to by people who are not the artist who produced the music. When Taron Egerton breaks into Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” while playing at the bar as a teenager and all the patrons start dancing I am perplexed. Is the movie saying that song was written then? Before he met Bernie Taupin? Also, the framing device of Elton John’s story being told while in rehab is not used constantly enough. It was distracting.

Questions:

  • What’s your favorite biopic and why?
  • What films best use the jukebox musical format?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Bryce Dallas Howard is eight years older than Taron Egerton, who plays the adult version of her son. The age difference is of course explicable because the movie starts by depicting Elton John as a much younger child; the age difference between Howard and the children who play John at younger ages is a much more normal one for a mother and son.
(One again, I did not recognize Bryce Dallas Howard. She is so good at disappearing into her characters)

Other reviews:

Rocketman