MOVIE REVIEW: WOMEN TALKING

 

Women in an isolated religious colony struggle to reconcile with their faith after a series of sexual assaults.

Director: Sarah Polley

Cast: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand

Release Date: December 23, 2022

Genre: Drama

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content including sexual assault, bloody images, and some strong language

Runtime: 1h 44m

Review:

Sarah Polley’s Women Talking is a meditative drama is the kind of film that’s driven by its script and cast.  Polley takes a minimalist approach which allows the focus to remain centered on its subject matter and characters.  A handful of sweeping landscape shots and post assault flashbacks make up the small visual flourishes she utilizes during the course of the film’s runtime.  The film’s central meetings feel more like a stage play as we listen to the character describe the terrible state of this situation and ruminate on how to escape and possible consequences.  This isn’t the kind of film that isn’t going to be for everyone with its dialogue-centric approach and heavy subject matter which some people might find to be little more than pretentious award fodder.  It’s definitely a certain type of film but that doesn’t keep it from being impactful for those willing to take the time to appreciate the performances on screen.  The ensemble of actresses on screen deliver excellent performances throughout with each of them given ample time to shine. The characters do lean a bit more into types than fully realized characters but that doesn’t make them any less effective.  Rooney Mara is decidedly hopeful, Claire Foy intensely fiery but Jessie Buckley’s conflicted character is the most interesting of the group.  Buckly’s performance dominates the latter portion of the film with a measured and complex performance that’s rather mesmerizing.  Ben Whishaw, Judith Ivey, Michelle McLeod and Sheila McCarthy make the most of their screentime in vital supporting turns which gives the film its beating heart.  Women Talking is the kind of film that allows you appreciate the power of words especially when delivered by a stellar cast.

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: NIGHTMARE ALLEY

 

In 1940s New York, down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle endears himself to a clairvoyant and her mentalist husband at a traveling carnival. Using newly acquired knowledge, Carlisle crafts a golden ticket to success by swindling the elite and wealthy. Hoping for a big score, he soon hatches a scheme to con a dangerous tycoon with help from a mysterious psychiatrist who might be his most formidable opponent yet.

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Cast:  Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, David Strathairn

Release Date: December 17, 2021

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Rated R for strong/bloody violence, some sexual content, nudity and language

Runtime: 2h 30m

Review:

Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley is a lavishly directed film noir morality tale that's as engrossing as it is engaging.  Del Toro channel's plenty of classic noir films in this remake of the 1947 original while adding his own personal twist.  The visually lean heavily on art deco designs with tinges of the macabre which fits with Del Toro's style.  Bradley Cooper is at the center of the film and does impressively well as the charlatan who drives the film.  Cooper's performance transforms as the character evolves over the course of the film's runtime with broad and occasionally more subtle choices.  It's a fascinating performance that blooms as the film moves on.  Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette and David Strathairn carry the majority of the supporting load in the first half of the film with each leaving a strong impression before the scene shifts.  The second half though belongs to Cate Blanchett who's the defacto femme fatale of the piece.  Blanchett's angelic yet menacing face fits the role perfectly as she delivers lines with steely precision and intensity.  This film is an actor's playground which makes its leisurely pacing easier to digest as you appreciate the performances on display.  Nightmare Alley isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea but for those who can appreciate meticulous filmmaking with top notch performances will find plenty to love here.  

A-

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Carol & Room

 

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas to catch a couple Oscar hopefuls before they beat a hasty path out of town. On the docket: Carol and Room.

 

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn’t know from the trailers if you’ve seen any (which I haven’t).

 

Dear Reader(s), Awards Season is a funny thing here in Smalltown, USA. Unless you’ve got yourself a freakishly-realistic bear attack, your picture may expect a run of about seven days. Thus I found myself at the movies on a Wednesday afternoon in January, watching two films that interested me about as much as one of those “Real Housewives” shows. First on my agenda: Carol. 

 

A young photographer falls for a sophisticated older woman. 

