Love in the (Magical) Afternoon

 I spend a lot of time reviewing older films, so I thought I would take on a (very) recent one. 

Anyone who has read my reviews knows that I tend to insert personal details into them. I suppose that is one way I connect with Film - on a personal level. The Harry Potter series of books and films has a special significance for me, as my daughters grew up reading the books, and seeing the films. I had the good fortune of attending a handful of special screenings of the films at the Warner Brothers lot with my daughter, Ali.

Regardless of how one feels about the "Wizarding World" is it is now so Corporately known, it is hard not to love the story both of how J.K Rowling struggled for years to get her books noticed (because she was a Female Fantasy writer?) and also how later Alan Horn of Warner Brothers promised her that he would shepherd the beloved books into legitimately good films. She didn't believe him, at first, but he came through. Mainly because he involved her in the production -- and she let go of the actual screenplay writing -- and early on, brought in the marvelous Steve Kloves to do the adapatation.

In some ways, in "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" the band is back together. Minus Horn, who parlayed a highly successful run at WB to take perhaps the most coveted position in Hollywood, Head of Studio at Disney. But Rowling and Kloves re-unite to create a whole new story, that is not based on a book. They kind of "Game of Thrones" it, to some extent. Literally, and figuratively.

The world of this FB film is not the relatively happy world of the Harry Potter films. Oh, yes, they were tinged with darkness, but early on, and even through the end the kids -- grown into adults -- were what really drove the story. Here, no such luck. The eerily-named Grindelwald -- the name even sounds German -- is attempting to exert the Magical world equivalent of White Supremacy, by taking over the Worldwide Confederation of Magic with an aim toward wiping out the non- pure-blood "Muggles". 

How and why, and how it ends is for you to find out. I do not include Spoilers in my reviews. The conflict itself sets the stage for a multi-layered, surprisingly complex drama that is peppered with action set pieces. Jude Law plays a young-ish Aldus Dumbledore, excellent Danish actor Mads Mikkelson takes up the character of Grindelwald from Johnny Depp (that's a whole nother story) and the entire cast is brilliant. Veteran Wizarding World helmer David Yates turns in perhaps his best effort to date, and James Newton Howard's score pays just enough homage to John Williams without sounding obsequious.

 But, again, the accomplishment of FB III is how it juggles numerous very human story threads against the backdrop of a "the world is going to end" conflict. In that sense, another film where a small human drama plays out against a much larger backdrop, Casablanca, comes to mind. Dumbledore has been rumoured for years to possibly be Gay, or Bi. I won't say whether that is confirmed our denied here (I missed FB II, so don't scold me if it was revealed there), Eddie Redmayne is pining for his lost love. I would watch a film that was just about Eddie Redmayne pining for his lost love, he is so, so good. And numerous seemingly minor characters attain nearly Cosmic significance. Dan Fogler's Jacob Kowlaski is about the best "schmo" I can remember in film. Or, at least, for quite some time. And, in "Seabiscuit" fashion he plays a role in the Resolution that I, again, won't spoil.

Finally, Fantastic Beasts is really about the Beasts. And Magical they are. From the brilliant creations of the Qilins to the horrifying Beast which inhabits a Wizard prison in Germany, the SFX folks really went way, way beyond the call of duty. If you love the Wizarding World, or even if you don't you should spend some time here. You will not regret it.

Cannibal Crush, its not

 

Well, that just happened. I agree with most Amazon reviewers (who agree with most critics) that Julia Ducournau's grisly paen to Vegetarianism is, well, its something. Highly original. Well-crafted. Not what I was expecting. In a word, mildly or very shocking.

Raw concerns a young French woman who is attending a Veterinary School as a "Rookie" -- a school where her sister is already a more experienced student. Following a very strange Hazing of the new students, the film takes several left turns about 1/3 of the way through, and it is not a spoiler to say that Cannibalism is involved. But, and here is perhaps Ducournau's brilliance, you hardly notice it is happening, and then it is just part of the fabric of the story. The very banality of the consuming of human flesh is what makes it so frightening.

Raw may not interrogate the boundaries of what is acceptable in Cinema, but it sure asks some interesting questions. No, post- House of 1,000 Corpses, post- Green Inferno, even post- Human Centipede, it is pretty hard to call anything genuinely shocking, or beyond the pale. I would say gut-wrenching is more the right description.

Garance Marillier plays Justine with just the right blend of wide-eyed naivete and clear-eyed commitment to the cause. The cause, here, being trying not to succumb to the strange illness that she has contracted from consuming, well, it would be a spoiler to say what.

It is possible to admire the film craftspersonship here, without buying in to the horror genre shock. Not easy, but possible. Definitely worth a watch if you love Cinema.

Who are you?

Since I am on a current journey through my teenage years (see my last review of Licorice Pizza (https://medium.com/p/ab7a928e60de), why not re-visit this remarkable art-house gem from Aussie director Peter Weir? Starring the inimitable Richard Chamberlain who, to his credit, doesn't even try to fake an Aussie accent.

