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LESSON #1: THE MYSTIQUE OF THE EGYPTIAN NILE-- With its vast history and continental importance, the sites and cities of the Nile River are an undeniable draw and grandiose settings for films. The tans of sands and stone rise to swirling colors of natural oases and modern human settlement. Call it centuries of European colonization and spoiling, but the region’s combinations of cultures and refinements old and new are irresistible. Agatha Christie didn’t set one of her murder mystery novels there for nothing.
If a storyteller was going to reunite two former lovers for a week of Linklater-esque strolls of rekindled affection and unsettled regrets, why not set it among the tombs and temples? Those places whisper if you listen. So too does the lovely and quiet film Luxor from Zeina Durra. She took 18 days to soak in the energy of its titular city of Upper Egypt and channel it into a pair of wandering souls. The results are beautiful yet slight.
Andrea Riseborough plays Hana, a field doctor from England granted a furlough. She chose the familiar Luxor, a place of architectural wonders she’s enjoyed before. Hana settles into a suite at the 113-year-old cosmopolitan Winter Palace Hotel on the banks of the Nile with an as-yet unexplained malaise for someone with the chance to enjoy the lushness and lounge of such a place. That despondency becomes clear when she beds a cocky American expat (Michael Landes) from the hotel bar on a one-night stand, gaining the womanly help of casual fellow guest Dunia (Egyptian star Shereen Reda).
Each day, Hana embarks on self-guided travel through the city and its landmarks, including the tremendous monuments of its West Bank including Ramesseum, Medinet Habu, Deir el-Medina, and the Valley of the Kings. Even in the film’s swift guerilla schedule, short film specialist cinematographer Zelmira Gainza took full advantage shooting these impressive locations secured by location scout Khaled Kama. Through Hana, we gain little nuggets of a place “pregnant with history,” curated on-screen and behind-the-scenes by archaeology and Egyptology advisor Salima Ikram. That aforementioned draw of Lesson #1 gets greater with every pristine view of ancient ethnic finery seen and touched by our protagonist.
On one ferry crossing, Hana gets recognized by Sultan, a local archaeologist and old friend played by TV star Karim Saleh of Transparent and Counterpart. The mutual courtesy in seeing each other again is the type that comes from past closeness. The two begin to spend their days and nights together catching up. With each episodic visit to another ruin followed by that observational camera of Gainza, we learn about the nostalgic frivolity of their previous relationship.
LESSON #2: WHEN OLD FLAMES MEET AGAIN-- It doesn’t matter if it’s been one year or 50. When former intimate lovers see each other again after any significant absence, magnetic companion comforts wrestle with aged distance and separate responsibilities. Hana laments “Don’t you miss how hopeful we were... about us, the world, time, everything? I wish it was 20 years ago again.” Old flames are indeed landmarks for people’s souls. They are vessels for either unfulfilled feelings or finished mistakes. Describing the passage of time with the catacombs, a later conversation waxes how there’s “something lovely about it being so faded and imperfect.” Love can age that way too.
LESSON #3: DAMAGES THAT CAN AND CANNOT BE HEALED-- Moreover with each daily chapter, we learn increasingly difficult details on the morose funk that has seemingly defeated and changed Hana in the two decades since she and Sultan last spent quality time together. She is on leave from a war trauma unit from the Jordanian border with Yemen looming as her next assignment. With the patient care and charm of Sultan combined with walking through old haunts, Hana’s spirit refills. She needed it even if it can’t last.
Luxor is Durra’s first feature in ten years since The Imperialists Are Still Alive!, so bravo to more female voices in film. This would make an excellent double feature with Ruba Nadda’s 2009 underseen romance Cairo Time with Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig. Luxor’s views may be as bright and sunny as a postcard, but its tangible romance is not. Rather, this movie is about the undercurrents within the flow of people, even if they are standing next to a mighty river. This pace and volume of its quiet and meditative drama, granted, are admittedly challenging.
While many famous video games have enjoyed a cinematic adaptation in the past, there are still many more that have yet to undergo this treatment. Of course not all games can make good movies, but there are certainly those that are better suited to the conversion process. With that in mind, here are just a few games which are worthy of being translated to the silver screen.
God of War
The PlayStation-exclusive franchise has been wowing critics for over a decade and a half at this point, and its impressive use of ancient mythology mixed with copious amounts of bloodshed make it well positioned for blockbuster adaptation.
Hopes are high that Sony will eventually make a movie based on God of War, as it now has its own production studio dedicated to turning gaming IP into films. Aquaman star Jason Momoa has also been tipped to star as the gruff antihero Kratos, so fans can keep their fingers crossed for a release in the near future.
Red Dead Redemption
The world of Red Dead Redemption and the 2018 follow-up are incredibly rich, not only in terms of narrative but also when it comes to the sheer amount of activities that are available to the player. From gunplay and general Wild West adventuring to myriad minigames ranging from blackjack and poker experiences like those found on sites including Casumo casino, to dominoes and beyond.
This means that any movie made with these games as the foundation could take a huge number of directions with its plot, characters, settings and set pieces. The Western genre is also in dire need of a revamp, and using a hugely successful video game as the jumping off point could be the best way to achieve this.
The Last Of Us
Another game only found on PlayStation, The Last of Us and its recent sequel have raised the bar in terms of video game storytelling, and so it makes sense that a movie could be made with this series as its basis.
Rumblings of an HBO series being in the works could put paid to this ambition, but hopefully the post apocalyptic desolation and detailed character arcs of the game will work well on the small screen even if they never make it to cinemas.
The Legend of Zelda
Another gaming franchise with a sturdy legacy and a large fan base behind it, The Legend of Zelda has been at the top of the list of potential movie adaptations for some time. There are always rumours circulating about a live-action edition arriving in cinemas, although this has yet to materialize.
The fantasy-adventure elements of the games would work well as the basis for a film aimed at younger audiences, and it could benefit from an adaptation similar to that of Peter Jackson’s original Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Half-Life
Fans have been waiting years for Valve Software to finally release the third entry in this incredibly influential first person shooter series, and while this remains a pipe dream, the prospect of a movie adaptation may help to keep the fires of intrigue burning.
