Priscilla

Movie Name: Priscilla
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Sofia Coppola
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen, Dagmara Dominczyk, Tim Post, Lynne Griffin, Dan Beirne, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, Dan Abramovici, Matthew Shaw, Tim Dowler-Coltman, R Austin Ball, Olivia Barrett, Stephanie Moore
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Following the film "On the Rocks", which she wrote and directed for Apple+ streaming service, writer/producer/director Sofia Coppola is back, this time around focusing her point of view on the universe of Elvis Presley, but from the perspective of the woman he married, Priscilla. The tone could not be as diametrically opposed as to what Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis" illustrated. The film focuses on the story of Priscilla Beaulieu, whom we first encounter in West Germany, attending high school. Her father is an Army Captain, which explains why she is living in Europe. While attending a party at the Army Base she meets Elvis Presley, who is at the peak of his fame. He's immediately drawn to her, though she's only 14 and he's already 24. Priscilla's parents are immensely worried about this attention, because of her young age, and his popularity. Upon his return to the States, they lose contact and Priscilla resumes her schooling. In 1962 Elvis reconnects with her and invites her to come visit him in Memphis for a brief vacation. The following year Elvis negotiates with Priscilla's parents to have her come live his parents and attend a private girls' Catholic School in Memphis. While her parents aren't all too happy with the situation, they concede. Priscilla ends up spending considerable amounts of time on her own, while Elvis has a string of publicized affairs with co-stars during movie shoots in LA. Upon his return to Memphis he denies all those relationships. They eventually marry in 1967, though Elvis reliance on prescription drugs is already starting to worry Priscilla. Their volatile relationship continues, even during Priscilla's pregnancy. Their relationship continues to deteriorate, until it reaches a breaking point where Priscilla asks for a divorce, as Elvis is doing his residency in Las Vegas.

While Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis" was an exercise in documenting the excess of his life, and the relationship with his manager Colonel Tom Parker, Sofia Coppola's take on this narrative shifts the tone and perspective to Priscilla, specifically focusing on the experience of a young woman falling in love and having to grow up in a situation that is a bit uncommon. Sofia Coppola's best films are always permeated with heroines who feel out of place, or who are still figuring out who they are, which was the case of Scarlett Johansson's character in "Lost in Translation", Kirsten Dunst's in "The Virgin Suicides" and "Marie Antoinette" and now Priscilla Beaulieu. This scenario in particular, surrounding Elvis' focus on the 14 year old Priscilla is to say the least, very problematic, but the director handles it gracefully, peppering the family's dynamics and concerns into a situation that even then could have been disastrous. The film flows at a rhythm that is customary to Sofia Coppola's features, which is to say, there's a quasi ethereal pacing to the interactions between characters, and what is taking place onscreen, that nonetheless doesn't preclude the fact that emotional turmoil and even harsh dramatic events are taking place. And while it would be easy to let Elvis' larger than life persona to take over, Sofia Coppola smartly shifts the focus to Priscilla's pains of growing up, of leaving a life under his shadow, and having a point of view of her own. There's something to this narrative that on paper and in the hands of a lesser gifted storyteller, could have easily become a Lifetime movie of the week, but Sofia Coppola brings both an impeccable attention to detail, and also her point of view of allowing the central female character to eventually find her voice. Even if she endures quite a bit throughout the narrative. Some of the characters don't necessarily get much of a voice or dimension, and at times that leaves the film somewhat anemic, but the central duo is well captured. The performances are solid, including Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen, Dagmara Dominczyk and Tim Post. The production team is impeccable, with highlights going to Phillipe Le Sourd's cinematography, Phoenix's score, Tamara Deverell's production design and Stacey Battat's costumes. It's a film worth watching from one of the most unique voices in cinema working these days.

