L&D Report

The Farewell

The Farewell is a haunting and personal story from Writer \ Director Lulu Wang. I’m sorry that I didn’t immediately come home and write a review but maybe I was hoping that our guests H & A would take me up on the offer of an Official L & D t-shirt for writing a guest review. Also, I was busy editing my own film. Then I was busy alternately vegging out and processing The Farewell.

I don’t know how many of you have been in the situation, I have, where a loved one is dying and your family is telling you not to say anything to the dying person. Or perhaps you found yourself on the other side of that equation and your counsel was to keep the truth from the dying person and to instruct everyone, out of an old world sense of sympathy and responsibility, to not say a word. Maybe it’s even decorum. Maybe the person knows very well what is happening but they want to pretend not to know, so you can pretend not to know. So you can all hang out at the hospital room and speak nostalgically about the past and about a future that will never be. That’s not exactly what happens in The Farewell but it’s an example of how this type of situation can go down.

In The Farewell, starring Awkwafina, who I have already gushed over in this blog, flys to China from NYC to say goodbye to her dying Grandmother —though she is not allowed to say goodbye. Her entire family is visiting China under the guise of being there for a wedding. A wedding that’s a ruse. And this plot device works absolutely well as a point of comedic pain.

Ok, I’m going to gush a little. Awkwafina, who has the gait and delivery and comedic timing of Larry David, here eschews the easy Queens cranky laughs for a truly profound performance. One of my favorite radio shows is called De Película, it’s a two hour movie review and interview show on RNE, aka Radio Nacional de España aka the NPR of Spain. This show, whose title is a double entendre for “about movies” or more often an exclamation of disbelief that an event occurred, literally “Like a movie!” The show has been around for many years and they host a film fest too. Last week they were interviewing the judges, esteemed technicians and above-the-line players in Spanish Cinema. They all pretty much said the same thing. They weren’t concerned with a films’ technical achievement or in considering how well their own specialty was executed. They cared about if the film had soul. A heart. And that’s not something that can simply be conjured by mixing certain elements. There is still a magic to movies, even in this digi-tech age, success is pure alchemy. As a creator, to give a film a soul? …Well, you can at least create the conditions (to steal a little from Meisner) for something like that to occur in a narrative film but the movie has to create a soul for itself. Then one of the radio show interviewees said that a particular performance had transcended the screen. And that gave me chills because I felt that with Awkwafina in this film. It’s still the greatest magical power of this art form. The ability for actors and at times scenes or more rarely for entire films to transcend the medium. End of gush.

Another thing. The Farewell is funny. In the middle of the poignancy, there’s always a nod to absurd behaviors, situations and the wacky things people do and say. I would watch it again but it’s out of the theater. You should catch it when it’s streaming. I can’t recommend it enough.

One actor in the film, Tzi Ma, seemed familiar to me. I was asked to be the cinematographer for 5 days of principal photography on a controversial film called #1 Serial Killer (not its original title and I’ll leave it at that). This film starred the insanely talented Jason Tobin and was directed by Stanley Yung, a fellow Bruin who I have a lot of admiration for. As the title hints, there was a lot of fake blood and somehow I ended up filming most if not all of the deaths in this slasher film over the course of a few evenings. Tzi Ma, who plays a mean boss, is one target for the ire of the killer. Overall it was a great experience for me as a cinematographer and I went on to shoot other pieces for this active Asian-American coterie in Los Angeles. There’s not a lot of representation for Latinos in Hollywood so I appreciated that the Asian community there took me under its wing. I do sometimes miss being part of all that insanity. On the other hand I can confidently say that I am the only person in Appleton, Wisconsin who goes to the movies and actually knows the people in the credits on a fairly regular basis! (Note: It has been brought to my attention by someone other than Frank, that my friend Frank L. Anderson, a constant L & D reader no less, would give me a run for my money in this category. I see you Frank!). I think D gets a kick out of that. In any case, yeah, #1 Serial Killer is not the height of cinema, but I believe The Farewell truly is. I hope the Academy has its eyes open and Awkwafina can take home some well deserved hardware.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette

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In Where’d You Go, Bernadette a complex character, her motivations, fears and aspirations are all revealed in a powerful and funny story that takes us to the end of the Earth. Bernadette (Cate Blanchett) is a MacArthur Fellowship winner, a genius in her own time. But she has an especially hard time with human interaction, even using a virtual personal assistant in lieu of an actual therapist. There were many times during this film where I laughed out loud, which possibly was made easier by the fact that we were the only people in the theater. However, some of the best films we have watched were in sparse to empty theaters, like Death of Stalin and Free Solo.

I didn’t realize this movie was made by Richard Linklater but since Slacker, his films have impressed me. Unlike some of his contemporaries, he doesn’t hit you over the head with the minutia of everything from pop culture to haute couture that he knows. He just carries you along for the ride, you get the references — which D always did — or you don’t. At the same time, you wonder how in this day and age when there is a clamor and need for more women directors, a strong female driven drama like this is still green-lighted for a guy. Do you think that if a woman had directed this film that the opening and closing moments would be the voice over of a child? It takes the punch and power away from the protagonist. And I would say the use of that voice over is my strongest critique of this film. In spite of that, I did thoroughly enjoy the movie. I’d love to see Cate Blanchett nominated for an Academy Award for this performance. She is truly a genius, playing a genius here. And for the cafe scene alone, I would give Laurence Fishburne a best supporting actor Oscar nomination. He gives us some of the best lines ever and certainly in this movie, “People like you must create.” He says to Bernadette, “If you don’t create, you will become a menace to society.”

There is also a great Rashomon Effect in the film as we the audience are able to jump back and forth from various points of view, like Bernadette’s husband Elgie, played strongly by Billy Cruddup and her neighbor Audrey played by Kristen Wiig, who shows off her dramatic range.

All in all, even though the film grinds through a predictable and not that enthralling third act, it’s still mostly entertaining and interesting. I would recommend it to anyone looking for great performances, an intelligent screenplay and some fine Antarctic cinematography to boot.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

L&D had tickets in hand for the new foul-mouthed boys movie that premiered Thursday, but took a detour for an exclusive viewing of the new Richard Linklater project, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? The fact that we were the only ones in the theater perhaps does not bode well for the film’s legs. And this may well turn out to be the lowest-rated film of Linklater’s career, which has included Dazed and Confused, Slacker, the various Before offerings, and the much ballyhooed Boyhood. That sort of poisons the well for the review now, doesn’t it?

But bad by Linklater standards is still pretty good for most of what passes through the theaters, and L&D liked a lot of things here. The movie is adapted from Maria Semple’s smash literary hit of the same name (which I bought for my wife in no small part due to its spectacular — and now oft imitated — cover design) and there are a number of glimpses of why this might be a fascinating read. Whatever was going on in the novel clearly presented some challenges for Linklater, who opts to provide a considerable amount of backstory via the now familiar “character watching YouTube videos” technique.

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I went into the movie cold, knowing virtually nothing about the plot or characters, and really enjoyed how it initially unfolded. The main tension in the movie is between plot, which has its moments, and character development, which has Cate Blanchett. My guess is that how you feel about Blanchett in the title role is pretty much how you will feel about the project more generally; some critics say she was brilliant and others say she was anything but. But this is our review and we agreed that she carried the movie and she makes it worth seeing.

Aside from Bernadette, there are four or five other candidates for main characters, including her techie husband (Billy Crudup), her daughter (Emma Nelson), two mothers from her daughter’s school (Kristen Wiig and Zoe Chao), and a friend from college (Laurence Fishburne). Of these, I don’t think any developed sufficiently to turn this into a great movie. I had high hopes for the daughter and she emerges as the most developed of the main characters, but we never quite get there. There were also three potential villains and I thought these story lines were poorly handled — trotted out as important, but then dealt with in a perfunctory manner. Wiig showed a lot of promise as the busybody neighbor, but the script didn’t allow this to rise above caricature.