The main problem, of course, is that Half-Life protagonist Gordon Freeman is silent throughout the games, which is obviously not ideal in a cinematic context. Thankfully there are other engaging characters that screenwriters could make use of, including Alyx Vance, who has already starred in her own VR-focused spin-off, and is well liked by the community.
Not everyone is enamored with the idea of turning video games into movies, but in the right hands at least some of these properties should be able to make the transition seamlessly.
The opening pre-credits prologue of Netflix’s Mank sets all the stages you need. Even if you have never seen the highly regarded Citizen Kane or are not well-versed in Old Hollywood history, you can understand the circumstances and implications presented. That crawl reads:
“In 1940, at the tender age of 24, Orson Welles was lured to Hollywood by a struggling RKO Pictures with a contract befitting his storytelling talents. He was given absolute creative autonomy, would suffer no oversight, and could make any movie, about any subject, with any collaborator he wished.”
Pull pieces of that out and put it in today’s context. Picture any big studio in 2020 issuing a blank check to an industry outsider born in 1996. Take a look at the list of current 24-year-olds. Remove Zendaya and Tom Holland because they come from, and are established in, the film business already. They don’t count.
You’re left with a host of YouTube stars, like David Dobrik and RiceGum. They would be the 21st century equivalent of a social influencer from another entertainment medium to the huge radio sensation that was Orson Welles before 1940. Who today gives someone like Dobrik any amount of money to make a Hollywood movie? Shit, the best he gets is a voice part in The Angry Birds Movie 2 and a judge’s seat on a Nickelodeon show.
LESSON #1: THE PROS AND CONS OF AUTONOMY— Keep going and look at the “no” and “any” tags in that prologue. That was a historic amount of leeway and creative freedom. Orson Welles teamed with veteran screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz to make an experimental movie that was a thinly-veiled expose at the largest media mogul of their day, William Randolph Hearst, who had the power to silence all publicity. RKO Pictures rode the lightning, diva and all with Welles.
Who today lets a David Dobrik-type have full say in making a film that would scandalize, say, Jeff Bezos, Donald Trump, Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, or Mark Zuckerberg and get away with it without lawsuits and nuclear heat? Ah, I see your raised eyebrow at that last name. I’ll wink back and say stay with me.
I can see you shaking your head from here. Exactly. It couldn’t happen. We live in a present time of cinema of nearly complete studio control. For example, just look at Disney’s tight grip on properties and image that has led to its share of creative differences and ugly separations.
There are nearly indestructible moguls today, no crazy prodigies like Welles with public favor to challenge them, and very few connected veterans with the balls of Mankiewicz to put any of it on paper. Well, it happened once, and it was Citizen Kane. How that masterpiece came to be is the stage to marvel when watching Mank directed by the accomplished David Fincher returning to the chief seat after a six-year hiatus from features after 2014’s Gone Girl.
Fincher’s film, birthed from a screenplay written by his late father Jack in the 1990s, chronicles two timelines for Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, played by Oscar winner Gary Oldman. The present is him being bedridden at the historic North Verde Ranch in Victorville, California drying out and healing from a broken leg after a car accident. The digs are the ordered courtesy of the handsome commission Herman is being paid by airwaves wunderkind Orson Welles (BBC star Tom Burke) to write his auspicious movie debut in a mere 60 days. Assisting in this forced, alcohol-restricted creative isolation are the helpful housekeeper Frieda (Monika Gossmann of Iron Sky), the strict typist secretary Rita Alexander (Mirror, Mirror’s Lily Collins), and the blustering editor and Welles plant John Houseman (British TV star Sam Troughton).
The secondary threads go back to the earlier 1930s for little episodes of background on the people who would fill and guide Mankiewicz’s professional and social circles. Though a legendary mark for booze and and a lousy gambler, Herman was a top-paid screenwriter of regard for MGM, ruled with feigned benevolence and harsh shrewdness during the Great Depression by Louis B. Mayer (professional movie villain Arliss Howard) and Irving Thalberg (Ferdinand Kingsley, son of Ben). The writer’s slippery wit endeared him to most everyone he met, including the platinum actress Marion Davies (Les Miserables’ Amanda Seyfried) who was the mistress of the media tycoon William Randolph Hearst (additional professional movie villain Charles Dance). Knowing her earned Mank and his wife Sara (Tuppence Middleton of The Current War) invitation and court jester status at the Hearst Castle compound in San Simeon.
What those typewriter-established flashbacks flesh out in Mank are the torn principles and burned bridges between Mankiewicz and the rich puppeteers above him. The straw that broke the camel’s back would come during the 1934 California gubernatorial election. The liberal Herman took increasingly greater offense at Mayer and Thalberg, bankrolled by Hearst, hiring actors to produce and release sham political attack films against noted author and Democratic socialist candidate Upton Sinclair running against their conservative Republican candidate-of-choice Frank Merriam. To the union man writer, that was a line-crossing use of clout and financial influence where “self-preservation is not politics.”
LESSON #2: TELL THE STORY YOU KNOW-- Herman was privy to the decadence that would inspire Charles Foster Kane. Oldman drops the telling line of “every moment of my life is treacherous.” He sat at those long tables, drank from those goblets, and benefited from their favor and systems with a smirk and a hungover shrug for too long. He witnessed the cutthroat deals, discarded values, and the greed that surrounded Hearst and his fellow connected elite that spread into the film industry. With an “I expect more of you” in his year, Hermon knows the risks in going against the brass. Like the old saying goes, “tell the story you know.” Those colorful and soured relationships filled Mankiewicz’s new American screenplay for Welles.
LESSON #3: THE DEFINITION OF “BEFITTING”-- The last word I’ll pull from that initial prologue to celebrate the combined merits of Mank is “befitting.” Short and sweet from the Collins Dictionary, “befitting” means “proper or right, suitable.” That’s the level of fascinating and respectful care given to this slice of silver screen history. It is inspired and vibrant for this movie to emulate the look and feel of 1930s filmmaking in every little component, through and through.
It’s the sound that grabs you first, opening with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s smoky piano and strings that are far from their synthesized rock wheelhouse. True to the pre-stereo technique of the era, sound designer and supervisor Ren Klyce (Soul) stuffed all of the audio, including the dialogue, foley effects, set noise, and the score into one monaural track. There’s an authentic, warm feel to that level of balanced ambiance we haven’t heard for a long time.
