Another summer has gone by, and while this month may not have featured as much beach days and suntanning as last, it did feature far, far more films. This month, at the movies…
Ace in the Hole
My first Billy Wilder film and I’m glad to report it won’t be my last, Ace in the Hole follows Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) as a frustrated big city reporter who, after various acts of debauchery and self-destruction, has found himself forced to work at a dull Albuquerque paper. Looking for his big break to get him back on top, Tatum discovers a man who has become trapped in an abandoned mine. Tatum, seeing his chance to milk this story for all it’s worth, uses his wits and wiles to manipulate and bribe the locals into having him in control of the rescue operation, dragging it out long enough for his star to rise and money to pour in. Turning both the trapped man Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) and himself into national celebrities, Tatum realizes far too late the dangerous situation he has ushered into being.
Douglas is fantastic as the sleazy, selfish reporter, a man who we feel wrong to cheer on but can’t help but admire his grit and determination to be the best. His manipulation of the locals, from promising that the sheriff will get re-elected to telling Minosa’s unhappy and unfaithful wife this is the payday she’s been waiting for, shows the corrupting force of Tatum. When his scheme runs it’s course, his downfall is swift and powerful, as it’s only in failure that he can see how he has turned his back on any integrity he still had left. The pervasive, insistent since of dread to permeates the film drips off the screen like the sweat from our desert set characters, and Wilder’s dialogue remains preternaturally relevant. A shocking condemnation on the great American past time of making news entertainment.
Alien: Romulus
Alien is one of my favourite horror franchises (as evident by my article on the original film). I don’t think there is a bad film in the entire franchise (we don’t talk about AvP: Requiem) and with the newest entry Alien: Romulus from director Fede Alvarez that trend continues. Following a group of young adults as they break onto an abandoned station in hopes of finding a way to escape their miserable lives on a mining colony, it doesn’t take long for the facehuggers to fly and the xenomorphs to hunt. With any long running franchise it’s hard to introduce new ideas or themes, but Alvarez along with co-writer Rodo Sayagues brings in elements of found family and sibling bonds with our two leads, Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her adopted synthetic brother Andy (David Jonsson). It’s the relationship between these two, and the wavering loyalties between humanity and machine, that holds the emotional heart of the film.
That’s not to say there isn’t some rather massive missteps here, again regarding legacy filmmaking. An unnecessary and frankly terrible CGI Ian Holmes is distracting and degrades the otherwise wonderful effects work seen here. And a single line, though minor in comparison, is not only milked to eye-rolling effect, but fails completely to match the tone of the scene it’s in, all in the name of fan service. While relatively minor quibbles, they stand out because everything else in the film works so well. The kills here are excellent, each building on gore and terror as the film goes on. The tension is kept high from the introduction of the facehuggers all the way until the final frames of the film. And the performances from Spaeny (who would make Ellen Ripley proud) and Jonsson make this a top tier film in the franchise.
Arrival
Revisiting Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 film Arrival was an almost transcendent experience. Following linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) as she is tasked with helping communicate with aliens that have suddenly arrived on Earth, the film is a deeply emotional journey into the ideas of community, fate, communication, and what world humanity wishes to create. Along her journey she’s joined by Jeremy Renner as physicist Ian Donnelly, and I will always enjoy seeing Renner actually act, as well as a somewhat under utilized Forest Whitaker as Colonel Webber, the military man in charge of their operation. While Webber is there mostly is a conduit for the more grandiose scientific ideas to be broken down for the sake of the audience, both Banks and Donnelly are wonderfully crafted characters, scientists deeply in love with their fields and thus infected the audience with that love as well.
This is a film made to be evaluated on rewatch. While the design of the film is impeccable, from the heptapods to the alien spacecrafts, the emotional punch of the film really lands on second watch. One we are aware of why Banks is plagued by the scenes of her daughter, who we see dying in the opening of the film, it makes her decisions and the ultimate conclusion of the film all the more tremendous. It’s a film that is able to handle both the haughty, dense scientific language and the emotional grounding with equal importance and care, and in combining these two dispirit worlds the film shows itself to be a modern masterpiece.
