Cruella (2021)

Certainly the character of Cruella de Vil is compelling. She's been a cultural touchstone for more than half a century which is a testament to the enduring power of 101 Dalmatians and her brilliant portrayal in that film. Glenn Close's high camp take in the 90s film was fun pastiche. And now we have the post-modern, Maleficent style, sympathetic revisionist take on the young, up-and-coming Cruella de Vil starring Emma Stone. 

I'm going to get this out of the way first. For me the most interesting Cruella is the entitled and selfish grande dame who does monstrous things not because she has some tragic back story but because she believes she has the right to do whatever she wants no matter how terrible. She scared me as a child, and honestly as an adult too, because she just had no abhorrence of cruelty, and because few tried to stop her due to their deference to her presence. We've come to see that the villains in the real world are those who act in their own interests regardless of the suffering of others. We understand what leads to this sort of behavior is not trauma but entitlement. To me that is far scarier and honestly more believable. So for me a young Cruella story that tries to give us sympathy for the de-Vil (and even plays the song at the climax to drive the point home) is far less interesting that what we could have had; a portrait of selfishness learning she can take what she wants no matter the cost to others. 

But that's not what Cruella, the film, is. The fact that this film was not what I had hoped it would be does not mean I can't enjoy it. And mostly I did. Director Gillespie, who has history documenting the mad humanity of the cruel after his I, Toyna film, masterfully crafts a gorgeous camp spectacle that is hard to take your eyes off of. The film is lavish and lovely and dripping with sarcasm and sass. It is straight people playing drag for what that is worth. Stone and Thompson are a delicious pair who could give the queens on Drag Race a run for their money and watching them go at it with each other is pure saccharine entertainment. Stone gets some truly great scenes where she gets to do a little more than just vamp and, as always, she's very good, bringing an honesty to her Cruella that is refreshing. 

But little in the rest of the movie comes close to that realism. It is all fantasy; none of it feels real. The story is overdrawn, getting into needless complicated twists that drag down the film a bit. I do believe a straight up battle of the broads would have been an even cooler ride than this soapy family "drama" which never quite succeeds in hitting the emotional notes needed to really sell it. The film never quite finds its tone balance. The film starts with quite a vicious death and oscillates between dark plot points and lighter flamboyant elements that never quite jive. So while Cruella ends up being rather disposable fun it never reaches the heights that this character really could have rocked. 

Okay I'm going to nitpick a bit here here. John McCrea pops up as "Disney's first openly gay character" (debatable) although the film never acknowledges he's gay. Sure he's queer coded but we really have to have a discussion about what being "openly gay" in a movie actually means. He is tossed in and barely used for the story except as an accessory for Cruella. His part remains pretty inconsequential to the plot or any of the other characters. He's great in the role and in his few scenes he steals the show. But his whole role could be cut and the film would be no worse off. Someone needs to tell Disney this is not how representation works. 

So in summary Cruella was light, disposable fun and I'd watch Stone and Thompson duke it out in anything. But as with most Disney these days it is terribly average and offers little to no spark of auteurism, the sort of thing a movie about Cruella de Vil really could be. 

Cruella

Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Mark Strong, John McCrea, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Kayvan Novak

Director: Craig Gillespie

Writers: Dana Fox, Tony McNamara 

Hating Peter Tatchell (2021)

Thank God young queer people don't have to know what it was like to be a queer person in the 60s, 70s, 80s... But also it is important that we revisit the struggle to get us to where we are now. This doesn't mean we don't still have a long way to go, but knowing our history is essential to continuing the struggle. Peter Tachell, a name a lot of young queers today won't know, was a leader in the British and Australian liberation movement for decades. 

Director Amos' documentary is a piece of important education that both sets the tone for the oppressive historical period while also outlining the way Tatchell and his allies took the risks and set out the building blocks that brought us to the world we live in now. But what also stands out from this film is the lessons we can learn and the strategies we can use to go forward.  