The intentional black-and-white cinematography captured on RED Monstrochrome 8K cameras occasionally plays with backlit noir shadows and deep focus techniques, kissing the ring of Citizen Kane’s Gregg Toland. Erik Messerschmidt, a promoted Gone Girl gaffer, was entrusted to shoot his first feature film and succeeds with an outstanding palette of tone for all of the gray areas of morals and virtues being toyed with in this seedy backstory. His light shines on the exquisitely recreated period sets and locations engineered and secured by the production design team headed by long-time Fincher collaborator Donald Graham Burt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). The same light compliments the lush costumes and gowns from costume designer Trish Summerville (Red Sparrow). All of those elements scream finery and stature.
All the same, it’s the bold barkers that provide the most stature of all. The portrayals of the hot-headed historical figures are veracious, starting with Oldman. One of the great chameleons, Gary bends playful panache into righteous indignation at the turn of a phrase. The film rarely ever leaves his side and headspace. Contending against him, Howard, Kingsley, and Dance create formidable presences and different concentrations of the topical political commentary within Mank that echoes from the history on display to our contentious present. Arguably, the scene-stealing performance of the film belongs to Tom Pelphrey of Ozark, playing Herman’s younger and soon-to-be more successful brother Joseph Mankiewicz. In a movie of loose talkers and big egos, he personifies the hard truths too few people say let alone hear. His scenes with Oldman cut hard.
While this may be Fincher’s spryest and most humorous film to date, Mank carries a self-importance that is not going to be accessible to all viewers. The dialogue isn’t quite the full rapid-fire of Aaron Sorkin, but not many lines and moments are given time to breathe and linger for effect. Fincher’s regular editor Kirk Baxter had the inevitable task of combing through hundreds of takes and a pendulum flashback structure to craft something curious and compelling. As gorgeous as it looks, this movie has its lulls.
Cinema aficionados, nonetheless, are right to have their Netflix queue ready for this homage December 4th. The semi-forgotten 1999 HBO TV movie RKO 281 starring Liev Schreiber and John Malkovich and, of course, Citizen Kane itself (spring for the Roger Ebert commentary as well) are recommended primers for homework. Couch surfers, however, aren’t going there. They are not going to be instantly impressed or inspired by an 86-year-old state election and little hints at the one big movie their film snob friends have demanded they watch for years. In many ways, Mank needed to be a gateway into the old conceits of movie magic for new eyes. That “suitable” definition of “befitting” may be its limit, no more or no less. Time and audience responses will tell.
LESSON #4: GAME RECOGNIZES GAME-- Come back to that wink I gave you earlier. Sports fans like to say “game recognizes game” when youngblood contemporaries hat-tip the greats in their presence or those that came before them. Thanks to The Social Network ten years ago diving into the not-so-nice history of Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, David Fincher knows this Welles-Mankiewicz territory all too well. He put a bullseye on an emerging institution and enlisted the wily Aaron Sorkin to help him light the fuse. Mank is a stylish tribute to courage that came before him. Fincher gets it. Call Mank “balls recognizing balls.”
Official Women in Cinema, Special Presentation, and Closing Night Film of the 56th Chicago International Film Festival
NOMADLAND—3 STARS
Right there with “great,” “epic,” “tour de force,” and many other film criticism terms, the adjective “raw” is one of those vague words exhaustingly assigned to any number of traits in a film. Some viewers see that and go “what does that even mean?” or run with a poor guess. If it’s only dropped for effect without details, the resulting impact is simpler than even the meaning of the word. Watch it roll away like a tumbleweed.
Even a simplified dictionary like the Collins one, assigns no less than ten definitions for “raw.” Critics and essayists (including this very one, guilty as charged) are likely selecting the first, fourth, or fifth definition out of that bunch with their descriptive intentions. Throw a digital dart soon at any review of Chloe Zhao’s celebrated festival prize winner Nomadland on the Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic dartboards and you will nearly be guaranteed to find that targeted word. While overused, it is fitting.
Starring two-time Academy Award-winning firebrand Frances McDormand as a houseless drifter, Nomadland strives so very effectively to present cinema au naturel. Populated predominantly by a host of actual citizens and non-actors of this ilk, the film occupies real lives with mobile roots on more genuine spaces without a set in sight. Shot on rustic outdoor locations, floating movements and piercing stares at magic hours brighten undressed squalor into a vision of reflective richness. Rawness comes out of this movie’s poors.
Even so, circle back to the head-scratching audience question of “what does it even mean” though. Between the connotations of “natural state,” “strong basic feelings,” or “simple, powerful, and real” in those three most prevalent definitions of “raw,” the expanse for shading, or also the lack of it, is awfully wide. The creative innovation of a proficient writer comes out in the expounded context and careful appraisal that surrounds that very broad word. While it may seem impossible or incomplete describing Nomadland without it, are many displayed facets of rawness enough for a larger value of significance? That’s the follow-up to musing on meaning.
Set in 2012, McDormand plays Fern, a Nevada widower who lost her husband to illness, her job to a gypsum factory closing, and her entire zip code to the economic downturn of the Great Recession. Hailing from the ghost town of Empire, Nevada, Fern is self-described as “houseless” rather than homeless as she moves from one position of seasonal labor to another, including the good money of an Amazon distribution warehouse, living out of her retrofitted utility van,
LESSON #1: NECESSARY RESOURCEFULNESS-- We are introduced to Fern going through a storage unit looking through boxed items. Some of them seem arbitrary while others seem to matter and even draw clutched tears. Only so much will fit and function in her “Vanguard” and with each little modification, living becomes more compact, efficient, and comfortable. A unique skill set of self-sufficiency is required, ranging from spit-and-glue temporary fixes to crafting retrofitted replacements. Fern is growing in these reduce-reuse-recycle means and aptitudes.
Alone as Fern may be as a traditional family unit, she is not alone in work or circumstances. Fern shadows Linda May at Amazon and follows her on the road navigating a scatter plot of legal parking locations and pop-up RV parks. Linda May turns Fern on to a more permanent path of nomadic living, one guided by the in-person mentorship of Bob Wells, the “Born to Wander” influencer whose CheapRVliving YouTube channel has nearly a half-million subscribers and one supported by a benevolent new peer in Dave (Oscar nominee David Strathairn).
