Drive My Car

Movie Name: Drive My Car
Year of Release: 2021
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Starring: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toko Miura, Reika Kirishima, Park Yu-rim, Jin Dae-yeon, Sonia Yuan, Ahn Hwitae, Perry Dizon, Satoko Abe
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on HBO Max

Synopsis and Review:

"Drive My Car" had its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May of 2021, where it eventually won the award for best screenplay. It was the beginning of the number of accolades the film has been collecting since. The narrative is focused on actor and theater director Yusuke Kafuku, who is married to Oto, a screenwriter. They've been married for quite some time, and experienced some personal tragedy in their lives with the death of their child. Even though Yusuke knows Oto has extra marital affairs, their relationship continues and is seemingly unaffected by it, that is until Yusuke returns from work one day to discover his wife dead, due to a brain hemorrhage. Two years later, Yusuke takes a residency in Hiroshima, where he's supposed to direct a multilingual adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. The organizers who are supporting his residency warn him that one of the essential requirements for him to stay, is him being driven by an actual chauffeur, due to issues that have occurred in the past. While he objects at first, he eventually becomes accustomed to Misaki Watari, the young woman who is driving him around. As he goes through the casting and then rehearsals, Yusuke starts to progressively know more about his group of actors, and also about Misaki, his driver, who also bears within the pain of some events that took place in her hometown. As some additional events come into light, Yusuke is forced to make a decision about the show, but before doing so, he asks Misaki to drive him to her childhood home.

"Drive My Car", while being a film that touches upon the topics of harboring pain & trauma derived from decisions made in the past, still manages to showcase aspects of hope and beauty, which manifests itself not only in the process of staging the Uncle Vanya play, but also of how the central characters eventually get to share the pain and the burden they carry within. It's a film that while taking its time to showcase the relationships between its central characters, it's also somewhat slight in showcasing what they actually want from their own existence (or maybe their pain, is what justifies their existence). The detours that the director captures, for instance illustrating the staging of the play, including the read throughs, the rehearsals, while contextualizing the process and the complicity between the group, don't necessarily add much to the understanding of the characters themselves. And that's one of the most perplexing things about this film: in all its runtime, nearly 3 hours long, not much is ever understood of what drives some of the main characters, including why Misaki is just a driver (is she doing it part-time, does she do this job to compliment her income much like an Uber Driver), or even what is it that Oto does, besides narrating some stories (which by the way, is she writing them down, are they just open ended threads she concocts?). The journey of the central characters, particularly as they drive around and get to know each other, is indeed redeeming and affecting, but it's a film that while trying to depict the staging of a play as a rebirth of something, and ultimately the devices which people find in order to deal with grief, seems to forget that characters are more than just one single trait or aspect. The cast is uniformly solid, as is the cinematography from Hidetoshi Shinomiya. It's worth watching, but not entirely fulfilling. 

The Batman

Movie Name: The Batman
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Matt Reeves
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Andy Serkis, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan, Jayme Lawson, Gil Perez-Abraham, Peter MacDonald, Con O'Neill, Alex Ferns, Rupert Penry-Jones, Hana Hrzic, Stella Stocker, Sandra Dickinson, Joseph Balderrama
Genre: Action, Crime
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis and Review:

Writer, producer and director Matt Reeves is back, following his work on the "Planet of the Apes" franchise, where he tackled the last two films of that franchise, which was started by Rupert Wyatt. The film follows the story of Batman, who has become well known to Gotham City in the past two years. The city is in the middle of a mayor electoral race, and the crime is running rampant. One of the candidates and mayor elect gets murdered in a particularly grisly manner, and Batman is asked to come in and help the investigation, courtesy of Detective Jim Gordon, one of his greatest allies (most of the police force still thinks he is nothing but a vigilante). They soon find out the killer left a card for Batman, in the shape of a riddle, something he has to crack the code on, which he eventually does with the assistance of Alfred, his butler. Batman's investigation leads him to a club owned by Carmine Falcone, a mob boss in town, who has ties with everything taking place in the city. While there he gets information from one of Falcone's lieutenants, Oz/The Penguin, and also crosses paths with Selina Kyle, who is on a mission of her own. Soon Selina proves to be more than meets the eye, and in parallel, the amount of victims the killer goes after, keeps increasing, all of them characters of great prominence in Gotham. The more Batman investigates, the more he also realizes the ties and strands of corruption are everywhere in Gotham.

