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Movie Review (Berlinale 2023): ‘Silver Haze’ Has Too Many Moving Parts to Leave An Impact


Director: Sacha Polak

Writer: Sacha Polak

Stars: Vicky Knight, Esme Creed-Miles, Charlotte Knight

Synopsis: Fifteen years after she got burnt when the pub where she slept as a child caught fire, Franky (23) seeks revenge because she still hasn’t found any answers.


Silver Haze has two intriguing performances in its leading duo of Vicky Knight and Esme Creed-Miles. But, unfortunately, Sacha Polak’s kitchen-sink procedure for her melodramatic coming-of-age stories doesn’t work entirely this time around because of its unconvincing screenplay and subplot-heavy focus. 

During her years as a filmmaker, Dutch director Sacha Polak has concentrated on coming-of-age stories that center around people wounded by the past as they are “exiled” by society. Their structure throws everything into the mix, with disparate elements from various genres being put together in a melodramatic setting. Yet, through her direction regarding the performances, Polak expresses some grounded emotions in that hodgepodge concoction. Her filmography, particularly the films Hemel (2012) and Dirty God (2019), demonstrate this cinematic approach the most while implementing the directorial style of her contemporaries, like Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank, American Honey) and Clio Barnard (The Arbor, The Selfish Giant). However, unlike the aforementioned filmmakers, there’s a self-destructive and cathartic sensation in her films that help lift the melodramatic formula Polak prefers. It doesn’t amount to significant pieces of work, but they are intriguing and oddly fascinating. While her latest work, Silver Haze, isn’t as interesting as Hemel, which had a provocative undertone, or as thought-provoking as Dirty God, the film is a showcase for its leading duo’s talents, Vicky Knight and Esme Creed-Miles.

Silver Haze follows Franky (Knight), a twenty-three-year-old nurse with a troubled past in East London. In her youth, she survived a deadly fire that left literal and figurative scars on her; the circumstances of said fire were very questionable – Franky’s suspicions about it still affect her daily living. She thinks the person who did it was the woman who ended up marrying her father, who cut ties with them ultimately to commence a new life. Franky’s internal angst is fueled by her father’s betrayal when she was a child and the suspicions that his partner initiated this tragic chain of events that ruined her family’s life. The only reason Franky is alive is because her brother saved her. He broke through the barricaded doors and pulled her out of the burning pub but tragically died in the incident. Years later, everything seems to be going fine; although there is still suffering from what has happened, Franky and her family still hold their heads high. 

Franky’s torment is renewed when she meets a suicidal patient named Florence (Creed-Miles). The two immediately connect, and their fondness grows amidst the displeasure of Franky’s family, which threatens their affinity. Their inner demons want to come out and face the pains of their respective pasts. The first half of Sacha Polak’s Silver Haze feels like an Andrea Arnold picture without the 4:3 aspect ratio she’s accustomed to using. Everything feels like a mystery, as the rural environs and landscapes of East London create a sun-lit blurry fog that immediately hooks us to the screen – the setting is a character of its own. And when we are quickly introduced to Franky’s companion for the rest of the story in Florence, Polak begins to display the best of her abilities, which is directing her actors to deliver intriguing performances and blending naturalism with melodramatic sensibilities. As Franky and Florence explore their sexuality, their respective pasts get a hold of them. 

At least now, because they have each other, they have someone to hold when all of the chips are down. Florence’s self-destruction is intertwined with Franky’s yearning for the truth. And as the two of them suffer from this constant swinging between angst and love, it creates a fascinating dynamic we would want to see more of. Unfortunately, Polak’s kitchen-sink approach adds a revenge plot element that doesn’t serve the film’s sharp first half and ruins the experience by dwelling on excessive melodrama while ditching naturalism. Polak’s screenplay is unconvincing, shifting its emphasis at a constant ratio and the improvisations of the actual events that inspired this story. This might have to do with the loose recreation of Knight’s own improvisations and remembering what happened to her when she was little. Like the character, Knight survived a deadly fire when little, and Polak recreated some moments from her past to pave the way for Silver Haze’s narrative. 

The combination of a coming-of-age romance with some thriller elements to spice things up derails the entire movie from its primary purpose of telling a story about troubled young women healing the wounds of the past and how their angst consumes them. It’s disappointing that the trajectory it’s taking isn’t as gripping or emotionally moving as one would expect. Although the cast delivers excellent work, their performances aren’t strong enough to uplift the slightly mediocre lines of Polak’s screenplay. That seems to be her drawback throughout her filmography. She manages to capture the beauty and gloom of its setting and atmosphere, yet Polack struggles with finding the right words to connect us with her characters. You feel the eternal rage that both Franky and Florence are going through, but the film doesn’t do much with it; the cast elevates those emotions. At the very least, Silver Haze will shine a light on Vicky Knight and Esme Creed-Miles, who deserve more profound roles in independent films. 

Grade: C

Outside Looking In: Countries Who Still Await Their Own Oscar Nominee

While I was looking up the stats for my article “One Shining Moment,” I noticed a list of major countries that have consistently submitted their choice for consideration, only to come up short time and time again. These countries aren’t necessarily small nations that have just started submitting films or have gained independence recently. While Bhutan got in just recently for Luana: A Yak In The Classroom and Jordan with Theeb, other nations whose submissions go back to the 1950s have just failed to catch on. Got to be frustrating when neighboring nations with only a few submissions get one through. Here are a few of these nations and the film they submitted that should’ve been nominated.

 

Voyage To The Beginning Of The World, Portugal

With 39 submissions to its name, Portugal has missed the most in trying to get nominated. Even worse, not one film has even been shortlisted since they began submitting films in 1980. Eight of those submissions came from director Manoel de Oliviera, arguably the country’s greatest filmmaker who directed movies until his death in 2015, at age 106. One of his best works was this drama which was the final film released posthumously starring Marcello Mastroianni, who plays an aging director going back with his leading actor to their childhood village. It was a success right out of Cannes but never came close to getting an elusive Oscar nomination. 

 

The Night Of Counting The Years, Egypt

The second most submissions (36) without a nominee, also without a single film being shortlisted, Egypt is the leading country in terms of film production in the Arab world. Writer/director Shadi Abdel Salam was influenced by Italian neo-realism, so it’s no surprise that Roberto Rossellini, the father of neo-realism, helped Salam get the film made. It is also a historical film, set in the 1880s when Egypt was still controlled by the Ottoman Empire and Egypt’s culture was being ransacked by outsiders, and how even the locals get corrupted by foreign influences.

 

The World is Big And Salvation Lurks Around the Corner – Bulgaria

After Portugal and Egypt in terms of submissions without a nomination is this Balkan nation which does have one shortlisted film to its name. This 2008 road drama by Stephan Komandarev follows a young Bulgarian-born man who returns to his home nation from Germany with his grandfather by bicycle to reconnect with his native land. Based on a true story, it deals with the themes of reunification having escaped from the Communist regime and now coming back all these years later to a strange land, even though he is a full-blooded native.  

