Anora

 The "American Dream" takes on a lot of different meanings to different people. The Leave it to Beaver style of the single-family house comprising of a backyard and white picket fence where the father works the mother raises the children and the children hopefully go on to repeat the cycle until eternity. Reality intrudes and we all know that many if not the majority are not born into such an idyllic situation. Your rent is not guaranteed your next meal is not guaranteed let alone saving money for a potential retirement in the future.

What if there was a potential lottery style chance to escape such a predicament. Meghan Markle married into royalty and soon found the reality to be different from the high of an internationally televised wedding for the world to see. I'll qualify this, I love New York movies or anything that shows the less glamorous side of New York that people don't think of when they imagine a city of over 8 million people. We often think of Broadway, Rockefeller Center or the Statue of Liberty.

Anora seems to mimic a classic romantic comedy (Pretty Woman) crossed with a movie like Uncut Gems. Ani (Mikey Madison) plays a stripper who moonlights as a high dollar escort while living at home with her sister. If one knows anything about living in New York, where the average rent tops out around 4k, unless you're one of the 1% most are living month to month.

One night Ani meets Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn) who seems to spare no expense in entertaining the dancers at the club and takes an interest in Ani. Ivan appears to be connected to some type of Russian oligarch, and he lives in a huge mansion in Brooklyn while his parents are away. What follows is a weeks long bender of sex, drugs and travelling anywhere and everywhere expense be damned. One can see the appeal to Ani initially as Ivan wants her to be exclusive to him and this is the potential way out from the daily grind her life has become. This rhymes with the Pretty Woman scenario of a rich guy picking a random person and showing her a lifestyle she would have of no chance of attaining without some sort of luck or boost. 

The weeks long romance culminates in Ani and Ivan getting married impromptu in Vegas. As a viewer you're aware the other shoe will drop soon. Ivan may throw his money around like he has an unlimited supply, but his obvious immaturity is on display for everyone to see. I'm sure most can relate to the idea of trying to get your mans attentions while he has a video game controller in his hand. We also know the other shoe is about to drop and Ivans absent parents are about to discover their only son has married a sex worker.

The tone quickly shifts from funny and charming to menacing and dangerous. Somehow, director Sean Baker pulls off the changes in tone without it feeling too clumsy or clunky. Ivans parents learn of the marriage and send over some enforcers to get the marriage annulled. The sequence that follows is simultaneously hilarious and scary at the same time. Ivan being the immature brat that he is just takes off once they arrive. The lead enforcer Toros has two men with him (Igor and Garnick) and while Ivan disappears, they're left to convince Ani that the marriage will never be accepted.

As viewers we slowly watch that dream Ani has of escaping her circumstances slowly erode as the movie progresses. More hilarity ensues as a chase to find where Ivan is takes the unlikely group all over the city. A reminder to anyone who wishes to visit New York, make sure you find a real parking spot before walking away from your car. 

At over 2 hours the movie doesn't feel drawn out, no time is wasted, and this is clearly a star making performance by Mikey Madison. Your sympathies clearly lie with Ani and you're hoping there is some way for her to get the payoff she needs from the situation. Up until the very end there always appears to be some hope that it can happen even though we know otherwise. This is likely a best picture nominee. If you watch any other of Sean Bakers films, the pursuit of the American Dream and all the walls that stand in the way are a common theme. Wealth and power will often overcome the Cinderella fantasy of love conquering all even though there can be fleeting moments where you can be seen as a real person beyond what you initially present to the outside world.  

American Fiction

 

How do we view an "important" film? A film that is supposed to say something profound about our current state of affairs or indicative of Americas racial problem. Personally, that kind of direct approach has never really struck me as anything other than lip service to an already converted choir. On the surface American Fiction has a really promising idea. Not necessarily an original one but a very clever one still. 

I have long been a Jeffrey Wright fan. Just watch the 5-minute scene he appears in on the updated and unsuccessful Manchurian Candidate from 2004. Or his excellent portrayal of Dr Narcisse in the show Boardwalk Empire. He has an expression that can convey both seriousness and sadness at the same time. Not to mention an air of authority which he is playing up in his role of Monk on American Fiction. 

Monk is an English professor in college while also moonlighting as an author of fictional novels that don't seem to be selling very well. He seems unable to reach an audience as a black author writing stories that don't take place in poverty, addiction or some other form of trauma. All of this is made maddeningly real when attending a book festival, he walks in on an interview of an author played by Issa Rae of the title "We's lives in Da Ghetto"..really. Yes, on first glance that can bring a chuckle. The obvious spoofing of a white liberal audience wanting to be enlightened by a black author catering to all their preconceived views of black life in America. So a frustrated Monk goes home and in a fit of anger writes a series of over-the-top cliche stories titled "My Pafology" hitting on the typical drugs, guns and dead father tropes under a pseudonym. All of this is played for laughs and at times it can be very effective. Monk provides the manuscript to his very annoying agent played by John Ortiz thinking it will be received as the satirical take down he intends. 

Shocker if you saw the preview the majority white power brokers not only love the "honesty" and "realness" of his writing they're willing to throw large sums of money for publishing and even movie rights. This all feels a little too broad and making it much too easy for an already converted audience to laugh along then feeling too bad because after all "we can't be them, right?".

The movie is only saved by drilling down on Monks relationships with his family and the fact that he tends to use his academic life as a means to isolate himself from loved ones. Sterling K Brown shows up and gives the movie a well needed burst of energy playing Monks divorced out of the closet brother compensating for the time he lost by partying as hard as he can. Tracee Ellis Ross plays his sister, and one scene highlights the warmth they share while showing bits of the children they used to be. This aspect of the movie is not so stealthily acknowledging that what Monk desires is this kind of actual story of three-dimensional black characters who don't need to be defined by stereotypical oppression. Unfortunately, it feels too drowned by the overall ham-fisted approach of shrugging and saying, "well what can you do?". 

Attempted subversion by painting the powers that be as dim know nothings isn't quite as effective and loses its effectiveness after the initial chuckle you get from some of the exchanges. This seems like a cousin movie to the Nic Cage starring laugh fest Dream Scenario although the laughs don't seem to come as freely in this one. Besides when Sterling K Brown brings his energy the story feels like its bogged down in trying to be important and that is a shame since Wright is such a compelling actor. He is a master of holding a gaze while clearly screaming beneath the surface. I almost felt like a regular tale of family drama could have been a more effective film without the need of the main hook this movie provides.

The Iron Claw

 

I was a massive wrestling fan during two periods of my life. The first period was likely from age 9 to about 14. This would be the Hulk Hogan era and then again during the late 90's attitude era. That feature performers like The Rock and Stone-Cold Steve Austin. Prior to this movie I had never heard the name Von Erich before. The most famous wrestling family in my eyes was the Hart family from Canada. Who featured a father and several sons all growing into world class wrestlers working for the WWE (WWF at the time). These days the out of ring stuff that involves wrestlers has become far more interesting than whoever may be holding the belt in the ring. Wrestling is marked by early deaths and lots of tragedy and that will often make for a compelling movie. The previous great wrestling movie The Wrestler in 2008 featuring a broken down past his prime 80s wrestler. The Iron Claw follows in a similar vein as we watch a family go through various ups and downs associated with the wrestling business.

It doesn't take long for The Iron Claw to foreshadow that the Von Erich family maybe on its way to a tragic end. The blows and broken spirits aren't going to take place in the ring it seems life itself will deliver them. It starts early with the father (Holt McCallany) ranking his sons in order of favorability with a slight twist of the knife saying that the "rankings can always change". The story charts the rise of the family in pro wrestling starting in the 60s with the aforementioned father Fritz Von Erich, his finishing move being a grip he would apply on his opponents' head, at times drawing blood. 

The way into the movie is through the elder brother Kevin (Zac Efron) who seems desperate to earn the top ranking in his fathers imaginary system. His narration may not suit the film at times but his physical presence and ability to project the pain that he is enduring make Efrons performance a highlight of the film. This is not a family that shares how they're feeling much. Their approach to problems is to bite down and fight through it. The mother meanwhile fully believes that God is protecting all of them. Maura Tierney seems to be playing a very one note character. Merely a stay-at-home Mom with nothing to add but belief in God. This also feels like territory that could have been better explored.

The movie provides plenty of foreshadowing with images of crucifixes and guns being available throughout the house. Masculinity and what it means to be a man in the eyes of your father are a crucial factor to what eventually befalls the brothers. The shifts in and out of the ring slowly build the momentum for the arrival of the favorite son Kerry (Jeremy Allen White). Their profile increases along with their fame and the pressures even force the youngest brother Mike, who would much rather play in a band, into the ring as well. 

As the story plays out the beats are all very familiar.  Triumph and eventually so much tragedy that it is hard to believe that this fictionalized version doesn't even cover all the pain this family experienced into the movie. The only drawback appears to be the filmmaker (Sean Durkin) can't quite deliver the punch that the story is ultimately about an abusive father. While the sons all love their father the complicated nature of that love doesn't feel as all-consuming as it should be. When the movie focuses on brotherly love and the intimate moments between them, the heart is able to be present. But, for all the size and physical perfection displayed on screen it does feel the family dynamic lacked a bit of the tension that would bring home the tragedy of the family. 

Poor Things

 

Wow, that was an assault on the senses that I have not felt in a movie theater in a long time. What took place though was a clever, visually incredible movie that was a load of fun. On its surface Poor Things is a devilishly altered version of the Frankenstein story. Scientist creates someone in his own image and that someone eventually becomes free and independent of their creators influence. 

We track the adventures of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) in what looks to be a time frame looking a bit like the Victorian age. She has a grownups body but the temperament of a child. Her surroundings are bizarre, and she is under the care of Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) who she will commonly refer to as "God" throughout the movie. Dr Baxter hosts a strange lab and seems to enjoy the practice of slicing and dicing to form new creations. It is revealed that Baxter created Bella by finding the corpse of a dead pregnant woman and using the fetus brain to reanimate her corpse. Hence the child like demeanor exhibited by Bella through the first act of the movie. Her speech is broken and sometimes words don't seem to come out in the right order. This is used for laughs quite a bit. Her walk is also some kind of strange movement that suggests she isn't aware of how to use her legs. She is messy, curious, impolite and seems to show a penchant for violence ("I want to punch that baby").

Her first meeting with someone outside of "God" is a stranger named Max (Ramy Youssef) who she greets by slapping him for no apparent reason. The movie gets its weirdness going from the start and really does not let up all the way through. The production features weird costumes, strange colors, and very strange cinematography. It may look a bit like the real world but is really some kind of alternate reality. 

Bella does eventually mature, and her fortunes do change as the result of the forementioned Max, who is documenting her development, and a smooth-talking con artist named Duncan (Mark Ruffalo). This coincides with Bellas sexual awakening which she embraces with Duncan. With Duncan as her Paramore, she sets off on adventures across the world learning about the world, its cruelties, its realities and embracing a thirst for sex that can only be described as insatiable. Her liberation of course becomes a threat to Duncan who simply refuses to accept the idea that she can function without him.

While the laughs do sustain the movie there does seem to be a repetitive nature to what you're watching, and the material can feel a bit stale after a while. The performances are all first rate and Stone is likely to get some kind of award recognition for her portrayal of Bella. Yet for all the flashy production and big laughs the effect can feel like you're being bullied into liking the movie. So while this is a great watch its ability to shock can wear off pretty quickly.

Leave the World Behind

We are coming up on the 4 year anniversary of when the pandemic started. A lot of us just remember being locked in the house, unable to go anywhere, generally fearful of what all this meant or how will all of this end. The predictable polarization happened where half the country turned on the other half of the country in our version of a cold civil war. It was inevitable that material would start to emerge in response to everything that went down over the past 4 years.

Leave the World Behind is adapted from a novel I hadn't read but the main draw was my affinity for director Sam Esmail and the goodwill he has from me thanks to his Mr. Robot series. That show similarly dealt with possible conspiracies and shadow hands controlling all of us and the theme carries over with Leave the World Behind. In this rendition of the story, Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke star as Amanda and Clay Sandford, an advertising executive and her English and media studies professor husband, who live a comfortable but not extravagant life in their Brooklyn home. They have two typical teenage kids where their daughter is currently obsessed with watching Friends.

Prompted by a need to get away Amanda rents a house in the woods slightly outside of New York in order to literally "leave the world behind". Take out the virtual impossibility that a house in the woods exists like this with a view of the New York skyline, things seem to be going normally though Amandas prickly nature hints at a possible divide coming. 

