Courtesy photo
MOVIE REVIEW
Annaatthe (2021)
When “The Irishman” digitally de-aged its stars – Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino – many complained they still moved like senior citizens. In “Annaatthe,” 70-year-old legendary Tamil superstar Rajinikanth is under a blow-dried ’80s rock band wig and an entire cake’s worth of concealer to appear decades younger, but at the very least he carries himself accordingly – which is not to say he hasn’t had help from some movie magic. During the requisite musical numbers, director-cowriter Siva employs the old Hype Williams trick of slowing down the music on set, then playing back at regular speed to make movements look a lot sharper. The result is almost seizure-inducing, much like “In the Heights.”
Continue reading “Big Brother Is Watching” »
TIFF
MOVIE REVIEW
The Middle Man (2021)
Bent Hamer seems to specialize in charming tales about eccentric small-time characters, like “Kitchen Stories” and “O’Horten.” Without the charm, we’re sort of in Coen brothers territory. Such is the case with “The Middle Man,” his adaptation of Lars Saabye Christensen’s novel “Sluk.” Some imply – as can be seen in the Toronto International Film Festival programming notes – that it has a comedic tenor, though that’s not the impression it left on this reviewer.
Continue reading “Intolerable Cruelty” »
Alberto Novelli
MOVIE REVIEW
Three Floors (2021)
Three decades ago, Nanni Moretti was dubbed the Italian Woody Allen on these shores. Fortunately, he reinvented himself as a Serious Filmmaker two decades ago with “The Son’s Room,” way ahead of Mr. Allen’s public fall from grace and Hong Sang-soo embracing his own Korean Woody Allen designation to the point of self-parody. Lately however, Mr. Moretti seems to be stuck in a rut. There’s a point in his new film, “Three Floors,” where he takes a literal beating. Enough! It’s something the Mr. Moretti from “Dear Diary” might have winced at. (Incidentally, he took to Instagram to let everyone know he winced at “Titane.”)
Continue reading “Crash and Burn” »
TIFF
MOVIE REVIEW
Benediction (2021)
“Benediction,” Terence Davies’s Siegfried Sassoon biopic, coalesces from nonlinear memory fragments, the device for which the filmmaker is best known. With this particular film, though, he seems oddly wistful for a time when people were terrible and terribly unhappy to boot.
Continue reading “The Poet as Hero” »
Janus Films
MOVIE REVIEW
Drive My Car (2021)
“Performing allowed me to be someone other than myself. And I could revert back when the performance ended,” Haruki Murakami wrote in the short story “Drive My Car,” anthologized in “Men Without Women.” “But the self that one returned to was never exactly the same as the self that one had left behind.” These words are left unspoken by actor-director Yûsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) to his chauffer, Misaki Watari (Tôko Miura), in the film adaptation directed and cowritten by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. Rather, they are faithfully enacted.
Continue reading “Broken Vessels” »
TIFF
MOVIE REVIEW
The Good House (2021)
An adaptation of the Ann Leary novel, “The Good House” centers on Hildy Good (Sigourney Weaver), an alcoholic real-estate agent with witchy powers and in a bit of a midlife crisis. Her ex-husband, Scott (David Rasche), left her for a man after 22 years; former assistant Wendy Heatherton (Kathryn Erbe) took her clients; and rent just went up in Brooklyn for her yet-dependent aspiring-artist daughter, Emily (Molly Brown). Hildy is working her deep knowledge of the fictional Wendover, Mass., (apparently stand-in for Ipswich) and personal relationships with its denizens to capacity in hopes of drumming up business. Though she has her finger on the pulse of this affluent coastal Boston suburb, she’s oblivious to the seriousness of her dipsomania to the point that an intervention needs to be staged.
Continue reading “Daze on the Market” »
Josh Barrett/A24
MOVIE REVIEW
The Souvenir Part II (2021)
“The Souvenir Part II” is, in essence, the making of “The Souvenir,” Joanna Hogg’s maybe autography about Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne), the Sloane Ranger-y student enrolled at the Raynham Film School (stand-in for Ms. Hogg’s alma mater, the National Film and Television School) and living in Knightsbridge, who perpetually feigns a smile as her forehead tightens. The school seemingly expects her well-to-do folks (Tilda Swinton, Ms. Swinton Byrne’s real-life mum, and James Spencer Ashworth) to bankroll her student projects. They do, and in turn she takes some of the hard-begged handouts to support the drug habit and wastrel lifestyle of The Worst Fuckboi Ever, Anthony (Tom Burke).
Continue reading “Putting It Together” »
Adolpho Veloso/Sony Pictures Classics
MOVIE REVIEW
Jockey (2021)
“The Rider,” about an injured rodeo star living on a South Dakota reservation, was a much-admired little gem that catapulted the career of an auspicious filmmaker. It made such an impression that her follow-up would warrant a full-fledged Oscar campaign. That filmmaker was of course Chloé Zhao; and her follow-up was “Nomadland.” To try to bottle that lightning twice would be a fool’s errand. But the distributor of “The Rider,” Sony Classics, seems to have another one just like it in the hopper three years later.
Continue reading “Stumbling Out of the Gate” »
TIFF
MOVIE REVIEW
True Things (2021)
Some people lead messy lives. They can’t get out of bed in the morning. They can’t get to work on time. You don’t have to relate to them. You don’t even have to like them. You must, however, recognize their existence. There really haven’t been many movies about these folks. “Four Weddings and a Funeral” seems to be the last to leave a lasting impression, and that’s almost three decades ago. “True Things” is one such movie though, about an individual who can’t get her act together and doesn’t bother trying.
Continue reading “Chaos Reigns” »
Amazon Studios
MOVIE REVIEW
Encounter (2021)
Not sure what it is with these recent British bait-and-switchers, but “Encounter” unfolds very much like “Here Before”: It begins in one genre and then swerves into something else entirely. “Encounter” commences as science fiction, with Riz Ahmed as a former marine Malik Kahn, who, after years of absence, hurriedly snatches his two kids, Jay (Lucian-River Chauhan) and Bobby (Aditya Geddada), from his estranged ex, Piya (Janina Gavankar). They embark on a secret mission to take cover at a military base amid an alien invasion. Through elaborate special effects, the film depicts people altering their behaviors after insect bites, and their eyes give them away. If you are a sci-fi fan, just know looks here are deceiving. If that doesn’t deter you, beware of spoilers ahead.
Continue reading “Body Snatcher” »