The film hits some familiar beats (the AIDS Quilt) but also highlights some pieces of history that might be less known. The film remains rather adoring of him as a figure, allowing some contrary points of view occasionally, such as on the debate around outing, but sticking pretty much in Tatchell's camp. Interestingly the film spends little time on him as a person, instead looking at his activism instead. The film explores his relationship with his mother somewhat but even that is muted. 

Another weakness is the way the film skirts around the issue of white LG activism. It will occasionally reference issues that are radicalized within the queer liberation movement but often moves on from that quickly. The issues of gender identification is never once raised in the film. I would have liked to see a more robust exploration of the issues here. 

But this film is more about tribute and documentation of one of the world's leading activists for LGBTQ+ rights. At the end there is a remarkable scene where an Anglican bishop actually compares Tatchell to Jesus which felt quite remarkable. There is a moment where McKellen, who interviews Tatchell says the "world has caught up" to him. For me the film could have been a bit stronger if it had explored how not true that is. Sure the film hints at next steps by talking about the World Cup being played in Qatar in 2022 and how many countries still criminalize consenting adult same sex behavior, but it does feel like the film is trying to do a bit of a victory lap. And I get that and there may be some good to be gained from that so I am willing to forgive it. Sometimes we need that hope to keep moving forward. 

Hating Peter Tatchell

Starring: Peter Tatchell, Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry, 

Writer/Director: Christopher Amos

 

A Quiet Place Part II (2021)

A Quiet Place was the rare sort of horror that was actually scary and told a powerfully moving story beyond the terrifying aspects. Well acted and crafted, it was a compelling story of just how overwhelmingly scary parenting can be. It turns out A Quiet Place Part II is the rare sort of sequel that deepens and enriches the first film while also telling a new story that isn't just repeating the themes of its predecessor. With prequel and sequel elements A Quiet Place Part II follows the Godfather Part II (perhaps the name is reference) model of sequels and it ends up being a very satisfying companion to the first film and a great movie in its own right. 

Part II evolves the themes of the story. While the first film was very much about the parents and the challenges, passions, fears, and struggles of parenting, this film focuses on the next generation and their effort to find their own path forward. One of the strengths of the first film was the centring of Millicent Simmonds' deaf character, to the point where her deafness was a strength (something mainstream media doesn't often show) and this film builds on that. She becomes a lead in the film and her innovation and courage are a central to the story. She has reached the moments in her life where she must forge her own path and it's a thrilling exploration of that evolution. 

Having said all that, one of the other strengths of the first film was its simplicity. It kept its story tight and could just do that very well. Like many sequels the pull here is to world build, expanding on what was there before and sometimes I felt the film erred on the side of explaining too much. The film gives away where the monsters come from pretty much and I'm not sure that added to it, perhaps even took something away. We also see much more of the monsters. I prefer the mystery of the first film. What they do here remains strong and compelling but sometimes just does a little too much for my tastes. 

Still, the story is a great one and like the first it will have you from the opening moments until the end, which it leaves unfinished somewhat. It feels like A Quiet Place needs to be a trilogy with where this story goes and I am all on board for another round. While the first film worked completely on its own, this film feels truly like a second chapter of one story and not simply another instalment like most horror films. It picks up from the final moments of the last film and sets up a third quite nicely. I imagine we will one day have a trilogy of films that you can sit down and watch as one epic in the vein of series like The Godfather or Back to the Future. 

A Quiet Place Part II

Starring: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, Scoot McNairy, John Krasinski

Writer/Director: John Krasinski

High Ground (2021)

We've entered a time when Westerns are beginning to tell a different story than the sort they focused on traditionally. For decades they created a narrative of justifying American manifest destiny and the wiping out of generations of people who were in the way of expansionism. Today there are many examples of great Westerns which begin to look at things from a different point of view. Also Westerns are beginning to be set in areas beyond just the American west. 

