As kids, remember how easy it was to make friends?
Perhaps a parent’s friend had kids your age, or you met a new kid on the block. You looked at that kid, and thought “We are about to be friends!”…maybe even “BFFs”. As you got older, you realized hardships would come in the way, and you would either survive them together or, sadly, have to go your own separate ways. Years would go on, and you would meet people you had no intention of being friends with, but God had other plans, and it worked out in the end.
In my junior year of High School, the most I remember getting up close and personal to government was a one day field trip with my intro to law class to the nearby county court house. We spent about twenty minutes talking to a judge in his chambers, which ended with him catching me off guard as looked at me at the end of his mini-lecture saying something to the (humorous) effect of “So don’t break the law!”
I can’t imagine myself at the age of 17 doing what the 17 year old boys in Boys State do, yet it has been happening since 1937. In that time, the American Legion has sponsored a week long camp in each state for High School Juniors, with each state having their own certain separate rules and guidelines (even though most have separate camps for boys and girls).
Note: This review was originally written in February of 2018. I decided to bring it back (with some added content) in memory of the late Chadwick Boseman.
If you have not asked yourself this question, you most certainly will while watching First Cow. Indeed, you will be doing so in the first minute or so of the film, where director Kelly Reichardt gives us a one take shot of a massive cargo ship making its way across the water. She lets you know off the bat the pacing of the movie.
The first time I discovered Remember the Titans was not until a year after its release, but it was just at the perfect time.
I was in 8th grade, so I would always be sure to hang out at the Friday night high school (DGS Mustangs!) football games with my friends. As a senior who played center, my older brother Adam would normally have some of the players over on weekends . It also helped that it was the year the school won it’s first (and so far only) State Championship in football. The second to last game of that season is still the best football game I ever saw, professional or otherwise. It was also when a player on the team had died the previous summer in a road accident. There are a lot of parallels between that time and this film (other parallels to be mentioned later).
Of all sports, car racing is easily the one I have had the least knowledge or interest in. That is not to say I hate the sport, just that various factors in my life have made me unmoved by the idea of fast car driving. The same can be said for me about cars in general (when ever people ask me what type of car I drive, my immediate reaction is “Silver”). Up until seeing Ford v. Ferrari, I did not even consider that race cars would be equipped with windshield wipers. Aside from names like Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon, the most I know about racing was that the cars did not shoot off red turtle shells or banana peels.
Like all good sports movies, Ford v Ferrari is about much more than just the sport. It is about the drama (and sometimes comedy) behind the scenes. In 1966, Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) decides to put all that the company has to making a new car that kids today would like. After failing to merge with the Ferrari company and having his character insulted (“he called you fat, sir”), he vows to beat Ferrari at the 24 hour le mans in France. Enter retired race car driver/car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon). He brings in his long time friend Ken Miles (Christian Bale) as the lead driver, though some at the corporate office do not like Ken’s attitude.
I have yet to mention the rest of the stellar cast, all of whom fill their roles perfectly. Two of the key roles of the film are Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) and Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas), both assistants to Mr. Ford. It was Iacocca who initially came up with the idea for the Ford company to have a new racing program, though Beebe was against it. As an actor, Bernthal has been known for playing really tough guy roles (he was The Punisher on Netflix, as well as Shane in AMC’s The Walking Dead). Here, it is a rather subdued, kinder performance, and rather impressive at that. Lucas, on the other hand, is nothing short of a brownnoser. He is sneaky, slimey, and so believable you want to have someone just punch him in the face.
There is also nice work from Caitriona Balfe as Ken’s wife Mollie and the very talented young actor Noah Jupe (who was the son in A Quiet Place) as Ken’s son Peter.
Undoubtedly, the key component that keeps the film afloat is the on screen chemistry bromance of Damon and Bale. Damon has always had star quality (sorry if you are reading this, Jimmy Kimmel), and Bale has yet to show me a bad performance. Each are struggling with their own personal demons (Shelby had to quit racing for health reasons and Miles is having IRS issues). They truly have moments of sharpening one another (bringing Proverbs 27:17 to mind). One of the more comical scenes of the film comes when Carroll tries to apologize to Ken, only to get a good sock in the nose. Soon, they are both wrestling each other (as Mollie brings a chair out to watch). In other words, it is not two enemies duking it out, but each friend unleashing inner feelings at each other.