LESSON #2: THE NOMADIC SUBCULTURE FOUND IN AMERICA-- When expanded beyond the personal journey of Fern, Nomadland unfolds to reveal an entire subculture of fascinating fluidity and poignant detail. The keyword chunk is “culture.” It wholly exists at this socioeconomic level with camaraderie, unselfish support, and uplifting creative vitality. One of Fern’s other mentors, an aging senior named Charlene Swankie, rhetorically asks at one point if home “is just a word or something you carry with you.” She’s dead right with these uncommon mobile roots that have become more connected to nature and community than cities with streets, mansions, and millions.
LESSON #3: THE KIND OF FOLKS THAT TAKE ON THIS LIFESTYLE-- To the uninformed likely sitting and watching Nomadland in heated and well-appointed homes, the next question is likely a brash “who would choose to life like this” with an exasperating “I can’t even” at considering such a prospect. Looking down their noses, they would miss the societal causes that give way to the dignity carried by the people within this way of life. These were individuals who were older, alone, lost, discarded, unlucky, and unprepared before they banded together for soulful support and a movement of survival and self-improvement. There is freedom and beauty found here and every informal troubadour has a story filled from the miles of their lives.
That said, this odyssey has highs and lows for Fern living among the saguaros, grasslands, or rocks across the American West. No matter how much she has learned to take care of herself, painful solitude creeps in. Self-reliance only fulfills so much enterprising spirit. Courage can only stave off so many endangering risks faced by a woman her age alone. In many ways, Chloe Zhao’s film, her follow-up to The Rider before going Marvel with The Eternals, has the same range of stamina and lethargy. Unvarnished prestige too has its limits.
The delicate captures of cinematographer Joshua James Richards (The Rider) create this inspiring canvas of rambling solace. Moving from moments of stillness and strolls touring the bustle of these collected communities is engrossing. Highlighted behind an excellent mixture of handheld close-ups and wide-tracked shots, the sunsets and sunrises pierce the visual breadth. Go ahead and call it making the unpretty pretty if you must.
Scaling her signature fervor way down, Frances McDormand melds into the intensity and fragility of Fern. There are no shout-to-the-rafters rants or lashes of madness. Instead, she is understated beyond measure, scene after scene. In her performance, there is a steadiness to bear burdens, give witness, and provide empathy to fill canyons and vistas. That’s the rawness to label and flesh out with clarity. If that screen-clicking dart you throw at Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic doesn’t land on raw, it will land on brave, but that’s a whole other stump and story.
There is an ambiguity in Nomadland that comes and goes with the stoicism of McDormand and its narrative arc. Fears are masked by her poise, no doubt. But as intentionally lessened as she is, the actress’s towering presence, which includes Strathairn as well, reminds us this is still a movie, no matter how much non-fiction reality is around her. Controlled by a methodical pace of encounters and diversions, this movie can be a straying drift matching its geographic wandering. Often, you’re back to “what does it even mean” when the tedium isn’t found to be entirely compelling.
More often than not, simulating deafness in a movie is achieved by simply turning a knob on a sound mixer. Maybe a little ringing sound effect is added to break the total silence and signal the muted conditions. You know these moments, from concussive explosions in war movies to concussive blows in boxing ones. Nevertheless, they’re not very distinct or the effect is reserved for sudden circumstances.
LESSON #1: PORTRAYING DEAFNESS ON FILM-- How many movies really linger on that arresting sensation in greater detail? How many movies portray the slipping volume with a gradual effect? How many make you candidly and tangibly feel the anxiety and confusion of that hazardous state? Most of all, how many trap you in the gravity of its possible permanence with how life must go on without it?
With rock-heavy undertones replaced by the dramatic struggles of silence, Sound of Metal can personify every one of those questions. This labor-of-love and festival darling debuts in limited release and Amazon Prime on December 4th. Led by a sensational, internalized performance from Riz Ahmed, read here, see on the screen, and hear anyway you can how this stands as one of the best films of the year.
The Rogue One and Venom actor plays Ruben, a razor-focused hard rock drummer in tandem with lead singer and long-time partner Lou, played by Olivia Cooke of Me, Earl and the Dying Girl. They ramble from gig to gig in an old RV that acts as their home as well. Ruben is a recovering drug addict who’s been clean for four years. Much of that success comes from the loving guidance of Lou, yet money and success remain hard to come by for the fledgling act.
While contracting his lean muscles and sweating up a storm hitting the skins at a recent show, Ruben’s hearing gives way and goes out. Even after some down time, it’s not returning to full range. Seeing a doctor confirms what years of loud surroundings, minimal protection, and careless behavior have caused, namely considerable hearing loss that will get worse and become permanent. In disbelief, Ruben just wants it all fixed, which is a medical uncertainty. Troubled by this debilitation and carrying an unwillingness to preserve what hearing he has left, Ruben is driven to raise money for a risky and expensive surgery with no guarantees of successful repair.
The fear of a substance abuse relapse combines with his hearing impairment to the point where Ruben checks into a rural rehabilitation retreat for specialized run for the deaf by the benevolent and principled Joe (stage performer Paul Raci, in an award-worthy supporting performance). Here, Ruben discovers a new culture where handicaps don’t need fixing. Joe creates a strict new routine where everyone helps and assigns the very uncomfortable Ruben to shadow a school teacher (Lauren Ridloff) of children learning to communicate.
LESSON #2: THE SUBMISSION TO LEARN-- Apropo to his circumstances, the enormously entwined disquiet inside Ruben softens and squelches with time. Slowly but surely, he learns. Though robbed of his passion, he goes from feeling like an outsider to an active and positive contributor. He submits to improved habits as he learns to cope with what’s figuratively broken away from his ears and within the working organs in his head and in the center of his chest.
Convincing within this debilitating fate at every beat and rest is Riz Ahmed. His presence represents diversity and inclusion, but his performance transcends those tokens. More flamboyant actors would turn these dramatic hurdles into shouting matches and showy speeches to fill the silence with hot air. That’s not so with Ahmed in Sound of Metal.