It is remarkable how similar colonialism manifested in different parts of the world. High Ground, the compelling and beautifully shot story of colonial violence in Australia is both uniquely an Aussie story and a familiar tale to those who've experienced these stories around the world. This tale of a man recruited to stop a rebellious Aboriginal Australian in the early 20th century gets us to understand a more complicated view of the history it is set in. High Ground sides with the "natives" no longer the force to be overcome, to prove manhood and entitlement, but the people who are fighting for their survival. Unfortunately in this the film still centres a white man, one who sides with right over white, but this is still the sort of device films like this need to get buy in from the audience. It avoids going full white saviour but still this weakness makes the film a little safer than it could have been. 

Director Johnson captures the natural beauty of the outback masterfully but also fills his story with an energy which makes it feel alive and contemporary. His action sequences are kinetic, jumping from points of view to gives a chaotic feel that is intensely exciting. And his more contemplative moments carry through this energy, making the film's world feel vivid. The film is engaging from start to finish and beautiful to watch. But it is the way it deconstructs the traditional Western narrative that makes it the most interesting. 

Part of a new wave of Westerns that evolve the genre in fascinating ways, like The Nightingale and First Cow, High Ground is a solid watch even with a few minor missteps. 

High Ground

Starring: Jacob Junior Nayinggul, Simon Baker, Callan Mulvey, Jack Thompson, Caren Pistorius, Ryan Corr

Director: Stephen Maxwell Johnson

Writer: Chris Anastassiades

 

French Exit (2021)

Director Jacobs' absurdist tale of a rich heiress whose fortune has run out so she runs off to Paris with her grown son is uneven and sometimes confounding. If it wasn't for Pfeiffer I'd likely have given up on it somewhere in the middle. But she brings such a defiantly pathetic irresistibility to her part that I couldn't stop watching her. She is so unlikeable I couldn't help but feel for her train wreck of a character, a lonely lost soul who has lost her reason. 

The film is occasionally brilliant, with little moments that Jacobs films gorgeously. But then there are long stretches where it feels more pedestrian. But the film's structure often feels like it is oscillating as well. The whimsical score over darkly humorous moments that are so often tinged with a hint of sadness. All of it feels slightly off, but maybe intentionally, but not necessarily successfully. 

The film's ending is a mixed bag. I wasn't sure I felt the film earned it and as I watched it play out, an ending you anticipate from early on, I felt less than I probably should have. Again Pfeiffer makes it work but the film doesn't give her enough to really deliver what an ending like this should feel like. So overall, for me, this was all about seeing Pfeiffer do some amazing work, an actor we don't get enough of these days. 

French Exit

Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Valerie Mahaffey, Susan Coyne, Imogen Poots, Danielle Macdonald, Tracey Letts

Director: Azazel Jacobs

Writer: Patrick deWitt

 

Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

Those Who Wish Me Dead is the sort of film that really shows how much a director makes or breaks a movie. This story of a fire fighter saving a boy from assassins could have been a stylishly engaging pulp adventure filled with fascinating characters with rich backstories. But Dead, with its awkward and generic title, ends up being a rather standard action film with paint by numbers characters that all blend into the background. To be clear the film is completely fine and isn't boring. But there are so many points at which I could have imagined it to be just so much more interesting. 

Nicholas Hoult and Aiden Gillen play run of the mill assassins with nothing interesting about them. Imagine them in the hands of Quintin Tarantino. We would have quirky villains with a whole history behind them bringing them to this moment. Here they are just people who show up and try to kill people. Jolie plays a damaged hero whose tragic history is a plot device and never really explored but eventually abandoned as it no longer serves its purpose. Imagine her in the hands of someone like Greta Gerwig. Her journey to this hero moment would have an emotional punch that would make this adventure all the more powerful. The film is shot scene to scene like a TV show just telling us the story. Imagine this in the hands of a Christopher Nolan. It would be visually spectacular with visual ties to the emotions of each moment. What we have is just a generic forgettable story. 

Let me be clear. Those Who Wish Me Dead is perfectly fine. The film does the bare minimum to get us through its story and we get to feel that evil is vanquished and all is right with the world at the end. But when you turn it off it's over. No emotional resonance lingering. No wasn't-that-moment-cool remembrances. No after film discussions about the meaning of the film. It's just 100 minutes to distract you from life. That's fine. I just usually prefer something more. 