Another key scene to the film involves Carroll and Ford, in which Ford suddenly breaks down in tears. At first, this seems really funny, only to realize it is somewhat symbolic to the Ford dynasty. It is rather brilliant done by Letts.
Perhaps the film’s stand out star is the director, James Mangold. Some of his previous work includes the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line (with Joaquin Phoenix), 2007’s underrated Western 3:10 to Yuma (with Bale and Russell Crowe), and 2016’s Logan, which gave us an uncanny swan song performance by Hugh Jackman. There are hardly any current directors who can make films like he does that display real authentic grit (sometimes literally) and poetic backbone.
As is the case with all great directors, he knows that action sequences are only part of the movie, not the main part. That is not at all to say that the racing scenes are sub par. In fact, they are nothing short of riveting.
Parents, the film is rightly rated as PG-13. While there is
plenty of drama, the rating is mainly due to swearing, but nothing that a
typical middle schooler would not hear in the hallways. There are no sex scenes
of any kind.
I have never seen a 24 hour le mans event (or any car race for that matter), but I can imagine it has a sense of surrealism. The same can be said about this film, which is indeed long at two and a half hours. Still, the movie reminds us that races are not always about who gets to the end first, but the trip taken there in the first place.
One of the key aspects of the clown prince of crime was that
we never really knew his backstory, which is why I was very hesitant (as I am
sure others also were) to here we would be getting an origin story on a
character that is possibly the greatest comic book villain ever (certainly the
most popular).
In a sort of preparation for Director Todd Phillips’ (known for R rated comedies like 2009’s The Hangover) new Joker film, I decided to revisit two films: one that was an inspiration to this current film and another that was one of the very first to galvanize the character in general. The former was Martin Scoresese’s 1976 classic Taxi Driver, about a man (played by Robert De Niro) who is basically shunned by the public despite wanting to “clean up” the garbage of the city. The second (and lesser known) was the 1928 silent german film The Man who Laughs, a story (from Victor Hugo) that tells about a man who has been surgically disfigured to always be smiling (I recently posted a picture of Conrad Veidt, the actor in the titular role, to social media, and I still got friends saying that it is eerie, even over nine decades later).
The film opens in Gotham, where we meet a struggling Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix). He works on the side as a clown, as he keeps his dream somewhat alive of trying to be a stand up comic, like his hero, talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). Arthur is indeed a kind man, but troubled to the core. We learn right away he has a certain disease (somewhat like tourettes) where he can’t stop laughing. It is clear that this laughter is desperately trying to hide unimaginable pain. Despite some nice co-workers, the only guiding light in Arthur’s life is his mother Penny (Frances Conroy), and the potential to go talk more with his crush in the apartment down the hall, single mother Sophie (Zazie Beetz).
The plot of the film is light and easy to follow, as Penny is trying to get Arthur to help her get a hold of her former boss, Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen), who is currently running for Gotham Mayor. Yet the film is not about plot so much as it is about witnessing an tragic life event. In this case, it is the clear descent into madness that Arthur undertakes. The film will require more than one viewing, but the first viewing will undoubtedly be (as it was in my case) focused on one thing: the performance by Joaquin Phoenix.
The role of the Joker has been played by many actors over the years: Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill (voice only, but still brilliant), Heath Ledger, and Jared Leto. Of those, Ledger is the one who has probably had the most impact (he won a posthumous Oscar for the role he had in 2008’s The Dark Knight). It is a role that demands to have an actor who is has the ability to be give a chameleon effect in their approach, and make us realize that we are not watching an actor (think of actors like Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, and my personal favorite, Daniel Day-Lewis).
Phoenix also qualifies, and is simply astounding in this film. He even is given more work to do than Ledger had. Ledger’s Joker was already past the point of redemption, and was a sociopathic madman. When we first meet Phoenix, we can’t help but sympathize with him at times, as someone who has been shunned from society and left to the wolves.
Parents, this is not a movie for kids. While there is mild nudity (the joke book that Arthur keeps is filled with some cut outs of naked models from magazines), it more than makes up for it in the swearing and violence. That is not to mention the exuberant dark tone the film even after you left the theater. High School and above.
