MOVIE REVIEW: THE SUBSTANCE

 

Elisabeth Sparkle, renowned for an aerobics show, faces a devastating blow on her 50th birthday as her boss fires her. Amid her distress, a laboratory offers her a substance which promises to transform her into an enhanced version of herself.

Director: Coralie Fargeat

Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Edward Hamilton Clark, Gore Abrams

Release Date: September 20, 2024

Genre: Drama, Horror

Rated R for strong bloody violent content, gore, graphic nudity and language.

Runtime: 2h 20m

Review:

Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance is a wickedly twisted satire about aging in an appearance obsessed society that gets crazier as it barrels into its finale.  Fargeat's film makes great use of striking visuals to create the elevated sense of reality to drive home how the old are so incredibly old and decrepit while the young are practically bursting at the seams with vitality and sexual energy.  She makes great use of colors throughout to create a striking series of images that are bound to leave an impression for a variety of reasons.  The story itself is thematically loaded outside of the most obvious aspect of it all especially as it turns into a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde conflict that pits an older and younger version of yourself against each other.  It’s an interesting angle that adds a lot more depth to the entire thing as it turns into a meditation on what we are in our youth and how it affects our older selves.  Needless to say, there's plenty to chew on after it all ends and the film is so cartoonishly over the top to drive home its point that it might be a bit too much for some people.  Demi Moore is fully committed throughout as she dives headfirst into every aspect of the incredibly unglamourous role.  Her performance gives a solid sense of the character's internal turmoil as she tries to cope with aging as she's thrust aside the moment a younger, hotter starlet hits the scene.  She's shot in every unflattering light imaginable and that's before things get decidedly stranger and more grotesque.  On the opposite end is Margaret Qualley who is shot like she's constantly in the world's horniest soda ad or aerobics videos.  Qualley leans into it with glossy eyed aggressiveness and lip biting that set her sex appeal to a thousand.  Dennis Quaid serves as the stand in for every gross man you've ever met.  Quaid is deliciously over the top every time he pops up onscreen with the extreme close up of his face channeling the uncomfortable invasion of space these kinds of guys are prone to.  They are all fascinating performances, but this might be a career best for Moore who just goes for broke even during its finale.  The finale act does start to suffer a bit as the film overstays it's welcome which might have some people getting flashbacks of 1989's cult film Society.  The Substance stumbles a bit in its close but that doesn't keep it from being an effective satire told via strong performances and a strong visual language.  

B+

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Immediate Family and Brats

My dear reader(s), recently I had the opportunity to catch up with a pair of documentaries about subjects that are dear to me: Immediate Family (2022) and Brats (2024).

First on my agenda, Immediate Family, which follows the lives and careers of musicians who, individually and together, have contributed to some of the most iconic songs and albums of all time.

Danny Kortchmar. Leland Sklar. Waddy Wachtel. Russ Kunkel. If you don't know those names, how about Stevie Nicks? Don Henley? Phil Collins? Carole King? James Taylor? This first four are instrumental (see what I did there?) in legendary recordings by the last five...and so many more. Immediate Family takes viewers into the studio for the creation of some truly iconic music, and to the stage for storied live performances. Legends sing the praises of these session men, and...the session men are not shy about a bit of back patting themselves. The interviews are entertaining, and every piece of music is a delightful trip down memory lane. The film's best moments allow viewers to listen in as Kortchmar, Sklar, Wachtel, and Kunkel play riffs that evolve into songs that still pop up on the radio daily. If you were invited to sit on the porch to hear the best music industry stories of all time, told by the people who lived them, it'd feel a lot like Immediate Family.

Immediate Family runs 102 minutes and is unrated. (They're musicians, so expect some coarse language and adult themes.)

Immediate Family offers a fascinating peek behind the curtain at the creation of the most popular and influential music of our time. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Immediate Family gets eight. (And if you haven't worn out at least a couple copies of Tapestry, I don't think we can be friends.)

Immediate Family is now streaming on Hulu.

Fangirl points: I got to hear Waddy Wachtel mention my hometown. He was making fun of it, but I can't bear a grudge!

Next on the docket, Brats.

Brats looks back at the (in)famous Brat Pack of the 1980s, and examines how the nickname amd its connotations have impacted the actors' lives and careers.

Brats plays like a therapy session where the viewer has been invited to listen in. Andrew McCarthy has written and directed a sometimes uncomfortable look at how he and his fellow Brat-Packers have carried the baggage of the name and image, personally and professionally. While a couple members of the inner circle declined to be interviewed for this project (Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson), most who were at least Brat Pack adjacent agreed to participate. McCarthy has been reasonably successful as an actor, director, and writer, but his tone is of someone very deeply wronged and looking for answers. Emilio Estevez, subject of the article that coined the Brat Pack moniker, is visbly uncomfortable with the topic and, at times, almost hostile in his responses. Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, who have crafted arguably the most successful post-Brat Pack acting careers, are cheerful and mostly unbothered by the history. (I guess regular work and plenty of money will do that for a person.) Moore and Ally Sheedy, who also seems content with where life has led her, often seem to be trying to convince McCarthy that it all really wasn't so bad. It's fascinating to watch, especially for people who grew up with the Brat Pack movies.

Brats clocks in at a quick 92 minutes and is unrated.

Brats is a fond, if sometimes uncomfortable, catch-up with people who feel like old friends. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Brats gets seven.

Brats is now streaming on Hulu.

Until next time...

 

MOVIE REVIEW: ROUGH NIGHT

Five best friends (Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Zoë Kravitz) from college reunite 10 years later for a wild bachelorette weekend in Miami. Their hard partying takes a hilariously dark turn when they accidentally kill a male stripper. Amid the craziness of trying to cover it up, they're ultimately brought closer together when it matters most.

Director: Lucia Aniello

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Kate McKinnon, Zoe Kravitz, Ilana Glazer, Ty Burrell, 

Demi Moore

Release Date: Jun 09, 2017

R for crude sexual content, language throughout, drug use and brief bloody images

Runtime: 1 hr. 41 min.

Release Date: Jun 16, 2017

Genres: Comedy

Review:

Rough Night is a raucous comedy with a free and loose feel to it with a solid cast.  Writer director Lucia Aniello directs an efficient comedy with only a handful of noticeable dead spots.  The story isn’t ground breaking by stretch of the imagination but the cast keeps it fun for the better part of the film.  Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Kate McKinnon and Zoe Kravitz make for a fun comedic combination.  Kate McKinnon creates another memorably weird character that steals most of the scenes she’s in.  Johansson is a tad bit under utilized as the “straight man” in the piece.  Ty Burrell and Demi Moore have fun supporting roles that probably could have been played for a few more laughs if the script had given them a little more to do.  Similarly, Paul W. Downs boyfriend character and his bachelor party seemed like it was ripe for more laughs even though his story thread provided some inspired sequences.  There are a few sequences near the end of the film that slow the story down.  They try to give the story a bit of emotional depth which ends up feeling tacked on.  The story doesn’t really need it, its mindless guilty fun that delivers what it set out to do.

B