Those Who Wish Me Dead

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Nicholas Hoult, Aiden Gillen, Jon Bernthal, Medina Senghore, Jake Webber, Tyler Perry, Finn Little

Director: Taylor Sheridan

Writers: Michael Koryta, Charles Leavitt, Taylor Sheridan 

 

Army of the Dead (2021)

It isn't the Army of the Dead is that original an idea. It steals heavily from Aliens, 2020's Peninsula follows a very similar structure, and to be honest every zombie trope has been done to death (pun intended). It's that no one has made a zombie movie or this sort of narrative quite like this. Love him or hate him director Snyder tells a story in a very distinctive way, his method both hyper-visual and textually rich so that his stories end up being layered, offering an experience that is rarely like anything else. 

The film starts with a visually delightful (and horrifying) back story sequence which is fascinating to watch but also completely sets out what we need to know to get into our story, establishes the central figures, and invests us into the adventure. From there he takes the time to tell us his story, gives us the kinds of emotional beats, plot structure, and character development so the experience feels whole and offers us so much entertainment beyond just moving us from one action sequence to the next. So many action films are just that, excuses to get between set pieces but this is a story first with the action moments highlighting the narrative. 

And those action sequences are amazing. Snyder's take is always so beautiful to watch and each set piece is a brilliant moment. He takes the time to set them up and then to fully execute them. They aren't rushed or cropped making them entirely satisfied so each is a ride in itself while never forgetting to serve the larger story, and one thing this story does offer up that is different is smart zombies, without spoiling too much there is a zombie culture that was far more fascinating to explore than I expected, even if it does have a bit of Game of Thrones vibe to it. 

And who knew that Dave Bautista would grow into such a great actor. He carries into this film a gravitas and pathos that a story like this needs to be sold. The cast here is great, each getting time to shine, but Bautista holds it all together with his story performance. Also shout out to Tig Notaro, filling in after another actor had to be removed, stealing every scene and making me want to watch whatever she does. 

 

Army of the Dead is a stand out zombie film, a stand out action film, a stand out horror film, and just a stand out film that is entirely a great deal of fun and a completely satisfying watch. 

Army of the Dead

Starring: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Matthias Schweighofer, Tig Notaro, Hiroyuki Sanada, Theo Rossi, Nora Arnezeder, Raul Castillo, Garret Dillahunt, Huma Qureshi

Director: Zack Snyder

Writers: Shay Hatten, Joby Harold, Zack Snyder

 

Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Why do they keep making Saw movies? My unpopular take, they are all bad. Even the first. Not because they are torture porn, although that is problematic and needs to be discussed, but because they are cheesy, weakly plotted melodramas that often telegraph their so-called twists and are simply unsatisfying. So they decide to go A-list with the latest by casting big names but bring in the same old director who tortured us with previous Saw instalments and the film just feels like.. more of the same, only with big names. 

I think the reason I feel so viscerally about the Saw franchise is how much potential there is in the basic idea behind them. An exploration of purgatorial suffering and redemption could be fascinating. But the films never get there. Not one. And despite what I had hoped might be a different direction from  this new approach, Spiral never becomes anything more. 

Once again the traps aren't scary, they are just gross. Nothing new there but just as unsatisfying as any of the other Saw films. And once again the "villain" is obvious from the beginning. These films always have overly complicated back stories that seem like they were crafted by working backward from the ending they wants and often feel retrofitted, shoehorned in. 

And it's damn booooooooring. No crime is worse for a film. 

Could this finally put an end to this franchise that over stayed its welcome with Saw II??

PS. I am a big fan of what Saw creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell have done since dumping this crap on us. 