Skyscraper

Movie Name: Skyscraper
Year of Release: 2018
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Moller, Noah Taylor, Byron Mann, Pablo Schreiber, McKenna Roberts, Noah Cottrell, Hannah Quinlivan, Adrian Holmes, Elfina Luk, Kevin Rankin
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Rawson Marshall Thurber who started his career with the Vince Vaughn/Ben Stiller starrer "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story", has since gone on to direct big action tentpoles, including the comedic "Central Intelligence", which was his first collaboration with Dwayne Johnson, followed by "Skyscraper" and the more recent "Red Notice" (the latter, a Netflix release). "Skyscraper" follows the story of Will Sawyer, a former FBI agent who is currently working as a private security consultant. His latest assignment is reviewing the security for the world's tallest building, the tower named "The Pearl" located in Hong Kong. He got that assignment through a former colleague of his who recommended him for the job. His wife and two children are with him on the tower, specifically on the residential part of it. Will is given a tablet that provides him with complete control over the Pearl's systems, by the owner of the tower itself, Zhao Long Ji. Will and his friend Gillespie are robbed on their way to an offsite security center, but Will had the tablet with him all along, which turns out is what the robbers wanted all along. Gillespie attacks Will, and in the ensuing fight gets killed, not before telling him who's behind the robbery and what's coming. Turns out an international terrorist by the name of Botha, is going to attack the tower, possibly destroy it in the process, as he wants something that is stored in it. Will loses the tablet after a second attack, while Botha and his team start a fire of epic proportions in the tower, where the Sawyer family is located. As Will witnesses the fire he goes back in hoping to save his loved ones.

Rawson Marshall Thurber's "Skyscraper", which he also wrote, is a bit like a "Die Hard" in lite mode: meaning less inventive, more destructive, and with less compelling characters. The writer/director tries to give the central hero a more vulnerable spot, with his physical challenge, however that just isn't enough to truly give a better understanding of who Will Sawyer actually is. He's apparently a security operations person who married quite well, since his wife is a medical doctor, who is also an army veteran, and a linguist/polyglot. And while Sarah Sawyer isn't a somewhat passive player in the narrative, this film could have been a lot more interesting if the balance of focus oscillated between these two central characters. Even Bonnie Bedelia's Holly was able to establish herself swiftly and efficiently in John McTiernan's muscular "Die Hard", even if her screen time was very limited. "Skyscraper" however goes into a direction that brings to mind the catastrophe films of the 1970s, such as "Earthquake" and "The Towering Inferno", where the spectacle of destruction trumps creating interesting characters. The main villain of this film comes across as a cardboard thug, without much nuance or humor for that matter, never exhibiting the intelligence and even cruelty Alan Rickman brought to his Hans Gruber in John McTiernan's film. It's a film that tries to piece together references from better films, but sadly doesn't necessarily know how to juggle character development and action set pieces. What's left is somewhat of a hollow exercise, with great production values, but wasting the charismatic presence of Neve Campbell who could have easily taken this film in a better direction. Dwayne Johnson is competent in the role, but there's also nothing particularly unique on his take of this character. The cinematography from Robert Elswit is impeccable, as is the score from Steve Jablonsky and the production design from Jim Bissell. It's not a bad film by any means, it's just not a particularly memorable one.  

Viral

Movie Name: Viral
Year of Release: 2016
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Starring: Sofia Black-D'Elia, Lio Tipton, Travis Tope, Michael Kelly, Colson Baker, John Cothran, Judyann Elder, Brianne Howey
Genre: Drama, Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman are a directing duo who made a name for themselves with their feature directorial debut, "Catfish", which led them on to other directorial engagements, including two films of the "Paranormal Activity" franchise. "Viral" follows the story of Emma Drakeford, a high school student who recently moved to a suburban area in California, with her older sister and parents. Her older sister Stacey is more outgoing and already has a boyfriend, while Emma has an undeclared interest on their neighbor Evan, who also goes to the same high school. Their father Michael is a teacher at their school, and their mom is currently traveling for work, though that particular relationship is somewhat strained. While at school Emma notices her best friend Gracie is acting a bit oddly, until she has a dramatic seizure just outside of school. Gracie ends up vomiting blood on another student who was trying to help her. Reports start emerging on the news that there is a "worm flu" spreading throughout the area. Things start escalating rather quickly, but Stacey pressures Emma to go to a party, where an infected student starts attacking and infecting attendees, including Stacey who becomes infected. As the military becomes involved, everyone is advised to stay indoors. Evan shows up at Emma's door looking for a place to stay as his stepfather is also infected. Emma is desperate to try to save Stacey, and eventually one infecting parasite is removed from her body. However the whole area is ordered for evacuation as the military want to dramatically sanitize it. 