 

Genghis Khan – Philippines

The film was released in 1950 but was eligible for Best International Film consideration two years later when the category was still an honorary award rather than a competition. The earliest movie depiction of the life of the Mongolian emperor (and a whole lot better than the Hollywood version starring John Wayne), it was critically acclaimed upon release at the Venice Film Festival. Even with its limited budget and short running time, the movie is still upheld as the best of the Genghis Khan biopics. Thirty-three submissions later, the Philippines are still waiting for their nominee to break through.   

 

This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection – Lesotho

One submission from Lesotho, but wow, it was such a worthy nominee and it is a shame that it didn’t get shortlisted. Having gotten a well-deserved Criterion release, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s story about a widow who defies the call for her village to be resettled in the name of progress is such a poetic statement on keeping with tradition. Plus, it comes in a country landlocked in South Africa, thereby being virtually forgotten and mistaken to be part of another nation. Mosese, a visual artist, uses his creative force to set up striking frames in this tale of fighting against unnatural nature.

 

Follow me on Twitter: @brian_cine (Cine-A-Man) 

Movie Review (Berlinale 2023): ‘Bad Living’ is a Splendid Ghostly Portrayal of Family Dysfunction


Director: João Canijo 

Writer: João Canijo 

Stars: Anabela Moreira, Rita Blanco, Madalena Almeida

Synopsis: Follows five women who fight for the stability of an hotel they inherited, living an “old and irresolvable conflict”, with many conversations that have been postponed and much that remains to be said within a family.


The first of two intertwining Bergman-like films by Portuguese filmmaker João Canijo playing at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Bad Living (Mal Viver), is a magnificent ghostly depiction of family dysfunction and depression, as the women at the center of this story grapple with secrets and sins induced by grief.

One director I wish people recognized more is João Canijo, the Portuguese filmmaker who began his career by working as an assistant director to Manoel de Oliveira (Francisca, 1981), Alain Tanner (In the White City, 1983), Werner Schroeter (The Rose King, 1986), and Wim Wenders (The State of Things, 1982). I think he is one of the most exciting filmmakers coming from Portugal. With each feature, he demonstrates the various forms of dysfunction within different relationships and bonds. Not all of his films are excellent, but, for the most part, they are interesting and rich in thematic layers that talk about the respective films’ settings. His most renowned work is Blood of My Blood, which explores the recently disrupted lives of a family living on the outskirts of Lisbon. Initially, that film was supposed to consist of two films, both focusing on the family members’ different points of view. But, he never managed to get his entire vision to fruition. 

This aforementioned concept of the original Blood of My Blood idea serves as the genesis for Canijo’s latest pieces of work. He goes back to his most engrossing ideas with his ambitious pair of connected films, both of which are playing at this year’s Berlin Film Festival in different sections: Bad Living (Mal Viver) and Living Bad (Viver Mal). These two films are set in an old Portuguese hotel; the former focuses on the women working in the hotel, the latter centers around the guests. This fascinating and ambitious dual project works in its favor. Canijo explores complex relationships amidst secrets, sins, and loss, all within a setting that works as a haunted house – slowly turning into a sun-lit and beautifully shot ghost story. Both workers and guests begin to feel how this place, which is meant to be a vacation location, shifts into a lodging of no return, at least mentally. 

The first one out of the two is the Competition selection Bad Living. The film follows five women from various generations trying to save an old hotel from inevitable decay. However, as they are trying to figure out their next plans to keep the hotel afloat, their conflicts with one another weighs them down. A mother, Sara (Rita Blanco), is unable to love their daughters, Piedade (Anabela Moreira) and Raquel (Cleia Almeida). And, in turn, they cannot be great mothers to their daughters because of that lack of attachment from their childhood to the present day. However, when the young Salomé (Madalena Almeida), Piedade’s daughter, arrives at the hotel after her father’s passing, old wounds are reopened– their emotional stability is on tenterhooks. A melancholic atmosphere immediately possesses the sun-bathed and brightly-lit hotel, which, through the course of the film’s runtime, creates a haunting presence amidst its melodramatic affairs fed by tragedy. 

Bad Living explores what happens when the past looms and the present doesn’toffer answers to your previous and newly formed struggles. It is the term “sinking into the abyss” in a humanistic cinematic format. Salomé notices the detachment her mother has from the loss of her father. And as she tries to figure out the reason why, Piedade sinks into a mental state of misery and torment, one that operates like a plague, drowning the souls of everyone in the decaying hotel. There are less than a handful of moments that contain bliss; the majority of the film is full of woe that explores how these women handle their respective fights caused by their broken relationships. He takes inspiration from filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman and Jacques Rivette, particularly the former in its realistic illusions of light and darkness, particularly in his films Autumn Sonata and Cries and Whispers

In addition, Canijo uses some of the techniques from playwright August Strindberg, his expressionism and departure from conventional dramatic sensibilities. João Canijo plays with the setting to conquer the characters’ states of mind, curating dark images with twilight colorings that intertwine with the complex nature of their relationships, demonstrating sheer beauty amidst despair and impending cataclysm – the hotel becoming a character of its own. There are echoes of the various conversations the guests are having, which creates a weird yet hypnotizing sensation. You can’t hear them quite clearly because those puzzle pieces aren’t meant to be put into place yet; we will have to wait until Living Bad to clear those things up. Canijo himself described that aspect of the film as “being in a coffee shop and choosing the conversations you want to listen to from table to table”. And that feeling can disorient some viewers, but I found it completely mesmerizing. 

Bad Living (Mal Viver) might be the first half of João Canijo’s complete vision inside the “ghostly” hotel-set melodrama. Still, it offers an engrossing and haunting look at female cruelty and family dysfunction. It comprises framed static shots and a lingering camera that gives space for the characters to conceive their emotions unhurriedly, beautifully shot by cinematographer Leonor Teles and sharply edited by frequent Canijo collaborator João Braz. So let’s see what the second half of this story has in store for us after this mesmerizingly gloomy and depressive (in a good way) delight. 

Grade: A

 

Poll: What is your favorite animal-attack movie that isn’t Jaws?

They’re not always cute and cuddly. Whether it be due to a disrupt in nature, scientific experimentation, or (in the case of this weekend) literal cocaine, wild animals can become the most fearful creatures on the planet, both on land and at sea. If we were to determine the best animal-attack movies of all time, clearly Steven Spielberg’s Jaws would top most (if not all) lists. But what if we pin the rest against each other? Are their teeth sharp enough to bite down competitively?

You decide. What is your favorite animal-attack movie that isn’t Jaws (because let’s face it, it’s the best)?


Movie Review: ‘Jesus Revolution’ Preaches To The Back Row


Directors: Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle

Writers: Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn

Stars: Jonathan Roumie, Nicholas Cirillo, Kelsey Grammer

Synopsis: The true story of a national spiritual awakening in the early 1970’s and its origins within a community of teenage hippies in Southern California.