After the latest incarnations of Batman were met with somewhat of a tepid response, in all the films directed by Zack Snyder, Warner Brothers smartly decided to move in a different creative direction. Matt Reeves and Peter Craig have tackled the script for this latest iteration of the Batman, and craft this film as a thriller, one that has influences ranging from both Frank Miller's take on the character in graphic novels, but also from David Fincher's features, "Seven" and even "Zodiac". Matt Reeves, much like he did in his previous films, including the underrated remake of "Let The Right One In" which was titled "Let Me In", crafts a very thorough and meticulous context, this time around truly focusing on making Gotham feel like an additional character of the film itself. While in Christopher Nolan's films, Gotham took a progressively more muted backdrop to what was happening with the characters, Matt Reeves cleverly realizes that the terrain in which Batman moves, is one of the main propellors for what he does, not to mention, it also taints and influences who he is on a profound level. It's a film that plays itself as a procedural, with a somewhat inexperienced Batman trying to understand the motivations of this killer, and slowly realizing the extents of corruption and its role in the city he has been trying to save. It's a well written film, one that while epic and ambitious, fails to add some extra dimension to its central characters, something that could have helped ground the narrative a bit further. It's nonetheless an impeccably crafted film, with a strong cast led by Robert Pattinson, with strong support from the always terrific Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, John Turturro, Jeffrey Wright, and Peter Sarsgaard. The production team of the film is truly stellar, featuring the beautiful cinematography from Greig Fraser, score from Michael Giacchino, production design from James Chinlund and costumes from Jacqueline Durran, Glyn Dillon and David Crossman. While still playing in the comic book arena, there's much to be savored in this film. Very entertaining and worth watching.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Movie Name: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Year of Release: 1962
Director: Robert Aldrich
Starring: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Anna Lee, Maidie Norman, Wesley Addy, Julie Allred, Anne Barton, Bert Freed, Russ Conway
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review:

After making a name for himself in the 50s, particularly with "Apache" and "Vera Cruz", "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" marked a huge success in his career, which also gave him the opportunity to go on to make such eclectic films as "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" and "The Dirty Dozen", to name but a few. "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" follows the story of two sisters, both of whom have worked in show business. Baby Jane Hudson was a child star in the 1910s, but saw her popularity decline, whereas her sister's Blanche only increased as she got older. The relationship between both sisters got strained as a result of these different career paths, but now that they're somewhat retired, they're living with each other, since Blanche suffered an accident which has rendered her a paraplegic, whereas Jane now resentfully takes care of her. Jane still harbors resent towards her sister, and treats her rather viciously at every chance she gets, whereas Blanche wants to move on and away from her, though the secret of how she became a paraplegic somehow gives her little power over Jane, as does her financial means. As Jane ludicrously tries to stage a comeback, based on her numbers as a child star, the people who she interacts with start growing suspect she may be doing something to her sister, whom she mysteriously keeps quiet at all times.

Unlike Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho", which came out in 1960, "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" while fairly entertaining, never really reaches the classic stature of Hitchcock's classic. The film has of course always been celebrated for its reunion of the classic Hollywood rivals which were Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. However for all its celebration and at times campiness, the film definitely belongs to Ms. Davis who embodies Jane Hudson with a savage bitterness and progressive detachment from reality, whereas Ms. Crawford has a more subdued and muted performance as the passive Blanche. It's a film that doesn't necessarily showcase much about who these characters actually are, broadly defining them as former stars, but never elaborating on how they lived their lives, or even how long they've actually been together. The film is almost staged as a play, with the sibling rivalry and tortuous relationship between these two women at its core, with the supporting characters barely registering. For all its psychological tension, it's a film that doesn't go the extra mile (if you want to actually see someone lose its mind, Kathy Bates in Rob Reiner's "Misery" may be a good example), neither from a narrative perspective, nor from a character development perspective. The cinematography from Ernest Haller is impeccable, as is the score from Frank De Vol. Worth watching.

Free Guy

Movie Name: Free Guy
Year of Release: 2021
Director: Shawn Levy
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Taika Waititi, Lil Rel Howery, Channing Tatum, Aaron W Reed, Britne Oldford, Camille Kostek, Mark Lainer, Mike Devine
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review:

Producer/Director Shawn Levy has kept himself quite busy since his previous directorial release "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" which came out in 2014. Since then he has directed (and produced) episodes of the successful "Stranger Things" for Netflix, and also other shows, which includes "Imaginary Mary". "Free Guy" which was originally slated to premiere in 2020, and got delayed due to the pandemic, is based on a screen story by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, and was actually part of the Black List, an annual list that is typically released of the best un-produced screenplays. The narrative focuses on Guy, an every day bank teller, who has a rather mundane and repetitive life, which suddenly changes when he crosses paths with Millie/Molotovgirl. His infatuation with her, forces him to change his habits, and he suddenly realizes his world is a lot more than it seems. Turns out he lives in a video game, he is an AI, whereas Millie/Molotovgirl is an actual person, more so, one of the authors of an application whose code is being used to sustain the world Guy lives in. In order to get Millie's attention Guy starts learning the mechanics of the game, and consistently winning points, until he is able to get to her, and understand why she keeps back to the game and what is it she so desperately wants to get from it.

"Free Guy" has the immediate benefit from having Ryan Reynolds headlining its narrative, in a role that combines his natural comedic abilities, with a certain level of innocence that his character Guy exhibits, only an innocence that reads more like obliviousness and not so much creepiness (something that "Forrest Gump" for instance always borderlines on). It's a film that doesn't take itself very seriously, treating most of its characters and narrative like a massive game, providing just enough of character dimension and motivation to keep the engagement going. While the human characters are scarcely defined, what happens in the game, particularly when Guy is involved, turns out to be quite entertaining since him, much like ourselves the viewers, are discovering the rules of the game and what he can actually do in that world. It's a film where there are some interesting side remarks/criticism on the lack of scruples that is somewhat associated with some Tech companies, the same going for the world of online gaming and social media, but it's so cleverly imbued into the narrative, that it never feels very heavy handed or out of place. Ultimately it's a breezy and well executed comedy, which could have benefited from some additional character work, but one that is nonetheless worth watching, with a solid leading performance from Ryan Reynolds. The production team is impeccable, with highlights going to the cinematography from George Richmond, the score from Christophe Beck and the visual effects teams. Worth watching. 

Sylvie's Love

Movie Name: Sylvie's Love
Year of Release: 2020
Director: Eugene Ashe
Starring: Tessa Thompson, Nmandi Asomugha , Eva Longoria, Aja Naomi King, Jemima Kirke, Tone Bell, Rege-Jean Page, Alano Miller, Erica Gimpel, Lance Reddick, Wendi McLendon-Covey, John Magaro, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Raquel Horsford, Tucker Smallwood
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review:

"Sylvie's Love" is writer/director Eugene Ashe's follow up to his directorial debut, "Homecoming", which premiered in 2012. The film follows the story of Sylvie Parker, who in the 1950s is engaged, but whose fiancee has been drafted to go to war (the Korean War). In the meantime she's been working in her father's record store in New York. Sylvie loves music and TV shows, and her world is suddenly upended when her father hires Robert, a Jazz musician to work in the store. He's equally smitten with her, and their relationship deepens when they go to a small party, where Sylvie's cousin Mona, also strikes a brief affair with one of Robert's band partner. Robert has a chance to go to Paris with the band, while Sylvie suddenly discovers she's pregnant. They go their separate ways, and 5 years later we discover Sylvie has married her fiancee, and Robert and the band are making some waves with their music. Sylvie in the meantime starts a new job in television, and by coincidence reunites with Robert. Their attraction is rekindled, which pushes Sylvie to question her life choices.