"Viral" is reminiscent of a series of better films that seem to influence much of its narrative thread. The most obvious reference is of course David Cronenberg's "Shivers", but there are elements of Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later", James Gunn's "Slither", George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" and to a lesser extent, Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion". The film illustrates how the viral infection aggressively spreads throughout the community, always from the perspective from the teenage sisters who are left to their own devices, as their father goes off to get their mother from the airport and then becomes blocked from coming back into the area in which they live. Sadly the filmmakers don't spend much time illustrating who these characters actually are, and that includes both the leads and supporting ones. Aside from the fact that one of the sisters wants to party, for the remainder of the narrative they are either trying to understand how the virus propagates, or avoiding being contaminated by it. The virus is a hybrid type of situation, where the infected behave as zombies, but are also under the domain of the viral creature (a brood type of situation, similar to James Gunn's "Slither"). The film lacks a closer attention to these characters, but also fails at building a scenario that is as ominous as the facts that are actually occurring (these adolescents are witnessing the disintegration of everything they've known in their lives, not to mention of everyone they come in contact with, and yet none of this registers properly with them). There is an aspect of survival mode to this narrative (as it does with any zombie film), but that also comes across as undercooked. The filmmakers had all these paths and venues to venture out, but they opted for a bland illustration across all the possible scenarios the script presents. In the end the film comes across as a mediocre cousin of Robert Kirkman/Frank Darabont's "The Walking Dead". It fails to elicit the sheer terror that David Cronenberg was able to muster with "Shivers", and displays none of the humor James Gunn was able to bring to "Slither". The cast is unremarkable, save for the always solid Michael Kelly, whose presence is all too brief. The production team is competent, but unremarkable. It's a forgettable and rather generic exercise. 

Anatomie d'une Chute/Anatomy of a Fall

Movie Name: Anatomie d'une Chute/Anatomy of a Fall
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Justine Triet
Starring: Sandra Huller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner, Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis, Jehnny Beth, Saadia Bentaieb, Camille Rutherford, Anne Rotger, Sophie Fillieres
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

"Anatomie d'une Chute/Anatomy of a Fall" is one of the most awarded films of 2023. It has won numerous accolades including the Palm D'Or at Cannes, several Cesars, a BAFTA and an Academy Award. It's been a triumph for writer/director Justine Triet, following a series of well received films that flew somewhat under the radar. The film follows the story of Sandra Voyter, a novelist who lives with her husband and son in a chalet near Grenoble. We first witness her in the chalet, interacting with a student who comes for an interview that has to be rescheduled, since Sandra's husband starts playing music very loudly and on a loop, which makes conversation virtually impossible. Sandra's son, Daniel, has a visual impairment, and as the student leaves, he takes his guide dog Snoop for walk. As Daniel is coming back to the chalet, he notices a body lying on the floor and not moving. He realizes it's his dad and screams for his mom. The police is called and an investigation begins on what exactly has happened. Sandra maintains it must have been an accident. Sandra's old friend and lawyer, Vincent, hints at a possible suicide, which Sandra somewhat corroborates since Samuel her late husband, had stopped taking antidepressants a while back, and had attempted an overdose on aspirin a few months earlier. After conflicting testimonies from Daniel, the revelation of a head injury on Samuel, alongside a recording of an inflamed fight between Sandra and Samuel the day before the incident, leads to Sandra being indicted on charges of homicide.

One of the most remarkable things about "Anatomie d'une Chute/Anatomy of a Fall" is the fact that while the premise of who was responsible for the death of Samuel seems to be a driving force for the narrative, what is really intriguing about the whole feature is the fact the director takes us on a journey of unveiling who these characters actually are, what their relationships are based of, and that is in itself the base of this film, more so than the suspenseful aspect of who is the responsibly party for that dramatic event. The film is filled with interesting nuances and details that slowly reveal who Sandra is, and the type of relationship she and Samuel cultivated. These details that pepper the narrative make it that much richer, including the fact that the couple spoke in English, since Samuel was French and Sandra is German, therefore they communicated in a language that was a compromise for both, where one did not have to rescind their own cultural identity. This of course changes once Sandra has to stand trial, as she needs to communicate in French for an audience who does not know her. The details behind the relationship with her husband due to their son's accident also emerges, all these details providing a breadth of color to how their lives had been shaped, and simultaneously illustrating Sandra's personality. The director is able to capture all these events with a clinical eye, never attempting to make the film too sentimental, nor a Hitchcockian type of exercise. It's an exploration of a troubled relationship, of the bitterness and resentment that has grown between two people, that is perfectly illustrated in the heated exchange Sandra and Samuel have, which is the strongest exchange between two characters of the entire film (and possibly one of the best illustrations of the dynamics and relationship of a couple ever captured on film). Some of the supporting characters of the feature don't get as much attention as Sandra, or even Daniel, but this is their narrative, of this couple that had been on this path for quite some time. The cast is uniformly fantastic, with highlights going to Sandra Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado-Graner, and Antoine Reinartz. The production team is solid, but not particularly memorable. It's a wonderful film, worth watching. 

There's Something in the Barn

Movie Name: There's Something in the Barn
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Magnus Martens
Starring: Martin Starr, Amrita Acharia, Kiran Shah, Townes Bunner, Zoe Winther-Hansen, Jeppe Beck Laursen, Henriette Steenstrup, Marianne Jonger, Paul Monaghan
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

Magnus Martens has been crafting a career for himself by directing high visibility TV shows, which has included "Agents of SHIELD", "12 Monkeys", and more recently the "Walking Dead" universe, with two shows of that domain which includes "Fear the Walking Dead" and "The Walking Dead: World Beyond". "There's Something in the Barn" follows the story of an American family, the Nordheims, who move from California to Norway, since the father has inherited property in that country from a recently deceased uncle. Bill Nordheim shows up with his second wife (since his first wife has passed away), and his two children (from his first marriage), and they settle in the farm from his family in the area of Gudbrandsdalen. Nora, the teenage daughter is angry at him and her new mother, since she essentially feels removed from her life in the US and her friends there. Lucas the son in the meantime, familiarizes himself with some of the folk tales from the area, which includes traditions regarding elves and how to best live with them. Lucas starts witnessing some unusual activity in the property's barn, and suspects it's from their own elf. That turns out to be the actual case, but as Bill starts pressing his Christmas related activities around the farm, bringing noise and people into the property, the more Lucas fears they're disrupting and enraging the elf. When Lucas explains his thoughts on keeping the elf content, his family disregards him, until after the Christmas party things get more and more raucous, with some bloody outcomes.

The biggest problem with "There's Something in the Barn", is the fact that it truly never commits to anything, it lacks conviction on what is showcasing on the screen. While the premise for the film is ripe for a dark and brutal B-movie, the film tries to be somewhat funny, with the angle of the well meaning but oblivious father who is adjusting to a different culture, which never truly congeals into something comedic (the typical fish out of water narrative, with the central characters trying to adjust to new habits). When it tries to be brutal and violent, the film is rather anemic, never truly taking the action to the next level, unlike what Eli Roth for instance did with his recent "Thanksgiving" feature. The film almost comes across as a slightly R-rated pilot for a TV show, with plenty of warm feelings to boost, but one where the character establishment is minimal, and where the tone is difficult to place (is it trying to be "Northern Exposure", is it trying to be "Supernatural", hard to grasp). The cast for the most part is also quite forgettable, led by Martin Starr who usually makes compelling supporting appearances in various films (for instance in Judd Appatow's "Knocked Up"), but who is clearly uncomfortable with the lack of a more substantial script on this one. The production team is also quite unremarkable, with the visual effects being rather unpolished, the same going for the makeup effects. It doesn't come across as a funny B-Movie, with snarky humor, it's instead a rather bland and toothless film that doesn't fulfill what it set out to be: entertaining. 

Night Swim

Movie Name: Night Swim
Year of Release: 2024
Director: Bryce McGuire
Starring: Kerry Condon, Wyatt Russell, Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, Jodi Long, Nancy Lenehan, Eddie Martinez, Elijah Roberts, Ben Sinclair, Ellie Araiza, Rahnuma Panthaky, Ayazhan Dalabayeva
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review

"Night Swim" is the first release from the merger of Jason Blum's production entity Blumhouse, and James Wan's Atomic Monster. It's also the feature directorial debut for Bryce McGuire. The narrative focuses on the Waller family, comprised of father Ray, mother Eve, and children Izzy and Elliot. They're seeking a new permanent residence, after Ray has been forced into retirement from a professional career in baseball, following his diagnosis with MS. They decide to go with a house that has a pool in the backyard, since they've been advised that swimming and water exercise may help with the illness. As the family starts to settle, they realize they have to do some major cleaning in and around the pool area. Ray scratches his hand while unclogging it, prompting some dark water to surface, and they have to resort to a pool specialist for some help as a result of that. The specialist informs them that the pool is somewhat self-sustaining since it takes its water from an underground spring located in the area. The more time Ray spends in the pool the better he seems to be feeling. However some strange occurrences start taking place, starting with the disappearance of the family's cat, followed by Izzy and Elliot getting attacked by something in the pool itself. The family decides to throw a pool party to get more familiar with the community and some of the neighbors. During the party, the realtor who presented them with the house, tells them that the house's previous owners lost their daughter in that pool. During the same time, Ray and one of the neighbors, engage in a harmless aquatic game, but some entity possesses Ray and forces him to almost kill one of the kids they were playing with. Eve becomes more and more concerned, and decides to investigate what happened with the previous owners.

Creating effective horror/thriller features can be a challenging task, since the goal is typically to marry enough character development, with an original premise where the scares are effective and keep the audience focused on what's coming next. James Wan and Leigh Whannell have been able to do so with "Insidious", and James Wan has also been able to do so with "The Conjuring" franchise (with varying degrees of success). Bryce McGuire with "Night Swim" does have a good premise in place, with the nuclear family once again being threatened by a supernatural entity in the apparent placidness of their new home. Sadly and in this case, this entity and its existence is poorly expanded upon and illustrated. Whereas with Tobe Hooper's "Poltergeist" for instance, there was an illustration of the progressive escalation that the menacing entity was producing, with "Night Swim" there's a realization that the menace is located within the pool, but not much additional context is actually provided about the legend surrounding the pool (its mysticism), or for that matter the characters that are now being targeted by it. There's nothing particularly memorable or distinctive about these characters, aside from the fact that the parental figure has a disability that is rendering him in a precarious situation. Even for a slight B-movie of sorts, which this film tries to be, this character development is remarkably thin, with the interactions between the family members also feeling underdeveloped and under-illustrated. The supporting characters are equally very generic and there's not much color to them at all. What's left are some interesting details from this universe that the characters get pulled into from the pool, but even that feels a bit undercooked. The cast tries their best to bring these characters to life, with highlights going to Kerry Condon and Wyatt Russell. The production team is solid, with highlights going to Charlie Sarroff's cinematography, Mark Korven's score and Hillary Gurtler's production design. It's not a particularly memorable film. 

Good Grief

Movie Name: Good Grief
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Daniel Levy
Starring: Daniel Levy, Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel, Luke Evans, Celia Imrie, Arnaud Valois, David Bradley, Mehdi Baki, Emma Corrin, Jamael Westman, Kaitlyn Dever, Yoli Fuller, Noé Besin
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

After making a name for himself with the fantastic show "Schitt's Creek", actor/writer/producer/director Daniel Levy has finally planted his feet firmly on the ground of the feature world (since the ending of his show, he acted in small parts for Clea Duvall's "Happiest Season" and more recently Justin Simien's "Haunted Mansion"). "Good Grief" is his first foray into the feature world, which has had the production support from Netflix, who has also released the film. The narrative focuses on Marc, an illustrator and painter, who lives in London with his affluent and well known husband Oliver. Oliver has made a name for himself as an author of a popular series of young adult novels, which Marc has illustrated as well. While celebrating Christmas with a well attended party at their house, Oliver bids farewell to the group, since he has to go to Paris for a book signing. Moments later Marc listens to agitation on the street not far from where they live, only to realize the car in which Oliver was at has suffered an accident, which results in his death. The following year, Marc deals with the grief of that loss, with the help of his best friends, Sophie and Thomas. He also uncovers a few things Oliver had left behind, namely the fact that he left him a note admitting to have met someone else, and that for all intended purposes he had been living a second life in Paris, in an apartment he had been leasing there. With the advice of his financial consultant, he decides to give up that lease, but before doing so, decides to go to Paris with Sophie and Thomas, without disclosing to them the story behind that apartment. Those next days in Paris reveal themselves to be a catalyst for Marc's bottled feelings, the same going for his friends, also dealing with their own relationship issues. 

What was always so particularly well done on "Schitt's Creek" was the ability the show had to progressively uncover who all the central characters were, while not necessarily making them more endearing or even palatable. They had their quirks, but were also eminently human, flaws and all, which made them that much more captivating (and funny). "Good Grief" somehow attempts to illustrate a character study, but can't avoid falling into the trappings of clichés that once again feel a bit tired and repetitive. Case in point, the affluent gay couple in which one the partners suddenly finds himself uncovering an unexpected betrayal, while the best friends include the quirky and slightly immature gal pal, and the gay male best friend, who has been pining for the central character all along. All the central characters, who are either 40 or reaching that age, seem to be depicted like stunted in their development and maturity, and while the event that jumpstarts the film is indeed dramatic, the narrative itself doesn't look inwards, but chooses instead to go on a substantially more superficial direction, a slightly gayer version of Ryan Murphy's "Eat Pray Love". Which is to say, the film illustrates more of Marc's journey to get over the pain, which in itself is a perfectly feasible motif to capture on film, but we never actually get a sense as to why he and Oliver were together, and what is it that he is indeed mourning. The betrayal almost comes across as a soap opera motif, to jumpstart that self healing moment, without truly posing the question as to why it actually happened, and what was that Marc had been unaware of in that relationship. Ironically enough, there's more heartbreak and intimacy in Andrew Haigh's "Weekend" and "45 Years", both films that capture the relationships of two couples, at different times in their existence, but that are so effective at demonstrating closeness, frailty and even secrets. For all the time that is spent with these characters not much is uncovered from their motivations and even the arc they get to experience is very limited. What is left is a collection of some moments that promised more, such as Marc's interactions with Theo and Oliver's presence, but the film ultimately just doesn't add much. The cast tries their best to bring these characters to life, with highlights going to Arnaud Valois, Luke Evans, Kaitlyn Dever (who is capturing a bit of Anna Faris' character from Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation"), and the luminous Celia Imrie. The production team is solid, with a highlight going to Ole Bratt Birkeland's cinematography. It's watchable, but ultimately a forgettable endeavor. 

The Pale Blue Eye

Movie Name: The Pale Blue Eye
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Toby Jones, Timothy Spall, Gillian Anderson, Simon McBurney, Lucy Boynton, Fred Hechinger, Harry Lawtey, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Joey Brooks
Genre: Crime, Mystery
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

Scott Cooper is back, once again collaborating with lead actor Christian Bale (this is their third collaboration, following "Out of the Furnace" and "Hostiles"). "The Pale Blue Eye" takes place in 1830 and follows the story of retired detective Augustus Landor, who lives by himself, and somewhat isolated in the West Point area (near Buffalo, NY). He is a widower, and his daughter Mattie ran away a few years back. He's tasked by West Point's Superintendent Thayer with uncovering what happened with one of the young cadets from the institution, one by the name of Leroy Fry, who was found hanged. Landor is informed that after the hanging, Fry's heart was actually removed from his body. While examining the corpse, he finds a fragment of a note, which indicates he had gone to the locale in order to meet someone. Landor enlists another cadet from the Academy, Edgar Allan Poe (who is also a poet), to help him uncover what has happened. As their investigation continues, another cadet is found hanged, this time around with heart and genitals removed. A third cadet also disappears. Landor assumes the third one fled the institution since he assumed he'd be next in line to be killed. Landor and Poe suspect that the family of Dr. Daniel Marquis may be involved in what is taking place, particularly his son and daughter, as she suffers from random seizures and some ancient rituals may be involved in attempting to cure her from those. As Landor and Poe get closer to unveiling what is taking place, their own lives become dangerously close to being jeopardized. 

"The Pale Blue Eye" is a film where there's much to admire, though writer/director Scott Cooper also leaves some aspects of the narrative slightly shallow in terms of development. The director is able to set in motion a series of unexplained murders, in somewhat of an isolated area, within the confinements of a strict military school. It brings to mind at times the setting for Rob Reiner's "A Few Good Men", only in the case of Scott Cooper's film, the action takes place over a century before the events of the Aaron Sorkin adaptation. The film is successful in illustrating the ties between the different characters, providing just enough color to some of them which the actors bring even further to life with their committed performances. There should have been a bit more attention to some of these characters, namely the female characters, embodied by Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton and Charlotte Gainsbourg, all of them excellent performers, who sadly have very little material to work with. Those characters themselves deserved a bit more time just to fully bring them to life, aside from their typified aspects and range (Gillian Anderson for instance plays the matriarch who is modeled a bit after Mary Tyler Moore's character from "Ordinary People", but not as icy, whereas Lucy Boynton's Lea could have benefited from being shown a bit more about her demeanor). The central aspect to the narrative hangs on Landor and Edgar Allan Poe's relationship, which is indeed well defined and characterized, though Allan Poe comes across a bit one note, whereas Landor is a far more well rounded character: he has something about him that marries the clinical eye of the researcher, with the bruised man whose life has brought him more pain than he can handle. The cast is uniformly solidly, with the stupendous Christian Bale creating another solid character, with great support from Toby Jones, Timothy Spall, Gillian Anderson and the luminous Charlotte Gainsbourg. Harry Melling's version of Allan Poe is not memorable, with the character coming across as a bit gratuitously aiming to be slight/eccentric, but falling more into a cliché, than an actual real, dimensional character. The production team is solid, including Masanobu Takayanagi's cinematography, Howard Shore's score, Stefania Cella's production design, and Kasia Walicka Maimone's costumes. An interesting film from an underrated storyteller. 

Dune: Part Two

Movie Name: Dune: Part Two
Year of Release: 2024
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgaard, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Souheila Yacoub, Roger Yuan, Giusi Merli, Alison Halstead, Dylan Baldwin, Tim Hilborne, Anya Taylor-Joy
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 9
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Synopsis and Review

Following the commercial and critical success of "Dune: Chapter One", Denis Villeneuve had the opportunity to finish the adaptation of Frank Herbert's iconic novel. "Chapter Two", though originally slated to premiere at the end of 2023, was moved to 2024 for audience purposes (and for the ability of the cast to properly promote the film), the film has turned out to be a resounding success (again, both commercially and critically). The narrative picks up right after where the prior chapter had ended. Paul and his mother Lady Jessica, are continuing their path with the Fremen, after Paul has defeated one of theirs. The leader of the Fremen group, Stilgar, believes Paul may be the prophet that has been predicted to come according to the Fremen lore. Lady Jessica is put through a challenge of drinking the Water of Life, therefore also becoming the new Reverend Mother in the process (the Water also impacts the fetus she carries within her). This Water is a fatal poison for males and the untrained. While a part of the Fremen group believes in the lore, Chani and her friend Shishakli, believe the prophecy to be something fabricated, without actual relevance in their actual world and the challenges they face. Paul and Chani in the meantime fall in love, while Paul also becomes increasingly knowledgeable and adept of the Fremen's habits. In the meantime, the Harkonnen's are also in motion, with the Baron replacing his nephew Rabban with the younger and more ruthless Feyd-Rautha. Feyd-Rautha orders an attack on Northern Arrakis, forcing the Fremen, including Paul, Chani, Stilgar among others to move South to meet with the larger contingent of fighters located there. In the meantime, the Emperor who engineered the destruction of the House Atreides', suspects Paul is still alive, and that in itself can be an enormous challenge to his ruling. Paul drinks the Water of Life, and everything starts to dramatically change after that. 

"Dune: Chapter Two" is a film that remarkably excels across a variety of levels that Denis Villeneuve and his creative team set out to fulfill. On one hand it's a deftly executed political allegory, one that illustrates that no sacrifices are too big to stay in power, or at least influence the direction of power. It's also a very pertinent illustration of the unbridled lust for political and economical power, and how that blinds the sense of humanity that inherently exists within individuals. On a smaller scale it's also a genuine love story between two individuals with different backgrounds, who while recognizing their differences, upbringings, and points of view, still have a communion of soul, based on who they are and where they've met in life. And finally it's also a rather interesting take on the power of belief, of creed, and how that in reality can move hordes and change the fate of so many (and in this case of an entire planet). It's a richly layered narrative, where there's a variety of characters who impart some influence on the main narrative, all of which are ripe with interesting key plot points, but that director chooses not to spend so much time with, since the film is ultimately an illustration of Paul's journey, and how his journey morphs with Chani's and the planet Arrakis itself (and finally the entire Galaxy which has been presented to the audience, and in which all these characters exist). These interesting but brief plot points, while adding to the context that is being built, also leave some of these characters somewhat underdeveloped, which is where the film falters a bit. The director chooses to spend time on the relationship that is blooming between Paul and Chani, and those other narrative aspects of the film end up losing some needed attention, but nonetheless, the way the momentum is kept and how all these threads merge into a coherent and exciting narrative is remarkably well done. Visually the film is impeccably crafted, continuing the remarkable aesthetic that had already been constructed for the first chapter. The entire production team is flawless, starting with the entire cast who uniformly creates compelling and memorable characters, particularly Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Charlotte Rampling. The cinematography by Greig Fraser, score by Hans Zimmer, production design by Patrice Vermette and costumes by Jacqueline West are all equally remarkable. It's a nearly flawless film worth watching and savoring. 

Oppenheimer

Movie Name: Oppenheimer
Year of Release: 2023
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Hartnett, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Jason Clarke, Kenneth Branagh, Macon Blair, Tony Goldwyn, Alden Ehrenreich, Scott Grimes, David Krumholtz, Tom Conti, Michael Angarano, Matthew Modine, Dane DeHaan, Josh Peck, Jack Quaid, Benny Safdie, James Urbaniak, Rami Malek, Olivia Thirlby, Casey Affleck, James Remar, Gary Oldman, Josh Zuckerman, Alex Wolff, Tim DeKay, Gregory Jbara, James D'Arcy
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review

After the relative disappointment of "Tenet", Christopher Nolan took his time to find another studio partner, and tackle a biopic of one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer (the "father" of the atomic bomb). The film has obviously been a massive hit, both critically and commercially, and I deliberately wanted to have some distance from all the noise, to consume the film and view it hopefully in an unbiased manner. The narrative tracks and focuses on the life of Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, but more specifically on the period of time in which he assembled a group of engineers and experts in order to build what essentially became the atomic bomb. In parallel we also witness a different time period (in the 50s), where through the machinations of Lewis Strauss, we observe a hearing Dr. Oppenheimer goes through in order to keep his clearance status, when Strauss was intent on destroying his credibility. Throughout the multiple timelines the film focuses on, we also witness Dr. Oppenheimer's relationships with a few women in his life, firstly with the volatile Jean Tatlock and then with Kitty, who becomes his second wife and partner through all these ordeals.

Biopics are always a challenge, in the sense they can either go very academic and try to encompass too much of the subject's life, while not revealing much about the person behind the myth, as was the case with Sir Richard Attenborough's "Ghandi" (or even "Chaplin"), or they can sometimes veer towards the anecdote, which was the case of the lamentable "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", from Michael Showalter. "Oppenheimer", much like most of Christopher Nolan's films, decides to make the narrative more intricate, by both placing multiple timelines occurring simultaneously, but also by defining the tone of the film as a mix of Oliver Stone's "JFK" and Sidney Lumet's "12 Angry Men". On one hand there's much detail focused on the process by which the atomic bomb was construed, including his own recruitment, and how Dr. Oppenheimer went about bringing other engineers and scientists to the initiative. Simultaneously there's the conspiracy aspect of the narrative, where we witness the downfall of Dr. Oppenheimer's reputation, thanks to the Machiavellian doings from Lewis Strauss, and all the voices involved. The way the film is constructed is even similar to what Oliver Stone did with "JFK", where there's a different tint and color for the time periods (or even character angles) that are being tackled. You would think that with such a lofty time run (the film goes on for 3 hours), eventually something about Dr. Oppenheimer would come through, sadly the film goes for the lofty big message (which is a fair one), and fails to actually capture who that person actually is (or was). During the film we learn he was a womanizer (we never get an understanding why, or what did he pursue in doing so, aside from the pursuit itself), that he maintained difficult relationships with the women in his life, and even with the male friendships. The film fails to humanize who this individual with lofty ideas was. In the pursuit of clarifying the intellectual effort of creating something that killed thousands of people, the film somehow missed the aspect of documenting what is the burden of carrying such a legacy within oneself. The supporting characters also come across fairly lackluster, with the women in particular having little to do, whereas the supporting male characters, aside from Robert Downey Jr.'s Lewis Strauss, either falling into "cheerful sidekick" (of sorts) or "reptilean and possible foe" (of sorts) camps. There are things to admire in this film, and some of it is tied with the director's ability to stage certain scenes, and some of the performances, including Robert Downey Jr. and Florence Pugh, however this pseudo biopic-thriller, doesn't necessarily provide an emotional reward or connection to these characters. Nor is it a riveting document as Oliver Stone or Sidney Lumet's films that were mentioned before turned out to be. There are good ideas, and the production team is impeccable, but this isn't an entirely satisfying feature.