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> THREE 4-and-a-half star movies? That’s a bountiful month!
(All films are rated on a 5-star basis and must be over a decade old to get 5 stars.)
Titles in purple have been expanded for Flix Pix columns.
This month I review the following 10 features:
LOVE AND MONSTERS (2020)***
THE MAURITANIAN (2021)****
THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF (1950)***
BODY DOUBLE (1984)**+
CUTTER’S WAY (1981)****
CORPUS CHRISTI (2019)****+
LAPSIS (2020)***
A QUIET PLACE PART II (2021)****+
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (2019)****+
THE MUSTANG (2019)****
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
LOVE AND MONSTERS (2020) ***
At 65, I am losing my taste for teen movies.
. Am I getting old? Yes. But I am still interested in big, imaginative fantasy- so I guess there’s still a movie-mad kid lurking under the skin of the geriatric bloviator.
. In this latest in a seemingly endless stream of juvenile dystopian adventures, we discover a population that has been practically decimated, after an effort to save the planet from death by asteroid has the unintended consequence of mutating cold-blooded critters like reptiles, amphibians and fish into mammoth behemoths who quickly rise to the top of the food chain. yikes1 the Law of Unintended Consequences. It’s a monsterpocopalypse that sends the remnants of humankind scrambling to form small tribes and retreat to fortified underground colonies.
. Our sweet, awkward hero Joel Dawson has been separated from his sweetie Amiee in the melee, and longs to be reunited- keeping in touch through shortwave radio flirtations. but after seven long years of this, Joel has had enough. And even though he is infamous among his group for freezing in abject fear at the slightest hint of danger, his teen lust for Amiee drives him out of safety, for an insanely lethal 80-mile trek to find his honey’s colony, a quest that will more likely result in death-by-supper than a reunion with his ladylove.
. Before the open-ended conclusion that teases an ongoing series, Joel has to fend off a giant carnivorous ant, a humongous hungry toad, vicious man-eating worms, psychedelic leeches, a terrifying giant centipede, and a broken heart. It’s all fairly pedestrian fare when the monsters are not onscreen- certainly nothing we haven’t seen many times before.
– But when the Big Scary Nasties run amok, LOVE AND MONSTERS is an adrenaline rush of fun.
THE MAURITANIAN (2021) ****
> This powerful, painful drama from Kevin Macdonald (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND), is taken from the true, and horribly fraught story of Mohamedou Ould Salahi, a man swept up in America’s retaliatory war on terror after the shock of 9/11.
. Salahi spends six long years insisting upon his innocence while under constant interrogation at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The evidence- such as it is- seems threadbare and entirely circumstantial. It’s guilt by association, with no actionable evidence of culpability whatsoever- at least none the U.S. government is willing to make public. Jodie Foster is his dour, no nonsense defense attorney, a clear-eyed crusader who has no illusions about the Goliath she is doing battle with. Shailene Woodley is Foster’s green, too easily spooked assistant and on the other side of the aisle: Benedict Cumberbatch (wielding a perfect ‘merican accent), as the powerful prosecutor arguing the government’s case. In his time as guest of the Jordanian, Afghan, and finally American authorities, his “extreme rendition” subjected Salahi to “enhanced interrogation techniques”- a fancy way to dance around the more unsavory term “torture”. If you were subjected to extended isolation, temperature extremes, regular sleep deprivation, brutal beatings and sexual humiliation- if you were blindfolded, loaded aboard a boat and taken out to sea for a mock execution… would you call that torture? Can we really trust any “information” we obtain from torturing suspects? Under such stress, people will say anything to get the torment to stop- even for a few blissful moments. Foster and Woodley travel to Cuba to meet with their new client. (Did you know there is a gift shop at Guantánamo Bay? There is! With T-shirts, keychains and coffee mugs that make great gifts!) They learn that Salahi was told his mother would be brutalized and raped if he didn’t confess. After the inhuman treatment he was subjected to by the Americans, he had every reason to believe them. When the truth finally comes out, about the torture masquerading as enhanced interrogation- even Cumberbatch’s ramrod straight military stooge is so repulsed he cannot defend it- the judge finds for the defendant, and Salahi’s long confinement finally comes to an end… after 7 more years of hell! Our embarrassed and vindictive government appealed the case- and lost, of course. The appeals judge agreed with the lower military court, and finally ordered the man released.
. Tahar Rahim is haunting in the lead. He plays the part as a totally innocent man caught up in big events beyond his control. But was Salahi as innocent as Rahim plays him? Watching the film, I really wanted to believe so. By the end I had my doubts. After 14 years in custody (without charges), Salahi was finally released to live the rest of his life as an everyday person in Mauritania. He wrote the biography Guantánamo Diary in 2015, from which this script was derived. (In fact, he wrote two other books while in custody, but the government won’t let him have them back.) We get a quick view of the actual man at the end, and he seems very happy.
. But very happy does not mean very blameless.
. Salahi stipulates to having trained in an Al-Qaeda training camp. How innocent is that? It’s painful to admit when it comes to events like 9/11, but there are shades of guilt. It is truly horrifying to contemplate the heinous deeds that are done daily in our name- things very few of us would dream to do ourselves- yet through complacence, we seem happy to let others do our dirty work for us- as long as they don’t tell us about it. We don’t want to know! The really gargantuan questions this provocative film poses:
. Is it morally, ethically and strategically okay to fight barbarism with barbarism?
. Isn’t this where justice becomes revenge?
. Doesn’t this make us just as culpable in the ongoing cycle of violence, in the clash between these two great cultures of the world?
– In dealing with barbarians, let no man become one in my name!
THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF (1950) ***
In this boilerplate B-noir, Jane Wyatt is the femme fatale du jour, and Lee J. Cobb- fresh off his Broadway success with Death of a Salesman is the patsy who should have known better. If you are going to shoot your opportunistic husband dead in front of a San Francisco police lieutenant, it helps if that cop is your smitten new boyfriend. A master manipulator, the murderess convinces her man to dump the body and get rid of the gun. Big mistake Lee! In a fortunate irony for him, Cobb is assigned to solve the case, with his brother- a green new recruit to the force. But when the gun he thought he ditched is found and used in another killing, it presents an opportunity to pin both murders on the criminal. Very convenient! Except that his young bro is a better detective than Cobb expected, and he watches in horror as his eager beaver brother finds and follows all the clues that will lead him to the truth Cobb is so eager to keep hidden. Great premise. Good noir.
BODY DOUBLE (1984) **+
This Brian De Palma mystery has its following, but it’s hard to claim it’s aged very well. It seems a clear homage to Hitchcock thrillers like VERTIGO or DIAL M FOR MURDER, yet, it’s not even in the same cinematic universe as any of ‘em. BODY DOUBLE is a sordid tale of voyeurism and murder in the corrupt underworld of the Hollywood fleshmongers. Struggling actor Jake Scully (an appealing Craig Wasson), gets a best housesitting gig in the world, caretaking the famous architectural wonder Chemosphere, towering over the rich folks’ dwellings in the tony Hollywood Hills. As part of the tour of his new digs, he is introduced to the possibility of spying on a comely neighbor through a well-placed telescope, as she does her nightly erotic dance. (Sure. Who doesn’t do a nightly erotic dance? Don’t you?) This appeal to his darker side works, and he begins to form an obsession with his nightly forays into voyeurism. But just as in REAR WINDOW, the peeping Tom sees something he isn’t supposed to see. He watches helplessly from a distance while the girl is murdered. But because this is a De Palma homage, expect the unexpected. Was the murdered woman the same woman he watched dancing erotically every night, or was Melania Griffith her body double? Posing as a porno producer, Jake throws himself into the seedy subculture of the Southern Cal porno industry. BODY DOUBLE certainly had exciting passages. Craig Wasson felt like a fresh face- but ultimately? Meh. Stick with Hitchcock.
CUTTER’S WAY (1981) ****
> I recall seeing this much-admired film from Czech filmmaker Ivan Passer, in the tiny art house Nickelodeon when I was new to Santa Cruz, and quite liking it.
. In the decades since then, CUTTER’S WAY has proven to be a sleeper cult film among many, so I decided to treat myself to a fresh look.
. It’s a drama about two friends living at the margins in sunny Santa Barbara: laid back “Bone” (played by a very Southern Cal Jeff Bridges), and John Heard as “Cutter”- a gruff, bitter, abrasive Vietnam vet who left a leg and an eye in the jungles of southeast Asia, and can’t seem to drink enough alcohol to make up for it. After Bone catches a glimpse of a man dumping a corpse in a back alley dumpster, the two are inexorably drawn into the crime. Playing armchair detective, Cutter begins to connect the dots to a major power player- a man Cutter is certain, would pay handsomely to suppress his involvement in the affair. It all works up to the damaged vet’s memorable wedding rampage, that has both comic and tragic elements. I remembered it vividly. I did not remember the way Cutter took to get there.
. It is a self-destructive path this tormented soul is on from the very start, and while a fresh young Bridges makes a good sidekick, it is Heard’s move. He is gone to eternity now, so it’s safe to say that had never, never been better, giving a committed and energetic performance that marked the high point of his career. Heard pushes the character almost to the point of caricature, before deftly pulling back to reveal that Cutter’s bluster is all a sort of performance- a way for him to act out his seething fury and let everyone in earshot know he is hurting. Cutter’s barely-contained outrage cannot help but leak out at every seam, in a blistering string of vindictive that promises that- before the film is over, that outrage will be uncontainable, resulting in a cataclysmic explosion that could be Cutter’s personal apocalypse.
– CUTTER’S WAY is excellent character-driven drama with a noir patina. Even better than I remembered. Great job, Ivan.
CORPUS CHRISTI (2019) ****+
> This Oscar contender from Poland was certainly one of the best films of 2019. I was extremely impressed by this story of how a casual lie, made to impress a cute girl, enables a sort of redemption-through-fraud for a troubled soul.
. Wayward young Daniel is a man who spent his most formative years in a reform school, paying the price for a second-degree murder conviction. It is a brutal institution- and Daniel finds genuine solace as an altar boy for the chapel priest, growing to believe there may be a calling for him in the church once he is released. But his nascent dream is squashed, when Daniel discovers that his criminal record means he will never be admitted to the seminary. When he comes of age, Daniel is sent to work in a sawmill- but it’s about as bleak as the reform school was, so he escapes to a small village in the Polish countryside, and steps into the parish church to figure out what to do next. In the hard, wooden pews, he discovers an attractive parishioner at prayer, and while flirting with her, learns that the local vicar is ill, and a temporary replacement is en route to take over his priestly duties for a while. In an impulsive moment, Daniel claims to be that overdue priest- and despite appearances, the local vicar believes him, leaving Daniel in charge of the parish while he goes away for medical treatment. Fortunately for Daniel, his familiarity with the ritual and sacraments of the Church gives him the tools to bolster his believability as a very “alternate” young priest- tattooed, worldly and jarringly profane. In the long run (of course!), the punk-priest ends up doing a lot of good for the local community, effecting needed change that would never have happened without his brazen charade.
Actor Bartosz Bielenia is exciting and sympathetic in the central role- deftly playing Daniel’s gray areas, instead of the easy black and white extremes. the dialogue was great, and the story, riveting. Guess I enjoyed CORPUS CHRISTI about as much as I’ve enjoyed any film!
– Four-and-a-freakin’-half stars! Huzzah!
LAPSIS (2020) ***
> This minor, but imaginative sci-fi, does an extraordinary job of painting an “alternate parallel present” on a very low budget.