Spiral: From the Book of Saw

Starring: Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Samuel L. Jackson, Marisol Nichols

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Writers: Josh Stolberg, Peter Goldfinger

 

Nobody (2021)

So the idea of a film from the writer of the John Wick series and the director of Hardcore Henry is a tantalizing idea. The potential for pure pulp revenge action that jumps off the screen with incredible visual language is intense. Guess what? It turns out Nobody is all that... and actually a lot more as well. 

The film jumps into its story quite quickly not wasting any time. It effectively and succinctly sets up our protagonist and the the dominoes begin to fall. But within this story is a layered and fascinating deconstruction of toxic masculinity and violence that effectively undercuts the kind of mindless adrenaline rush films of this genre tend to illicit. It offers its audience ideas to wrestle with as well which makes it all the more fascinating as we watch the story play out. This isn't mindless violence. The violence isn't timid, but it also isn't without consequence. The film takes us where it wants to go but does so by making us feel it.  

And Nobody is also a damn fine action movie, grabs you from the get go, and doesn't let go. It effectively world builds, setting out compelling backstories, and we meet characters that are multidimensional and promise their own complicated narratives. It's a fun ride, but a fun ride with a heavier, more thoughtful story than we're used to in these sorts of films. 

This is prime popcorn flick time. Enjoy it and let's hope we get more adventures of Nobody down the road. 

Nobody

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielson, Aleksei Serebryakov, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon 

Director: Ilya Naishuller

Writer: Derek Kolstad

 

Cowboys (2021)

Cowboys hit me differently than I expected. This story is presented as a man trying to save his trans son from a mother who won't accept the boy but it ends up being so much more than that, so much more. The characters are all far more complicated, and the story becomes so much more desperate. Cowboys is a gut punch and an inspiration, a film that gives its subjects so much more respect and honesty than we might expect to see. It could have had a Hallmarky movie feel and it dispels that right away instead embracing a harder more difficult story that gives real honesty to its characters. 

Steve Zahn gives what is likely his career best performance as a dad, struggling with mental illness, who embraces the responsibility of protecting his son. He isn't the man we think he is at first, defying the stereotypes that dog him, to be a hero for his boy. But the film is far more grounded than just than narrative. The story leans full into his struggles with addiction and a diagnosis he is barely managing with his medications. He doesn't make a lot of good decisions here despite what are truly the best of intentions and an abundance of love for his child. His performance is complicated and rings so true for anyone who knows and loves someone who struggles with the kind of manic personality this character does. Zahn nails it in an award winning performance that is fully deserving of the attention he is getting. 

Jillian Bell plays completely against type as a working class mom who also is so much more than she appears at the beginning of the film. It would be easy to see her as a narrow minded and aggressive but the film allows her story and conflicts to be explored too. As a woman growing up around a great deal of toxic masculinity and the adaptations she has made to endure that world, she isn't a villain, even if she also makes a lot of really bad choices. In her desire to protect her child she hurts the person she loves the most, damages them. Cowboys allows its characters to be imperfect, to be cruel, to flounder towards redemption, and to be human too. 

Newcomer Sasha Knight plays the boy who knows who he is and is relying on the adults around him to keep him safe, and it is fascinating to watch him struggle as they falter to do what they need to do. He shows a great strength of character in loving those around him and giving them the space to learn and grow. His performance is raw and honest and shows a lot of promise for this young actor. 

Cowboys kept being more and more real for me as a watched it. Its portrayal of the trans boy's attempts to be himself are very honest, but this is a film about his parents and their different ways of responding to their son's needs, neither of them doing it well, but both loving him, hurting him, letting him down, but also perhaps giving him the love he needs to grow into the man he will be. In the end Cowboys is about the way we fail as parents and the ways we succeed. It is about the love we have for our children and how much we want to be all we can for them. It broke me a little as I watched it and it was the kind of breaking that leads to good healing. 

Cowboys 

Starring: Steve Zahn, Jillian Bell, Sasha Knight, Ann Dowd, Gary Farmer

Writer/Director: Anna Karrigan

 

The Woman in the Window (2021)

There is an old fashioned feel to The Woman in the Window, like director Wright was trying to evoke a certain feeling like we had in a certain genre. From films like Gaslight and Rear Window to more modern takes like Fatal Attraction and Panic Room. The Woman in the Window may not hold a candle to those films but it is a love letter to them in a way and despite all the negative press the film has received for me it held up well as a simple thriller with a satisfying twist, even if the end is telegraphed a bit. 