What takes place on the beach with our lead family is probably one of the more unsettling images you'll see on the screen this year. A large boat is off in the distance and slowly seems to be getting closer and closer until it runs aground on the beach scattering everyone. Most normal people would probably take the first car out of there, but the family seems to shake it off and go back home. They're woken in the night by a man named GH played by Mahershala Ali and his daughter claiming that this is their house, they're escaping a blackout in the city and can they please stay there for the night.

As the movie progresses it soon becomes clear that there seems to be more than just a regular blackout occurring. Technology is rendered useless and no outside information seems to be available on what is actually taking place outside in the world. We get some hints here and there but nothing concrete. What does stand out is the interplay between the characters who start out as naturally suspicious of each other. This is more shown from Amandas side who represents a general distrust of strangers. This does serve as a parable of a nation so reliant on our technology while we generally seem to not like each other on a human level. At times the theme is delivered very well and at other times it can come off as clumsy and forced. In fact, by the end, you might feel like you've been assaulted by all the various things this movie is trying to say.

The salvation lies in the performances of Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali. They share a couple of very memorable scenes together that give the movie a much-needed breath of humanity instead of the constant doom loop it seems to be on. We are also left with an interesting proposition of "What if nobody is in control of anything? Even the most powerful don't have an idea of what might be coming?" The ending is left ambiguous, and we are kind of left stranded on purpose. So maybe this truly is how the world ends. Not with some giant bang or explosion, a slow slide into madness punctuated by a theme song.

Oppenheimer

 

Cillian Murphys gaze into something unknown and terrifying is the standout image that this film produces through its 3-hour runtime. Much was made about the way in which Oppenheimer from was created. The very old school filmmaking style to recapture something magical from years past as a way to bring audiences back to the theater. It's clear as you watch the movie why Christopher Nolan chose this subject, the protagonist in the film is someone who seems to obsess over little details including the building blocks of the universe, dreaming of particles and fire and theories on how the world works much like the director himself.  Nolan seems be engaged himself in a long running investigation of the physical and imagined world tied into the consciousness of human existence. Emotion and Science rule the day in the movie. These two subjects are not mutually exclusive. If you watch Memento, Inception, The Prestige, Interstellar or Dunkirk it is often the use of the science like tools of cinema to battle out the forces of tangible and intangible.

Oppenheimer though seems to focus on the idea of power. The kind of power that splitting the atom produces. The power that other countries will eventually crave and the power that men in general seem to crave knowing the damage it can cause. The best thing about this movie is that it is not functioning as a typical biopic. The standard biopic, which hopefully dies a quick death, has your hero on his journey. We see the childhood, the growth the fall and usually ending in a nice little bow. They very rarely work. Instead, this movie is investigating the nature of power itself. Not only in building the bomb but in the halls of Washington where people wield power to bring down their perceived enemies. 

We have two timelines one in color and one in black and white. The color one called "Fission" (literally translated to the splitting of things) follows Oppenheimer in his journey as physicist in Europe to his adventures at Berkley, dabbling in left wing politics while having affairs leading to an eventual marriage to his wife Kitty (Emily Blunt). It leads to his appointment to the Manhattan project by General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon). The timeline jumps around but we do see an older Oppenheimer in black and white being investigated by the government for supposed Communist sympathizing. This portion of the story is labelled "Fusion" (joining things together). The opposite meanings of these words with what takes place can't be discounted. In color something is being created by splitting something apart. In black and white a mans life is being broken down as forces are coming together outside of his control to bring him down.

Oppenheimer seems to be someone who seems to enjoy paradoxes; at his first encounter with a Berkeley pupil, he demands to know how light can be both a wave and a particle, and then proceeds to explain. Yet he lives a life of internal division, at war with his own ideals, believing both that the Americans ought to develop a monstrous weapon of death in order to save lives, and that those weapons probably ought not to be used. He watches in horror as his initial idea is possibly being used to create something even more powerful that would likely level the world if ever used. 

The other lead character is Lewis Strauss (played incredibly by Robert Downey Jr) a man who sees power as a game, a process of gathering everything for himself. Strauss would support the development of the H-bomb, brushing off the casualties. He seems obsessed with what others are saying about him, obsessed with ego. He would rather a world in which power could accrue toward his country and thus, presumably, toward him. There are echoes of JFK and a very Aaron Sorkin like style of filmmaking in the verbal battles that take place throughout the movie. 

