MOVIE REVIEW: THE FABELMANS

 

Young Sammy Fabelman falls in love with movies after his parents take him to see "The Greatest Show on Earth." Armed with a camera, Sammy starts to make his own films at home, much to the delight of his supportive mother.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, David Lynch

Release Date: November 11, 2022

Genre: Drama

Rated PG-13 for some strong language, thematic elements, brief violence and drug use.

Runtime: 2h 31m

Steven Spielberg's The Fablemans is a tender, thematically dense quasi-autobiography that shows the power of film and its effect on people.  Initially, his film is a light bit of idyllic nostalgia as he discovers cinema and his nascent filmmaking as a child.  Slowly, he reveals small fractures in his home life as he continues to explore his love of filmmaking.  Gabriel LaBelle delivers an excellent central performance as Sammy Fableman.  LaBelle gives the character a likable authenticity that makes his coming of age journey engaging and relatable as his family moves from New Jersey to Arizona and finally California.  It’s a subtle performance as his character traverses  a wide range of emotions and experiences since the film covers a large swath of time.  Michelle Williams gets the showier role and delivers a textured heartfelt turn as his loving mother.  Williams' performance reveals itself as the story moves along with her free spirted, artistic soul collapsing under itself as she's increasingly feeling trapped in a life she never wanted.  There's a palatable sense of yearning for her unrealized dreams that drives the film and Sammy throughout.  Paul Dano does yeoman's work as the loving and kind but decidedly analytical patriarch of the family.  It’s a reserved, measured turn that only gives you glimpses his heartbreak.  Seth Rogen and Judd Hirsch have small but important supporting roles with each actor making the most of their screen time.  The film's unhurried pace might turn off for some since it moves at a decidedly methodical pace.  That pace, though, does allow you to digest more of the underlying themes about film and its ability to refocus perceptions and truth, something explicitly addressed in a telling scene between Sammy and a high school bully in the final act.  It’s a testament to Spielberg that he knowingly acknowledges that this sanitized, glossy retelling of his upbringing veers somewhere between truth and tale.

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: VIOLENT NIGHT

 

An elite team of mercenaries breaks into a family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone hostage inside. However, they aren't prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he's about to show why this Nick is no saint.

Director: Tommy Wirkola

Cast:  David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson, Cam Gigandet, Leah Brady, Beverly D'Angelo

Release Date: December 2, 2022

Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language throughout and some sexual references

Runtime: 1h 52m

Violent Night is a bloody bit of Christmas camp that answers the question, what would happen if you threw Die Hard, Miracle on 34th Street and Home Alone into a blender.  Tommy Wirkola's film tries to balance over the top bloody action with some Christmas magic, only partially succeeding in frenzied spots before hitting noticeable lulls.  The film embraces it’s over the top violence which are what most people are coming for but it also takes long periods of time to try and set up a Christmas magic type subplot which just kills it's forward momentum.  The film would have been better served if those sequences were trimmed down allowing it to lean into the goofy Christmas mayhem.  David Harbour deserves a lion share of the credit for making this film work with an incredibly fun performance as an apathetic, disillusioned Kris Kringle.  Harbour is a generally likable performer which works well for him here as the Viking berserker turned Santa Claus, seriously, and child confidant.  His ability to switch between ferocity and heartfelt sincerity is rather impressive.  John Leguizamo serves as the film's villain, a role he's clearly having a ball playing.  It’s an over the top performance but it works perfectly with the film overall.  Beverly D'Angelo and Edi Patterson make the most of their limited screen time, it’s a shame the film didn't make better use of their talents.  Violent Night is a choppy affair but when it embraces its violent B-movie camp it’s a lot of fun.

C+

Cindy Prascik's Review of Don't Worry Darling

 

My dear reader(s), this week I was able to catch up with one of the year's most talked-about movies, Don't Worry Darling.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

A woman begins to suspect her perfect community is not all it seems.

Don't Worry Darling is a passable thriller victimized by a disastrous publicity campaign. The story is nothing very new or surprising, but the movie maintains tension well enough and is blessed with an eminently watchable cast, led by the always stellar Florence Pugh. Of course, It's Harry Styles who drew me to the film (not usually the sort of thing that would interest me) and yet again I'll give him credit for being good enough that I wasn't thinking of him as Harry Styles (TM) while watching. (To qualify this achievement: I'm *always* thinking of Harry Styles.) The rest of the supporting cast - featuring Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, Kiki Layne, and director Olivia Wilde - is solid, with special mention to Chris Pine, who plays sinister exceedingly well for such a benignly handsome dude. Don't Worry Darling keeps a nice place, is creepy throughout (though not always in the way it means to be), and features a terrific soundtrack filled with some great oldies. If the last act feels a bit contrived, for the most part it's still an enjoyable but forgettable thriller.

Don't Worry Darling clocks in at 123 minutes and is rated R for "sexuality, violent content, and language."