The actor carries an ever-present, galvanized intensity as a man of few words adamant with refusing this impaired destiny. His shell of agitation is astounding as it heals. Every little step of acceptance of those prospects brings out powerful new emotions from Riz. In addition to learning drums and ASL, his courage and commitment in this role is unquestioned for well-earned Oscar consideration. Those esteemed qualities are equaled by writer and first-time director Darius Marder (co-screenwriter of Derek Cianfrance’s hardscrabble opus The Place Beyond the Pines), who fought hard to make this tribute of a film.
Sound of Metal all comes back to the inescapable shifts of its auditory ordeal. Marder and his assisting filmmakers employed a brilliant sound design to imitate the deaf experience more than simple mixes and ringing cliches. Staying virtual scoreless, co-musical composer and veteran foley artist Nicolas Becker (Gravity) served as a supervisor alongside sound editor Maria Carolina Santana Caraballo-Gramcko (The Sisters Brothers) to create an audioscape of Ruben’s highs and lows. By immersing the audience in the same slipping weakness, the disorientation is jarring and palpable on a superior level. The slow-boiling panic becomes shared and the uneasy stillness subtly raises hairs more than any banging percussion or slayed guitar.
LESSON #3: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STILLNESS AND SILENCE-- Speaking of stillness and silence, there is a tremendous weight of heart and profundity found in the difference between those two states in Sound of Metal. Silence is merely a setting of a setting, so to speak. Not all internal and external turmoil makes noise. Stillness is when all the triggers of carried and imposed unrest are managed or absent. It is not an impossible calmness, but where comfort and happiness are truly found. That sensitive trait of stillness is what Joe wishes for Ruben, and stands as the ideal state of mind and body Ruben has to harness for personal peace. The journey to that place here is fraught with passionate fights and haunting hope, a movie experience not soon forgotten.
About halfway into HBO Max’s Superintelligence from the husband-wife filmmaking couple of Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy, a classy Seattle apartment manager named Victor concludes showing McCarthy’s astounded main character the finishing accoutrements of her chic new penthouse. The man has never met Carol Peters, yet from a detailed electronic profile provided to him before her arrival, he was able to amass an extreme level of personalization, right down to the smallest decorative trinkets and stocked pantry items.
LESSON #1: A DIGITAL FOOTPRINT IS DEEPER THAN WE THINK-- We’ve reached a modern era where smart technology is en vogue. Every tap and swipe builds the metadata and algorithms of tailor-made consumer experiences. We welcome newfangled products into our homes that remember our tendencies and habits. We love them and marvel at their convenience, but it’s downright scary when you think how much your digital footprint represents you. “Smart” can very quickly become too smart with every checkbox of policies and permissions we allow to mesh our online lives with our corporeal ones.
The wrinkle isn’t that the apartment manager (played by regular McCarthy collaborator Damon Jones) was able to pull it all off in a matter of hours. It’s the fluidity and ease of such a service being possible. That comes out in how Victor departs to say, “It’s not creepy. It’s fine. It’s the new way of doing things.” How right he is! Not soon after, another guiding character adds, “With enough motivation and money, you can do anything in a couple of hours.” What a telling sequence of dialogue in this comedy about the pitfalls of artificial control leaping from one person to all of society.
This all began for Carol Peters with a phone call. One morning after striking out at a job interview for a corporate tech strategist position that wasn’t for her, a sentient artificial intelligence contacts this nonprofit specialist out of the blue wanting to learn more about the complexity of the human race. When she dismisses it as some weird sales call, the A.I. gains her undivided attention communicating through every electronic screen or wired device in her home. To put her at ease, this Jiminy Cricket crossed with HAL 9000 of swirling pixels takes on the dulcet voice of James Corden (a willing participant in this fun with words and appearances). Calling itself “Superintelligence,” it has chosen Carol as an ever so plaintive baseline for study.
LESSON #2: THE CHOICES YOU MAKE WHEN GIVEN TIME AND RESOURCES-- Superintelligence poses Carol the philosophical question of what she would do if she only had a few days to live. Her answer is to make amends with the one-that-got-away, her ex-boyfriend George (the reliable and bubbly Bobby Cannavale) before he departs for a year-long fellowship to Ireland. With a digital blink equal to the genie in I Dream of Jeannie, Superintelligence charges up Carol’s bank account for a lifestyle makeover (which leads to a self-driving Tesla and that awesome apartment discussed earlier) and pulls endless internet strings to make that reunion with George happen.
All of this self-improvement though is a massive test. Superintelligence really meant it with the deadline of three days. Through its constant awareness pulling Carol’s strings with George, it will gauge this observed experience to determine one of three outcomes: 1) solve the world’s crippling problems, 2) enslave humanity, or 3) wipe out humanity to start over. The government response, in the form of a female President of the United States (Jean Smart), her surrounding brass (Michael Beach and Rachel Ticotin), one of Carol’s techy work friends (Brian Tyree Henry), and a pair of tailing government agents (Veep’s Sam Richardson and Falcone himself), works to contain the global threat.
LESSON #3: HAPPINESS IS EARNED MORE THAN ACQUIRED-- While happiness is back on track for Carol, she cannot help feel that she didn’t earn this betterment and fortune. True to her needs vs. wants heart, she’s a do-gooder humanitarian and meek to a fault. She represents the simplicity of ordinary over the perceived complexity of glamour. Carol, unwaveringly, sees the real flesh-and-blood connections of happiness, love, and friendship that no computer can create.
Inspired by her husband in the director’s chair, Superintelligence is pleasantly quieter territory for the all-too-often boisterous and over-the-top McCarthy. Her stardom is so easy to love in the right doses. The scenes of her reignited courtship with Cannavale’s beau are as wholesomely quaint as any romance you’ll find this year. It’s really lovely stuff.
For a present day, pandemic aside for a moment, steeped in Lesson #1, this flick counts as a ripe premise of social commentary on how much our data-laced lives have stretched out of comfortable control. Superintelligence chooses a sunnier route than say 1995’s ahead-of-its-time Sandra Bullock vehicle The Net. Yet, even in brevity instead of suspense, writer Steve Mallory (The Boss) sews intriguing topicality that is a dance more than a chase. The cynics will likely find much of this movie’s brightness preachy or on the nose, and that’s their loss.