Wright competently sets out his story, setting out exactly who we're dealing with and getting right into the heart of the story quickly. He builds the tension, effectively creates his heroine's world and struggle, and then lets the story play itself out. By casting the likes of Adams and Oldman and Moore he has a cast that is up for it and doesn't phone it in. It's hard to fault the film or its cast. 

The film might be critiques for the overly complicated back story needed for the tale and the series of coincidences that fall into place. But these are qualities of this genre and this film is no more guilty of them than any other. The film famously did extensive reshoots and the climax errs a bit on the gory side which I imagine is a result of those reshoots, but none of it felt out of place for this story. 

And what I think The Woman in the Window should gets points for is the way it explores the gaslighting of people, especially women, who suffer with mental health issues. So much of this story is based on the way people won't take Adams' character seriously and attack her own sense of who she is.  I kept worrying the film would make her out to be the problem but it doesn't. It makes us doubt her and we become complicit in her torment and for me that was a fascinating aspect of the film. 

I feel this is one of those examples where the film doesn't transcend it's genre and sticks very close to the formula expected. But still I felt it worked for what it was. And Adams as always is a joy to watch. 

The Woman in the Window

Starring: Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Anthony Mackie, Fred Hechinger, Wyatt Russel, Brian Tyree Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tracey Letts

Director: Joe Wright

Writer: Tracy Letts

 

 

Rear Window (1954) REVISIT TOP 100

Rear Window is my all time favourite Hitchcock film. It is one of my all time favourite films ever. I remember seeing it for the first time in college, a friend showed it to me and it was nothing like I imagined. It was a spot on perfect mix of romance, mystery, comedy, thriller, and urban drama. It makes me laugh out loud. It makes me swoon and sigh. It has me on the edge of my seat each and every time I watch it. It is simply entirely entertaining while offering us even more. 

Think about the themes it explores. There are issues of ableism and the frustration of being restrained by the limits of our bodies. There are issues of urban voisinage and our responsibilities to those around us an each other, including our disconnection in an urban landscape. There is the idea of getting older and what success and legacy means. There is the question of what love means and how to recognize it as well as all the sexual politics that go along with it. There is the clash between community and privacy and striking a balance that is fair. There is paranoia and gaslighting. All of this is packed into a tight little story that grabs you and doesn't let go. 

Rear Window is remarkable in how timeless it is. The story is set in a very specific time, much of the plot couldn't happen today due to our technological lives. But the themes remain so timely. Jeffries' views on love and what he admires in Fremont are very modern. Domestic violence is a theme that we understand today even more than the time that this film was made. Watching Rear Window during a pandemic gives its extra pathos. 

From the opening moments with the Jazz score and the shot out the window, I was hooked. This might be Hitchcock's most beautiful film. Despite being set entirely in one apartment, he finds a way to make the film look so beautiful. The sunsets out the window during the couple's dinner, a dinner fraught with conflict and passion, is so intensely exquisite. The colours in each flat we peer into are so lovely, such as the pinks in Ms. Lonelyheart's abode amplifying her sadness. The courtyard's earthy brick which turns to a warm purple in the evening light is so inviting. I've always had a pull for the feel of New York City and this film captures that energy in a way that reaches right into my heart. He uses shadow and light in such incredible ways to fill our screen with beautiful images. 

Also reaching into my heart is the nature of the relationship between Jeffries and Fremont. Their relationship is a complicated, yet beautiful, mix of the way people who are very different connect and find those ways of meeting each other in the middle. Their moments aren't presented to us a traditionally romantic but about two minds meeting, clashing. It is a respectful connection between adults, and for me it is the kind of romance I love seeing on the big screen. And when she climbs through the villain's window I was madly and forever in love, and internally screaming in fear. 