"Sylvie's Love" manages to be an ode to classic Hollywood love stories, but with a fresh point of view, one that is undaunted by the limitations of what could be captured on celluloid during those days. It's a film that talks openly about issues such as adult relationships, unexpected pregnancies, racism, sexism, all within this narrative which takes place precisely during the times where all these topics were being discussed head on. And it's also a love story at its very core, one that is about two people who are simply meant to be together. There's an easiness and rapport between the two leads, which makes the narrative all the more meaningful and engaging, though one of the underdeveloped aspects of this feature, is the lack of dimension that those two central characters actually have. Robert is a saxophone player, who apparently only lives for that, and has very little in terms of additional motivation in life, whereas Sylvie for all her initiative and pluck, seems like she falls into situations, without truly having an ambition of her own. The supporting characters also don't fare quite as well, most of them falling into the traps of certain cliches, namely the slightly boozy female agent, the cousin who is more liberal in her approach to sexuality, the conservative mother, and the list goes on. However, the feature itself, manages to focus on the relationship between the central characters, and that's where it excels, since Tessa Thompson in particular, is nothing short of fantastic. She makes Sylvie a truly memorable character, with longing, pain and reserves of strength to ultimately pursue what she wants. Much like her other performances in films such as Rebecca Hall's "Passing", she's truly magnetic, going from dazzled young woman, to more assured matriarch with great ease. The production team on this film is also impeccable, with the beautiful cinematography from Declan Quinn, score from Fabrice Lecomte and production design by Mayne Berke. Worth watching!

West Side Story

Movie Name: West Side Story
Year of Release: 2021
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Rita Moreno, Brian d'Arcy James, Corey Stoll, Mike Faist, Josh Andres Rivera, Iris Menas, David Aviles Morales, Sebastian Serra, Ricardo Zayas
Genre: Musical, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis and Review:

"West Side Story" premiered in 2021 after being delayed due to the pandemic. It follows Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One" and it's also another remake to join his "Always" (which was a remake of Victor Fleming's "Pal Joey"). The film which takes place in 1957, follows the story of Tony and Maria, a couple of young star crossed lovers, who live in San Juan Hill, on Manhattan's West Side. Tony who is on parole (for nearly killing a man from a rival gang), wants to stay away from trouble, but his best friend Riff, the leader of the gang the Jets, is on a collision path with Bernardo, the leader of the Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks. Tony and Maria meet at a local ball, and fall in love, much to her brother's Bernardo discontent. As violence escalates between the two gangs, dramatic losses occur, all the while Maria and Tony just want to move past all that noise. 

"West Side Story" is of course a well known classic, which came out in 1961, and won 10 Academy Awards. It has since become one of the most iconic musicals, thanks to the lyrics from Stephen Sondheim and the score from Leonard Bernstein, not to mention of course the choreography from Jerome Robbins (and additional direction from Robert Wise). This version of the material, which the wonderful Tony Kushner adapted for the screen, stays closer to the original stage musical, but it still bears many resemblances to the original film incarnation. At this point in his career, Steven Spielberg can pretty much do whatever he wants, and do it impeccably. His mastery of the cinematic language is truly phenomenal, and this film is a perfect testimony to his ability to distill the language of a musical, through his point of view. It's a film that is visually stunning, with a top notch editing, where the production design, costumes, cinematography, all align to create a sumptuous spectacle. However while watching this film I couldn't help but think: why was this film remade? It's an interesting revisionist exercise, but one that feels unnecessary, since the original film is in itself so present and so iconic, and ultimately casts such a large domineering shadow. It's one of those films that is easier to admire than it is to love, since it is a great example of how fantastic of a storyteller Mr. Spielberg is, however this rendition of the Romeo and Juliet saga ultimately doesn't actually bring a new angle to this story, and it's definitely not a novel take on the musical, much like Damien Chazelle did with "La La Land". The cast does a fair job of bringing these characters to life, but the real highlight goes to the cinematography from Janusz Kaminski, the production design from Adam Stockhausen and the costumes from Paul Tazewell. It's a watchable feature, but not a memorable one.