As dippy as all of this in Superintelligence may sound and transpire, there are undeniable streaks of kindness bigger than terabytes. Not all that far removed from the likes of George Bailey or Walter Mitty, the imagination to root for hope and love in people with laughs along the way feels good. Such a sincere sweetness cannot be discounted or denied. Once again, simplicity earns that kind of vibe. Welcome that to your viewing coach this season. We could use it this year.
Tiana Kocher’s debut EP takes you on a journey through the rollercoaster ride of love and relationships – from the moment it is ‘open season’ and you are ready to welcome a new relationship, to how you are left feeling ‘insecure’ when the roses no longer smell sweet. The seven songs within this EP are […]
When COVID hit, the world’s economy was shaken to its core. Many feared that a worldwide recession was about to happen, and while that thankfully didn’t happen, many still fear the possibility of a recession, especially citizens of the United States, a country that has yet to properly deal with COVID-19.
The fear of a recession has urged many people to delve into the world of finance to learn how money is properly handled and what happened back during the 2008 recession. Fortunately, Netflix contains many shows and movies dealing with that exact subject plus a few other financial topics.
Some of these shows, however, are restricted to US-only, meaning that people in other countries can’t watch them. Don’t worry, though, because a VPN for Netflix will help you navigate around that pesky geo-block. Now, without further ado, let’s talk about the seven best financial shows on Netflix.
7 Shows to Catch on Netflix
1. Inside Job (2010)
Released in 2010, the documentary Inside Job takes viewers on a journey through the 2008 financial crisis and why it happened. Matt Damon narrates the documentary and gives an excellent performance, and the writers did a good job explaining things clearly and concisely.
Inside Job shows the devastation caused by the financial crisis and hold zero punches. If you enjoy documentaries dealing with harsh topics, then Inside Job is for you. I promise that you will come out of the documentary having learned something new.
2. The Big Short (2015)
The Big Short discusses the 2008 financial crisis through a different lens. A more comedic lens, to be specific. The film stars star-studded names such as Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, and more.
The film follows Michael Burry (Christian Bale) as he attempts to bet against the oncoming defaulting of home loans. He’s doing so, however, only hastens the housing bubble pop, bringing about the financial crisis that affected millions of citizens.
The Big Short is a good comedy-drama that handles a serious subject with grace. IF you like comedies, you’re missing out on not watching this.
3. The Queen of Versailles (2012)
The Queen of Versailles takes the financial crisis and looks at it through the eyes of billionaires. The subjects of the documentary, the Siegel family, were in the midst of building a brand new mansion when the housing crisis hit.
The documentary does a good job showing viewers how the wealthy handled the crisis and the inevitable failures of the construction project as the crisis went on. It’s definitely not a documentary for everyone, but if character-driven documentaries are your forte, you will absolutely love The Queen of Versailles.
4. The Trader (2018)
Taking a break from the 2008 financial crisis, we have The Trader, a documentary that follows the day in the life of a trader in Georgia. Said trader sells second-hand clothing in exchange for potatoes. In fact, potatoes are the only currency in his region—a region in the Republic of Georgia
The Trader does a fantastic job showcasing the harsh lives some people in poorer regions experience and reminds us that there are people out there that need our help. All in all, if you’re looking for an uplifting and heartwarming documentary, then I recommend The Trader.
5. Saving Capitalism (2017)
Saving Capitalism, a serious documentary by Jacob Kornbluth, shows viewers the disarray found in the United State’s capitalistic system. The United States, as showcased in the documentary, is ripe with fraud, corruption, and deceit, and citizens are the ones paying for it.
The documentary focuses on the ways the United States can save itself, outlining improvements. While controversial, the documentary does a fantastic job showcasing the problems inherent in what people refer to as “late-stage capitalism”.
6. Dirty Money (2018-)
Speaking of corruption, what kind of list would this be if we didn’t talk about Dirty Money, one of Netflix’s original television series.
Dirty Money is a documentary-style show that follows cases of corruption and fraud in corporate America, starring infamous figures such as Martin Shkreli and Donald Trump.
While not extremely detailed like some full-length documentaries, Dirty Money does a great job giving overviews of each subject and the cases stacked against them. If you like shows that expose the corrupt, then Dirty Money is for you.
7. Banking on Bitcoin (2016)
Finally, we have Banking on Bitcoin, a documentary focused on the rise, fall, and rise of Bitcoin, the world’s first major cryptocurrency.
Directed by Christopher Cannucciari, Banking on Bitcoin follows Bitcoin and its investors, as well as the effects Bitcoin had on the financial world, including how Bitcoin could one day threaten the entire banking industry.
Cryptocurrency is here to stay, and if you find yourself interested in how it works, find some time to watch Banking on Bitcoin.
Conclusion
Netflix is a wellspring of financial documentaries and films, so if you find your curiosity piqued by finance, then I recommend a Netflix subscription. After all, many documentaries focus on current events, and what better way to learn the state of the world’s financial state than on your couch?
When COVID hit, the world’s economy was shaken to its core. Many feared that a worldwide recession was about to happen, and while that thankfully didn’t happen, many still fear the possibility of a recession, especially citizens of the United States, a country that has yet to properly deal with COVID-19.
The fear of a recession has urged many people to delve into the world of finance to learn how money is properly handled and what happened back during the 2008 recession. Fortunately, Netflix contains many shows and movies dealing with that exact subject plus a few other financial topics.
Some of these shows, however, are restricted to US-only, meaning that people in other countries can’t watch them. Don’t worry, though, because a VPN for Netflix will help you navigate around that pesky geo-block. Now, without further ado, let’s talk about the seven best financial shows on Netflix.
7 Shows to Catch on Netflix
1. Inside Job (2010)
Released in 2010, the documentary Inside Job takes viewers on a journey through the 2008 financial crisis and why it happened. Matt Damon narrates the documentary and gives an excellent performance, and the writers did a good job explaining things clearly and concisely.
Inside Job shows the devastation caused by the financial crisis and hold zero punches. If you enjoy documentaries dealing with harsh topics, then Inside Job is for you. I promise that you will come out of the documentary having learned something new.
2. The Big Short (2015)
The Big Short discusses the 2008 financial crisis through a different lens. A more comedic lens, to be specific. The film stars star-studded names such as Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, and more.
The film follows Michael Burry (Christian Bale) as he attempts to bet against the oncoming defaulting of home loans. He’s doing so, however, only hastens the housing bubble pop, bringing about the financial crisis that affected millions of citizens.
