Movies I saw in 2022

Another year of COVID thoroughly broke my movie-going habit of going to cinemas. That, and the fact the studios did not release many compelling films in 2022. While things picked up at the end of the year, I was traveling in South America throughout November and December, and so have not had the chance to catch any of the end-of-the-year films. I imagine I’ll catch up in January, but habits broken are hard to bring back to life. Somehow the allure of seeing movies in theaters feels a distant memory. The urgency and desire to see new films upon their release just isn’t there anymore. It also explains why I saw more 2021 films than 2022 films this year.

Most of the movies I saw this year were watched via streaming services, and overall I’ve found that to be a more comfortable way to view movies. It’s fair to say I’m no longer a movie aficionado, but without too much effort on my part I did manage to see 47 films this year. That said, I didn’t think much of the 2022 releases I’ve seen this year were very good. I imagine I’ll catch this year’s Oscar-bait in due time. But, I still keep track of my reactions to each movie I see. So, for better or worse, here’s my yearly roundup of the movies I saw this year.

*** ½ Top Gun – Maverick – Say what you like about Tom Cruise and his enigmatic personal life, but there’s no question that he remains the very essence of what a movie star is. Even at age 60, he remains magnetically charming, even boyish, and still flashes his trademark 1000-watt smile to disarming effect. This is a rare sequel that tops the original, even while staying tuned to the plot line of the original, albeit 36 years later. That 36 years in no way diminishes Cruise’s appeal in this, one of his iconic characters, but it allows the film to take advantage of all the visual effect advances of three and a half decades and delivering action sequences that produce real adrenaline.

Is the plot very good? No. It’s rather by the numbers. But by the standards of summer blockbusters, it succeeds admirably. Prior to the start of the movie itself, there was a pre-roll of Tom Cruise thanking us for coming back to the movies and applauding the work that went into making the film ‘for the big screen’. Maverick is both the hero of the film itself, and Cruise is the hero of blockbuster cinema, bringing people back into theaters after 2 years of COVID lockdown. (There was even a trailer for his next Mission Impossible movie, even though its a year away from release). Gotta hand it to the ageless, courageous Tom Cruise.

*** ½ Thirteen Lives – Ron Howard’s gripping ‘based on actual event’ film chronicles the immense, complicated rescue of a kid’s soccer team trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand. It chooses to focus on the immensity of the rescue attempt (as opposed to the 13 lives in the title), but is incredibly gripping in its detail of the complexity of the rescue effort which required the skills of divers from around the world, and the contributions and sacrifices of thousands of volunteers who supported the effort. The film work is incredible, with its depiction of the monsoon-like rain, and the complexities of diving through narrow and flooded cave passageways. I don’t recall this ever getting a theatrical release, but luckily its available on Netflix and well worth the watch. I didn’t know the outcome before watching (not sure how I missed the world-wide news it created when it actually occurred), and this made it all the more gripping as to whether or not the rescue would succeed.

*** Elvis – Baz Luhrmann injects his usual razzle-dazzle film-making into what would otherwise be a standard rock n roll bio-pic, but it succeeds better than most with its frenetic energy and visual flair. Austin Butler does a great job capturing the magnetic energy of Elvis as a live performer and you’re barely aware that he is lip-synching to the king’s classic songs – so catchy is his physical performance. Less successful is the central story here, told from the vantage point of Elvis’ manager, Col Tom Parker, in a curious performance by Tom Hanks. It’s interesting seeing Hanks play someone who is clearly an opportunistic villain, but the prosthetics and uneven dutch accent of the character seem to sink Hanks a bit. And as a study of two characters, the film never gets deep enough to make us care about either of the two men. But the ample live performances have terrific energy, and the film’s focus on the importance of Black music on Elvis’ vocal and physical performance style is continually juxtaposed in compelling ways. It’s as much a story about the segregation of American music and race as it is about Elvis himself. That aspect of the story remains interesting and compelling throughout.

*** Everything Everywhere All at Once – Audaciously original, kinetic, and genre-defining, this 2nd feature by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who write and direct together under the name Daniels, is a fresh piece of filmmaking. It joins several other films in exploring the concept of the metaverse (the fact that every choice you make creates a separate universe where things turned out differently), and takes a family drama and explodes it out in all directions. Centered on an asian family on the verge of imploding due to a failing family business, a tax audit, a pending divorce, and a daughter’s coming out, it goes akimbo when Evelyn Wang (played by the masterful and engaging Michelle Yeah) is visited by an version of her husband from another universe who informs her only she can say all of existence from a great menace. Sounds immediately like the stuff of a Marvel movie, but this is something else all together. The crazy alternate realities, and her ability to visit her other selves and absorb their abilities and traits creates a mashup of genres, incredible choreographed fight scenes and jaw dropping bizarre strangeness. Hot dog fingers anyone? Unfortunately, on first viewing, I did find the central premise a bit difficult to grasp, as I had trouble understanding the whispered explanations with asian accents, and I wasn’t sure exactly what was happening. It took me a while to realize that the ‘plot’ ultimately wasn’t as critical as the bravura filmmaking. Nonetheless, I found it more visually appealing than comprehensible. Kudos though for making something so outrageously original.

