And Then I Go

More and more we are starting to address the fact that most mass violent acts are committed by one identifiable group, men. What are the qualities men share which make them susceptible to becoming so violent. Vincent Grashaw has attempted to explore what leads one young man into a horrible act of violence. His film And Then I Go takes an unflinching look at a rather common journey through a young person's introduction to, and experience living through, toxic masculinity. It is painful in all its everyday banality, in how relatable it is.

Grashaw balances two things brilliantly which is where I think And Then I Go finds its power. He refuses to dehumanize his subject by making him a monster, but also refuses to let him off the hook, or the people around him. And Then I Go paints a picture of the totality of the problem, the alienation inherent in masculine culture and the nurturing of that culture through mainstream western culture. Grashaw focuses on all the little day to day things that are really quite "normal," so recognizable to anyone who lives in America. He brings into stark focus the way this chips away at a person and the way we participate in that chipping away.

Young Edwin encounters little moments again and again where he is taught to be aggressive, to reject and fear femininity and homosexuality, to hate himself, to hate others, to subjugate his feelings. But none of it is explicit. Grashaw keeps it all within familiar moments which we all live through day after day. And Then I Go is everyday American life. It is the everyday culture of violence and anger which is so prevalent to how we teach boys to be.

And Then I Go makes us care about Edwin while we watch him deconstruct. We don't get to hate him, to blame media or video games, to blame bad parenting. Edwin is essentially human. We see him feel and breathe and think and love. But we also see how he is blocked at every turn, not by one outside factor, but by the world he is growing up in.

And when we get to the end, Grashaw doesn't linger gratuitously on the violence. Instead we are focused on Edwin's own destruction. We focus on his face and the way he is destroyed. It is incredibly painful. He is a child. He is a human being. He is ruined by all that he has been taught to be. 

And Then I Go
Starring: Arman Darbo, Sawyer Barth, Melanie Lynskey, Justin Long, Tony Hale
Director: Vincent Grashaw
Writers: Jim Shepherd, Brett Haley

Avengers Infinity War (2018)

Okay.

I know if you say anything against the MCU you are immediately dismissed. I get it. Don't go against blind mass appeal. But I can't stay quiet. And I was mostly enjoying the film up until the end.

The end.

Come on.

I call bullshit on Avengers Infinity War. Here's why.

Warning Spoilers. You've been warned. 

One of my biggest struggles with the MCU, as I have expressed before, is lack of depth. I have a hard time ever feeling anything at an MCU movie because the films, for the most part, go out of their way to be irreverent, to reduce emotional impact, to be safely at arms length emotionally. Make sure you throw in a  fart joke so that no ones feelings get too deep is the motto of this franchise. Fine. I get it. People like that shit. Okay. I know when I go to an Avengers movie, the film isn't going to make me feel much more than adrenaline and tickle my funny bone. It's not what I get excited about in a movie but it's not terrible. Knowing what I'm signing up for I go in and let myself enjoy it.

So through most of Infinity War, the irreverent jokes never being more than a few minutes a part max, I let myself role with it. I was impressed by the Russo brothers ability to pull off the comic book movie holy grail. Comic books have been bringing together all their characters into "cross over" books for decades and every comic fan knows this is a quintessential aspect of comic-fandom. To pull it off in a movie is impressive. I would argue that Days of Future Past already did this year ago but let's just ignore that and still be impressed by the magnitude of what Infinity War is. The Russos have managed to tell a good, entertaining story while balancing legions of characters and making it all seem to fit. I can forgive the joke on joke on joke script writing cause I knew I was getting that going in.

We also all knew people were going to die. Was it going to be Stark? Cap? Leading up to Infinity War there was a great deal of speculation. I was curious to see how that was going to be pulled off. I was hoping that MCU might actually give me some feels for the first time ever. I could imagine the ways that losing one or both of the big characters could have some real pathos. I also secretly hoped they kill Thor because, come on, he sucks. But first it was Loki. Okay cool. I think him being redeemed felt false and cheap but whatever. But then Gamora. Wow. A character I felt had been completely wasted up to this point in the MCU finally gets a satisfying arc but dies a hero. Better. Vision. Makes sense plot wise. Hard to get too worked up. He and Scarlet Witch have never been characters I've cared about but at least it serves the story well.

But then came the ending.