There is no clear cut answer to what type of mental issues that Fleck/Joker has (though it is safe to say there are many). The real question is how we react to someone with these issues. I am not trying to excuse the actions he exhibits, but trying to understand why he does them in the first place. At the core of it all, Arthur just wants some guidance, a soul to connect with (Sophie is one example). When we push those who are “different” from us away, it damages them in ways we can’t imagine.
Most of the scenes do work, but some that fail (not sure we needed another rendition of the outcome of Bruce’s parents). One that caught me off guard was when Fleck goes to try and talk to Thomas Wayne, and encounters his young son Bruce (Dante Pereira-Olson). The jury is still out for me on this scene, but I would be lying if I said it did not give me goosebumps. I am sure there are a lot of people who will find this movie to speak out to them in some political way, but I was not looking at that. I was simply watching what happens when we forget to love our neighbor.
Whether it is the news of a loved one’s passing or the news that the passing is closing in faster than expected, we all process the information in different ways. Admittedly, I never thought of it being different for certain cultures, let alone different individuals. Whether it is a custom for Chinese people to not tell a family member they have terminal cancer, I am not sure, but that is surely the case for the family in The Farewell.
Raised almost entirely in the United States, Billi (Awkwafina, the highly affective comic relief sidekick in last year’s Crazy Rich Asians) is still at the stage of young adult life where she is being treated like she is ten years younger than she is. She has a rickety relationship with her mother Jian (Diana Lin), but does still love her as well as her less domineering dad Haiyan (Tzi Ma). Still, even though they live in New York, she still loves to chat with her Grandma Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao), who still lives in China.
Billi’s world is thrown a curve when her dad (Nai Nai’s son) informs her that the Grandmother has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, and is expected to live only three months at the most. The family decides to go, using her cousin Hao Hao’s (Han Chen) wedding to a Japanese woman (Aoi Mizuhara) as a valid reason to see her one last time, under the strict rule not to let Nai Nai know she will die soon. Despite her parents wanting her to stay, Billi arrives in China to attend.
Despite the obvious dramatic aspects of the film, The Farewell (which starts off by saying it is “based on an actual lie”) has more than enough moments of realism that make it rather comedic. Not laugh out loud comedic (though a moment or two may get you), but more in a subtle way. Consider the wonderful scenes where the family sits down to eat. Regardless of you ethnic background, every family has dynamic encounters (both positive and negative) when at the dinner table. There is laughing, squabbling, screeching, talking with your mouth full. Regardless, love is at the center of it all.
It is always wonderful when a comedic actor is able to show off their dramatic chops (and vice versa for dramatic actors). Here, there result for Awkwafina (who, last I heard, is going to be the seagull Scuttle in the Disney Live action remake of The Little Mermaid) is no different. There are truly times I had to remind myself I was watching the same person who was Peik Lin Goh in Crazy Rich Asians just a year ago. While I doubt it is going to be in the conversation for the award season, it is clearly proof that this is one actress with a wide range in the acting department.
Another standout is the director Lulu Wang (who based much of this off of her own experiences). While this is only her second full length feature since 2014’s Posthumous (unseen by me), the direction she uses here is powerful in how gentle and reserved it is. I was reminded of one of the cinema giants, Yasujiro Ozu, mainly from his masterful work Tokyo Story (1953). That film (which I would endorse highly) was also about parents in their twilight years seeing their children and grandchildren. Even though it was unique to its country of origin, it still spoke to us all on a universal scale. Though Wang is not as subdued as Ozu (who was known for hardly moving his camera, if at all), the technique she uses is rather imposing and proof of a filmmaker worth looking at in the coming years.
Parents, the film is PG, and has nothing here that should
worry you as parents. There is little swearing, no sex (though some bare back
nudity in one shot), but nothing else. It should be noted, however, that much
of the film’s dialogue is in subtitles. If your kids are fine with that, then
they can see this film.
One of the aspects of The Farewell that is also universal is how, regardless of the family life we have, we convince ourselves to lie to our loved ones when we think it is for their own good. Whether it be to cushion the blow, save them from details, or just because we don’t want to hurt feelings, we have all done it. When it comes to this film, I will do the opposite, and simply state it is easily one of this year’s best films.
Nowadays, I am to the point where very few film makers are able to still deliver me with shock and awe. Some of them are still working, like Wes Anderson, the Coen Brothers, Martin Scorsese, and, of course, Quintin Tarantino. With only eight previous movies to his (directorial) credit, his newest one, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, is one of his more (somewhat) subtle films, but is still nevertheless a borderline masterpiece, riddled with plenty of the expected humor only QT could provide.
While the setting is in the title, the time is 1969. We soon
meet former TV star, now fading movie actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo Di Caprio,
who, like Tarantino, is in his first film in four years). Never feeling that
the public has ever forgave him for leaving TV for film, he is heading for a
mid life crisis. The only solid support he has is his stunt double and friend
Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). His dream of making it big are only escalated when he
realizes he is living next to actress Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), actress of
filmmaker Roman Polanski (who would later go on to have his own dark history).
Of course, being a Tarantino film, the movie is not at all
as simple as that. From lead roles to the smallest of supporting (more on the
cast in a bit), every character is as deeply developed as need be. This can be
seen especially when Cliff is paying a visit to the old Spahn Ranch, where he
used to shoot old westerns. It has now been taken by the Manson “family”
(“Charlie’s gonna dig you.”). Even those on screen with no lines seem like they
have their own back story.
The old saying “There are no small parts…only small actors”
has always applied to a Tarantino film. As to be expected, no one here gives a
bad performance. Just a few of the actors include Dakota Fanning as one of the
main Manson girls, Damon Herriman as Charles Manson, Bruce Dern as the old
Spahn Ranch owner, Emile Hisch as Tate’s friend Jay Sebring, Al Pacino (!) as a
studio executive, and the late Luke Perry (in his final role) as one of the
actors on set. We also get roles from normal Tarantino faces such as Kurt
Russell and Michael Madsen.
It also helps that (as in all his films), there are countless scenes that nearly live as their own small films (which helps when some of the scenes are about filming). My favorite involves the scenes between Rick and a young upcoming child actress (an absolutely delightful young talent named Julia Butters). The chemistry between her and DiCaprio is truly special. Yet the one who steals the film is Pitt. His unparralled charm and delicious line delivery are truly mesmerizing. He truly should get some awards consideration here.
Another key aspect in the film is what Tarantino may be better at then any other working director: a solid soundtrack. As someone who grew up listening to “oldies” (shout out to my parents), I can say that most of these are songs I had heard at one point or another, but forgot the name of (with the main exception being the use of Simon and Garfunkel’s Mrs. Robinson). We don’t get what would be considered “the best” of the 1960s, but we do get the perfectly placed songs in accordance with the story. These include hits from Paul Revere & the Raiders, Bob Seger, The Rolling Stones, the Box Tops, and Neil Diamond.
The relationship between DiCaprio and Pitt is the true heart of the film (Tarantino has said they are the most dynamic film duo since Paul Newman and Robert Redford.) We see this at the beginning as Cliff must drive Rick around, offering his sunglasses to Rick as he breaks down in tears. The only other real relationship Cliff has in the film is with his dog (love that dog). It truly brings out a cinema friend who “sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). The same could also be said for Proverbs 17:17: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity”.
Parents, it is Tarantino, so there is virtually no way this
film is for kids. Though the violence is somewhat toned down (at least compared
to his other films), the scenes that do show violence is really graphic. Add in
the language and the sexual dialogue (though there is no nudity, there is one
scene with a younger teen in a car with an older character that is rather
disturbing, even though it does not go anywhere further), and you have a movie
that deserves its R rating.
Despite some minor flaws (there are some scenes, especially with Margot Robbie, that drag on a bit long), this is another Tarantino classic, proving that originality still exists in film. In my years as a movie goer, he is one of the select few who (like Cliff) have stuck closer than a brother.
The turn of the century was also the turn for me as a moviegoer. I began seeing that stuff happened behind the camera as much as in front of the camera (it also helped that DVDs came into the full). There were so many questions I had to ask the likes of names like Spielberg and Lucas.
Still, I like to think that there is some bit of me that is naïve enough to believe that what I was seeing on screen was real. Which brings us to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), a movie I still refuse to see what happened behind the scenes.
Nothing else to say 