*** Kimi – Steven Soderbergh directs this claustrophobic portrait of lockdown paranoia in the 21st century. The movie has elements of “The Conversation” and “Rear Window” while preying on everyone’s fears that our devices are spying on us more than we know. It’s a taut 90 minutes and is energized by a strong central performance by Zoe Kravitz. Soderbergh shows his usual verve with camera angles and editing in keeping things visually exciting despite much of the movie being locked in one setting. Its an efficient and involving thriller.

*** Bullet Train – As comic action movies go this isn’t a bad one. The fight choreography is generally fun and Brad Pitt brings a nice tone to his role as a weary, sad-sack assassin who runs into incredible bad luck on a speeding bullet train in Japan. The plot is twisty and clever, and overall its a nice diversion. It’s strictly a diversion and lacks any deeper content, but like its namesake it just barrels along!

*** Thor: Love and Thunder: Taika Waititi did a wonderful job reinventing and reinvigorating the tiresome Thor character in his cheeky movie Thor: Ragnorak, and he again helms the franchise here. It’s not as fresh and delightful as Ragnorak was, but the playful, mocking tone is still here and it does wonders to invigorate a super-hero movie. Chris Hemsworth is terrific at playing in this style and is amusing and delightful throughout. Less successful was the idea of bringing back Natale Portman as his love interest, now dying of cancer and somehow inheriting the powers of Thor and joining him to battle Gorr, the God slayer, played with great sinister energy by an unrecognizable Christian Bale. The other fun stunt casting here was making Russell Crowe, Zeus, the king of all Gods, played as an old Italian. The scenes between Hemsworth and Crowe are quite enjoyable, and with a clever nude scene to boot directed with a sly wink. Unfortunately the inevitable latter part of the movie is a bunch of the usual cosmic battles, and the action isn’t as successful or interesting as the comedy. Still, as these sorts of movies go, the humor is welcome and the playful acting and directing pulls you along despite the story line.

*** Lucy and Desi – Amy Poehler directed this documentary of the famous comic pair behind I Love Lucy, one of the most visible of celebrity marriages, ever in the public eye. It makes an interesting companion piece to Sorkin’s dramatized account in “Being the Ricardos”. The story- telling is pretty straightforward and chronological, and takes as its center the ‘love story’ that existed between the unlikely pairing of a Hollywood showgirl turned comedienne extraordinaire, and her marriage and life with cuban band leader, Desi Arnaz.

It follows both of them through their past history, meeting and marriage, the raising of kids, and their eventual divorce… much of which was mirrored in a fictional and yet parallel way on the classic TV show. It’s mostly a puff piece with the various talking heads (notably Carol Burnett and Bette Midler, and daughter Lucy Arnaz), expressing their admiration and love for the iconic pair. There’s little or no criticism and Ball’s noted perfectionism and ‘difficult to work with’ personality are brushed off wish nary a mention. But the film clips of the classic show are priceless and a joyful reminder of what talented performers they both were. It’s fun to revisit the high comedy of this classic show and career.

*** Mrs Harris Goes To Paris – a frothy, cheery, cinderella-story of a movie, sweet and enjoyable if altogether predictable. Its the story of a plucky housekeeper who longs to buy a Dior dress… just because its kind of a dream. She eventually scrapes together the money she needs (through a variety of lucky coincidences, including a pension owed due to the death of her husband in the war), and pluckily if recklessly, flies to Paris to visit the house of Dior and purchase a dream gown. She of course is befriended by helpful people along the way who normally wouldn’t have given her a second look, and eventually positively impacts each of their lives. Its as charming as it is improbable, and you can’t help to root for her through the various ups and downs of her dreams.

*** Turning Red – Pixar continues it exploration of diverse culture with this Asian and female oriented coming of age story. As always, there’s some terrific animation, and the characters are well drawn. Personally, I wasn’t that drawn into the story line, so I don’t rank it in the pantheon of great Pixar films… but Pixar always delivers on some level. I suspect the female-centric nature of the story will resonate much stronger with women than men. But it nonetheless has a charm.

*** Dr. Strange in the multiverse of madness – This latest chapter in the ongoing story of the Marvel Universe shows the most significant story-line hookup between the Marvel/Disney+ TV series and the movies that have come before it. Here, the main storyline draws on the storyline started in the TV series WandaVision. Wanda Maximoff, The Scarlet Witch, becomes the de facto villain here, and Elizabeth Olsen is engaging and terrifying as a mother possessed. Benedict Cumberbatch remains perfectly cast as Dr. Strange and yet the movie feels undercharged, weighed down with more or an idea than a real plot. It works best on its almost psychedelic visual level, powered by the imaginative camera work and creativity by director Sam Raimi, who leans into his horror backlog to bring in a number of grisly and terrifying images. But despite this, it feels long and unfocused. When the entire world is free of any real-world rules, and virtually anything can happen, its hard to get invested in the stakes and consequences of all this magical carnage. So the sense of threat or danger never really feels real. I know the ‘metaverse’ concept opens the doors to a lot of possibilities in the Marvel cinematic universe, but at the expense of our really getting invested in the goings on, which is what made many of the earlier Marvel films work so well.