Don't Worry Darling is a decent thriller that undoubtedly would have fared better had it kept its drama onscreen. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Don't Worry Darling gets five.

Don't Worry Darling is now playing on the HBO family of channels, and streaming on HBO Max.

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

 

Tech billionaire Miles Bron invites his friends for a getaway on his private Greek island. When someone turns up dead, Detective Benoit Blanc is put on the case.

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista

Release Date: November 23, 2022 

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Rated PG-13 for strong language, some violence, sexual material and drug content

Runtime: 2h 20m

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is the kind of film that pulsates with palatable energy from its cast and director that you can't help but be entranced in the murder mystery at play.  Rian Johnson delivers another sharp and playful mystery for his own Hercule Poirot, Detective Benoit Blanc.  Johnson and Daniel Craig clearly love the material and character with their energy gleefully seeping through the screen.  Craig clearly loves playing the character and his Foghorn Leghorn drawl with this entry finding him refining his persona making him more human even with the outsized attitudes.  He's graced with another solid ensemble cast who all bring their own sort of energy.  They, like Blanc, are all oversized personas representing certain kinds of people from eccentric billionaires like Ed Norton's Miles Bron or Kate Hudson's ditzy supermodel Birdie Jay.  Ethan Hawke shows up for a split second before disappearing entirely which leaves you wondering if a subplot was left on the cutting room floor.  Still, Johnson makes solid use of the rest of the supporting cast throughout the film which likes to play with scenes by telling them from different points of view as the story unfolds.  Each character has their own underlying agenda at play with Janelle Monáe's Cassandra Brand being the crux of the story.  In its final act the film feels reminiscent of the 1985's Clue, a game Blanc hates, with character's motivations being dissected.  The final reveal isn't much of a surprise but that doesn't make it any less fun when the cast in front of the camera and director behind it are clearly having so much fun.   

A-

MOVIE REVIEW: SHE SAID

 

The New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor publish a report that exposes sexual abuse allegations against powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The shocking story also serves as a launching pad for the #MeToo movement, shattering decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault and harassment.

Director: Maria Schrader

Cast: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Morton, Ashley Judd

Release Date: November 18, 2022

Genre: Drama, History

Rated R for language and descriptions of sexual assault.

Runtime: 2h 15m 

She Said is a smartly written and well acted journalistic thriller joining the ranks of Spotlight, The Post and All The President's Men.  Maria Schrader's film has a focused immediacy to the proceedings which makes the film engaging even during some of it's dryer stretches.  Its subject matter is well known so there aren't many surprises in store but it smartly focuses on the individual women's stories as the two reporters peel back the layers of the abuse.  Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan carry the film with relative ease while giving their characters a solid amount of depth to make you care about their journey which becomes more personal as it goes along.  Mulligan is a strong and forceful while Kazan is more demure but no less determined and motivated with the film perking up noticeably when they share the screen.  Patricia Clarkson and Andre Braugher have small but important supporting roles as no nonsense editors.  Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Morton and Ashley Judd have impactful scenes as victims recounting their experiences.  Additionally, the film uses a real recording of Weinstein berating a victim to chilling effect.  She Said is the type of film that's built on a series of conversations and its ability make it engaging with a predetermined finale is truly impressive.

A

MOVIE REVIEW: THE MENU

 

A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.

Director: Mark Mylod

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, John Leguizamo

Release Date: November 18, 2022

Genre: Comedy, Horror, Thriller

Rated R for strong/disturbing violent content, language throughout and some sexual references.

Runtime: 1h 46m

The Menu is a glossy, sharply written satire that delivers some devilishly dark comedy that touches on themes of class warfare but never delves too deep into them.  Mark Mylod's film is directed with a steady hand as he sets up the setting on the island and high end restaurant.  The entire film has a slick modernist visual that echoes David Fincher's unappreciated The Game from the late 90s.  This film is never as subversive or surprising as Fincher's mind trip since it lays its cards out on the table fairly early on.  The script doesn't provide multilayered characters instead everyone is a type with only the smallest sprinkling of background details to flesh them out.  There's very little depth to them with the film relying on the performer’s talent and charisma.  Thankfully, the film is blessed with a excellent cast of actors who elevate the film with a fun, committed performances.  Ralph Fiennes serves as the film's lifeblood with his turn as the Chef who both measured and menacing at the same time.  In lesser hands, this character would have come off as some sort of cinematic Soup Nazi but Fiennes is able add so much more than what's on the page to make him far more fascinating.  Anya Taylor-Joy gets the lion share of the screen time and she's dependable as usual.  She gives the character a believable sense of self reliance and underlying toughness that's clearly out of place among the assorted upper crust.  The rest of the supporting cast all make the most of their limited screen time with Hong Chau, Judith Light and John Leguizamo making you wish their roles were just a bit larger and fleshed out.  The Menu is the kind of film that works in spite of itself, a credit to its cast and director but you get the sense it could have been something really special.  

B-