As Thanos "wins" and he snaps his all powerful fingers and people start dying left and right, the film pretends to be all sad. But fuck off cause we all know it's bullshit. Characters start falling like flies. Winter Soldier, Teen-Groot, Strange. I could have believed we saw the end of Bucky or even Groot but Strange? Probably not. As the death count rose the realization became clearer and clearer. None of this is real. All these characters will come back somehow. Black Panther dies? We know there is a Black Panther 2 in development. When Peter Parker dies in Stark's arms there was a moment I almost felt it. It was powerfully done and the implications are important, but all of that was completely undermined by the fact that we all know Spider-man isn't going to die. Marvel isn't announcing that the Homecoming sequel is cancelled. It's a cheap manipulation. I couldn't feel anything but resentment.

Remember that moment in Misery when Annie explains how unfair it was when the serial character is just magically back in the next chapter? "He didn't get out of the cock-a-doodie car!" she screams. This doesn't have the implicit story and character implications that the journey of Days of Future Past presents (a film which has be bawling at the end) or Superman's death and rebirth through BvS and Justice League. There is no heroic sacrifice just random characters being erased while we have a simple pause in the story until the next chapter when they all magically come back. So guess what, I don't need to be sad. I don't need to feel. Phew. Safe MCU emotional shallowness. 

While other blockbusters have dealt with the real world implications of our heroes dying, even if the point is to focus on how those heroes might struggle to come back to us, Infinity War just uses it as a set up for what we all know is coming. That's a cop out in my mind. This is the MCU's modus operandi, make it accessibly digestible.

And how does it end finally? On a "mother-fucker" joke. Stay classy MCU.

So as I left I felt pissed off. I'm sure they still have a plan for the next chapter where maybe we'll get the real pathos I've been craving. Perhaps Stark and/or Cap will finally bite the bullet in the next one after all is made right with the world again. This was originally going to be a two part film. Perhaps if they had stuck to that idea and ended with "to be continued..." I wouldn't have been so pissed. But they didn't.

I guess I can hold out hope that perhaps the next Avengers film will be the one I finally want to see. Or I could just accept this franchise is not for me.

Further Reflections
After sitting with the film longer, I have come to understand more about what bothers me about Infinity War. While I have found the Marvel movies to be rather on the less-insightful side and more "popcorn" there is also another trend I have pointed out, the way they follow more traditional values. Marvel movies tend to centre the white male heroes over the rest. This was one of the reasons Black Panther was such a step forward for them. Not only was it about uncolonized people of colour but women were front and centre. For a franchise that left Black Widow/Gamora/Scarlet Witch with very little to do, this was a huge leap. Sure queer people still don't get to exist in Marvel's cinematic world but at least this was somewhat of a step forward. But I feel like Infinity War has taken a big step back.

Think about who dies at the end. And think about who is left to save the day as we know will happen in the next Avengers film. Infinity War is the ultimate "fridging." At the end female characters, characters of colour, and others (ie. Spider-man) all die for one explicit reason: the character development of idealized white men. The rich billionaire, the great white soldier, the godly specimen, the cocky cool-boy (the ideals of white man-hood) are pretty much all that are left. After building up T'Challa's uncolonized identity IW sets up the need for the white colonizing solider to save him. Spider-man's death is all there just for Iron Man's development. Gamora is the ultimate example of a character's sole function being to die for the advancement of other characters. Since we know they are both being resurrected, since we know the next movie will likely be a chance for white heroes to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, we know these deaths are simply plot devices for the white male heroes and their character arcs.

No wonder the film is so popular.

When films attempt to upend this narrative the reaction is strong and swift. In Batman v Superman the white idealized man (Batman) is turned into villain learning that he has to embrace and submit himself to the immigrant (Superman) and the female (Wonder Woman) to be able to save his own soul. It is only through recognizing the equal humanity of the other (and perhaps even letting himself be changed/influenced by the other) that the white man can redeem himself. Before that he "saves" people who are terrified of him. The idea of being a hero in his own mind but not considering those he is "saving." Lex Luther is another example of the idealized white man presented as villain for taking whatever he wants without regard to how others are affected. Audiences are far too uncomfortable with these realities presented to them.

In The Last Jedi, the idea of the heroes' journey not leading to saving the galaxy was met with derision and dismissal by audiences who needed to be more reassured that the traditional action hero can save the day. The great white hero passing the torch to a different sort of resistance was a story that needed to be told but a story that was too difficult for many to embrace.