** 1/2 Clerks 3 – This one’s for fans only, as on its own the film isn’t much. On the other hand, if you’re a Kevin Smith fan and have seen the previous two Clerks movies (the first of which started Smith’s career), then this may bring a sense of closure for you. It’s a little sad seeing these characters at this age — the raunchiness and silliness made lots more sense when they were young bucks — but the film, at one level is a meditation on aging, so it also works a bit in that context. The screenplay is very very meta, and in its way tells the story of how Smith got into filmmaking in the first place.

** ½ Weird: The Al Yankovich Story — Music’s longest lived, most successful song parodist, co-wrote this parody of the traditional musician bio-pic. With some amusing stunt casting including Daniel Radcliffe in the central role of Weird Al himself, the movie is a mild grin, imaging the origins of some of Al’s greatest parody hits – while also ignoring reality and instead delivering a parody of every rock biopic ever made. It’s amusing though a bit overlong, but a sort of pleasure for those who adore the lovable ‘artist’. But more wry than laugh out loud funny.

** ½ Lightyear – This ‘origin’ story, shows the ‘movie’ that the Buzz Lightyear toy in Toy Story was modeled after. Unfortunately, ‘real’ Lightyear isn’t as entertaining as the toy version (Tim Allen, we miss you). While visually striking as always, the storyline doesn’t rise to Pixar’s heart- tugging best. We have to settle for an adorable robotic kitty to add some smiles to this otherwise lightweight space adventure. Enjoyable, but forgettable.

** ½ The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent – Nicolas Cage’s career has always been fodder for film fans. What actor has such a mix of classic performances with head-scratching, anything for the money crap films? One can’t help but root for Cage, and this unexpected ‘meta’ movie has Nicolas Cage playing his most challenging role yet – Nicolas Cage! I think the filmmakers were hoping for the dense surreal effect of “Being John Malcovich” – and initially it looks like we might get this as we see the sad realities of being Nick Cage when his career is sinking to new lows. But the movie quickly degenerates into an awkwardly constructed action picture and loses any connection with reality. One can’t help but love the fact that Cage is in on the joke and poking fun at his image — but surely this could have taken place within a more cleverly constructed script.

** Jurassic World Dominion – even the title of this sequel of a sequel of a sequel is vague and unnecessary. A movie with no reason to exist other than to continue making money off a franchise, the plot in no way advances the story lines (such as they were) of the earlier Dino films. Instead they give us more of everything (except suspense and excitement). More dinosaurs (lots of em!) and bringing back the principal actors from the original film and its sequels. Overall, this is a ho hum affair, though the dinosaurs are, as usual, cool to look at. The most interesting thing is how the villain, a scientist with less than altruistic motives, looks surprisingly similar to Tim Cook, and even his massive lair in the woods is circular and looks like Apple’s campus. Overall, the movie is pedestrian despite its high-tech visual effects. One only hopes this is the end of the franchise.

** The Batman – It’s inevitable we would get yet another Batman movie, and yet was this what we wanted? This is the grimmest, most sullen, longest Batman movie yet. Heartthrob Robert Pattinson is a rather dull Batman/Bruce Wayne, who no longer is a playboy, but just a depressed soul. Zoe Kravitz is a catwoman who isn’t really Catwoman (though she has a few cats), and Colin Ferrell is unrecognizable as an unrecognizable Penguin. The directorial slant here is creating a Batman movie in which the colorful villains are just regular, garden-variety hoods and psychopaths. The latter being Paul Dani as a mentally deranged Riddler. Whatever fun there could possibly be in a SuperHero movie has been squeezed out of this and replaced with dark, noirish overtones. There’s a lot of rain. And eventually a sort of flood to bring the water metaphor that isn’t a metaphor to a conclusion. Even the Batmobile is just a souped up car. Yes, there’s some validity in trying to make things as ‘real’ as possible, but there’s no excuse for just making it long and sorta dull.

** The Bubble –I’d been reading Judd Apatow’s books about comedy and so was curious to see his Covid lockdown comedy on Netflix. Sadly, despite a history of making many definitive comedies (40-year virgin, bridesmaids, etc), this half-hearted effort misses on all counts. The script is weak and rambling, and it fails to be as topical as it wants to be on the state of making movies during the time of Covid. Most damning is the fact that its pretty laugh-free despite its attempts to be a full-blown farce, and it collapses under its lengthy runtime. The concept may have worked better as a 10 minute SNL sketch.