There is a moment in the middle of the film that I always find so moving, the scene where a woman, standing on her balcony, finding her dog dead, screams drawing the attention of all her neighbors, admonishes them for their callousness, and then everyone goes back to what they were doing. It is a powerful and succinct comment on modern life. And it is moving every time. 

I consider a short list of movies to be perfect and this is one of them. Each time I watch it I am enraptured. It is one of the movies I never tire of watching. 

Rear Window

Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Wendel Corey, Raymond Burr

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writer: John Michael Hayes

 

Dance of the 41/El Baile de los 41 (2021)

The story of queerness goes back a lot further than many of us know. This fictionalized story, based on a real life event in 1901 Mexico, is about the closets world of queer Mexican upper class men, many in positions of power, and the way their private lives were exposed to the general public. The event had such an impact on culture in Mexico that the number 41 has been avoided in many aspects of life as it is associated with homosexuality. 

41 is a beautifully shot period piece. It is shot to create a real sense of joy for the men as they find their space together, a space that is lush, overly sexual, and about finding connection. Focusing on real life figure Ignacio de la Torre y Mier, who has never been confirmed to have been part of this world, his outside life is rigid and painful, but upon entering the private mens club spaces he comes alive, finds beautiful companionship, and is, well, joyous. Director Pablos crafts the two realities so that both are intense, one rightening and frustrating, one delicious and exciting. 

Beautifully costumed and decorated, 41 is a gorgeous film from start to finish. Its depiction of queerness is nuanced and varied. Although it focuses mostly on Ignacio's story, other men of differing ages and gender expressions are featured as well. And it all leads to a tragic end for the men, some of whom were sent away, others who bought their freedom, others whose careers were ruined, and generally who couldn't be themselves any longer. Hererra gives an amazing performance, including a wordless scene near the end where he just inhabits his gender non-confirming soul which is stunningly beautiful. 

The film might somewhat gloss over the class differences that gave some of these men more freedom than others, but it is a love letter not only to those who attempted to live their lives despite all the odds, but also to those that were snuffed out by the culture they were railing against. 

El Baile de los 41/Dance of the 41

Starring: Alfonso Herrera, Mabel Cadena, Emiliano Zurita

Director: David Pablos

Writer: Monika Revilla

 

Together Together (2021)

I love the idea of a rom-com that is not about a "couple", people falling in romantic love, but finding a connection that doesn't involve kissing and sex and romance but is about really connecting together and deciding to make a life together. I also really love Ed Helmes and Patti Harrison, two comedians who often make me laugh. So when Together Together turned out to be such a disappointment, it hit harder than I expected. 

It's not often funny and more of the time it is very cliche. The moments that were supposed to be touching often failed to really land. Overall I felt like Together Together just never connected. I really wanted to like it but could never quite get into it.

It's not terrible really and the story is good enough that you can watch it to the end. I'm just not sure I could say you'll laugh very much or find it that moving. It was missing the real human magic that a story like this needs to make. 

Still I am all for trying to make more movies like this and I hope we'll get more that might just hit the target better. 

Together Together

Starring: Ed Helmes, Patti Harrison, Tig Notaro, Nora Dunn, Fred Melamed

Writer/Director: Nikole Beckwith

 

Monster (2021)

I can name a handful of movies in which Kelvin Harrison Jr. gives mind-blowing performances. He just never seems to give them in movies that get much attention. Monster is the latest in this pattern. Passed down and passed over this film never got the attention it deserved or Harrison Jr.'s performance did. One of these days he'll be in a movie that people see and he'll be a star. 

Supported by a great supporting cast, especially Wright who is one of the masters of his craft, Harrison Jr. manages to make his character rich and complicated, human and a cipher. Mandler, whose experience is mostly with music videos, makes an impressive debut managing to tell a compelling story visually while also structuring that story in layers that make it more complicated than one might expect at first. 