If there are some criticisms the third act involving the battle over Oppenheimer being investigated along with the Senate hearings to appoint Strauss don't have the same power as the first two acts. If you are tired of the great man storytelling this is a break from that where the men being followed here are not necessarily great men. As is the case with some other Nolan films his female characters are largely wasted with nothing to do. Someone like Florence Pugh or Emily Blunt are largely there to serve the lead characters own journey rather than saying anything about themselves. The constant cameos of well-known actor X can get a bit distracting but most of the time it's nice to see that particular actor. The list is too long to name and there are a lot of "that guy" types in this movie. 

Criticism aside this movie has to be experienced in an IMAX format, the scale and expansive nature of everything you're watching along with the use of sounds and cuts work incredibly well. It all raises the question, if human beings are capable of creating something so destructive and possibly world ending should we really even exist?

John Wick Chapter 4

The Baba Yaga is back, and the latest entry is the longest and most roided out entry in the franchise. Difficult to see how each entry can be topped but Chad Stahelski seems to come up with new ways for Mr. Wick to paint another city red. In this entry it seems to be Paris with a hop and skip to Germany and the Middle East along the way. The original entry back in 2014 was a surprise you couldn't expect from the promotional run of the film. An assassin is mad about the death of his dog and goes on a killing spree? Well ok. Looking back, you can see the budget constraints and the closed nature of the setting compared to the bright colors and different settings we are at now in the fourth entry.

The reasons for John Wicks actions don't really need to be explained even though they are. He has a knack for killing and that is who he is. It's in his nature or his DNA. But he's back and on what seems like a never-ending quest to free himself from an international crime syndicate known as the high table. Despite all of the mesmerizing action sequences the world of John Wick has some rules that it sticks to. 

The second film Wick became labeled "excommunicado" for killing a man on company grounds (The Continental hotel). The idea of a world of puppet masters controlling every aspect of life including who lives and dies is ripe for the cultural moment we find ourselves in these days. You can get wrapped up in the flaws of this world if you like but that is not treated as the main course. The plush settings, the thrilling sound effects, the myriad of ways bodies are disposed in quick brutal fashion becomes addictive and you just keep wanting more. The director uses close ups and slow-motion shots but also pulls back to give you actions full effects and the nature of how brutal it is on the body. The focus of this drives home the effectiveness as a seemingly invincible lead character is repeatedly punished throughout the movie. 

Even with the movie being 169 minutes there is barely any time to breathe. The dialogue is kept to a minimum. Wick is chasing or being chased by other assassins while shooting, stabbing and repeatedly grappling with one meat shield after another. The trio of his friends played by Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and Lance Reddick add to the overall story arc of the movie but mostly they are there as magnetic presences to play off Keanu Reeves. 

We also have a slew of new characters that range from cautious allies (Hiroyuki Sanada, Rina Sawayama), cool sympathetic new assassins (Shamier Anderson, Donnie Yen) and another filthy rich villain changing outfits every scene played by Pennywise himself (Bill Skarsgard). Skarsgard plays up the Euro trash bad guy chewing every bit of scenery he's in with the arrogance and hubris that you know will end up costing him in the end. Oh yeah and another very well-trained dog for the audience to root for as well. 

Don't try to make any real-world comparisons as this seems very much like an alternate universe. There are no real-world bystanders to worry about in each action set piece. What holds the movie together is Reeves screen presence. He has mastered the art of saying little but conveying emotion with his expressions and body movements. The beautiful action aside the humanity of the characters still exists, and bonds are still emphasized to give the movie enough stakes to keep wanting to come back for more. A spin off is due later this year which supposedly takes place between Wick 3 and 4 and will feature everyone from the Wick world. 

Its hard to imagine where we could go from here. The end felt like it had a conclusive nature to it and if Reeves were to bow out now it would be leaving at the ultimate high point. The movie keeps you on the edge of your seat and the recommendation is to go see this in the theater in an IMAX type of setting. If you know anything about the nature of Hollywood and with Wick 4 breaking its previous box office records I suspect, we will see him paint another continent red in the future.