Blink Twice
With her directorial debut, actress-turned-direct is out to prove herself. A fizzy, poppy tale of decadence that takes a deeply dark turn in it’s third act, there is an excess of energy coming from behind the camera. The setting, a mysterious private island, is lush and beautiful, adding to the joyful free-for-all mood the film initially establishes. Following a young woman named Frida (Naomi Ackie) as she and her best friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) are whisked away by billionaire tech magnate Slater King (Channing Tatum) to his private island, the debauchery and indulgence is tainted with an overt sense of dread throughout the film. With fun and vibrant side players such as Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, and Haley Joel Osment, the film is a highly enjoyable mystery that doesn’t quite handle it’s deep, dark twist with the grace it exhibits elsewhere.
Kravitz has her tongue planted firmly in-cheek for the majority of the film, taking jabs at influencer culture and the vacant lives of the rich and famous throughout. But when it comes to a more nuanced portrayal of social ills, she lacks the restraint that’s necessary for these moments to really sit with audiences. There are moments where the tension is cut with poorly thought out jokes or edits that come off as mockish. The tonal mishandling undercuts the brutality displayed in the twist, and takes some of the sting out of what’s otherwise a well crafted tale of modern evils. The final scene may also leave a bitter taste for many, as it’s not a neat ending, instead choosing for something more morally ambiguous. There is plenty of potential of Kravitz’s directing career, even if she needs to work on her handling of satire.
Brief Encounter
David Lean’s romantic tragedy Brief Encounter is, much like Arrival, all the richer upon revisit. Following a torrid emotional affair between bored housewife Laura (Celia Johnson) and married doctor Alec (Trevor Howard), the story is told by Laura through flashback after their final moments together are cut short. By framing the film as a confession, Lean shows that there is regret in Laura’s actions, that her love for her children is still strong and that her love for her husband, while dulled with time, still holds her. But while the words tell of her regrets for becoming an adulterer, we see in her longing looks and desperate eyes that she wanted nothing more than to run away from this life she has becoming trapped in.
The film is ultimately about the crushing wait of reality. Laura and Alec meet away from their homes, in a mutually foreign place, a place where neither have family nor any strong connections. They make this place a hideaway, a secret world where the pressures of their day-to-day lives no longer apply. But as the truth of their situations close in, as the reality of running away together becomes more blurry and untenable, they must settle for a life away from each other. Their love never fades, their hearts never faulter for each other, yet there is nothing to be done. A beautiful tribute to love lost and a sad reminder of the inaccessibility of dreams.
City Lights
Arguably Charlie Chaplin’s greatest achievement in film, City Lights is the birthplace of many of the classic images one conjures when considering the comedic legend. Following Chaplin’s Tramp character as he falls in love with a blind woman who sells flowers, and his escapades and trials he faces in his attempts to woo the woman, City Lights is not only a hilarious silent adventure but a film built on wonderful moments of grace. The Tramp is a delightful scamp, a rogue with a heart who is constantly looking for his next scheme while being unable to do anything truly cruel or malevolent. He holds a sad despair in the quieter moments that he never lets beat down his spirit, even when at his lowest. It’s this unbreakable spirit that makes Chaplin’s work stand tall even a century later.
While the somber moments of the film are deeply relevant to the cultural legacy of City Lights, the film is also a lovely and hilarious silent comedy. Chaplin’s timing and gags are impeccable here, and the boxing scene is possibly his greatest comedic achievement. His interplay with both the eccentric millionaire (Harry Myers) and the millionaires snooty butler (Al Ernest Garcia) is highly enjoyable, and allows the Tramp to lean more into his rueful scoundrel persona. This additional layering gives the character more depth, and makes his sacrifices for the woman he loves all the more powerful. He is not a perfect man, but is willing to do what he knows is right when everything shakes out in the end. A film that has well earned it’s status of masterpiece.