Set around the trial of a young man who may or may not have committed a crime, Monster tells us a story that relies on us making assumptions and then questioning those assumptions. No matter what sort of assumptions you might make, you are asked to think about them and reflect on them. The film is an interesting exercise in exploring the concept or "innocent until proven guilty." As the audience what do we believe, as we watch the film, as it progresses? Do we extend a presumption of innocence? Do we seek our confirmation bias. The film works as a fascinating thought experiment but then also explores the experience of many young black men in America. It is a unique approach to telling this story and for me it worked so effectively. 

Mandler also plays with Monster self-consciously being a film. His lead character is a film maker who is often shown making a movie. There are discussions set in a film class. Monster is shot partially as a piece of film, sometimes making references to itself as film. For me this also worked by effectively pulling me out of the traditional means of taking in these narratives and making me think of things differently as I watched. We often don't want our films to remind us we are watching a movie, instead we are to be lost in it for its run time. But here we are forced to look at that and it makes the experience different than we may have expected. 

What I appreciated about Monster was how it wasn't what I expected, how it was about something different than I thought, that it made me think about things differently. And that I want to keep watching what Harrison Jr. does next. 

Monster

Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jennifer Hudson, Jeffrey Wright, Jennifer Ehle, Tim Blake Nelson, Nasir Jones, Jharrel Jerome, John David Washington, Johnny Coyne, Rakim Meyers, 

Director: Anthony Mandler

Writers: Radha Blank, Cole Wiley, Edward Tyler Nahern

 

The Mitchells Vs. the Machines (2021)

Sony Animation Studios have never been high on my list as they make films that just really aren't to my tastes. There are some exceptions such as Into the Spider-Verse (coincidently made by the same film makers) but The Mitchells Vs. the Machines is more in the camp of the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania, films series which just never quite capture my passion. 

The Mitchells is one cliche after another. It's the simplest of stories about families connecting (the film was formerly named Connection) with very superficial messages about the use of electronic devices. The while thing is eye-rollingly rote. The jokes are predictable and the plot is... well you'll know what happens from the opening scenes. Everything about The Mitchells feels assembly line. 

I give them points for making the main character queer and it's made explicit, well, with one reference at the very end... in a mid-credit scene. But still, it's there. 

But that is really all I can give it credit for. Otherwise it's just another forgettable cliched family movie that will be easily forgotten very soon. 

The Mitchells Vs. the Machines

Starring: Abbi Jccobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Olivia Coleman, Eric Andre, Chrissy Teigan, John Legend, Conan O'Brien

Director: Mike Rianda

Writers: Jeff Rowe, Mike Rianda

 

Tom Clancy's Without Remorse (2021)

For me Without Remorse suffers from the same problem as every other Tom Clancy film adaptation; it never becomes more than a generic action story. Yes I mean that about everything from Hunt For Red October on. Little to nothing stands out for these films. Every attempt to bring Jack Ryan or, now, John Kelly, to the big screen have felt vanilla and forgettable. And Without Remorse just continues that tradition.  

This one has a bit of an advantage in that it is set up to be a revenge thriller. But director Sollima has mostly sucked all the passion and energy that comes from the wronged-man-seeking-revenge genre from this story so that it feels, well, like every other Clancy-generic-spy-adventure we've seen. The very strengths the story offers are muted and Jordan's lead character feels like just another version of Jack Ryan or Ethan Hunt or Jasono Bourne. There is little to distinguish him from any other action hero.

So Without Remorse goes through the motions and delivers your standard action fare. For what it does it does okay. It's not boring and Jordan has charisma up the wazoo. So the whole thing stays entertaining enough throughout. But upon finishing it is the kind of movie that you'll forget as the credit roll. 

Perhaps that's the appeal of these Clancy stories. Maybe they are designed to be generic, to feel safe and accessible for an audience that doesn't want audacity or originality but wants to know what they'll get and what they can expect. While all that might be okay it just isn't what I want. 

Tom Clancy's Without Remorse

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Jodie-Turner Smith, Colman Domingo

Director: Stefano Sollima

Writers: Taylor Sheridan, Will Staples