*** Titane – This French body-horror movie won the Palme D’Or in Cannes, but I imagine that was as big a shock as the film itself. It’s certainly the most original and over the top film in years, with a plot that is both outrageous and original. You may have heard at least this much: A woman, who was the cause of a car accident as a child, wound up with a metal plate in her head, and has taken up a career as an erotic dancer at car shows. She eventually has sex with a car, and becomes pregnant. Her pregnancy is marked by oil leaking from her breasts and vagina. Oh, and did I mention she’s also a serial killer? And that’s just in the first half of this film that continues to go in unexpected surreal places.

Comparisons to the work of David Cronenberg (Crash, Rabid, Scanners) are inevitable as its both violent, horrific to watch, and yet has a deep psychological/philosophical bent. At its heart, it examines the very contemporary issue of being uncomfortable in one’s body and gender identity. It’s also a story about loss and love. It’s difficult and shocking to watch, but thick with ideas. If you have the stomach to watch it, you’ll find it like nothing else you’ve seen. In French, with subtitles.

*** Passing – Rebecca Hall’s adaption and direction of this novel is an auspicious debut. Beautifully photographed, with nuanced performances its set in the 1920s and concerns itself with two light-skinned woman, childhood acquaintances encountering one another again after many years, and the fact that one of them has ‘passed’ as white (and is now married to a racist white man of means). The tension this places on the two friends, is delicately explored. They both could pass, but only one has made this particular life choice. Each is, in ways, envious of the other’s life choices. The film is, without irony, filmed in black and white, and does a wonderful job showing the high society that both of these woman traveled in. It raises questions about perceptions about race, that seem as relevant today as ever.

***Don’t Look Up – Adam McKay continues to mix liberal politics with social satire with his follow-up to “The Big Short”, and “Vice”. This time his thinly guised topic is global warming, or more specifically, the unwillingness of society to focus on any serious situation that is in the future. The point of his broad, chaotic, sometimes shrill satire is that people are more interested in the latest social media sensation and politicians are solely focused on their reelection and how they’ll look in the polls. Satire is hard to pull off, and while the film is trying to get the smooth vibe of a Dr. Strangelove, the performances sometimes run too broad and shallow to work. Nonetheless, its a celebrity-fest as an A-list of actors fill out a huge ensemble cast. None of the performances quite lands with perfection, but the overall effect DOES strike close to home in a chillingly comic way. Here, the timeline to destruction is sped up. Instead of the long-term inevitable harm of global warming, we’ve got the imminent arrival of an extinction level event as a comet is hurtling towards Earth. Even with it just 6 months away, no one seems to care. The TV talk-show anchors tell the astronomers to keep the news ‘fun and light”. The movie works best with its little jokes (Jennifer Lawrence keeps asking why a White House general charged her for snacks), and sly little one liners. Some performances are just too broad to land (Jonah Hill is particularly obnoxious here), but overall the movie lands its targets well. The inevitable reckoning at the end of the film is actually quite touching.

*** The French Dispatch – Wes Anderson’s movies have always had a certain style, a certain flair, a certain sensibility in the acting and particularly in the elaborately detailed scenography. This time Anderson has committed to his obsessive style above all else. If you like Anderson’s movies, you will find this a delight. If you don’t – you’d best steer clear of this one. I love the fastidious attention to the smallest of details in his films, and here, he lovingly pays tribute to the New Yorker magazine and its writers, by creating a fictitious but reverential recreation called “The French Dispatch”. The movie has a framing story about the authors and staff of the magazine, fussingly overseen by editor Arthur Horowitzer Jr, played by the low-keyed intelligentsia of Bill Murray. A rich and deep cast of Anderson regulars and newcomers, play the staff, and the bulk of the movie is 3 ‘stories’ (and a travelog) that will be featured in what turns out to be the final edition of the magazine.

The language is rapid-fire, and even the subtitles (for dialog that is occasionally in French) darts by in the wink of an eye. The humor is subtle and urbane, and the stories are long and shaggy (much like articles in the New Yorker), getting into minute details as they plumb and satirize obsessiveness in Art, Student Revolt, and culinary arts. It’s visually a feast, with incredible sets and tableaus, and like many of Anderson’s films, feels almost like a graphic novel. It is rich, light, and with his usual deft touch. Many audiences however would find it way too elitist to appreciate its delicate humor and obsessive detail. I found it a delicious bon bon.

*** A Quiet Place – Part 2 – John Krasinski’s sequal to his 2018 hit works better than what might expect for a sequel. Granted – it’s just more of the same – but this time he ratchets up the action/horror by making the mysterious aliens more present in the film. The opening scenes work particularly well, giving us the ‘start’ of things that the first film skipped past. This time the focus is more on the kids in the family than on their mother, but Millicent Simmonds makes a plucky heroine. Sound design and effects here work well, and suspense and tension remain throughout. Only the ending is a bit disappointing as it creates a climax that really doesn’t solve or resolve anything except survival for the moment. The splintering of the family into two units weakens things a bit as well, forcing rapid intercutting between two different scenes that gets a bit wearing after a while. But overall, its a better sequel than what one might expect since its farming the same premise.