Collateral
Michael Mann’s 2004 thriller Collateral, on the outside, might not appear to be anything special. While it does sport Tom Cruise in a rare villainous role as contract killer Vincent, and Jamie Foxx as our protagonist Max, the plot does feel like a slightly tweaked generic action film. Following cab driver Max as he’s forced by Vincent to drive him around Los Angeles to murder witnesses on a massive upcoming trial, it could easily fall into a pat, formulaic thriller. But it’s through Mann’s intense direction, Cruise’s commitment to his brutal killer, Foxx’s reluctant hero, and writer Stuart Beattie’s solid and twisting script that it’s able to rise above the thrillers of it’s time.
The performances from Cruise and Foxx are easily the best thing of the film. The two have fantastic chemistry together, with Vincent pushing Max to be both a better, less passive man, and Max in turn challenging and fighting against Vincent’s seemingly unstoppable personality. The two more than make up for the lackluster supporting performances, with the likes of Mark Ruffalo and Jada Pinkett Smith being side-lined and given little to do. The film, an early digital production, does carry a flatness to the image that doesn’t making the frame the most interesting to watch, but it will always be compelling to watch how Mann frames any city. A solid thriller with two great leading performances.
The Devil and Daniel Webster
A classic Faustian tale, The Devil and Daniel Webster (also known as All That Money Could Buy) follows a poor New Hampshire farmer in the 1800’s as he sells his soul to the devil for a life of riches. When the devil comes to collect seven years later, the desperate farmer turns to a country lawyer to help him fight for his soul. Featuring some very inventive sequences of fright and deplorable actions, the film starts off quite strong, and features I great performance from Walter Huston as Mr. Scratch. While it is a familiar tale, director William Dieterle injects some haunting imagery along the way to make it stand apart from other deal-with-the-devil films.
Unfortunately the film comes to an absolutely plodding and painfully jingoistic ending. Leaning completely on the idea that an American man deserves a second chance, and that a New Hampshire man deserves even more than that, the ending is clunky and unearned. Our poor farmer Jabez Stone (James Craig) learns nothing, and the poor treatment of his wife and neighbors is completely forgotten in favor of rising an American man above all others. The dark trial of the damned is abandoned, and we’re meant to leave with a big, false grin on our faces, when which I was not sporting when credits rolled.
Drive
Drive is a carefully crafted neo-noir from director Nicolas Winding Refn. Following the unnamed Driver (Ryan Gosling) as he becomes romantically invested in his neighbor (Carey Mulligan), only for her husband’s criminal past to threaten her and her son, the film carefully sets up it’s pieces before having the violent nature of the Driver reveal itself. A patient film with explosions of intense violence, this ushered in an era of arthouse action we can still see today. Films such as John Wick and Upgrade often take parts of their stylish execution from Drive.
The performances here are what stand out on rewatch. Gosling’s silent stares and longing glances, coupled with the furious nature of his attacks, stand tall in terms of the “silent badass” action subgenre. Mulligan is understated here but not to a fault, her adoration for the Driver and her quiet acceptance of her life carrying the emotional heart of the film. Both Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks play against type to great effect, with the former playing a motor-mouth small time crook and the latter playing the big bad. Brooks in particular stands out, a gangster who hates violence but sees it’s necessity. In total, this is a film well worth the revisit.
The Freshman
One of two silent Harold Llyod features I saw this month, The Freshman is the one held in higher general regard in his body of work. Following Lloyd as he plays an inept social outcast as he goes off to college, the film is filled with the expected follies of the silent comedy. Lloyd joins the football team, only to be treated as a punching bag. Lloyd meets a group of popular students, who convince him he’s popular all while mocking him behind his back. And while the gags do have some highlights, this film certainly falls short when it comes to the great comedies of the era.
The film is missing that one great set piece to make it stand out in the histories. Lloyd had these in his other works, most notably dangling from the minute hand on a massive clock in Safety Last! Keaton and Chaplin both often had these too, one massive stunt to sell the film on. But in The Freshman, the film is more driven by plot and character than gags, and neither of these elements contain the excitement or emotional resonance needed to make the film stand out. Ultimately, this is a good if forgettable effort from one of the silent greats.