Filmmakers Jon Erwin and Andrew Erwin are known for their spiritual films focused on Christian stories. In Jesus Revolution, Andrew offers his place as co-director to Brent McCorkle, while Jon Gunn helps the other Jon with the screenplay that tells the origins of the Jesus Movement, an evangelical Christian movement that began in the late 1960s to early 1970s. The movie’s target audience is pretty clear, but does it also work for people totally disconnected from any religion, God, or anything that transcends science?

Personally, I believe that a review should make clear the author’s position concerning the main theme of the film. If I’m not part of the target audience, I must be honest and pass on this information somehow; otherwise, readers may be misled into believing that the movie isn’t for them. Roger Ebert said it best, “a good review is one that manages to get the reader to realize they would probably enjoy the film even if the author is of the opposite opinion”. That said, Jesus Revolution is clearly intended for Christian viewers and/or people with a strong connection to any religion.

Despite being born into a Christian family, I don’t believe in any God nor am I religious. In fact, I couldn’t be further from that. So how can a movie like Jesus Revolution be interesting to someone like me? If there’s one thing Erwin and McCorkle get right, it’s the separation of faith and spirituality from religion. Everyone possesses the first two attributes, whereas religion is necessarily linked to some kind of entity or organization – so much so that some are described as cults.

Therefore, as a viewer outside the spectrum for which the film was made, Jesus Revolution is at its best when it focuses on recounting the true events that gave rise to the respective movement, as well as offering a more positive perspective on the hippie community. The mere idea of thousands of young people leaving everything behind to follow Jesus Christ in the incredibly dedicated form of decades ago is impressive in itself. These days, with so much technology in our hands, it’s hard to imagine that such an awakening could happen again in the same manner.

Jesus Revolution takes advantage of the extraordinary performances of the cast – Kelsey Grammer is mesmerizing as Chuck Smith – and one of those ideal scores for relaxation and meditation to elevate a story that, unfortunately, cannot escape a repetitive narrative structure that, on many occasions, sounds too, well, preachy. Deeply inspiring dialogue should happen spontaneously, but the movie relentlessly pursues conversation after conversation with key expressions, popular sayings, and “sweet words” that come off as forced and sanctimonious.

In addition to that, Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie) is a character that raises tons of questions. During the first half of Jesus Revolution, Lonnie holds a unique, personal connection with God, demonstrating an unparalleled devotion to the divine and being a tremendously positive influence on everyone around him. However, as the narrative unfolds, Lonnie becomes extremely self-centered and hypocritical, caring more about the attention and fame he receives for performing theatrical miracles than about his initial mission of unity, peace, and love.

The film concludes, and the truth is that I don’t comprehend the character’s genuine intent. Jesus Revolution also diminishes the impact of drug consumption in the community and even tries to have fun with it, which I don’t particularly appreciate. Ultimately, Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) and Cathe’s (Anna Grace Barlow) self-discovery arcs, as well as their love relationship, turn out to be the most compelling storylines.

I recommend the movie for devout viewers with a strong connection to Christianity, but for those without religious ties, Jesus Revolution won’t convert you.

Grade: C

Movie Review: ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ is an Empty Exercise in Special Effects


Director: Peyton Reed

Writers: Jeff Loveness and Jack Kirby

Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas

Synopsis: Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, along with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, explore the Quantum Realm, where they interact with strange creatures and embark on an adventure that goes beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.


It has been a hot minute since the last Marvel Film blew me away. Phase 4 movedright by, and of the 7 films and 8 television shows, only 4 struck a chord with me. Marvel is in a post-Thanos slump, and I personally hoped that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would signal the end of its morning period. Ant-Man has typically been the small stakes Avenger, and Marvel could use a return to those smaller stakes and strong emotional core that defined phases 1-3. To that end, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is not just a disappointment. It is a massive misfire from Marvel Studios.  

 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is an amalgamation of so many disappointing films, and I could point to the various reductive elements within. I fully intend to explore and explain why these elements both seem reductive and feel out of place. But fundamentally, Quantumania suffers from what the rest of phase four has suffered from: writing problems. Apart from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, every phase four project has been plagued with poor writing. Spider-Man: No Way Home had a plot that felt more like fanfiction than real life, both in its concept (all the Spider-Men teaming up together) and in its explanation for that topic (post-Secondary acceptance is the motivator I expect in a soap opera). Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness changes Wanda’s character completely to what had been seen in every other MCU film prior and ignores the emotional arc Wanda took in WandaVision. WandaVision is not blameless either, with a modern-day plot that takes away from the rest of the series. The quality of writing in phase four has been worse than what preceded it, though the consequence of the writing is specific to each project.  

 The writing failures in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania does not end with unfunny jokes. Below its failures to work as a comedy, Quantumania’s biggest flaw is its lack of character, and character growth. While there are a plethora of new characters introduced, none of them feel truly integral to the story. M.O.D.O.K (Corey Stoll), Jentorra (Katy O’Brian), Quaz (William Jackson Harper), Veb (David Dastmalchian), & Lord Krylar (Bill Murray) are all new additions to the MCU, but they have so little to do with this film that it’s laughable. While each of these characters play a key part in the plot events of Quantumania, outside of Jentorra, they have nothing to do with our core characters’ growth as individuals and heroes. And even then, Jentorra interacts solely with Cassie, who already was a revolutionary. This massive mismanagement of characters and plot lead to the big problem in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania: There are no character arcs or growth for Scott Lang, Cassie, Hope, Hank, or Janet. These events occur, and nothing changes for these characters personally. Sure, Kang (Jonathan Majors) has now been introduced to the MCU as the next Thanos, but this was already established in LOKI which managed to tell a story with character arcs.  

It’s not that these arcs are outside the scope of Quantumania either. There are a lot of promising threads to follow; Scott and Cassie are arguing about the role of using a suit against police officers who tear gassed a crowd of peaceful protestors; Janet is keeping her time in the quantum realm close to her chest, isolating Hank and Hope; and Yellow Jacket (Corey Stoll) has returned as the fearsome M.O.D.O.K. But of these arcs, only two are actively followed throughout the film, and one of these is M.O.D.O.K. trying not to be a dick – treated as a golden gag. The other active arc is with Janet, but so much of the film follows her doing things and relying on others to trust her blindly that the audience has no clue what’s happening. The script sets up a lot of interesting ideas, but never allows the payoff to exist for more than a moment, and it’s not engaging storytelling. And of course, our protagonist, Scott, has an arc that doesn’t feel earned, because it’s undercut by every beat of the story. Jeff Loveness has failed to make a compelling screenplay, and how these major problems didn’t get noticed in a second draft is beyond me.  

Aside from major screenwriting failures, the visuals are the next major letdown of Quantumania. Director of Photography Bill Pope really feels constrained in these full CG environments, and unlike his work on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the action sequences in Quantumania are clumsy and lack clarity. A lot of this stems from scenes feeling underlit, with quick editing that does not sell any of the action. Worse yet, there is such a wide array of characters with unique weapons, and yet the action seems completely uninterested in establishing what they can do, unless it works towards a joke. This goes from the smaller roles to Kang and M.O.D.O.K, and it really fails to sell the stakes in the third act. Kang’s move set is a combination of the force, Iron Man’s laser beams, and time manipulation, but none of these are adequately explored or explained enough to allow the audience to understand the danger posed to our heroes in the third act. The disappointing action adds to the major failures of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, because it fails to be engaging as a drama, comedy, and its superhero action is mediocre. This is not to say that Quantumania does not have some stirring visuals; there are some stellar establishing and wide shots that feel made for a windows background. But when most of the film is made up of mid-close ups in CG environments, those few moments of beauty are washed out entirely. 

For all its flaws, Quantumania is not all bad. Firstly, the CG environments are as striking as the Star Wars prequels. The quantum realm truly feels like an alien landscape, and its world design, creature design and production design work perfectly. The miniature cultures and cultural norms sell this new world perfectly and create visual genres for each chapter of the film. This is furthered by the stellar costume design and should not be conflated with suit design. Quantumania’s costumes add layers to this world; at times it’s a space western, at others it’s a post-apocalypse. Kang’s kingdom feels like a kingdom because its costumes denote separate places so well, and it is worthy of applause.

  And speaking of Kang, Jonathon Majors has really stepped into this role perfectly. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a display of what Majors can do as an actor. He takes a character that has been exiled into the quantum realm by others and turns that emotion into devastating desperation. Every movement and word spoken drips with sorrow and closeted anger. It is captivating, and Majors alone injects life into this dying film. By comparison, the rest of the cast really does not do a whole lot. Paul Rudd is the same loveable Scott Lang we have seen before. Michael Douglas leans into Hank’s curiosity about the quantum realm. These are fine performances, but they are still hemmed in by the clichéd nature of the role. The only performance that left me intrigued in their character was Kathryn Newton, who manages to capture the youthful, unjaded spirit of Cassie well, though she really did not have a lot to do in this film.  

As I alluded to earlier, the suit design of Quantumania is pretty uninspired. Ant-Man, Wasp, and Cassie have fully CG suits, and it is obvious. Nanotech is the Infinity War’s biggest sin, and Quantumania is a notable example of why: The suits do not feel human. There is no fear of shrinking without a helmet because the helmet is always a render away. Characters always have the suit, so you do not fear them being powerless. The suits never break down, so the stakes fall drastically in a third act. And the final major problem is that these all feel the same. Compared to the varying costumes and character design around the quantum realm, the Ant family suits, the M.O.D.O.K., and Kang’s suit all feel the same. There isn’t anything tactile to these suits, they seem more akin to action figures and plastic toys. It is at best cheap, and at worst, confusing.  

 The last flaw of Quantumania is with its premise: the quantum realm is not an interesting place to explore Ant-Man’s core abilities. For all the problems in Ant-Man and The Wasp, the film managed to still use the shrinking/enlarging abilities well. Whether it is to lift a ferry, to skateboard with a truck, or to commit a heist, the core abilities of Ant-Man and Wasp feel fundamental to that story. Now, in Quantumania, the ability to enlarge and shrink feels relegated to the third act, and not natural to this story. The quantum realm may require shrinking to enter, but after that, it could be any superheroes world. And our heroes’ abilities just do not interact with it in interesting ways. No longer is there a toy train that can transform a battle scene, there is only a whole other world that we view solely from the ground. It is a massive, missed opportunity, and it is not aided by the film’s quick, out of left field, resolutions to problems that feel removed from our heroes’ actions. There are two deus ex machina moments in the third act alone, and it really makes the finale feel… empty. 

 Empty may be the best way to describe Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The elements that break free of its lighting, framing, editing and CG suit problems are taken down by its writing. Personally, I preferred when the quantum realm was a kaleidoscopic empty void outside of time in Ant-Man. Because then, it had stakes and I felt connected to our characters’ fight to see his daughter again. Instead, the quantum realm is a fully realized, gorgeously rendered science fantasy world, but the characters feel empty and void now. 

 Grade: D+  

 

Movie Review: ‘Marlowe’ Cannot Even Be Saved By a Liam Neeson and Neil Jordan Reunion


Director: Neil Jordan

Writer: William Monahan

Stars: Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange, Diane Kruger, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Synopsis: In late 1930s Bay City, a brooding, down on his luck detective is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress.


When will Liam Neeson ever make a good movie again? I had hoped that it would be the case with Neil Jordan’s Marlowe, as Neeson reunites with the director who crafted one of the best films (and performances) of his career in- Michael Collins. The severely underseen Golden Lion winner contains stellar performances from Neeson, Alan Rickman, and Brendan Gleeson and needs to be seen by anyone who is a fan of the three actors named above. Reuniting with Jordan seemed like a step in the right direction for Neeson to move away from his “particular set of skills” action pictures that I frequently dubbed as our generation’s Charles Bronson in his Cannon Group era. Disposable plot, horribly shot and edited action, and a sleepwalking performance from Neeson who sees the paycheck at the end of the tunnel. 

However, Marlowe is yet another “particular set of skills” movie, only set in 1930s Hollywood with Neeson frequently reminding audiences that he’s too old for this. There’s the old “light slapping” he gives to henchmen who deserve his “particular set of skills” after a rather simple case overcomplicates itself in tedious ways. Neeson plays Philip Marlowe, who, after receiving a visit from Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger), investigates the whereabouts of Nico Peterson (François Arnaud), who is rumored to be alive, even if he has been pronounced dead. Was the wrong man pronounced dead? If so, who’s in on the conspiracy? What happened to Nico’s sister, Lynn Peterson (Daniela Melchior)? Who knows? 

Running at 109 minutes, Marlowe is both amazingly breezy in going from one place to the next without placing the cards on the table and terribly languishing in pace. There’s not a single scene that contains an ounce of riveting dialogue. They’re all haphazardly delivered by A-list actors, such as Jessica Lange, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Danny Huston, Colm Meaney and Alan Cumming. Only Adewale seems to care about the material, and has a few scenes ,where his chemistry with Neeson shines ever-so-slightly, but does Jordan’s direction have to be so lifeless?

Any noir detective thriller should theoretically start out small and progressively reveal something bigger at play. Marlowe starts out small, but quickly goes “big” and introduces a wide array of characters who don’t have much importance to the main plot of the movie. It quickly starts to lose audiences by the ten minute mark, and never once recovers. The case (and screenwriting) is not interesting enough to hold people’s attention. And once the “big reveal” occurs (although there is a smart move from Neeson during that moment which made his performance slightly memorable), it’s the least surprising reveal of all time. As soon as this particular character enters the frame, you immediately know he’s the main villain by how he dresses. They never once try to hide it, which makes Marlowe’s circling to Clare’s mother (Lange) and other minor side characters feel utterly pointless. 

The movie also doesn’t even have a sense of atmosphere. Cinematographer Xavi Giménez tries to make every shot look interesting (there are a few neon-colored splashes that are fun to see on the big screen), but Jordan’s direction is so bereft of any energy that it has no emotional impact whatsoever. What’s more, tight action scenes are hampered by the most ridiculous elevator music possible. Neeson fighting two henchmen in a claustrophobic setting? Why don’t we put some smooth jazz during that scene. Or how about the sound of birds tweeting you’d hear in Looney Tunes cartoons after a character gets hit in the head with a hammer and is dizzy, but this time used when a character gets Tommy gunned to death? Yeah, it’s very bad. 

At this point, I don’t ever think that Liam Neeson will make a good movie again, even with a director like Jordan at the helm. The scripts he picks are easy roles for a paycheck, but they’re so tedious to watch you wonder why he even bothers making those films. He’s unfortunately been typecast in these basic action films, but he needs to get away from them. Marlowe could’ve been his way out, but he and Jordan retread the same elements from his dull action pictures. I guess we’ll never see Neeson make another good movie again. 

Grade: D-

 

Podcast Review: ‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’

On this episode, JD and Brendan discuss the latest from Marvel in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania! We also discuss the larger discourse surrounding the MCU and why Phase 4 had more than its given credit for.

Review: Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (8:30)
Director: Peyton Reed
Writers: Jeff Loveness
Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton

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InSession Film Podcast – Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania

Podcast: The State of the MCUnion – Episode 522

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This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we debate the state of the MCU and where things fall after Phase 4 and entering Phase 5 with Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumnia! We also talk about the future of cinema and the increasing lack of originality among the major studios.

On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!

– The Stat of the MCUnion (3:35)

Phase 4 of the MCU was divisive, but was it as bad as many are making it out to be? We debate the good and the bad, and talk about some changes needed for Marvel to find its peak once again.

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RELATED: Listen to Episode 516 of the InSession Film Podcast where we discussed our Top 10 Movies of 2022!

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– The Future of Cinema (1:13:37)

This last week alone, we heard announcements for a sequel to I am Legend, a live-action adaption of How to Train Your Dragon, reboots for Starsky & Hutch and Hellboy, and Disney dipping back into the wells of Frozen, Toy Story and Zootopia. Outside of horror, originality is dying and should we be concerned about the major studios’ reliance on IP? We discuss.

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– Music

Eternals – Ramin Djawadi
Forbidden Friendship – John Powell
The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson

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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 522

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Next week on the show:

Movies We Love That Are Absolute Trash

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Help Support The InSession Film Podcast

If you want to help support us, there are several ways you can help us and we’d absolutely appreciate it. Every penny goes directly back into supporting the show and we are truly honored and grateful. Thanks for your support and for listening to the InSession Film Podcast!

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Movie Review (Berlinale 2023): ‘The Eternal Memory’ Renders Vast Empathy and Humanity


Director:  Maite Alberdi

Writer:  Maite Alberdi

Synopsis: Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Both fear the day he no longer recognizes her. World Premiere. Available online.


Although it may not contain many layers within its tragic subject matter, Maite Alberdi’s latest documentary, The Eternal Memory, renders vast empathy and humanity – reminding the spectator of the beauty of unique personal connection in times of hopelessness and grief. 

Alzheimer’s is a heartbreaking disease that slowly deteriorates a person’s recollections and cognitive functions. Unfortunately, it’s a condition without a cure. Because of it, everyone’s afraid of aging; we’re scared to face a constant confrontation with retaining our memories since we lose our own selves without them. Our personalities are forged by the passing of time and the experiences we undergo. Every time this disease or other ones like dementia are depicted on film, it arrives with a melancholic and saddening aftertaste, as it’s grueling to see people suffering from something so woeful. Sarah Polley’s Away From Her (2007) and Michael Haneke’s Amour (2012) inspired many filmmakers to take on stories about the complex subject with each making a different approach, whether it is Gaspar Noé with Vortex or Natalie Erika James’ Relic. Now, after her acclaimed work The Mole Agent (El Agente Topo), documentarian Maite Alberdi delivers The Eternal Memory, a love story amidst melancholy induced by Alzheimer’s. 

The subjects of The Eternal Memory are Augusto Góngorra, former TV journalist and cultural commentator, and his wife, Paulina “Pauli” Urrutia, an actress and former minister of the national council of culture and the arts of Chile. They have been together, madly in love with one another, for twenty-five years. And it is evident their devotion to each other hasn’t diminished a single bit, as we get glimpses of their past via photos and videos, thanks to acute editing by Carolina Siraqyan. We see charming moments of them enjoying a vacation across the seas, some of Augusto’s work in television, their marriage in 2016, and spending time with their children. In the archive footage, everything seems to be fine; nothing can hurt or break them apart. However, a small crack in their lives haunts Augusto, as he’s diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Maite Alberdi blends the footage of the past with the present pandemic day to reflect love and illness – the effect each has over time. 

We are all familiar with the toll Alzheimer’s takes on people, but what Alberdi does is not shower the screen with excessive dread, even though pre-determined dashes of sadness come in hand with the topic. Instead, Alberdi wants to show how people care for each other in whatever state their partner is in – one might not believe in it, but it’s true love, people destined for each other. As his condition worsens, you’d think it affects their love, but what happens with Augusto and Pauli through The Eternal Memory’s runtime is the opposite. Pauli, now taking on the mantle of caretaker and memory preserver, still loves Augusto significantly. Even with the tragedy of memory loss at the center of their relationship, there’s an enduring love – a fire that hasn’t been extinguished and burns brighter as the years go by. It’s absolutely touching, rendering great amounts of compassion and tenderness as these two souls interact in the most lovely way imaginable. It’s palpable; you feel their love for each other bursting out of the screen and moving you. 

As I mentioned before, heartache arrives with the topic at hand, though its moments of bliss, particularly when Pauli is caring for Augusto and recalling some memories, are the ones that stayed with me the most. Pablo Valdés’ cinematographic eye beautifully captures those scenes. On one occasion, when Augusto sees Pauli perform on stage in a local stage play, the camera mainly focuses on him. We see him enjoying himself and the performance. Yet, primarily, there’s something else happening. It feels like he’s falling in love again with Pauli. Augusto might not recognize Pauli from the get-go; however, when he finally does, there’s a bright light in his eyes. He remembers their twenty-five years together. He may not recollect them in their entirety, but in beautiful pieces that showcase how the heart can store some memories of its own through good and bad situations. Scenes like these in The Eternal Memory remind us that sometimes, you can’t beat the real thing. 

Although this is a documentary, it is a love story at its core – a tale of romance amidst the troubles of an incurable illness. Documentaries can belong to different genres and not only focus on the journalistic aspects of its own trappings. Maite Alberdi’s latest work is a testament to the space love holds in our memories. The Eternal Memory is an intimate and heartbreaking passage into the lives of Paulina and Augusto. Sometimes, it feels like we’re trespassing and don’t want to interrupt them as they deal with these harsh situations. Yet, Alberdi and the two lovers welcome us into their homes because they want to demonstrate that what we see is not forged by tragedy but by devotion. 

Score: B+

Movie Review: ‘At Midnight’ Is Another Movie We’ve Seen Before


Director: Jonah Feingold

Writers: Jonah Feingold, Maria Hinojos, Giovanni M. Porta

Stars: Monica Barbaro, Diego Boneta, Anders Holm

Synopsis: At Midnight is a romantic comedy about two people who have made the “safe” choice not to fall in love.


Jonah Feingold’s At Midnight has been done time and again in Hollywood, and it’s time for studios to stop greenlighting the same variation on the same theme. A popular (but typecast) Hollywood star (Monica Barbaro) in love with another bigshot star (Anders Holm) break up after Sophie (Barbaro) sees Adam (Holm) kissing an assistant in his trailer. However, the two have to go to Mexico to finish shooting their film. 

There, she meets the nicest boy in town, junior hotel manager Alejandro (Diego Boneta). After Alejandro accidentally finds her naked in the bathroom while arriving with towels, he apologizes and makes it up to her during the evening by cooking a meal for her. It’s there that they will fall in love, and a predictable structure ensues. From there, you pretty much know what’s going to happen. They fall in love, they go through many romantic escapades, there’s going to be a falling out, until one of them confesses deeply of their love for the movie to end on a happy note. It would’ve been fine if the script wasn’t so boring and didn’t retread tired clichés from every other romcom out there, but alas. 

The only reason why the film is worth watching is for Barbaro’s lead performance. As Sophie, she infuses enough charm for you to care about her journey with Alejandro, even if Boneta delivers his lines in the most stilted, unnatural way possible. Barbaro arrives fresh off of Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick, which was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture. At Midnight seems like a stepdown for Barbaro, especially with how talented she was in Kosinski’s film. But she remains the best part of the movie, as she seemingly is the only one who seems to care about the whole thing. Holm is also pretty decent as Adam, but he’s always been good at playing antagonistic characters, for some reason. He’s quite comfortable playing someone who we love to hate and want Sophie to get as far away from as she possibly can. It’s as if he does it in his sleep.. 

However, Boneta isn’t charming. His performance is too glossy for its chemistry to feel natural between the two stars. Since the dialogue is so clichéd, it doesn’t necessarily matter if they have good chemistry, because you know exactly where this thing is heading. They’re going to fall in love, have some adventure together, and then fall out, quickly break up until they realize they won’t be able to live apart. It’s written on the wall as soon as they meet. 

At Midnight also tries to spice things up through its script by offering a commentary on our superhero movie-obsessed culture, which doesn’t work. A haphazard line that superhero movies are “according to Scorsese, not cinema” after commenting on a cascade of content from both Marvel and DC (though, good news, they appear to be slowing down) and a jumpscare of a cameo from Supes (yes, that Supes) barely allows At Midnight to craft something tangible that makes us care about the romance and what it has to stay on the endless barrage of superhero films and television series audiences are getting. 

Because of this, the movie fails to deliver a genuinely heartfelt romance anchored by two great stars. Barbaro is a star, and her performance is the best part of the whole affair. She seems to be excited at the prospect of starring in more movies after Top Gun: Maverick, and justifiably so. However, she should star in roles that better take advantage of her talent than inside a soulless, Hallmark-lite romance with a lead who has barely any chemistry with her. Her on-screen pairing with Boneta is so dull that you’ll quickly wish the movie was over. Thankfully, the runtime flies by fast, but at what cost? You’re better off watching Magic Mike’s Last Dance in cinemas, the best romance of 2023. 

Grade: D-

 

Movie Review: ‘Sharper’ is a Case of Spoiled Potential


Director: Benjamin Caron

Writers: Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka

Stars: Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, Briana Middleton

Synopsis: Motivations are suspect, and expectations are turned chaos, as a con artist takes on Manhattan billionaires.


Leaving aside the subjective factor of quality, Apple TV+ is, by some margin,- one of the less popular streaming services. All the others have well-known franchises with large fan bases, so, naturally, these have more subscribers and, consequently, more buzz around them. That said, Apple TV+ strives to focus more on quality than quantity, a mindset that has proven to be right given the success of its original films and series. Sharper is their latest movie and holds numerous reasons to catch the attention of viewers even before they press the button.

Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan stand out from the cast, but Justice Smith and Briana Middleton are the ones who impress the most. Leaving the performances for later, the truth is that what made me gain tremendous interest in the film was the director, Benjamin Caron. It might be his feature film debut, but Caron is responsible for some of the best episodes in series like Andor, Sherlock, and The Crown.

And in Sharper, Caron demonstrates all his talent behind the camera. In a character-driven screenplay – written by Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka – Caron creates a unique atmosphere for each of them, arranging stunning shots for virtually every scene and offering the spectators an extra reason to feel captivated. The narrative is divided into chapters explicitly marked with title cards with the names of each character: Tom (Smith), Sandra (Middleton), Max (Stan), and Madeline (Moore).

However, unlike other films that use this storytelling method to repeat the same events through distinct perspectives, each section of Sharper depicts a different part of the narrative, either advancing the main storyline or exploring the characters’ past. Such a change to the common formula allows, in theory, to add unpredictability to each chapter, as the public no longer holds prior knowledge about the respective conclusions. Caron manages to move from theory to practice with some success during the first half of the movie, but even before this point, the biggest problem with the screenplay arises.

Sharper is a slick film loaded with multiple twists that supposedly should increase the levels of enthusiasm as well as bring shock value to the narrative. Unfortunately, viewers quickly find themselves one or more steps ahead of all the characters, removing any surprise factor in moments that rely immensely on that very thing. Obviously, knowing what’s going to happen in advance doesn’t mean it’s not possible to enjoy the execution of such developments and appreciate the respective entertainment value.

And this is where the performances contribute tremendously to Sharper. Moore and Stan use their experience to interpret mysterious characters, which are difficult to trust, with the latter demonstrating a certain aptitude for this type of role. Surprisingly, Smith, and especially Middleton, are the ones who steal the spotlight by delivering phenomenal performances. The actor has the opportunity to finally show a more convincing dramatic side than his earlier roles, while the actress left me blown away by her expressiveness and emotional range.

Sharper doesn’t deepen the various themes related to social classes, commodities gained from wealth, or the redemption arcs present in the film, ending with an abrupt sequence of events distant from the grounded narrative developed until then. Particular character decisions generate doubt about their true intentions, which can cause some contradictory sensations for viewers, as the movie itself doesn’t completely justify these same actions.

In the end, it’s a psychological thriller full of twists that I recommend to fans of the genre, but let it be known that the ending holds enough potential to somehow spoil the overall experience if it doesn’t work for you.

Grade: C+

 

Podcast Review: ‘Plane’

On this episode, Tim Costa of the First Time Watchers joins JD to discuss the Gerard Butler movie Plane!

Review: Plane (3:00)
Director: Jean-François Richet
Writers: Charles Cumming, J. P. Davis
Stars: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Tony Goldwyn

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InSession Film Podcast – Plane

Women InSession: Classic Romantic Comedies – Episode 26

This week on Women InSession, in the spirit of Valentines Day, we discussed our favorite classic romantic comedies!

Panel: Kristin Battestella, Zita Short, Amy Thomason

On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!

– Music

The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson

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Women InSession – Classic Romantic Comedies

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One Shining Moment: Countries With One Oscar Nomination To Its Name

For Best International Feature, the powerhouses that come to mind are Italy (14 wins, 32 nods), France (12 wins, 40 nods), Japan (5 wins, 17 nods), Germany (3 wins, 20 nods), and Spain (4 wins, 20 nods). These are the countries, among others with a rich film industry that crank out multiple acclaimed films around the world. Even if their country doesn’t pick them as their representative, the Oscars can still nominate them and have them in other categories. Some countries do have just one win (Chile, Taiwan, South Africa), others just the one sole nomination. Even then, that one nomination still means a lot to that country on such an international stage. 

24 nations have just a single nomination to their credit, including the now-nominated The Quiet Girl from Ireland. South Korea’s Parasite pulled the biggest win of all as the first International film to also win Best Picture. Uruguay’s sole nomination (A Place In The World, 1992) was disqualified when more production information revealed it to be mostly an Argentina-backed film. Until 2011, Puerto Rico was considered eligible to have their film nominated and did so with 1989’s What Happened To Santiago. And, in 1976, East Germany’s only nomination before reunification with the West was Jacob The Liar. Here are other notable singular nominees for their home nation.

 

Black And White In Color (1977, Ivory Coast)

South Korea isn’t the only country to be 1-for-1 with Best International Feature. This film submitted by the Académie de Côte d’Ivoire, their first, turned out to be a real winner. Set in Africa during the First World War, this dark comedy satirizes the colonialism of both France and Germany during that period and is critical of militarism on which powerful nations build their strength. It was the debut feature from director Jean-Jacques Annaud, who later gained acclaim for Quest For Fire and The Name Of The Rose. 

 

Alsino And The Condor (1982, Nicaragua)

It is the only country with a film nominated from Central America besides Mexico. Still building itself after the Nicaraguan Revolution of 1979, Alsino tells the story of a boy who gets caught up in the battle between the government and the leftist rebels. He meets an American military advisor (Dean Stockwell) who gives the boy his first flight on his helicopter but cannot stop him from seeing the violence inflicted upon those suspected of supporting the rebels. Considering the political climate at the time in the United States, it is surprising that this film, which was also co-produced by Cuba, made it to the final five.

 

Strawberry And Chocolate (1994, Cuba)

Despite the strange love-hate relationship with the government 90 miles from Key West, they made it to the Oscars stage with this delightful comedy of a surprising friendship between a straight man and a flamboyant gay man in the 1970s. It’s a story that deals with homophobia in Latin America and how gay people struggled under the government’s repression of such feminine behavior from men. It was co-directed by Tomas Guiterrez Alea in his penultimate film, having established himself as Cuba’s greatest film director with classics like Memories Of Underdevelopment.

 

The Man Without A Past (2002, Finland)

Writer-director Aki Kaurismäki could easily have multiple nominations for his work, but his dislike of film competitions and protest of the Iraq War has caused him to withdraw his films from consideration. His films Drifting Clouds and Lights In The Dusk got the chop because of this. One film he did allow to go through was his comedy of a man who is assaulted and suffers from amnesia due to head injuries. With no recollection of who he is and where he came from, the man restarts his life from scratch. This film was the second of his Finland Trilogy which includes the two previously mentioned films. Because the Iraq War started just days before the ceremony, he boycotted it. 

 

Timbuktu (2014, Mauritania)

It is still the only film ever submitted for consideration by the West African nation and it hit the mark by being nominated. Based on true events, it centers on the titular city of Mali during its brief rule under a jihadist group and centers around a man who kills his neighbor over the death of a cow, resulting in harsh repercussions. It is a story about the rule of such terror while also showing the jihadists, who demand a total following of Islamic law, contradicting their own views. Even if Mali and Mauritania are Muslim-majority countries, the ways that they used to live in are completely disrupted and forced upon them in certain cruel circumstances. 

 

Follow me on Twitter: @brian_cine (Cine-A-Man)

Poll: What is your favorite non-MCU Paul Rudd performance?

Can Paul Rudd just age already? Even a little bit? More importantly, can he also stop being the most charming funnyman in Hollywood? We may associate Paul Rudd with the Marvel Cinematic Universe now, but before that he was one of our funniest everymen, equal parts charm and awkward. He brings that same energy to Scott Lang in the MCU, but because that energy dates back to the mid-90s, let’s look at his best and most memorable work over the years.

What is your favorite non-MCU Paul Rudd performance?


Podcast: Steven Soderbergh Gems – Episode 521

This week’s episode is brought to you by Koffee Kult. Get 15% OFF with the code: ISF

This week on the InSession Film Podcast, using Magic Mike’s Last Dance as inspiration, JD and Jay discuss their favorite Steven Soderbergh gems and why he’s such a captivating filmmaker. We also answer a few listener questions and talk about the new trailer for The Flash!

On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!

– Discussing Steven Soderbergh (3:00)

Some of the films discussed: Solaris, The Limey, Let Them All Talk, Unsane, King of the Hill, The Good German, Bubble, Side Effects

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RELATED: Listen to Episode 516 of the InSession Film Podcast where we discussed our Top 10 Movies of 2022!

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– Listener Q&A (1:05:35)

We answer a few questions about the Oscars, some performances we’ve loved recently and the new trailer for The Flash!

Show Sponsor: First Time Watchers Podcast

– Music

Is That What Everybody Wants? – Cliff Martinez
The Batman Theme – Danny Elfman
The Return of the Eagle – Atli Örvarsson

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InSession Film Podcast – Episode 521

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Next week on the show:

Marvel State of the Union

Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo by Jay Maidment. © 2022 MARVEL.

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Movie Review: ‘The Outwaters’ Slowly Ramps Up To A Great Finale


Director: Robbie Banfitch

Writer: Robbie Banfitch

Stars: Robbie Banfitch, Angela Basolis, Scott Schamell

Synopsis: Four travelers encounter menacing phenomena while camping in a remote stretch of the Mojave Desert


Embracing the found-footage horror subgenre tropes and nodding to its predecessors (primarily Cannibal Holocaust, The Blair Witch Project, and As Above, So Below), Robbie Banfitch’s The Outwaters has a slow start that follows a familiar layout and tests your patience, but it is all worth it once the disorienting grisly finale, with an exploitation twist, arrives. 

The found footage horror subgenre has haunted the big screen with its stylized POV cinematography since the early days of exploitation and grindhouse cinema. Ruggero Deodato shocked the world in the 80s with his film Cannibal Holocaust, where a professor stumbles across a lost film shot by a missing documentary crew that “studied” the Amazon Rainforest’s indigenous cannibalistic tribes. People were so stunned by the movie that Deodato had to go to trial and prove in court that the actors didn’t get killed during the shooting. Although its main point was to get a reaction from the crowd via its depraved and exploitative nature, Cannibal Holocaust meant to scare the audience watching in a unique way, switching their expectations as the runtime flows and the gruesome violence rises. The film was a trendsetter whether you liked it or not. It made people believe that the people in the movie were actually seeing these events transpiring. 