So instead the most popular film franchise of the day returns to the idea of letting the white men's story be front and centre. The next film will let our great white heroes save the universe, save the people of colour, the damsels in distress.

Perhaps this is why this series is just not as interesting to me as the series which are telling different stories.

Avengers Infinity War
Starring: pretty much everyone, ever
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

The Leisure Seeker (2018)

I honestly thought The Leisure Seeker would be something different than it was. I thought it would be a charming little film about how old people are people too and makes us laugh at them while simultaneously making us adore the lovely old people. The Leisure Seeker doesnt do that. This film goes to some hard places about how much getting old sucks, how little younger generations can understand the experience of getting older, and it truly invests its characters with real agency, real sexuality, real humanity. This is not the Marigold Hotel or Bucket The Bucket List. Not to say there is anything wrong with those films. This is just something different.

Helen Mirren and Donald Southerland are both amazing in these roles and add to the power of the film. The Leisure Seeker doesnt pull punches and neither do they in their performances. Being old in this century is a different reality than ever before and The Leisure Seeker does a good job with exploring that.

None of this is to say the film isn’t entertaining. While the film might not focus on being a crowd pleaser that does not mean The Leisure Seeker isn’t fun to watch. Mirren and Southerland are charismatic as well as talented thespians and watching them is completely satisfying. The fil does give us many good laughs along with the honest tears it generates. It was refreshing to see a film treat its older characters with as much respect as their younger equivalents.

The Leisure Seeker
Starring: Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland
Director: Paolo Virzi
Writers: Francesca Archibugi, Francesco Piccolo, Stephen Amidon, Paolo Virzi

I Feel Pretty (2018)

I Feel Pretty falls right square into Amy Shumer's shtick. Like her breakthrough film Trainwreck, it is just the right amount of outrageous but safe sass and inspiring rom-com charm to highlight her talents. In fact I Feel Pretty shares a lot in common with Trainwreck. Pretty much if you enjoyed that film, this film should be right up your alley.

When the trailers came out they reminded me of the earlier film. Like that film, the premise is squirm-worthy. The idea of humour coming from a story about a women who (we are supposed to feel) isn't pretty thinking she is pretty is enough to make you go hmm. But no that's not what this film is about. The film ends up being squarely within the popular feminist-lite values of seeing beyond a woman's appearance for the amazing person she is inside. Yes it's formulaic, predictable, and never too outrageous, but it is also charming and adorable.

The film manages to come close to getting us to consider what beauty really is. It mostly errs on the side of cliche. She finds out that a supermodel also gets dumped and that confidence is the secret to attractiveness. Yes we even have sympathy for the poor little rich girl played by Michelle Williams. Amy learns about the pitfalls of treating her friends and love interests as less entitled. Generally the film falls into pretty cliched self-empowerment tropes. But there are moments where the film pushes some boundaries about where sex-appeal truly lies and the ways we create our relationships and in those moments the film gets even better.

But even with its schlocky rom-com formula the film remains entirely charming. Casting adorable Rory Scoval as the love interest was an inspired choice and generally the jokes are all pretty funny. There was a part of me that was just glad the humour wasn't as fat shaming or toxicly masculine as the premise might have allowed. But there was also a part of me which wished it had gone further and deconstructed beauty ideals more. Schumer can be edgy and I'd like to see her go down that road a bit more.

But for what it is, a funny and charming rom-com that at least errs on the side of a good, empowering message, I Feel Pretty pulls it off.

I Feel Pretty
Starring: Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Rory Scoval, Aidy Bryant, Busy Phillips, Lauren Hutton
Writers/Directors: Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein

Indian Horse (2018)

It would not be hard to argue that colonialism, and the residential school system specifically, is Canada's worst shame. Canada hasn't reckoned with this history deeply as of yet and its effects remain so devastating. Indian Horse is the first widely released film to begin to tackle this horror and it is a triumph not just for the attempt but for such an incredible execution.