So that leaves us with the story, which was interesting and thought provoking, but much less of a page turner as the movie hit the hour mark. It was pretty clear that the movie was headed south (literally, to Antarctica) and I found the back end of the story a little more neatly packaged than it might have been. That said, the last half hour of the film and the credits are just beautiful to watch.

A secondary tension in this movie is whether it is a comedy or not. There are more than a few laugh-out-loud moments and any number of fun moments, particularly with Laurence Fishburne in the role of the long-lost friend. But the movie almost too-quickly pivots to high drama and at one point I turned to L and said, “This isn’t funny at all.” If the movie had been more convincing, I would probably led with the mental illness angle, but it is is not and so I did not, and I will just leave it at that.

Of the many questions you are likely to be asking on your way out, “where’d she go” is probably pretty low on the list. But it is a movie that engages the viewer on many fronts and I thought it was interesting enough to clear the $6.30 bar. L was much more positive, so a fair verdict, I think, is that we are bullish on Blanchett even if we might be a little bearish on Bernadette.

HBO in August

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I recently re-upped my HBO subscription and have been scrolling through several L&D reviews of some of their upcoming marquee movie offerings.

The Favourite, August 3 (An L&D favourite.)

Aquaman, August 10 (Horrible, even by DC standards.)

The Mule, August 17

Can You Ever Forgive Me, August 31 (An even bigger L&D favourite.)

And if I had done this for July it would have looked like this:

Bohemian Rhapsody, July 6 (“Nice pants!”)

First Man, July 20 (“Is she still mad at him?”)

Widows, July 27 (“Even Liam Neeson does some acting, in a film where remarkably no one gets kidnapped.”)

Aside from Aquaman, these are all solid fare or better.

If I get around to it, I might weigh in on the five-part Chernobyl series, which was pretty good, though ultimately too action movie-ie to characterize the real thing. I can’t decide if I’m looking forward to The Watchmen or not.

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (D)

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Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is not quite the Tarantino movie I was expecting, possibly because I didn’t know what to expect. I will start by saying that I was relieved to see L posted his review because, frankly, I wasn’t quite sure where to start with this one. It’s not that the movie doesn’t give you a lot to think about, it does, it’s just that there are so many things going on and so many things that don’t quite fit together that I found it difficult to conceptualize a coherent review. In that spirit, I will just add some additional thoughts to what L has put out there already.

First off, I liked the movie a lot more than he did, though I admit that I shared his doubts that there was an end it sight. There are indeed a lot of close ups of people’s legs as they walk from here to there (and from there back to here again). I really liked the portrayal of late-60s Hollywood and the surrounding environs, and am somewhat surprised that L wasn’t more sympathetic to just taking it all in. Maybe because we didn’t get out of the theater until almost 2 a.m.?

Continue reading “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (D)”

Once Upon a Time In Hollywood (L)

I could really get into it and write a review for next two hours and forty five minutes but I have already scarificed enough of my time for this movie. If I did the review in the style of this movie, it would go something like this: ……………………………………….I got up early ……………………………………….I decided to get a muffin and a chai latte ……………………………………….I was early so I had to sit at the coffee drive thru, waiting for them to open ……………………………………….I sat with the car on and a cool song blasting ……………………………………….The coffee guy shows up. I turn off my car. The song cuts out abruptly. I say, “I got up early.” Coffee guy says, “I did too.”

And that’s basically it. D nailed it on the drive afterwards, where at lot of our shared post-movie analysis takes place. And this is how he described it, “self-indulgent”. Now, yes, I could spend the rest of my life trying to perfect directing a scene where someone with a flamethrower gruesomely chars another person to death in a swimming pool, but luckily I have been spared that fate.

At one point I was thinking to myself. “This movie will never end.” And then it ended about two minutes later.

Another D note, it’s really two films in one. Neither is really compelling and nothing interesting to speak of happens unless you think a shirtless Brad Pitt on a rooftop is interesting. Which, I’m sure that will be true for a lot of people but it’s not a circus side show, it’s Quentin Tarantino’s 9th feature or at least that’s what the poster claims.

I tried having low expectations, I really did. But I just couldn’t and now the disappointment has arrived. Al Pacino is in this film. He is totally wasted. There is a part of the story where the DiCaprio character, a fading 50s star now doing bit parts in 60s episodic TV, goes to Rome to star in Spaghetti Westerns. But you never see any of that. Another missed opportunity. There is plenty of meandering, driving on empty freeways and smoking by holding the pack up to your mouth and plucking a cig out. Plenty of that. DiCaprio cries a lot. So what, I was crying too, on the inside.

Another great D note. (This entire review is basically me, transcribing his thoughts)…Tarantino knows how to create tension. And he really does. The scene where Pitt goes to Manson’s cult compound is truly ominous and well done. The scene where Pitt’s character, a stuntman, fights Mike Moh’s Bruce Lee works. The scene where the DiCaprio character is schooled by a child actress is effective. But are these scenes enough to save this Gone with the Wind run time movie? If you saw Us and are looking for an interesting period piece about people who break into homes in order to kill them, don’t watch this movie, just watch Us again. Us is really a brilliant film that has a lot to say. Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is a well-crafted whole lot of nothing to see here unless you like watching people look at themselves in the mirror.

If the young Tarantino found this new Tarantino he would slap him…or shoot him, cut off his finger, stuff a red ball in his mouth…you understand what I mean.

Ramen Shop

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Ramen Shop is a heartwarming story about two cultures and one family with a troubled history and a need to heal. I love the opening wide shot of a field where you see children walking along in the distance, birds flying and a quintessential Japanese train cutting through the frame. Beautiful, introspective and playful compositions like this tell this family drama. It’s easy to get wrapped up in this film as it revolves around the extended and multidimensional meanings of food — really delicious food. And although it’s told in a straightforward visual style, story structure-wise it intertwines in a way that keeps the narrative interesting. It’s a Singaporean film but like the food, it’s really all about the meshing of one culture, like a helix, with another.

In a time of increasing nationalist sentiment around the world, it’s important to have stories like these. Not simplistic tales about how everyone should happily embrace a former enemy but a real look at history, the roots of mistrust and how we can gain confidence and learn from one another again. I really don’t want to say more since I do hope you watch it and I’d rather not drop any spoilers here. There is not a lot of over the top emotion in Ramen Shop but when climactic drama does happen it is powerful with a denouement that will leave you reaching for a box of tissues or Pocky’s.

So if you love food, especially asian food in general and Japanese and Singaporean cuisine in particular. Or if you are a fan of films like Citizen Kane or Tokyo Story with a lot of fixed camera shots, deep focus and well crafted mise-en-scene. Or if you are in the mood for a sentimental story that is still grounded in history and has a lot of heart, I highly recommend Ramen Shop to you. My neighbors actually brought me the copy I watched and asked me to return it to the library when I was done.

Make sure you have a restaurant reservation right after or eat before you watch this movie —or at least have some popcorn beside you because you won’t make it.

The Lion King

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I took a group to see the new “live action” Disney’s The Lion King, joining a packed house for one of the Thursday opening presentations. I didn’t quite know what to expect, as I have somehow managed not to have seen the animated Disney’s The Lion King or Broadway’s The Lion King, or any other incarnations, sequels, or prequels of the clearly beloved story.

From what I gather, the big innovation here is that instead of animation we are treated to computer-generated “real” versions of the talking animals. To my novice eye this was all quite technically spectacular and those of you into technical spectacularity will undoubtedly enjoy this. But I’m not sure that if your goal is to anthropomorphize a setting and story that adding hyper-realism to the mix is the route to go.