 

Ahhhh…forbidden love. It always sounds just a bit tawdry, doesn’t it? While Carol tells the tale of an affair that was, for the time, utterly impossible, there’s not a hint of dirtiness about it. The romance is a slow burner, with not even a kiss before the movie’s midway point, and the major love scene is as sterile as an operating theatre. 

 

Respect for the subject matter is appreciated, but a taboo affair should feel at least a little dangerous. There are also some weird shots that linger so long as to be almost comical. That’s the bad news is. 

 

The good news is, Carol is a lovely story, slowly paced but never dull. The family drama is well-played, and fleshes out our love story without feeling like an intrusion. 

 

Should Cate Blanchett go home with Oscar on The Big Night, the Academy will undoubtedly be accused of choosing old-and-safe over young-and-edgy (again), but, for my money, she is deserving. 

 

Rooney Mara is equally extraordinary and moving. For all its deliberate pace, the movie never feels long, and, a superhero fangirl stuck in a grownup movie even has a *squee* moment when Cory Michael Smith (Gotham’s Edward Nygma) turns up, so there’s that. 

 

Carol runs 118 minutes and is rated R for “a scene of sexuality/nudity and brief language.” 

 

Carol is a beautiful love story that boasts some very special performances, and, like The Danish Girl, provides nice reminders of how far we’ve come and how far we’ve yet to go. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Carol gets six.

 

Next up: Room.

 

A young woman who bore a son while being held captive attempts to recover from her ordeal, while the boy experiences the outside world for the first time.

 

In the interest of full and fair disclosure, I’ll always admit when a movie’s main or only problem is that it’s not “my thing.” Room is most certainly not my thing (nor is Carol, for that matter), but it’s got much bigger problems. 

 

The first ten minutes of Room are so insufferable that it was all I could do not to walk out. Most of the first half is barely watchable, and not remotely in the way a capable telling of this harrowing story might make itself unwatchable. 

 

Rather than sympathizing with characters that should be very sympathetic, I was bored and even annoyed with them. The film picks up somewhat once it puts “Room” in its rearview, which might be attributed to happier subject matter or simply to more going on. 

 

I attribute it mostly to Joan Allen, a great actress who elevates anything that’s lucky enough to have her. Brie Larson is as good as you’ve heard, though not my Best Actress winner, if the Academy gives me a vote. (Hint: it does not.) 

 

Kid actors are never less than a risky proposition, and, while it may seem unfair to place such a big burden on such small shoulders, it’s youngster Jacob Trembley who ultimately could have made Room fully engaging, but, sadly, does not. 

 

There are a fair few emotionally wrenching moments where you think the film might be finding its feet, but it overstays its welcome so badly that those are barely remembered by the time the picture reaches its longed-for conclusion.

 

Room clocks in at 118 minutes, and is rated R for “language.”

 

Room is this year’s Boyhood, an unjustified critical darling for what it should have been more than for what it is. 

 

Maybe next time they should consult Tommy Wiseau. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Room gets three.

 

Until next time…

MOVIE REVIEW: HER

A sensitive and soulful man earns a living by writing personal letters for other people. Left heartbroken after a long love affair ends, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) becomes fascinated with a new operating system which reportedly develops into an intuitive and unique entity in its own right. He starts the program and meets "Samantha" (Scarlett Johansson), whose bright voice reveals a sensitive, playful personality. Though "friends" initially, the relationship soon deepens into love.. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Spike Jonze

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara, Amy Adams

Release Date: Dec 18, 2013

Rated R for language, Brief Graphic Nudity and Sexual Content

Runtime: 1 hr. 59 min.