I have probably seen "The Last Wave" at least three times. Once, in 1977 when it was first released, again several years ago on a streaming platform, and last night on HBO Max. This kind of perspective can be valuable in assessing whether what one thought of a film when one first saw it still holds true. In the case of "The Last Wave", it really does.

The story line here concerns a Sydney Barrister who is asked to take on a "Legal Aid" (read, Pro Bono) murder case involving Aboriginals. A black man has died rather dramatically during a rain storm, and other black men are accused of committing Murder. Chamberlain rather deftly portrays the Barrister -- David Burton -- who has little experience in Criminal Law, and is more focused on raising his Bourgeois family in the Sydney suburbs than even the practice of law.

The plot and story are really a setup for the deeper artistic intent that Weir has going. This is not a story about an out-of-his-depths attorney trying to defend a black man accused of murder, it concerns nothing less than the terrible history of European Settlers in Australia, who destroyed traditional Aborigine culture and killed many people, and also the vast difference between white and Aboriginal views of religion, the Law, Ethics and even the Cosmos. Top that off with one of the best twist endings ever rendered in Celluloid and its no wonder the critics loved the film.

I first saw "The Last Wave" at the Monica Twin theater in Santa Monica, California. This very specific detail is fresh in my mind because I remember that, after watching out of the theater, my life had literally changed in the course of two hours. Weir's strange masterpiece, with its Cosmic storyline, deeply personal drama and dreamy camera work was one of a handful of films I saw growing up that made me love Cinema. George Roy Hill's multiple Oscar-winning "The Sting" was another.

Returning these many years later I was struck by how well it holds up. The narrative of a White (European) man trying to hold together a "center" which "cannot hold" (to paraphrase Yeats) is riveting, and in some ways horrifying. The more Burton tries to understand what has happened with these possibly Tribal Aboriginals, and take control of the situation in which he finds himself, the less able to do so he is. This kind of Cinematic entropy that brings to mind another great Fish out of Water tale from the same era, "The Wicker Man," where a British Police officer investigates the mysterious disappearance of a young girl on an Island that still practices a Pagan religion.

The rest, as they say, is History. Literally. But, is it White Man History (which follows a linear progression from the primitive to the modern) or Aboriginal History, which is timeless, and cyclic? The answer to that question might just save Burton's life. Or might not. The only way to find out is to watch this on your favorite Streaming platform: included "free" on HBO Max and AppleTV, and available for rent or purchase on most other platforms.

Its a Record Store! Its a Movie!

To say that Paul Thomas Anderson's marvelous coming-of-age tone poem, "Licorice Pizza" made me nostalgic is a huge understatement. Since I watched it a couple of weekends ago in a local art house theater here in my adopted home town of Tulsa, OK I have been thinking about my teenage years. A lot.

Well, maybe it has something to do with the fact I am about to turn sixty. Yikes.

Full disclosure. I grew up in almost exactly the region of Los Angeles in which the film is set. At almost exactly the same time. Watching "Licorice Pizza" was a bit like being teleported back in time, and what a time it was. LA of the 1970s was an amazing place, where the film industry was re-inventing itself, bands like Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan were recording some of the greatest Album-Oriented-Rock ever committed to analog tape, and fashion. Well, fashion left something to be desired.

Anderson, as he has done in all of his films, positively nails this vibe. In "Boogie Nights" his visual style and precise exploration of character, and the human condition exploded onto the silver screen. And made Mark Wahlberg a star. That and his his prosthetic...well. Let's keep it PG here.

The film-maker has matured, and it shows in "Licorice Pizza". In "Boogie Nights" and even "Inherent Vice" he relied on the gimmick of the LA porn industry and the extraordinary story-making of Thomas Pynchon, respectively as platforms for his unique filmic 'voice'. "Licorice Pizza", by contrast, lays it all on the line, as the story is unknown and the two actors who play the main characters -- a la Wes Anderson's equally excellent "Moonrise Kingdom" -- were unknown prior to this film. So, it is all up to Anderson and his team of actors, DP, musical scorer, etc. to pull off what "Licorice Pizza" so remarkably pulls off.

Indie pop darling Alana Haim plays a twenty something lass with whom our main male character, a few years younger, becomes infatuated. The story of how that teenage angst-laden crush evolves to an almost adult Love is something to be seen. And heard. 

We pause for a message from our Radiohead-heads. Ha ha.

Anderson and Radiohead lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood have collaborated a couple times and "Licorice" is no exception. However, Anderson has an interesting approach to music in his films, in that he doesn't just have someone score the entire film, he uses a pastiche of original music and period songs -- hearing Bowie's wonderful "Life on Mars" really took me back, by the way -- so it is sometimes hard to tell where songs end and Greenwood begins. 

Again, for those who know, and love Radiohead, ha ha.

"Licorice", however, is all about the story, and the setting. The earnest push and pull of young love (not to be too cliched) is so beautifully rendered here, it is almost possible to miss the 1970s era San Fernando Valley sets that provide the background for said tale of love, loss, and love again. Anderson's camera follows our two young lovers from ranch style home to retail storefront to the iconic Hollywood Palladium in what feels like a single take. Not dissimilar to the single take opening of "Boogie Nights" with Rollergirl skating around the dance floor.

