Short Takes: December VII - Films

Reviews: C'mon C'mon, The Lost Daughter, Spider-Man: No Way Home

C'mon, C'mon (c) A24

Film: “C’mon C’mon” 
In Cinemas 

Director Mike Mills has certainly come a long way since his debut with “Thumbsucker” in 2005. While that Ritalin-soaked movie had some intermittent joys, mostly from the cast that included Keanu Reeves as a dentist, it wasn’t until “Beginners,” with its Oscar-winning performance by the late Christopher Plummer, and especially “20th Century Women,” which garnered Mills his first Oscar nomination for screenplay, that I really began to understand his vibe and his themes on the modern American family as seen through the eyes of children. In his latest movie, “C’mon, C’mon,” Mills tries to change perspectives to those of the adults in the family and I am sad to say it’s a noble but flawed attempt. A bachelor uncle named Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) volunteers to look after his 10-year-old nephew Jesse (newcomer Woody Norman) while his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffman) deals with problems in her marriage. The familiar plot holds no new insights about the balance of work and family because, through no fault of young Norman, Jesse is written as such a bratty, spoiled kid that it sort of diminishes the family side of the argument. The irony is that the movie is filled with honest and sincere kids as Johnny’s latest assignment as a journalist is to interview children about the state of the world. Those moments are so genuine and interesting that I wished Mills had made a whole movie about those kids and not Jesse. Phoenix is very good as Johnny until the plot requires him to be neglectful of his uncle duties, which feels fabricated. However, Gaby Hoffman as Viv shines with warmth and honesty, which in turn makes her relationship with Jesse feel authentic. Towards the end of the film, when a détente between uncle and nephew has been reached, I still felt I was being manipulated by the mechanism of the plot to enjoy the resolution. I wanted to love this movie, but I was sadly disappointed. 

Oscars Outlook 2021: December 2021

The Lost Daughter (c) Netflix

December 2021 

With critics groups weighing in and two major award precursors announced, the Oscar race is getting clearer, although, one shouldn’t shelve hunches just yet. While Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter” is getting more attention than I would have guessed, maybe its win at the Gotham Awards made the movie more of a must see than other screeners for critics and Academy members alike. And while I think it’s still not a shoo-in for Best Picture, Olivia Colman as Best Actress and Gyllenhaal’s screenplay is certainly in play. 

But I am still holding out for my hunches. Here are some predictions I’m hanging onto in each category, most have not gotten any love at all with the precursors: 

Best Picture: The French Dispatch 
Best Actor: Michael Keaton – Worth 
Best Actress: Tessa Thompson – Passing 
Best Supporting Actor: Timothy Spall – Spencer 
Best Supporting Actress: Marlee Matlin – CODA 
Best Director: Julia Ducournau – Titane 
Best Original Screenplay: Bergman Island – Mia Hansen-Løve 
Best Adapted Screenplay: tick, tick…Boom! – Steven Levenson 

Review: Wonderful "Memoria" Has a Plot and Tilda Swinton Investigates Why

Memoria (c) Neon

Film: Memoria 

In Cinemas (in perpetuity) 

Premise: Jessica (Tilda Swinton) tells her sister Karen “I think I’m going crazy.” And Karen responds, “It’s not the worst thing to be.” Yes, she’s being cheeky, because she thinks Jessica is being silly, but Jessica is very serious, although maybe not in her tone. Jessica is a British woman currently in Colombia, and she was recently woken up by a loud bang, a noise she cannot explain. Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s latest meditation on the meaning of life in a world full of mysteries starts with this mysterious noise, which continues at random times as Jessica tries to discover why this MacGuffin is following her and no one else (not dissimilar to Elsa’s journey in “Frozen II” – the only time, I dare say, in film discussion that anyone will compared an Apichatpong film to a Disney one). I have seen all but one of his previous films ever since his breakthrough indie hit “Tropical Malady,” and I knew what to expect: long uninterrupted stretches of nature; rarely using close-up shots, preferring to let the audience search the screen for what he wants you to see; and just the strangeness of the world that only those attuned can grasp. For over two hours, he has taken over your mind – how much stays in your memory is up to you. 

Short Takes: December VI - Films

Reviews: The King's Man, The Tender Bar, Encounter

The King's Man (c) 20th Century Studios

Film: The King’s Man 
In Cinemas 

Just in time to fill the hole left by Daniel Craig’s farewell to the James Bond franchise comes the best movie in the Kingsman franchise. That it’s a prequel is probably what gave Matthew Vaughn a license to rethink the series, and did he ever. This, as well as “No Time to Die,” are the best action movies of the year. While I certainly admired a lot of the first Kingsman film, the excessive style on screen couldn’t hide the plot holes or character motives. It was only exacerbated in the sequel which took the action to even more unbelievable extremes. And while “The King’s Man” does have outrageous set pieces, it all feels grounded in its World War I milieu. Ralph Fiennes is perfect as the pacifist at the center of the film, but the supporting characters are the real stars. Rhys Ifans is doing what Jared Leto has been trying to perfect in his recent whacked–out roles – that is to be over-the-top while still living in the world of the film, and so he does with his Rasputin, which is just madcap fun. I liked Harris Dickinson (in his best role since “Beach Rats”) as Fiennes’ son, who at one point becomes a hilarious thirst trap to further the plot, and Gemma Arterton and Djimon Hounsou, who have more to do than their servant roles would have you believe. The only disappointment is the villain, who, unlike Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore in the previous films, is left a mystery, but if you do the math, it’s very easy to figure out their identity. But it’s the script, which is full of wit and pathos and some ingenious plot twists, that makes this movie work so well. The action sequences, including ones involving a ram, a biplane and run through No Man’s Land, are as violent as anything as Vaughn directed, but feel germane to the plot this time around. A perfect diversion for families that need something to fill up time during the holidays. Just leave the kids at home. 

Film: Parallel Mothers

Parallel Mothers (c) Sony Pictures Classics

Film: Parallel Mothers 
In Cinemas 

Premise: Janis (Penelope Cruz) is a successful photographer in Spain, but her life project is to get a plot of land, which she believes holds the remains of her great grandfather and others who were taken during the Spanish Civil War but were never seen again. She meets an excavator named Arturo (Isreal Elejalde) and after a night together, she becomes pregnant. Arturo is married so Janis decides to have the baby on her own. In the hospital, she shares a room with a young girl named Ana (Milena Smit), who is also about to have a baby. The two bond at the hospital and after giving birth. Ana’s backstory includes divorced parents who used her as a pawn for their own gains, and the father of Ana’s baby also holds dark secrets. As their friendship grows, Janis also must face the upcoming excavation of the grave and how important the present is informed by the sorrows of the past.