By: Henry J. Fromage –
Yes, another combo post to reflect the couple I missed, with this one featuring a bit more Hollywood and theatrical flair.
246. Ambulance
I’m not going to be the one to tell you Michael Bay’s suddenly become a prestige filmmaker, but give me many more years of character and practical effects-driven actioners than another CGI mess like the last Transformers films (it doesn’t sound like he has any interest in going back to that particular well anyway). Things blow up real good and Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Eiza Gonzalez play off each other well- what more do you want? Three Beers.
247. Hansel and Gretel
Robert Eggers recently saw this short film of his hit Youtube in advance of the debut of The Northman, and it’s apparent that from the start his obsession with period settings and shooting techniques would yield a filmography quite unlike any other. How else would you do Hansel and Gretel besides German Expressionism shot on what appears to be actual hundred year old cameras? Two Beers.
248. Incident by a Bank
One more MUBI short film, this from Ruben Ostlund. It’s yet another one indicative of the career to come, as we watch a bank robbery unfold from the outside, as bystanders carry on oblivious or shocked this is actually unfolding in front of them. Humans behave in the most absurd ways in real life, and nobody is more keyed into that than Ostlund. Two Beers.
249. The Northman
Holy hell but is this film Metal. Alexander Skarsgaard is a force of nature as a Viking driven to revenge the murder of his father and abduction of his mother (Nicole Kidman) by his uncle (Claes Bang in a meaty role). Eggers reunites with Ana Taylor-Joy here, too, who plays the slave girl who may provide a different path. As hardcore and fully committed as you’d hope for in a Viking revenge film from Robert Eggers. Two Beers.
250. The Negotiation
This Korean crime film from a few years back stars husband and wife Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin as a hostage negotiator and kidnapper she is corresponding with who has hidden and perhaps more explicable motives than it may first appear. This is a slick, tense thriller that probably bites off more than it can chew plot-wise, but holds if not demands your attention. Three Beers.
251. To Die For
“Pick something from the 90s” yielded this Nicole Kidman starrer from Gus Van Sant that probably deserves more of a profile than it has. Kidman stars as a local news striver who may well have killed her more prosaically dreaming husband (Matt Dillon), with outrageously young Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck the disaffected youths who may have helped her do it. Part media and culture satire and part Coens-esque arch crime thriller, if the plot had a bit more cleverness to it this may have been a real classic. Three Beers.
252. Reality Bites
We kept up the 90s streak with my surprising first viewing of this Ben Stiller-directed treatise on the state of the youths today, starring Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Steve Zahn, and Jeanne Garofalo as the youths and Stiller as the slightly older other leg of the Ryder-Hawke love triangle. This hasn’t aged terribly well, making the inescapably familiar and repetitive pretentions of youth feel awfully pretentious indeed (or maybe it’s just I who haven’t aged well). Four Beers.
253. Vampire Dog
This was next up on Tubi after Reality Bites, and who were we to resist? Yes, this movie about a Vampire Dog who subsists on red Jell-O (called “jelly” for possibly litigation-related reasons?) who meets a kid and is pursued by evil mad scientists or something is pretty bad. There is a kicker, though- the dog starts talking a good 15 minutes plus into this thing, and you’ll never guess the voice that comes out. Six Pack.
254. Valley Girl
Our recent Nicholas Cage kick has led us to some of his earlier roles, with this 1983 film seen by many as his breakout. As you’d expect from the title, this Romeo & Juliet tale of Valley vs City Los Angeles denizens is just chock full of spectacularly dated fashion and slang, but the most entertaining thing about it for me was how spectacularly doofy of a hunk Cage gives us here. This was his breakout? Four Beers.
255. Men
It’s been an interesting litmus test seeing who all really hates this film in the critical community- there’s an element of taking it personally that I find fascinating. There’s no arguing this is Alex Garland’s most subtle work, but I think what he’s going for and Jessie Buckley and an all-time creepy multi-role Rory Kinnear are delivering here comes off brilliantly. When it goes full-on body horror you won’t be able to tear your eyes away, even if you’ll almost certainly want to. Two Beers.
256. Memoria
The scuttlebutt on this Cannes standout from last year is that it will never come to home video- on an unceasing tour of theaters around the world. Well, it finally came to Madison, making it my first feature-length Apichatpong Weerasethakul film (a definite blind spot, I know). I can see the motivations behind this decision, too, as so much of the film hinges on its sound design, from the mysterious thud that haunts Tilda Swinton to throughout to the susurring of the forest insects when her pursuit of its origin finally brings her to the jungle. Just be warned, this is slow cinema at just about its slowest. Three Beers.