The Big Short is a good comedy-drama that handles a serious subject with grace. IF you like comedies, you’re missing out on not watching this.
3. The Queen of Versailles (2012)
The Queen of Versailles takes the financial crisis and looks at it through the eyes of billionaires. The subjects of the documentary, the Siegel family, were in the midst of building a brand new mansion when the housing crisis hit.
The documentary does a good job showing viewers how the wealthy handled the crisis and the inevitable failures of the construction project as the crisis went on. It’s definitely not a documentary for everyone, but if character-driven documentaries are your forte, you will absolutely love The Queen of Versailles.
4. The Trader (2018)
Taking a break from the 2008 financial crisis, we have The Trader, a documentary that follows the day in the life of a trader in Georgia. Said trader sells second-hand clothing in exchange for potatoes. In fact, potatoes are the only currency in his region—a region in the Republic of Georgia
The Trader does a fantastic job showcasing the harsh lives some people in poorer regions experience and reminds us that there are people out there that need our help. All in all, if you’re looking for an uplifting and heartwarming documentary, then I recommend The Trader.
5. Saving Capitalism (2017)
Saving Capitalism, a serious documentary by Jacob Kornbluth, shows viewers the disarray found in the United State’s capitalistic system. The United States, as showcased in the documentary, is ripe with fraud, corruption, and deceit, and citizens are the ones paying for it.
The documentary focuses on the ways the United States can save itself, outlining improvements. While controversial, the documentary does a fantastic job showcasing the problems inherent in what people refer to as “late-stage capitalism”.
6. Dirty Money (2018-)
Speaking of corruption, what kind of list would this be if we didn’t talk about Dirty Money, one of Netflix’s original television series.
Dirty Money is a documentary-style show that follows cases of corruption and fraud in corporate America, starring infamous figures such as Martin Shkreli and Donald Trump.
While not extremely detailed like some full-length documentaries, Dirty Money does a great job giving overviews of each subject and the cases stacked against them. If you like shows that expose the corrupt, then Dirty Money is for you.
7. Banking on Bitcoin (2016)
Finally, we have Banking on Bitcoin, a documentary focused on the rise, fall, and rise of Bitcoin, the world’s first major cryptocurrency.
Directed by Christopher Cannucciari, Banking on Bitcoin follows Bitcoin and its investors, as well as the effects Bitcoin had on the financial world, including how Bitcoin could one day threaten the entire banking industry.
Cryptocurrency is here to stay, and if you find yourself interested in how it works, find some time to watch Banking on Bitcoin.
Conclusion
Netflix is a wellspring of financial documentaries and films, so if you find your curiosity piqued by finance, then I recommend a Netflix subscription. After all, many documentaries focus on current events, and what better way to learn the state of the world’s financial state than on your couch?
Leave it to a character played by newly-minted Schitt’s Creek Emmy winner Daniel Levy to speak the blunt honest truth only to get summarily dismissed. Very early on in the Hulu Original FilmHappiest Season, his trusted bestie character John is trying to talk some sense into Abby, our lead played by Kristen Stewart, every chance he can get. The platinum-dyed beauty is ready to ask a father’s permission and propose marriage to her steady girlfriend Harper (co-lead Mackenzie Davis), a plan John finds borderline appalling. In a very squinted Levy-esque way, the mini-tirades ring more the seasonal jingle bells around him.
LESSON #1: WHEN YOU’RE READY FOR MARRIAGE-- Dropping intellectual zingers centered on heteronormativity, patriarchy, ownership, and the archaic institution of marriage as a whole, John brings up extremely good points as to why folks, regardless of their orientation, should not get married any more. His heady lines aim for laughs and get them, while hitting plenty squarely in the frontal lobe. Still, it’s the crux of Abby’s answers that defeat all the dated trappings John brings up. She has, plain and simple, found someone she can’t see herself living without. Traditions be damned, Abby wants to declare that for her lover and herself more than anyone else.
The opening scenes that flesh out this first lesson epitomize the tug-of-war in Happiest Season between head and heart. Even as a fictional holiday yarn, the setting of Clea DuVall’s comedy is rooted in a present social landscape where even the legalization of same-sex marriage five years ago has not reduced or healed all of the emotional risks and scars associated with being out on the matters of love. Poking fun at the hijinks of going back to a conservative home for Christmas is one thing. Layering the very tangible anxiety of LGBTQ+ societal fears within those laughs is quite another. Happiest Season earns worthy pride for its willingness and openness to hug out that daunting task.
Ready as Abby may be to drop to a knee and pull out that gorgeous diamond ring in her possession in front of Harper’s family for Christmas, Harper is not. While she’s eager to bring Abby home, Harper has not told any of her family they’re a couple. Even worse, they don’t even know she’s gay. Harper insists on a cover story that they’re roommates and swears this is the year she will tell the truth. Waiting for introductions are Harper’s mayoral candidate father Ted (Victor Garber), well-to-do mother Tipper (Mary Steenburgen), competitive entrepreneurial sister Sloane (Alison Brie), and, last but not least, the token family weirdo and litter sister Jane (the film’s co-writer Mary Holland). Also just around the homely street corner from Harper are a pair of exes (Jake McDorman and Aubrey Plaza) with very different histories, flaws, and understandings.
Initially, it is fun for the two to carry on a secret concealing their authentic selves, but that grows problematic for Abby’s ultimate plans and Harper’s upright family image to maintain wooing local campaign supporters for her father. Much of Happiest Season is the two turtle doves avoiding Christmas pitfalls and getting caught being together. The merry chase becomes who’s really hiding, who finds out first, who finds out last, and what other secrets are out there because we all can tell an outrageous scene is coming.
LESSON #2: YOU TURN INTO A DIFFERENT PERSON WHEN YOU LIE-- Calling back to the initial lies in the first place of not coming out to her family or even admitting being in a relationship, Harper isn’t doing so hot and Abby doesn’t like it. There is a not-so-pretty willingness to betray trust when one lies. Harper, like any worried person pushed to lying, changes temperaments and personality around different people for appearances.