A year later, Umberto Lenzi released Cannibal Ferox, which is slightly better than Deodato’s picture but is, in essence, almost the same film. Nevertheless, it paved the way for Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez’s The Blair Witch Project, which popularized the subgenre to the point where everybody wanted to replicate it. The problem with this subgenre is that it is not easy to get a hold of it, and things can go bad rapidly filmmaking-wise. Out of the subgenre’s eclectic selection, only a few are effective – Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza’s REC (and REC 2), Man Bites Dog, and Host, just to name a few. Now, you can add Robbie Banfitch’s latest film, The Outwaters, to that short list of compelling and thrilling found-footage horror films. While Banfitch takes inspiration from the aforementioned films (and others), he forges his vision; he delivers a story we have seen before by welcoming the subgenre’s cliches, later to make a descent disorienting and nightmarish hell with a finale to remember. 

The Outwaters begins with a distressing 911 phone call, in which there are people in the background screaming for their lives, and the phone operator tries to calm them down and repeats her questions to help them out. But it is too late; nothing can be done to help them at this point. The film later switches to showing some footage, which was said to be found in the middle of the Mojave desert, of an expedition a couple of friends made to make a music video for an indie folk singer. It is divided by the found camera’s three memory cards, using a three-chapter arc to split its descent into madness. The first card is focused on introducing the characters, so we get to know them before tragedy strikes and understand their reasoning for why they are going into the desert. But, in classic found footage fashion, this attempt to do some character development doesn’t work as, in the end, you don’t actually care what happens to them (which is one of the faults this film has). 

There are a few moments in which you feel that the characters care for each other due to the cast’s chemistry. Yet, when tragedy strikes, you are not emotionally impacted by their loss, unlike REC and some of the characters in The Blair Witch Project, where you are aching to see them get away from those situations as they escalate. The second memory card is focused on the exploration of the deserted plains. This is where Banfitch begins implementing horror elements and the subgenre’s tropes into the narrative. He plays mostly with sound to heighten its atmosphere, making us think something weird about their locations, and a creature slowly follows them around. The viewer begins to feel involved during this second act after The Outwaters’ unhurried commencement. It takes time to prompt shocks and frights, which might feel tedious due to the slightly off-writing and lack of engagement with the characters. However, when the third memory card (aka, the movie’s third act) arrives, that’s when things descend into unhinged freaky hell in the best way possible. 

This is where The Outwaters succeeds; the last couple of minutes are a full-tilt into inescapable gonzo horror, in which Banfitch picks and chooses elements from different subgenres – tentacles to embrace the cosmic side of the genre, guts being ripped out to deliver body-horror provocation, disorienting cinematography with constant flashes to enter in the psychological realm, amongst others. Many might tune off because all of this arrives without much explanation. The film never explains what is happening; the only thing the viewer can do is form theories about it. Much like the lead holding the camera, we are perplexed. However, it adds to the hellish experience because it is outright polarizing and constantly striking. Banfitch focuses on crafting a unique and experimental experience rather than drowning the film in scenes whose purpose is to deliver plot expositions. While The Outwaters might not be the best found-footage horror film out there, its background is very impressive. 

Not only did Banfitch star, write, direct, and produce the film, but he also did the cinematography and helped craft the special effects and sound design. It is fascinating that he managed to pour his entire vision on-screen, on his own terms, and have a hand at all of those filmmaking facets – a horror version of Steven Soderbergh almost. Sure, the film’s first half meanders way too much for its own good as the characters wander through the desert doing, for the most part, nothing. During those first two acts, a couple of minutes could have been trimmed to make The Outwaters “cut to the chase” and not feel bloated. Regardless, it is all worth it, thanks to that grisly unsettling finale where blood is splattered, and you don’t even know where it is coming from. I hope to see more of Banfitch in the future. 

Grade: B-

 

Podcast Review: ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’

On this episode, JD is joined by Megan Kearns of the Spoilerpiece Theater Podcast to discuss Steven Soderbergh’s latest in Magic Mike’s Last Dance!

Review: Magic Mike’s Last Dance (3:17)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writers: Reid Carolin
Stars: Channing Tatum, Salma Hayek Pinault

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InSession Film Podcast – Magic Mike’s Last Dance

Movie Review: ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ is All Eye Candy


Director: Steven Soderbergh

Writer: Reid Carolin

Stars: Salma Hayek, Channing Tatum, Jemelia George

Synopsis: Mike takes to the stage again, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse.


It’s hard to describe what perfection looks like. It’s going to be different for each individual person. Yet, what is the same for all of those that seek it is a meticulous drive. There’s something beautiful in that process of seeing the “aha” moment and then a translation of it in the final product. Steven Soderbergh loves to delve into the minutiae of planning and into a craftsperson seeking perfection.

This makes sense because Soderbergh is a meticulous filmmaker himself. He’s so meticulous even that he’s chosen to be his own cinematographer, camera operator, and editor; all of which are credited under pseudonyms. It makes sense that such a meticulous filmmaker would be drawn to the Magic Mike story. Mike is a person who cares deeply about what he does no matter what he does. He’s measured, thoughtful, and passionate. As much as Magic Mike’s Last Dance is about tease, titillation, and a terrific… climax, it’s a story about people with vision.

And what a vision it is to see so many beautifully sculpted men. These dancers are just phenomenal. Soderbergh knows just the angles to bring out the best of each sequence. Even the rehearsal scenes and the audition scenes are beautiful to watch. Yet nothing compares to Mike himself. The opening sequence will make you fan yourself. The closing sequence might push you to the verge of tears with its beauty… and then make you fan yourself with its daring.

All the sequences of the show they put on within the film are a part of the Magic Mike stage show, but the closing sequence is a real cinematic experience. While the dance progresses, we achieve our emotional catharsis. Between hoots of the crowd, are edited scenes of the emotional arc of the film and they are made to match the intimacy and beauty of the original lap dance. It’s a superbly created sequence that shows the density of feeling throughout the film.

That emotional arc wouldn’t have worked as well as it did if not for the powerhouse presence of Salma Hayek. She breathes fire and passion into Max, imbuing her with an indomitable spirit, until she shows us Max’s vulnerability and soft side in devastating detail. Hayek brings her ferocious talent to Max and it’s invigorating to watch.

Though stripped of its bros and wolf whistles, Magic Mike’s Last Dance is just O.K. The script leaves a lot to be desired. More often than not it feels like Reid Carolin’s script was a rough outline and they rewrote everything on the fly. It makes a lot of scenes uneven and stilted. Without a constant stream of dance all we have is a very ho hum relationship drama. It’s good that Mike is a fully realized character, but it would have been better served with a more interesting story.

Soderbergh has elevated the Magic Mike franchise beyond where it ever needed to be. He’s a filmmaker who throws himself into projects and with this film he proves that to be too high minded about what you express yourself with is to miss out on something that can bring joy to another person. Magic Mike’s Last Dance is a fun time at the theater, especially if the crowd gets into it. Bring the people in your life who like the eye candy and who aren’t afraid to be teased. It’s a film not to over analyze, but to appreciate that a craftsman put everything into making it.

Grade: C