But I will bypass that line of inquiry and say that I didn’t find this particularly compelling or inspirational, and instead found large swaths of the movie to have brooding overtones and the climax to be borderline apocalyptic. The little kid who followed me out of the theater told his mother that he didn’t like it and that it was “too scary.” She started to reassure him and I interjected, saying “Look, when you see a lion falling off a cliff to its certain death and vicious paw-to-paw combat, a little kid is naturally going to be scared…. And did you see that little lion almost get trampled by a herd of wildebeests and then get chased by a pack of hyper-realistic hyenas who were trying to kill him? How do you think that makes your little guy here feel?”

Well, perhaps I didn’t say that, but it wouldn’t have been out of order. The movie does an excellent job portraying the vulnerability and near helplessness of our young vis-à-vis the evils that men do. And I will say that the movie does a much better job motivating how the pride got into its various messes than it does convincing us how they could conceivably get out of them. Yada yada yada, indeed.

So if you are a CGI junkie or just can’t get enough Lion King or you are looking for a cool place to scare the bejeezus out of your small children, head on over and check it out. Unfortunately, a big would-be blockbuster premiere like this generally preempts release of other movies, so the movie selection otherwise isn’t terribly great.

L&D will return with Tarantino at Thursday evening’s opening. See you all there.

Crawl

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You know it’s the soft-spot of the summer when the king of squirm himself texts to suggest that we head off to see a scary movie. Such was the case this past bargain Tuesday, with L&D finding ourselves in the upper-deck of a packed house for the late showing of Crawl, this summer’s addition to the creepy action fare genre.

And it’s not too bad!

The movie takes us to Florida, two hours from Gainsville by car, we’re told, where a hurricane is depositing enough water to flood the place out. Without giving too much away, let’s just say there are some biggun gators on the loose. Who knew? How they terrorize a college student and her hapless father (among others) is the subject of the movie.

The filmmakers definitely did a lot with a little here. I liked the student (Kaya Scodelario) a lot better than I liked the dad (Barry Pepper), though clearly both have some acting chops. The script was pretty tight and self-contained, somewhat logical as far as it goes, not as annoying as it might have been, and plenty creepy. It definitely taxed the limits of the L&D Jump-o-Meter that we bring along for such occasions, though it didn’t seem to phase the younger generation seated amongst us.

I think the kids enjoyed it though. If I recall correctly, we even shared some laughs. I particularly liked the ever-so-brief billboard advertising a giant alligator zoo, barely noticeable if you aren’t looking for it, as the main character drove through the storm. Solid all around.

If you are up for some creepy crawlies, check out Crawl. But I think I will pass on the invitation to join you. Once is enough for me, thank you very much.

Stuber

40595281323_2a15019a5c_b — *Is that you, Iko?*

Regular L&D readers are probably aware that we do not coordinate who, if anyone, is going to write and post the next review. Typically, we write about things that we are moved to write about, either because there was something we liked, something that made us think, or something particularly irritating about what we just saw. More often than not, it’s all three. One of us usually feels compelled to write something down, and sometimes we both do. On the other hand, for a number of movies neither of us has the time or the inclination to get something together, so it just hangs out there without comment.

That preamble perhaps provides a glimpse into the delayed response in producing a review for our next feature, Stuber, which we saw on opening night almost a full week ago. As we headed past the Taco Bell, we were vaguely aware that the reviews were tepid. But we both think Kamail Nanjiani is pretty funny and we both thought he was pretty much the funniest part of the decidedly disappointing MiB offering, so we held out hope that this wouldn’t be a complete disaster.

And I think our low expectations were rewarded. Without laboring over the plot details (see above), we laughed out loud a few times and found a lot of things to like — for instance, the tremendous scene involving a rogue propane tank tops my list of comic violence. So I think the movie sort of worked for me and I think at this point it’s fair to say that Nanjiani can carry his weight in a comedy. As an action movie or a drama, well, let’s just say it works pretty well as a comedy.

Continue reading “Stuber”