Get On the Bus
The latest film in my Spike Lee retrospective, Get On the Bus may be his film that captures the moment of it’s creation better than any of his other work, all while still remaining relevant and compelling today. Following a group of black men that span generations and ideals as they take a bus from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. to attend the Million Man March, the film contains many trademark themes of Lee. From discussions on the roles of fathers within the black community to the homophobia that is pervasive within the community, to political allegiance and the ongoing generational trauma of slavery and Jim Crow laws, the film never shies away from any topic. Featuring a large ensemble cast, the film captures the heightened tensions of the time, while allowing room for genuine character growth and heartfelt moments.
Ossie Davis is the most prominent member of the bus, playing old-timer Jeremiah, a man full of regret and in need of salvation in the eyes of his community. Harper Hill proves he should have had a more prominent career as Xavier, a young documentary filmmaker who is able to capture the reasons behind our characters journey. And De’Aundre Bonds and Thomas Jefferson play a phenomenal father-son duo who’s relationship is both as old as can be and just forming now. These are just a few highlights of the massive cast, some of whom we get more time with than others, and some of whom barely exist outside of filling space on the bus. Ultimately this is another great Spike Lee joint that acts as both an emotional journey of manhood and a testament of the never ending conflict for black liberation.
Girl Shy
The second Harold Lloyd comedy of the month, Girl Shy does have the same problem of The Freshman in that it is much more narratively driven than stunt or gag reliant. The difference, though, is that the story and the portrayal by Lloyd is a much more fun and fresh take than in the previous film. Following Lloyd as an aspiring author who also is all but physically incapable of speaking to women, the film follows as he pursues success in both literature and love. While this does not not contain the big picture stunts one hopes to see in silent comedies, Lloyd’s bumbling loser is a fun enough character to make up for this.
The growth we see in the author is also what makes this film a worthy visit in the 21st century. I love a story of a man growing to see his own potential, and this film is all about Lloyd stumbling into being a man. At first painfully and terribly bashful, it’s at first through happenstance that he defeats his nerves, and than through his own will. It’s a relatively simple progression, but Lloyd’s performance makes it work nonetheless. Add into this some fun if simple gags, and we have a fun if simple silent film.
Memories of a Murder
The film featured in this month’s deep dive for paid subscribers, you can sign up for my premium newsletter and read about masculinity, fear, farce, and more in Memories of Murder.
The Most Dangerous Game
Another classic tale brought to the big screen. The Most Dangerous Game may be one of the most famous short stories of all time, and is done justice in this 1932 adaptation. Following a famed hunter after he is shipwrecked in a mysterious island, only to find himself turned from hunter to prey, the film is a bare-bones adaptation that doesn’t care for character or emotional depth. While this is a negative in many similar films, with this film clocking in on just over one hour long, it sheds these elements in favor of throwing us right into the horror and action of the story, and is better for it.
Featuring a great, villainous performance from Leslie Banks as Count Zaroff, the film exists in heightened archetypes in order to tell it’s story so swiftly. Our villain is unbelievably evil. Our hero is a good All American boy. Our love interest is wide eyed and in constant need of rescue. Our lamb to slaughter is a drunkard who we’re kind of glad dies, even if he hadn’t done anything truly bad. It’s a simple story that we’ve all seen done before, with no surprises or shocks, but told well enough that it still thrills ninety years later.
Nightcrawler
Revisiting Dan Gilroy’s 2014 directorial debut Nightcrawler, one might ask what happened to such a promising directing career. While Gilroy has been writing in Hollywood for decades, with this debut feature he showed an incredible eye for the frame. While his two following films, Roman J. Israel, Esq. and Velvet Buzzsaw, were not complete failures, they are certainly diminishing returns. But this is a misleading question, because the strengths of this film are not found in his direction, and may be more a director knowing when to get out of the way than anything else. This is a film about story and performance, and in those regards this still remains one of the best of the 2010s.
Following Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), an amoral conman as he sets his sights on becoming the best at capturing breaking crime news in Los Angeles, the film lives or dies on the shoulders of Gyllenhaal and he carries the film almost completely. While it does feature great supporting turns from the likes of Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, and Bill Paxton, it’s in Gyllenhaal’s unflinching portrayal of a sociopath that raises this film to another level. Gyllenhaal so easily makes his face a mask of humanity, an almost uncanny valley of genuineness, that once you see his performance it’s hard to forget. Couple it with a dark, infecting tale of the moral decline at the bottom of humanity, and the film will leave it’s mark on you.
Strange Darling
A fresh take on a familiar concept, Strange Darling is a non-linear indie horror from director JT Mollner. Told in six parts, we’re thrown into the middle of the story, watching as an unnamed woman (Willa Fitzgerald), bloodied and terrified, is hunted down by an unnamed man (Kyle Gallner). As we jump back and forth throughout the film, our characters and their motives are slowly unveiled, and the film takes twists and turns you would never expect from the opening frames. Shot in beautiful 35mm film (something proudly and somewhat eye-rolling stated in the opening title cards), the film has a vibrant and violent style, but little else to hold the audience.
While both Fitzgerald and Gallner are wonderful in their roles, and a brief scene with Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey may be the most compelling in the entire film, there are no real characters to hold onto here. Our leads only exist on frame, with nothing grounding them in any sort of reality. The non-linear storytelling ends up feeling like a gimmick more than an artistic expression, as when the story is laid out plainly we can see it as rather derivative and uninventive. There is a disconnect between the lavish framing and carefully constructed scenes and the thematic emptiness. Nothing is learned from this film, nobody grows or changes in any significant way, the changes only occurring with our perspective of the characters due to the time manipulation. And while this idea of perspective and inherent bias could have been an interesting theme, the film never explores it in any meaningful way. Ultimately, it’s a well acted but underachieving horror spectacle.
Trap
The newest original work from auteur director M. Night Shyamalan, Trap follows a father (Josh Hartnett) who discovers the pop concert he’s attending with his pre-teen daughter (Ariel Donoghue) is a sting operation to catch a notorious serial killer. The twist? Our every-day-dad is said serial killer. Inverting the cat-and-mouse game, Shyamalan forces us to root for the killer, hoping each of his elaborate schemes will get him closer to freedom. And these schemes go from unlikely to wacky to outright hilarious, a Looney Tunes like disregard for credibility leading this film to be as much (or more) a comedy than a straight forward thriller.
This is not at all an insult, as the ridiculous tone and heightened performances make this an absolute blast to watch. Hartnett plays both the aw shucks dad and the psychopathic killer with gleeful ease, and carries the film completely in it’s more ludacrous or dull moments. Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka plays the pop star Lady Raven, and while her acting is not something she’ll be remembered for, her song writing is still a great addition to the film. Shyamalan’s use of heightened, bizarre dialogue gives the film an otherworldly feel, and while this certainly will not work for everyone, it worked wonders on me. A delightful, campy mess.
Twisters
A legacy sequel that features not only known of the returning cast, but barely even a reference to the original work, Twisters has an uphill battle for most audiences in terms of goodwill. Following young meteorologist Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) who returns to her home state years after a traumatic incident, returning to the whirlwind world of storm chasing. Joining her old friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) and his team of less-than-moral chasers, she soon buddies up with the rough-and-tumble chaser Tyler (Glen Powell) as they work to learn more about the storms that are destroying communities across the American Midwest. Through thrilling tornado sequences and a genuine appreciation for the grandness and unfathomable power of nature, director Lee Isaac Chung is able to elevate traditional blockbuster cinema into a compelling contemplation of our place in the world.
The film lives mostly on the fantastic chemistry between our cast. While some elements seem to be left out in the cold (Brandon Perea is all but wasted in his reckless redneck roll), Edgar-Jones and Powell both command the screen. The film also never gives into the trope of handing the film over to Powell, instead allowing Edgar-Jones to dominate the narrative and, in the end, be the ultimate savior. Add in a delightfully villainous role from David Corenswet and the cast comes out well-rounded if slightly stock. But had the cast not worked as well as it did, the bigger swings Chung took here would not land nearly as well. His contemplative, respectful framing of the grandeur of nature works surprisingly well with the nail-biting blockbuster sequences. Ultimately, a delightful and thrilling experience that out-punches the normal blockbuster fare.