LESSON #3: DON’T LIE TO THE PEOPLE THAT MATTER MOST-- When the lies become about trying to be some cultivated form of perceived perfection, as they are for Harper, those lies become ones against yourself as well the people close to you. Looking out for #1 still can damage #1. If you cannot tell people you love the truth, you’re the problem, not only the lie. Likewise, if the truth you tell causes them to disown you, then they aren’t worth your love.
Happiest Season is the sophomore directorial effort from actress Clea DuVall and she went all out, no pun intended, for positive representation. Led by Stewart, the cast is willing and committed to both the honesty and humor that come with the dicey emotions underneath the smiles. It’s always nice to see Kristen Stewart and Aubrey Plaza lighten up, at least as much as they can. Holland writes herself the best scene-stealing quips and gags.
The star with, no question, the most difficult arc remains Mackenzie Davis as Harper. The actress once said in a 2014 Interview Magazine piece very early in her career, “I’ve been lucky to work consistently on women who I think are interesting, fleshed out, and strong and active participants in their destiny.” That’s the opposite of Harper, written by DuVall and Holland with those missing flaws in mind. This made for a solid challenge for the Terminator: Dark Fate and Blade Runner 2049 actress. That said, the results are a bit all over the place.
To examine further, Davis also said in another interview for NPR year later in 2015, “As a viewer, I'm personally less interested in the damaged, white, middle-class male figuring out his dreams and more interested in maybe an underdog figuring out how they're going to survive in a world that doesn't necessarily invite them in.” Even while courageously promoting more progressive lifestyle choices in the underdog position, plenty of this film’s setting is a safe and convenient one of lily-white privilege. Everyone is invited and the stakes are not very high whatsoever. Happiest Season, with its up and down inanity to veer a little Griswold-silly, slips more than stands at times and some of that comes from its safety net.
We’d be lying if we said we never fantasized about having an actual lightsaber. You don’t even have to be a fan of movies to know what one is. So you can imagine our excitement when we found out you could own one that was actually used in the Star Wars films… Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber […]
As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.
TODAY’S CRITIC: Arham Khokhar
Arham Khokhar is a freelance content creator who pitched this review to Every Movie Has a Lesson. I’m always happy to give a guest reviewer space to show off their talent and love for movies. Welcome, Arham!
HIS REVIEW: Holidate
Christmas films always bring with them a unique dose of a festive cheer to Hollywood's super cramped slate year after year. This year was no different. With the Netflix original, Holidate, the winters did ring in quite early with a cute romantic tale starring Luke Bracey and Emma Roberts as the key protagonists.
The film starts with the borderline pathetic life of Jackson (Bracey) and Sloane (Roberts) and their continuous effort to survive through the extended period of winter events without feeling bitter about their tough lives. Amidst all this, Sloane feels claustrophobic and isolated, even when she lives in an over-enthusiastic family that comprises a pitying sister, a nagging mother, a feisty aunt who happens to find a date for herself for the year-end festivities, and a younger 'soon to be married' brother.
On the other hand is Aussie Jackson, a handsome dude who is sandwiched in a crisis himself. He lands himself in an uncomfortable situation when his casual date hurls him into daunting territory while meeting her parents. They treat him as their daughter's to be husband and gifts him a green sweater to wear at this formal meeting. Needless to say, the sweater was a bit OTT. When this pressure gets too much for him, he clarifies his intentions and quickly exits the situation.
This is where the 'potential' rom-com takes a new turn, leading to the chance meeting of the two protagonists. They crack a deal to begin dating each other only until the holiday pressure subsides. They lay down strict rules for their 'relationship'; the most important one was to stay platonic with one another. The moment they decide to remain platonic, we could just sense what's coming forth, says Jonita, who offers java homework helpfor young students and is a romantic movie buff.
Rhea, an online math tutorwho found the movie reasonably average, says that the plot seems obvious throughout. Well, we could not agree more. The first date between the two goes pretty well. Their constant one-upmanship sees them through almost every special occasion until the day of love, Valentine's Day.
John Whitesell, the director of Holidate, somewhere just fails to align the movie with the holiday “winterish” charm, points out Mathew, a TFTHexecutive who recently streamed the movie on Netflix. It is sad to see the movie gradually losing its charm and dipping down to being every other girl meets boy love story. It just fails to come out and shine as a Christmas special. To tell you the truth, the audience has been pre-programmed for such a routine genre with hundreds and thousands of films being made on the subject for reference. As a result, Holidate appears to be predictable all along the way. The movie is so badly written that even the plot twists are predictable, and its climax is pretty dated.
Regardless of how hackneyed the movie, Holidate is, we have to give the credit where it is due. Both Jackson and Sloane's characters live in the realm of not desperately wishing to latch on to someone, regardless of their circumstances. Throughout the movie, their communications with each other are the right mix of inane humor and harmless flirting, which kind of makes them indispensable in each other's world. However, sadly, even though they, with their character's power, try to hold the viewers, it fails at so many levels. Consequently, with every scene, the audience will feel alienated from them.
The movie also honors its genre predecessors, which have been pivotal in their own rights. One such incidence is Jackson and Sloane riffing on Swayze's Dirty Dancing scene from Ryan Gosling's Crazy Stupid Love.
When the two's causal choices get more serious, the two begin to conceal their instincts to prevent the other person from being commitment-phobic. Consequently, there is a lot of confusion, and of course, the emotions are mutually hurt to the point of no return. However, miraculously, things end up falling into place, and that paves the way for their happily-ever-after.
To see Roberts as her edgy self in Holidate is the only highlight of this movie, comments Jiah, an educator who offers the best design thinking courses. Well, the film does get a spirited heroine, courtesy of Sloane's sassy on screen presence. It does complement Bracey's much calmer presence.
Let us conclude by saying that it isa lean playground if the genre is a safe rom-com that has to be Christmas centric, and as we have pointed out before with Holidate, you sure are in for no pleasant surprises. Of course, we see through the two protagonists' sincere efforts, but it can be just another film in the genre with the myriad of Mills and Boon-esque features of romance.
You can watch the movie on Netflix, but we advise otherwise.
Our rating for Holidate will be not more than ** ½
CONCLUSION
Thank you, Arham! You are welcome anytime. Friends, if you see a movie that I don't see and want to be featured on my website, hit up my website's Facebook page and you can be my next GUEST CRITIC!