***Belfast – Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical (or perhaps semi-autobiographical) coming of age story of life in Belfast, Ireland is beautifully shot in black and white, and has a winning performance in its 9-year old protagonist. It hasn’t got a strong narrative but has a number of touching and moving scenes about the boy’s love of cinema (its no wonder he grows up to be a filmmaker), and makes vivid the religious prejudice that caused riotous eruptions in Ireland. The craft of the film is greater than its content, but its an interesting depiction of its time and place.

*** Last Night in Soho – bravura filmmaker Edgar Wright once again shows his talent of mixing musical pop energy with the visual excitement of his filmmaking. The London of the 60s is joyfully recaptured in this psychological time-traveling thriller and its best elements are in the costuming and integration with the pop music of the period. The first half is intriguing and fascinating as we try to figure out exactly what is happening and the strange juxtaposition of the present with the past. Unfortunately, it degenerates into more standard thriller fare in its much less successful second half and the good will of the film’s initial premise and style is lost as all is revealed.

*** West Side Story – It’s not clear whether the classic musical West Side Story needed a new version, but I guess Stephen Spielberg and Tony Kushner saw an opportunity to remake the musical to address the racial shortcomings of the original, this time casting real Puerto Ricans and giving them a larger back story. The movie is a mixed success. Its beautifully photographed and the choreography is wonderful. The Jets gang roam the streets looking naturalistically like a gang and seamlessly spin into balletic choreography that is muscular and fierce while incredibly fluid. The opening sequences in which the Jets gather at the site of demolished tenements that are being cleared to make way for Lincoln Center is both ironic and historical. Is the wrecking ball symbolic of attempting to wreck the political incorrectness of the beloved original film?

The story here is somewhat rewritten, but perhaps unnecessarily so. The second act ultimately descends into melodrama that is unconvincing. But the first act works well, with dialog somewhat effortlessly segueing into the unforgettable songs of the incredible Bernstein / Sondheim score. The secondary characters here are far stronger than in the original film, and the performances are convincing and interesting. Unfortunately, the central couple, Tony and Maria, lack chemistry and feel stereotypical in comparison to the others. Its hard to buy the intensity of their intense love-at-first-site other than of course, it’s expected as we are familiar with the plot. But as a reinvigoration of the spirit of the original musical and movie, there is a lot to enjoy here from the heightened reality of the gangs of New York, (even if they all appear way too old to be high schoolers). But their intensity and desperation to maintain their turf comes through well. And of course, the musical numbers, (and especially the dancing), remain moving and beguiling.

*** The Last Duel – This large-scale, medieval-set film was directed by Ridley Scott, and was co- written by Ben Affeck, Matt Damon (who both starred in the movie, along with Adam Driver), and Nicole Holofcener (providing perhaps a female point of view for a central character played by Jodie Comer. It’s based on real historical events from the 16th century, and presented in a sort of Rashomon-like structure, with the central story being told three times from three character’s point of view. It centers around a rape, and a duel for the honor of the victim to let God decide whether it did or didn’t occur. There’s certainly reverberations of medieval ‘me-too’ movement in it, and the film does a good job at showing the sorry lot in life a woman in medieval times had. Women were pretty much treated as property – and the crime here, from the male point of view of this society, wasn’t so much the crime against the woman in question, but the violation of a man’s property.

The battle scenes are graphic and frantic, and the scale of locations, costumes, and hundreds of horses and soldiers is reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s work on “Gladiator”. But released during the pandemic, this film became a notorious box office bomb, despite its A-list of stars, writer and director. The film itself is strong, albeit a bit long-winded. Surprisingly, there isn’t significant variance in the three tellings of the story, despite the different points of view. What we mainly get is a less and less attractive picture of Matt Damon’s Jean de Carrouges. It IS interesting however seeing him play a darker character like this. The result is a picture that is interesting, quite well- acted, and yet overdrawn at 2 hours and 33 minutes. Still, for fans of spectacle, there’s lots of medieval bravado and battle here to satisfy that itch.

***The Lost Daughter – Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut is a sensitive, moody drama adapted from the novel of the same name. The film suffers as most novel adaptions do, as its narrative is as times confusing, but the overall film plays as a mysterious character study, with an interesting performance by Olivia Colman, as a woman who seemingly holds others at bay. Gyllenhaal’s adaption withholds information about her throughout the film, slowly letting us in on her back story through a parallel flashback to her life as a talented young woman (appealingly played by Jessie Buckley), unable to balance her role as wife and mother with her career ambitions and intellectual fervor. The film is challenging, because Leda’s behavior in the film makes her an unsympathetic central character, and we have a hard time understanding her stand- offish, and even compulsive behavior. The film moves at a slow pace, and relies on extreme close- ups to force us to ponder what is going on in Leda’s head. It nonetheless is a daring piece of adult filmmaking, grappling at showing us a complex portrait of a women pulled by two impulses, instead of a more typical plot-driven narrative.

*** The Mitchells vs the Machines – The talented team behind “Behind the Spiderverse” tackle an original story bringing their usual punchy animation to this tale of family dysfunction in the face of a takeover by sentient machines. A siri-like mastermind empowers all the machines in the world to remove all humans from the earth and create an automated utopia. Its a clever, satirical premise that creates an exciting circumstance in which father / daughter issues can be dealt with. Cutely funny, and at the same time sweet and touching, its a clever story that will appeal to kids, teens, and parents equally. Beautifully detailed backgrounds frame the more cartoonish human figures but it all blends together in an appealing style, with a mixture of memes, gifs, social media stickers and amusing social commentary.

*** The Tragedy of Macbeth — Macbeth (the play that darest not speak its name in a dressing room), has never been one of favorite Shakespeare Tragedies. And in Joel Coen’s spare adaption (cutting the play down to 105 minutes) its easy to get lost in the game-of-throne-politics of ambition and fate, and be unable to follow its plot of who is bent on destroying whom. That said, it does have inspired casting in Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington who give more than ample weight and brooding to these iconic characters. In Denzel’s case, his film tendency to speak lines in intense whispers smothers some of the poetry, but when he unleashes the fury of the character its quite thrilling. Most striking here is the bold cinematography and minimalist production design which gives the film a noirish darkness reminiscent of German Abstract Expressionism. The play of light and dark and foggy, infinite corridors and horizons surrounds the actors impressively. If you’re unfamiliar with the play you may get lost in the plotting, but the atmosphere is bound to capture you.

*** Being The Ricardos – Biopics are tricky business where ones has to balance the expectation of seeing mimicry of a famous character with getting involved in the story underneath. Director and a Writer Aaron Sorkin’s rearranges history for dramatic effect (as he did in his Steve Jobs biopic), and the structure of his screen play here is a bit confusing. He essentially wraps three large moments in the history of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz into one week, framed by the Monday – Friday schedule of filming an episode of the classic sitcom. Walter Winchell announces that Lucy is a communist, the tabloids run a story on Desi’s philandering, and Lucy is revealed to be pregnant which Desi wants to fold into the storyline of the I Love Lucy show, much to the horror and resistance by the network and the sponsor. This triple threat layered on top of the backstage realities of Lucy’s perfectionism, and fights with the director and writers, is further thrown into a framing story in which the three writers (now much older and played by different actors), awkwardly narrate her story, providing flashbacks of Lucy’s career through her radio days, attempt at a serious film career, and her no-nonsense business self.

The erratic reshuffling of history, makes its difficult to know which scenes are in flashback and which are set in the ‘present’ week of production that the film presents, but this glimpse of Lucille Ball’s backstage persona, contrasted to her TV persona is interesting and well played by Nicole Kidman. Wisely, the production didn’t attempt to have her mimic Lucy in her performance or makeup (though some prosthetics were used to capture some of Ball’s main facial characteristics. Javier Braden does not even attempt to look like Arnaz, and appears too old for the role, but he wonderfully captures Desi’s Cuban accent and rhythms, and gives it the necessary charm. The most interesting performances and backstories, are those of Vivian Vance and William Frawley, the 2nd bananas on the show, with wonderful performances by Nina Ariadne and J.K. Simmons. Overall, the dramatic arc of the movie doesn’t pay off, but spending 2 plus hours with these fascinating backstage personalities carries you through the movie effortlessly enough.

*** Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road – This warm, kind documentary following the career of master song-writer / Beach Boy Brian Wilson doesn’t add much new ground to his well- documented story — but it allows us to spend some informal time with the man who may be one of the greatest song-writers of the latter half of the 20th century. The filmmaking is gentle, and has the usual assortment of talking heads extolling Wilson’s virtues and influences, but for fans of his musical genius, the soundtrack and performances make it a worthwhile watch. *** Encanto – Disney makes a classic kids movie, this time giving it an international spin by setting the action and the characters in Columbia. It’s about a magical family, each of whom has a special gift (strength, the ability to see visions of the future, the ability to make flowers appear and bloom, etc), and one plucky girl in the family who, for whatever reason, did not receive a magical gift. The story is a bit convoluted, despite familiar Disney tropes such as sisters who do not get along, and the songs by Lin Manuel Miranda aren’t exactly catchy and are lyrically a bit awkward at times. Nonetheless, the animation is stellar — bright, detailed and beautifully imaginative. Its a marvel of animated film wizardry and enjoyable on that level alone. It’s cute, and has a nice sense of humor, but works primarily as child and family fare.

** ½ Dear Evan Hansen – What’s interesting here is how a Tony Award winning Broadway show which received such praise and passionate response on stage, has become such a critically drubbed movie, inspiring some of the worst reviews of the year. A lot of it may be due to the casting, in which its original Broadway Star Ben Platt, had aged 8 years since he sensationally debuted on the stage, and now is too old to be playing an awkward, troubled teen. The big screen magnifies his attempts to ‘play young’ – and the script, loaded with teen suicide, adolescent depression and mental illness, and social media out of control resonated in a topical way in 2015, but now feels overworked and melodramatic on the big screen. Personally, I did not find this as unlikeable as many did, and enjoyed the first third or so. It did however, go on too long, and eventually the high drama and tearfulness of it all became too much for me. I was surprised at the relative flatness of the song-writing (often more spoken than sung, perhaps to make it believable in a big-screen, realistic context), and as much as I enjoy Amy Adams and Julianne Moore, felt that a musical might not be the best match for them. I’ve not seen this on stage, and it would be interesting to see how much better the material probably works in its original context.

** ½ The Eyes of Tammy Faye – Despite the vigorous, transformative performances of Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield, both embracing the idiosyncratic characters of tele-evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, this dramatized docudrama bio-pic rarely gets under the skin of these characters. Like Tammy Faye’s makeup, it’s only skin deep. We don’t get any deeper insights into what drives these people to the choices they’ve made. How much or how little Tammy Faye knew of her husbands financial wrong-doing, even the question of exactly why she wore the dense makeup that she did, are glossed over. The movie gives us no new revelations about these characters. Were they naïve? Were they schemers? Were they actually deeply driven by divine spirit? Its all rather by the books surface presentation. Nonetheless, the performances are uncanny in capturing the public persona we know of the disgraced tele-evangelists, and that makes the film interesting enough to hold our attention. If only the screenplay had more to say.

** ½ Free Guy — Role playing video games have become so sophisticated that they nearly resemble movies. Here, we have a movie that is designed to resemble a video game. The world of “Free Guy” is set inside a role playing video game, in which one of the non-player characters, Guy, suddenly becomes sentient and making his own choices and decisions. It’s an interesting high-concept, but ultimately the film seems more excited by the visual effects possibilities than the characters and plot. There is, of course, a story beyond the video game, but its a cartoonish one of corporate espionage, and one of the game’s creators falling in love within the video game itself. Ryan Reynolds, is as charming as ever, and Jodie Comer is quite lovely as his love interest — but the screenplay doesn’t do much with the clever concept. It’s all about as deep as a video game, and plumbs no deeper. Granted, fans of RPGs will find plenty to enjoy as all the tropes of these games appear — a constant barrage of guns, fast cars, people on fire, tanks, power-ups, etc. but its both overlong and under-realized. Perhaps a film best enjoyed by 15 year old game enthusiasts, but little here for an adult audience to embrace.

** ½ The Matrix Resurrections – I dunno, some things are better off left dead. The original matrix was state of the art for visual effects, action sequences, and even its mind-bending premise when it was released in 1999. Its two sequels in 2003 were OK, but still had some exciting, fresh action sequences. So, what do we get now, some 18 years later? An entirely unnecessary sequel, with a lesser cast (sorely missed are Lawrence Fishbourne and Hugo Weaving). Yes — I suppose if you’re obsessed with the complex world-building and mythos the Wachowski’s created (which later included Comic Books and Video Games), you might have a long pent-up desire to see Neo and Trinity return and rekindle their special bond, but nostalgia aside the movie comes up empty with no ideas, new visual or action wonder. The script does hint at its real reason for existing in the meta-plotting that indicates that warner Bros wants a sequel, and will make it with or without its original creator(s), so maybe Lana W. just felt she had to make the film to prevent an even worse sequel. Keanu Reeves seems game, but honestly, his John Wick films and their sequels are far, far better action films than this. Is of course perfectly watchable for sci-fi action, but all has a been-there-done-that feel to it that left me watching the clock.

* Eternals – A rare misfire / miscalculation from Marvel Studios. Despite a prestige director in Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), and a diverse cast representing a variety of nations / races and disabilities, the movie is leaden, over-serious and lacks any of the fun one generally gets in Marvel movies. It’s an epic space drama of eternal Gods charged with protecting the earth, but the plot is muddy and difficult to follow. It offers lots of grandeur, but the fight scenes are run of the mill CGI and lacking in originality. Only Kumail Nanjiani manages to inject a little humor and personality into the proceedings, but otherwise its thick on sanctimonious pomp. It covers multiple time periods showing these eternal beings through the thousands of years of their existence, but that’s all window dressing. Its unclear who is a good guy or a bad guy as their allegiances change throughout the movie, but in an unconvincing way. The scariest thing in the movie is the end credit cut-scenes, which promise a sequel. One hopes those plans will be scuttled.

*** ½ A Clockwork Orange (1971) – Revisited this iconic Kubrick film from the 70s, while on an airplane, and was surprised at how well it holds up. The old ultra-violence still resonates 50 years later, and Malcolm McDowell gives an impishly evil performance.

*** The Maltese Falcon (1941) – An iconic film which firmly established the elements of noir as a genre — John Huston’s camera angles, smoke and mirrors, lays the groundwork for films in years to come. The bravura cast including the inimitable Humphrey Bogart, a slimy Peter Lorre and and ‘the fat man’ Sydney Greenstreet, along with a bevy of femme fatales, lays out a mystery of lies built on lies. Mysteries are not my thing, but there’s no denying the power of these elements on display here. Interestingly, the entire movie is underscored with barely a breath of silence to be found in the film. This no doubt contributes to its stylish atmosphere.

*** Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017). A documentary looking back at Jim Carrey’s performance and transformation into Andy Kauffman for the 1999 film “Man on the Moon”. It shows how Carrey decided to inhabit the persona of Andy Kauffman during the filming, having the director and cast treat him as Andy rather than as Jim. This included the challenges associated with Kauffman’s difficult, prankish behavior including his 2nd identity as the obnoxious Tony Clifton. It gives you an appreciation of Carrey’s devotion to his acting craft here, and gives insight into the difficulties associated with that production. But Carrey’s almost metaphysical recounting of the significance of his work does feel a bit heavy handed at times. Nonetheless, essential viewing for anyone interested in the legacy of the one-of-a-kind performer that Andy Kauffman was.

*** An American Pickle (2020) – Seth Rogan, known primarily for stoner comedies, here stars in a gentler, almost sentimental comedy about an Orthodox Jew from a hundred years ago, who falls into a pickle vat and is preserved to reemerge in contemporary New York, where he tracks down his great grandson. Its more sweet than comic, and the effects that allow Rogan to play both the old jew and his contemporary ancestor are well done. He makes each character distinct and the many scenes between them seem seamless. A warm hearted comedy which doesn’t shy away from its jewishness and sentiment.

*** The Court Jester – (1955) – COVID lockdown led to visiting some old films (from the limited selection on our list of available movies during our trip), but this proved an interesting visit to the appeal of performer Danny Kaye. The movie itself was pretty flat and formulaic (not atypical of its time), and a silly parody of medieval dramas — but Kaye has great charm and does one of his signature tongue-twisting performances.

*** Piranha – This sequel to a sequel was originally released in theaters as Piranha 3D but is now available on Netflix without the extra dimension. Given that it’s a somewhat hilarious B movie it probably doesn’t make much a difference as the gory effects and prosthetics are silly in the extreme. It gives you what you’d expect from a drive in movie classic: Buxon babes in bikinis (and often topless) and sexually leering males, all paying for it by voracious primeval fish with big teeth. The scares are mostly silly fun with people ripped in half, penises eaten, children endangered, and heroic silliness. A game cast gets eaten including Ving Rhames, Elizabeth Shue, Adam Scott. and even a cameo by Richard Dreyfus revisiting jaws of a different kind. Silly fun.

*** The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (2016). Don’t recall previously seeing Ron Howard’s Beatle’s documentary, but it made a nice companion piece to Peter Jackson’s lengthy documentary of the last Beatles’ sessions. This nicely compiled doc shows the Beatles during their early years when they were a live touring act and features archival footage of many of their live performances of their early hits. It shows just how grueling the touring life was, especially for this one of a kind band that was the source of Beatlemania. It shows how the huge shows, with screaming fans, bad sound, and general hysteria finally wore down the band and drove them to the decision to no longer tour and become a studio band. (even though the most money existed in touring). It lovingly captures Beatlemania at its height, and the progression and growth of the lads as artists.

*** Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (2020)– A documentary that gives a thorough history of the use of nudity in movies, from the birth of cinema and through the decades. Talking heads from the film world, authors, and scholars discuss the impact of the revealing of flesh in many, many films with film clips illustrating the critical scenes. So you get both talking heads, and bobbing bosoms and full frontal dicks in equal measure. It may sound prurient, but its not the least bit erotic, and actually a good history lesson of the changing society and its relation to sexuality as reflected through the movies. It includes discussions of the various codes and rating systems designed to protect the public, and how studios circumvented the system knowing that sex sells. Actually an interesting film history with a peep show attached.

** ½ Birdbox (2018) — It’s taken me about four years to get around to watching this Netflix sci- fi movie that took the Internet by storm as one of the first ‘make for streaming’ movies to have a high profile cast, including America’s sweetheart Sandra Bullock. Its pretty formulaic but generates a reasonable amount of suspense as an unknown force is causing people to become dangerously suicidal as soon as they’ve ‘seen’ it. As a result, in order to survive one must cover all the windows, and blindfold themselves whenever outdoors to avoid looking at whatever ‘it’ is. Bullock is the heroine, but a somewhat unsympathetic character, who is pregnant and faced with ambivalent feelings about parenting. The movie jumps around in time, starting near its dangerous end journey down the river blindfolded with two children, and jumping back to the start of the worldwide emergency. Its most effective in the earlier parts of the story, and embellished by a one-dimensional yet fun performance by John Malcovich as a homeowner with a gun and a suspicion of others. I never did figure out why the movie is called Birdbox (despite the fact that Bullock carries with her 3 birds in a box which are protected as seriously as her children), other than the fact that Birds seem to panic when ‘it’ is near. Still, as what is essentially a made for TV movie, it established a new standard for production and genre for streaming services, and no doubt inspired the better, but similar movie “A Quiet Place” which replaced ‘don’t make a sound’ for ‘don’t look’!