. LAPSIS is a satire of a gig economy gone mad- kind of like the one we have in the present you and I share.
. Ray is a working schlub who is having a hard time making ends meet on his wages as a Queens delivery driver. But there is a new gig in town for motivated entrepreneurs, that is generating great buzz. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, lured by promises of great rewards for the most cutthroat worker bees. In this brave new alt-world, commerce is going “quantum”, and in a parallel to our budding Internet of Everything, every place needs to be connected to every other place, like the complex web of neurons in a human brain. To accommodate this quantum future, a grid of large, cubic power nodes now dots the landscape at regular intervals- even out in the middle of nowhere. In a weird hybrid of low-tech meets high-tech, an army of grunts is incentivized to haul great, long spools of cable, cross-country from node to node. (Researchers were able to create these advanced cubes of power, yet unable to connect them without cables that evoke the age of cable TV more than the world of 5-G? I guess so!)
. Eager to compete for the most lucrative routes, Ray jumps right into this strange world, as the greater mysteries begin to gradually emerge. He gets an education in the manipulation of the worker by cynical Wall Street profiteers, puppeteers who clearly value profits over the well-being of workers who are manipulated by a smartphone app that keeps prodding them to greater productivity by framing it all as a game they are on the verge of losing to the automated robots ceaselessly laying endless miles of cable. This creates an adversary, and keeps them in a competition with automation that the human worker can never win. Will driven drone Ray change sides, and join the coming worker revolution? What do you think?
. The lead actors here are pleasant enough, if not quite inspired, as they have a sort of amateur quality. It’s a notable debut from first time director Noah Hutton, whose off-kilter alt-world shows enough originality to warrant a second film, even if the ending fizzles badly, just kind of sputtering to a halt, like he had either run out of money or ideas, or both.
– Still, in LAPSIS, Hutton deftly illuminates the ills of our own reality, by conjuring an “alternate” reality that looks all too familiar.
A QUIET PLACE PART II (2021) ****+
> Shh! Read this review quietly, and never, never out loud if you know what’s good for you.
. In the opening portion, this terrifying sequel to the terrifying original flirts with being a prequel. The story begins before the events that propelled the sensation that came before it. For a brief, relaxing moment we get a glimpse of a normal world, before horrible nasties from outer space invaded Earth and began to eviscerate us. That is, if they could hear us. Evolution never saw fit to equip them with eyes, substituting super-hearing instead.
. These further existential adventures of the fractured Abbott family, were just as tense as the original, following Emily Blunt and her now fatherless family, as they fight to survive a life of near complete silence, lest they be eaten alive. Yikes. Those are high stakes! Forced by circumstances to venture outside of their well-padded safety zone, the infant- who could cry at any moment, as infants do, and rain horrible death, tucked away in a soundproof carriage, the life-threatening dangers just never let up for these poor Abbotts! Life is tough after alien invasion.
. Actor, writer, director John Krasinski very cleverly balances multiple emergencies, separating the characters, so they each face their own perils. Cillian Murphy is a family friend who has lost his entire family to the beasts, and he is so hardened and embittered, he is an uncertain ally. But when the Millicent Simmonds as the deaf young teenage Abbott sets out alone on a dangerous quest, the shit really hits the fan!
– Horror thrillers are really not my thing… unless they are as breathlessly exciting as this series. John Krasinski has a scary muse!
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (2019) ****+
> What would happen if Canadian history took acid? This lunatic, hyper-stylized fantasia is some wonderfully crazy shit!
. In his feature debut, filmmaker Matthew Rankin has taken a page from the playbook of his berserk countryman Guy Maddin, to produce a dazzling, surreal reimagining of the rise of Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, at the onset of the twentieth century. Rankin may have taken Maddin’s very best page. It’s as good as any feature the mad manic master has ever made- better, if you need a coherent plot to hang your attention on- something usually in woefully short supply in a Guy Maddin film.
. Rankin’s twisted revamp of Canada’s history is a fractured act of patriotism. (Canada’s flag is always referred to as “the Disappointment”.) Political machinations at the top of the government are presented through a delightfully distorted lens that could have been borrowed from Monty Python. The production design is, in part, homage to abstract impressionism of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, and its setpieces give that classic a run for its money. Each frame of THE TWENTIETH CENTURY has carefully composed scenic elements, accented with artfully posed human tableaux. With moments that suggest B-movie horror schlock, it’s really piquant social criticism dressed as an absurdist Dada nightmare, borrowing liberally from Fascist propaganda and, like Maddin, silent movie motifs. The grainy pastels often resemble a colorized newsreel.
. Wait ‘til you see the trials our comic hero must prevail at to win the office of Prime Minister! There’s leg wrestling and butter churning, of course- but then also bird-calling, the most gruesome game of whack-a-mole you have ever seen (or would ever want to!), culminating in a race through the deadly Ice Maze to plant his party’s political flag! Man, they really know how to do politics in Canada, eh?
. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY is an unexpected bit of inspired lunacy with crack art direction that creates a whimsical counter-Canada that had me grinning from ear to ear.
– You could not possibly have more fun with a movie, in any century!
THE MUSTANG (2019) ****
> Matthias Schoenaerts shines as a prisoner with enough bottled-up rage to power a major city, in this fine human drama.
. The man Matthias plays is many years into a long sentence for domestic battery when we meet him, and we get no sense that he is in any way a better man now than he was the day he was put behind bars. Matthias is not a prisoner one talks about in terms of “reforming”. If anything, this time isolated with other hard, troubled men has probably made his seemingly impenetrable shell even harder. Still, there is one approach that has shown remarkable success with hardened convicts like him. The feds have rounded-up a bunch of excess wild horses roaming free on public lands that have become a problem. They either need to be “domesticated” or “euthanized” (quotation marks because I fear both are convenient euphemisms.). Preternaturrally crusty Bruce Dern runs a program that matches inmates with these culled animals that need socialized and trained for public auction if they don’t want to become dogfood and glue. In the process of “breaking” the beast, the troubled men often break themselves in, and become less beasts themselves. It’s worth a try.
. Matthias is intimidated at first. Naturally, the most unruly prisoner has been matched with the most defiant horse! That quadraped is a demon! But Matthias is a tough guy. He’s up to the challenge. He has to be. It’s something to do that gets him out of the everyday hell of near 24-hour confinement- even if it does make him a target of a drug kingpin, who knows he now has access to some powerful horse meds. (A interesting subplot, but given short shrift. As far as I could figure, the way Matthias deals with it does not seem to solve anything, but would only serve to make things worse in there for him. Perhaps I was missing something.) Still, working to socialize the horse, socializes him in some way. It calms Matthias down, centers him- focuses a mind in turmoil, and makes it possible for the better man we intuit lives repressed within him, to leak out. We see this in scenes where his estranged daughter comes with a disturbing request. He is troubled to see her- deeply troubled. But he can’t be his usual furious, volatile monster at these moments. It’s his daughter, and he has a hard time suppressing the painful unanswered hurts her appearance engenders.
. Unfortunately, the bits with cranky octogenarian Dern alternately hectoring and praising Matthias as he nervously enters the corral and faces-off with the defiant dynamo feel forced and sentimental. But they are small complaints for a film that is so damn good. Matthias Schoenaerts carries every moment with a focused intensity that mesmerizes, and he is in every scene. What an actor! We would not want to run afoul of this character.
– At least, not before he began training wild horses. He was a different man then. People can change. So can horses.
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> It’s great to still find so many movies I can absolutely love. Never believe anyone who declares the art form dead: Long Live Cinema!
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© Kevin Paul Keelan and lastcre8iveiconoclast, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kevin Paul Keelan and lastcre8iveiconoclast with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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