But I digress. "Licorice Pizza" is great film-making, and great acting. If Anderson doesn't finally win a Best Director Oscar, it will be a shame. But we know how good he is, so perhaps it doesn't matter,

Solid Entry for the Great Barbara Stanwyck

 I kept looking for trademark indicators that this was a Fritz Lang film (which it is), but couldn't find them. Perhaps I don't know Lang's work that well.

It seemed like a fairly conventional, even formulaic Hollywood Studio System marital drama, based on a popular Broadway play by Clifford Odets. Quick plot summary, Stanwyck returns to her home down, decides, perhaps mistakenly, to marry the good guy, but falls in a kind of love with the bad guy. To reveal how it plays out would be a Spoiler, and I don't put those in my reviews.

That being said, a great vehicle for three very, very good actors. Starting with, not the least, Robert Ryan, who was apparently in the process of divorcing Stanwyck while the film was being made. Word is they were consummate pros on set. Ryan is, in my opinion, an under-rated actor, as he was normally playing "Bad Guys" - and here it is no different, he is the villain, in a sense, and plays the part superbly. I remember him being so, so good in the great A Bad Day at Black Rock.

Next up is Paul Douglas, who plays the "Good Guy" Milquetoast whom Stanwyck decides to marry. My recollection of Douglas is mostly seeing him do very good work in mostly supporting roles, especially WW2 action films and Melodramas. He was a very good actor, and is given the opportunity to absolutely shine in "Clash" and, in my opinion, nearly steals the show. It is a tough role to play and Douglas positively eats it up.

That brings us to the actress who won a recent Twitter poll as the greatest American Actress of all time. Miss Barbara Stanwyck was just always good, if not great in every role she took on. What I love about Stanwyck is, like Gene Tierney, she exerts a proto-Feminist strength in her acting that threatens to overwhelm the restraints of the Patriarchal society in which she was making films. Here, perhaps due to Odets' sensitive character development, she is really the power center of the film, as a perhaps disgraced woman, returning to her home town trying to find a man who will marry her before it is too late.

Stanwyck' s character, against her better judgement, agrees to marry Douglas' wimpy Boat Captain, and then nearly immediately regrets it as Ryan's character is circling about her, and her marriage like a man shark. Again, I won't spoil it to say what happens, but how Stanwyck manages the nuance of a woman returning from failure in her previous marriage, to try to find love, or at least a Husband, is really masterful.

If you love this era of films and/or Stanwyck, Clash by Night is for you. And, as an added Easter Egg, you get to see Marilyn Monroe in her film debut. That is worth the price of admission, right there.

More than Meets the Eye?

 

This kept popping up on my Acorn TV subscription. I love crime drama/mystery TV shows (from England, the US, Australia, Scandinavia) so I wasn't sure what to make of this. It looked more like a drama than a thriller, especially as the first couple of episodes very slowly explicate the plot and characters.

Well, if was worth the investment of time, as the storyline, characters, and acting are all superb. And, has been mentioned by other reviewers, the music is wonderful, and perfectly matched to the visuals and dramatic development.

I have recently been watching the excellent thriller, Hidden, which is also set in Wales, but is really an anti-Keeping Faith. And, there is nothing wrong with that. Hidden is more typical BBC, dark, even grim, with great writing and acting. But kind of hard to take sometimes. Faith, on the other hand fairly sparkles because it is set in the coastal area near Swanse which, at least at the times it was photographed, looks positively lovely.. What a contrast, and both shows deftly use the amazing Welsh scenery to great advantage.

Finally, I can't say enough about Eve Myles. I kept wanting to think that her character -- a working Mom married to her dream husband -- seemed a bit anti-Feminist, especially as the show makes great use of her natural beauty in its cinematography. Yet, as the show went on, and especially as it concluded its first Series, I realized that Faith is the epitome of a strong, intelligent woman working desperately to keep her family together in the face of unimaginable difficulty. Not defined by her Husband, or by Society, but by herself. What could be more Feminist than that?

A great show, and I am looking forward to watching Series 2.Slow burn, but worth the investment.

Great actress, great material

Sometimes the stars align for a film, as is the case with the legendary French actress, Isabelle Huppert taking the lead in Paul Verhoeven's in-your-face thriller, Elle. Both the story and the star are superbly matched, here.

It is almost cliche to say that Verhoeven is controversial. Hardly any of his English-language films, from Robocop to Basic Instinct did not generate strident conversations. Elle was not different -- is no different -- in its uncomfortable look at the role a strong-willed woman plays in a still male-dominated society.

A middle-aged CEO of a computer gaming company in Paris is attacked in her home. Not particularly unique, except that rather than reporting the rape to the police -- which, let's face it, probably wouldn't do any good -- she decides to take matters into her own hands and find the "perp" herself. She might have gotten more than she bargained for as the rapist begins taunting her, and without spoiling anything, when she finds out who it is it is not only surprising, but a bit anti-climactic.

Verhoeven and his lead actress use the unusual, but clearly-told story as a vehicle for interrogating issues of sexual predation, sexism in the corporate world and much else. Rather well, I think.