Based on the novel by Richard Wagamese, Indian Horse tells the story of Saul, a residential school survivor who becomes a hockey player. The film doesn't take the inspirational track and instead digs deep into the horrors that abounded through the abduction of children from their families, the abuse that permeated the schools, and the widespread racism of Canadian settler culture. Yes Saul finds his salvation in his skill and love for hockey, but that doesn't save him. Indian Horse forces Saul and the audience to struggle with all that happened to him before he can find his redemption, a redemption that doesn't come from pulling up his own bootstraps or becoming a successful athlete. All of that is peripheral. Saul's salvation comes when he can face the demons that he faced.

The film's brilliant structure not only gives us the full impact of Saul's journey but also helps us to see how the pain is layered on top of itself, hiding worse horrors. The film isn't shy about its subject. Much of the movie is intense. But it is in the powerful performances and director Campanelli's sure hand, that Indian Horse carries us through that struggle because like Saul, all Canadians need to face the true horrors of this atrocity before healing can begin to happen. No amount of hockey or distraction can cover it up.

Indian Horse
Starring: Sladen Peltier, Forrest Goodluck, Ajuawak Kapashesi, Michiel Huisman, Martin Donovan
Director: Stephen Campanelli
Writer: Dennis Foon

Rampage (2018)

Rampage is big dumb fun. Most of the time it's not too dumb to have fun with. Occasionally it pushes envelope into dumbass territory. But the combo of The Rock's charm and some fun giant gorilla action makes it entertaining enough to enjoy with a big helping of irony.

From the director of the truly horrible San Andreas, Rampage sees Dwayne Johnson as a primate handler who befriends an albino gorilla he rescued from poaches and now cares for at a wildlife preserve in California. Cheekily he uses the sign for "rock" as his sign name as he communicates with the intelligent gorilla with American Sign Language. An evil corporation is conducting nefarious experiments for profit and the gorilla, along with a wolf and an alligator all get infected with a virus which makes them grow to gargantuan size and become aggressive. 

Yes I know. It's all very ridiculous but the film remains straightforward and simple enough in its premise to just let you enjoy the, well, rampaging without having to think too much. As I said it rarely becomes stupid enough to take you out of the film but there are a few eye rolling scenes. However in the end it's the lightest of light entertainments, truly forgettable. Like cotton candy and about as substantial.

So this isn't one for the history books or anything but if you're looking for simple pleasures you could do worse than Rampage.

Rampage
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Naomi Harris, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Joe Manganiello
Director: Brad Peyton
Writers: Ryan Engle, Carlton Cuse, Ryan J. Condal, Adam Sztykiel

You Were Never Really Here (2018)

Director Lynne Ramsay's films are often described as "uncompromising" or "bold." It's flattering code for "this film is unpleasant." I have nothing against unpleasant films, in fact there are many I love. For me that's not the issue. It's what one does with unpleasantness that is the question.

In her previous feature, We Need to Talk About Kevin, she made a disturbingly powerful analysis of a parent watching their sociopathic child grow into a murderer. Ezra Miller and Tilda Swinton gave outstanding performances. The film isn't the kind of film which is enjoyable to watch. Ramsay crafted a brilliant yet unpleasant film which tears you between feeling like you wish you hadn't experienced that and being glad to have seen such rich performances and characters. Most likely never see the film again. It would be hard to say you enjoyed it. But one would certainly ruminate on it for a while and the questions it raises are difficult. Here she tries to do the same.

You Were Never Really Here deals with the equally ugly subjects of child sex slaves and domestic abuse. The hero of her story is a war vet who now works as a "hitman," for lack of a better word, who is hired to rescue a politician's daughter from a sex slave ring. His quest to find her reveals terribly ugly things about both his past and her story. It is deeply unpleasant yet Ramsay in her way manages to tell an intellectually compelling story, bringing us into Phoenix's character's life so that we get so much about him without having to have it handed to us. Her approach is subtle while graphic, subtle in how she doesn't hold our hands with a linear narrative making a sympathetic case for what made this man who he is, but graphic in how she throws at us the images of terror and trauma which he suffered.

Phoenix gives a complicatedly vulnerable and guarded performance which is fascinating to watch. We see him weak and then muzzled in his own masculine restraint. One can't empathize with him. Ramsay almost attempts to keep him at arm's length. But we do sympathize, while never quite connecting to him, which I believe is on purpose. 