Genres: Romance

Review:

Spike Jonze Her is a beautifully told love story that’s about as dense as week old muffins. Jonze’s, who also wrote the script, film is set in the hipster populated near future where a lonely man falls in love with a sentience operating system but it’s all a proxy for a myriad of themes and ideas. It’s delicate and harsh at the same time with the emotional journey ringing true throughout. You could say this film is about increasingly detached world or about journey we go through in relationships or the evolution of a person as they grow and learn. Any one of those would be correct in my opinion and there are still other thematic elements at play throughout. Joaquin Phoenix turns in an awards caliber performance, especially when you consider the fact that he was acting by himself for the better part of the film only with Johansson’s voice to work with. It’s an impressive turn from the start were we sense the character’s loneliness and the emotional journey he goes through. It maybe his best work to date. Johansson’s voice work is equally impressive. She creates a tangible character with emotional weight which is quite a trick since she’s just a disembodied voice. They both have a discernable rapport together which makes the emotions feel real. It’s a strangely impressive feat for the film. There are some issues albeit minor ones. The allegory does occasionally veer into pretentious territory by taking things into silly extremes. Additionally, the story is overlong, needlessly meandering for portions of the 2nd act before moving to its inevitable conclusion.

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

IN THEATERS
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO



A discredited journalist (Daniel Craig) and a mysterious computer hacker discover that even the wealthiest families have skeletons in their closets while working to solve the mystery of a 40-year-old murder in this David Fincher-directed remake of the 2009 Swedish thriller of the same name. Inspired by late author Stieg Larsson's successful trilogy of books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets under way as the two leads (Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara) are briefed in the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, whose uncle suspects she may have been killed by a member of their own family. The deeper they dig for the truth, however, the greater the risk of being buried alive by members of the family, who will go to great lengths to keep their secrets tightly sealed. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Steven Berkoff, Stellan Skarsgård

Release Date: Dec 21, 2011

Rated R for brutal violent content including rape and torture, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, and language

Genres: Suspense/Thriller

Runtime: 2 hr. 38 min.

Review:

Remaking a foreign film that came out in 2009 still kind of boggles the mind but if somebody was going to do it and do it well, David Fincher is probably the right guy to helm it. Personally I’m a fan of the Swedish film trilogy which I found sleek and impressively shot, not to mention the cast with Noomi Rapace leaving the biggest impression. So while it’s hard to not compare and contrast, I’ll try and avoid it as much as possible but it’s unavoidable. Fincher’s film sizzles with his trademark visual style which gives his film an oppressive and grim atmosphere throughout. Fincher seems to be reaching back to his own film, The Game, when dealing with the Vanger’s. A few things change here and there but for the most part, to its detriment, Fincher sticks to the general structure of the Swedish film. Sadly, some of the plot issues that bothered me previously seem amplified here with a choppy story structure especially in the final act which seems to have more ending that the last Lord of the Rings. Still, Fincher does a good job of pacing the film at a steady pace even if there isn’t much tangible action. Fincher handles Lisbeth’s more explicit scenes with impressive style, making it just as shocking even if you’ve seen the Swedish version. Rooney Mara in the role of Lisbeth is a revelation, while I loved Noomi Rapace’s take on the character she had a bit of an issue showing the character’s fragile side. Mara deftly deals with this through simple facial movements, typically with no dialogue. She also plays her rage like a sort of wild animal pushed into a corner; just listen to her manic yelping when restrained. Daniel Craig fills the role of Mikael Blomkvist with a more believable sense of self than Michael Nyqvist in the Swedish version. Some of the issue with Blomkvist is that comes off as kind of aloof, it’s more of an issue with the source material than anything else but Craig does a solid job. Christopher Plummer’s small but pivotal role is well done as he’s clearly on task and having a ball. Stellan Skarsgård seems slightly off and understated for some reason. David Fincher brings it all together and delivers a strong film that, like the original film, works much better off the films leads especially the showcase role of Lisbeth which Mara nails.

B+

[Trailer] David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This new longer, close to 4 minutes, trailer for David Fincher’s remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo really hits up on a lot of the major plot points of the story.

Most should seem fairly familiar to those that have seen the Swedish films, which I thought were fairly strong, and while the style is all Fincher I don’t really see all that much derivation is terms of story or character.

Rooney Mara does seem to give off a stronger tough but wounded vibe than Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth. Still think Rapace will be a tough act to follow personally. Daniel Craig does seem like a good fit for Mikael Blomkvist so we shall see, I have a lot of faith in Fincher so I’m very curious to see the final product.