She gives us even less glimpses in to Samsonov's character who is "rescued" only to show she is going to be nobody's victim. Her backstory is kept from us and we only see her reaction to the abuse. This juxtaposes the two characters in an interesting way. Samsonov's performance is even more detached than Phoenix's ensuring we don't get into her head which I believe again is on purpose so we never are able to feel whether or not she's going to be okay. The film's Waiting For Godot ending is purposefully enigmatic and manages to be neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Clearly Ramsay's goal is to make us uncomfortable about what we are feeling.

So very much like Kevin, You Were Never Really Here works well on an academic level. It's fascinating inspiring much to discuss, process, and struggle with. There is much that is meaty and rich in that. But it is also withdrawn and aloof, refusing to let us connect with it. I had a hard time feeling much other than horror watching it, and horror is often richer when it is mixed with passion and connection. So while there is quite a bit about You Were Never Really Here which intrigues me there is little that inspires me.

You Were Never Really Here
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov, John Doman, Judith Roberts, Alessandro Nivola
Writer/Director: Lynne Ramsay

Isle of Dogs (2018)

I don't dig Wes Anderson's vibe most of the time. I find his work smarmy (ingratiating and wheedling in a way that is perceived as insincere or excessive) like he either can't take himself or his ideas seriously without degrading them or he is completely insincere about those ideas in the first place and is mocking more forthright individuals. I understand his films hold a special place in the hearts of so many film lovers but he usually leaves me cold. Isle of Dogs found its way into my heart despite not being an Anderson fan or being particularly fond of dogs. 

It's not to say that Anderson's trademark style isn't there. Isle of Dogs is filled with enough irreverence and smugness to make his fans smile. But his "boy and his dog" tale rang far more heartfelt than his live action work. There are elements of political commentary mixed in but Isle of Dogs is essentially a celebration of the love between man's best friend and what must therefore be dog's best friend and it was fairly beautiful. 

Anderson's visuals in this stop motion epic are outstanding, taking his strong work in The Fantastic Mr. Fox to a new level. From the character design to the art direction (always a strength in his films), Anderson has made a beautiful film to watch. The trailers truly don't do the film justice in just how gorgeous it is. 

As with most Anderson films the plot errs on the side of ridiculous and again I recognize this is the selling feature for his audience which often wants to push back against believability in cinema for their own reasons. That's not the point of his work, to tell us something that doesn't coincidentally all work out. So while Isle of Dogs remains as irreverently Anderson as his fans will demand, perhaps it is sweet and lovely enough for those of us who tend to bristle at his work. He won me over. 

Isle of Dogs
Starring: Brian Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Greta Gerwig, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Kunichi Nomura, Akira Takayama, Frances McDormand, Scarlet Johansson, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Yoko Ono, Tilda Swinton, Ken Watanabe, Liev Schreiber, Courtney B. Vance
Writer/Director: Wes Anderson

A Quiet Place (2018)

The best horror movies (in my opinion) are the horror movies which touch on something visceral, explore those things we, as human beings struggle with, the things which keep us up at night. There are horror movies just about throwing gruesome images at us and that certainly can be popular. But for me to be affected by a scary movie it has to be about characters, their interrelations, there needs to be drama. Good horror requires not only good direction, but good performances. Scary is hard to pull off.

A Quiet Place is one of those movies that appears to be about monsters, but is about something else entirely. I'm not talking a Shayamalan twist where we find out a surprise which changes what we are watching. I'm talking about the way the movie uses its blind monster motif to tell a story about how terrifying being a parent is. "What are we if we can't protect them?" asks Emily Blunt's character. Blunt is remarkably strong in this movie giving one of her best performances. The movie's monsters are the world and all the ways the world hurts our children. And the film's story is about the ways we can't save them from it, or perhaps can.

Director and star Krasinski handles his first film as a director deftly. I loved the way he introduced his story, then set it up to play out. It is beautiful and simple in its structure while allowing for a subtle complexity to emerge as the story moves on. A Quiet Place feels like the work of a more experienced film maker. And his cast is very much up for the task. As I said, Blunt gives a very powerful performance as does Millicent Simmonds, who follows up her great work in Wonderstruck, with this, showing us she will be a young actor to watch.

A Quiet Place is just plain good. Like last year's It Comes at Night or 2016's Don't Breathe, horror about quietness has proven to be a rich source for storytelling. A Quiet Place is riveting, entertaining, moving, and yes frightening. Everything a good horror movie should be.

A Quiet Place
Starring: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe
Director: John Krasinski
Writers: Brian Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski