All My Puny Sorrows (2022)

Movies and stories about suicide are often fraught with a minimizing sentimentality that hard to swallow. I was a bit trepidatious about settling into this story but found it to be very sensitive to the complexities of the story’s needs. While the film never got me quite to an emotional boiling point, I found its handling of the difficulties in discussing suicide to be so deftly handled.

The entire cast is good but Pill truly shines without playing too over the top. She finds an amazing balance of her character’s sardonic nature with the pain she is struggling through. Her outbursts of release feel so authentic while her contained moments were complex and layered. I often feel she does strong work but this might be my favourite performance of hers so far. 

Director Michael McGowan has made films I’ve enjoyed before, especially his One Week which I think is underrated. But this feels like a triumph for him. He balances a lot of challenges to tell a moving and fraught story without succumbing to a saccharine mood that could have made it feel trite. 

All My Puny Sorrows

Starring: Alison Pill, Sarah Gadon, Mare Winningham, Donal Logue

Writer/Director: Michel McGowan

 

Charlotte (2022)

I was not aware of the life or work or artist Charlotte Salomon before seeing the incredible film Charlotte, but it awakened me to seek out her art and to wrestle with the story of her short life and the evils of racism. Animation was the perfect vehicle to tell this adaptation of her life story as she communicated through her own art. The film manages to capture that beauty so incredibly. I was transfixed throughout and devastated both by the enormity of her contribution in such a short time, and with the horrors of her final days.

The film doesn’t shy away from the difficult aspects of her story which I won’t discuss here so as not to take away their power for audiences who, like me, was not overly familiar with her. It bravely embraces all of her humanity and that of those around her. But it also leaves you itch a sense of joy for what she was able to leave behind and for what she was able to live during her lifetime.

Charlotte is a gorgeous film that never once loses its audience. And despite all the heartbreak the film gives you a sense of wonder and gratefulness for the spirit of his woman and what she accomplished. 

Charlotte

Starring: Keira Knightly/Marion Cotillard,  Jim Broadbent, Brenda Blethyn, Sam Claflin, Henry Czerny, Eddie Marsan, Helen McCrory, Sophie Okonedo, Mark Strong

Directors: Eric Warin, Tahir Rana

Writers: Erik Rutherford, David Bezmozgis

The Northman (2022)

There isn’t an ounce of subtlety in The Northman.

There isn’t a battle that isn’t dripping in cruelty, a gender role that isn’t strict and unbearable, a plot point that isn’t vocalized and explained, an emotion that isn’t gutteral.

Edgers has taken the story of Hamlet (moved the H to the end) and boiled it down to its most simplistic ideas. And it feels like in that he has lost all the nuance and beauty, the mystery. Instead he focuses on the rage, pulling necessary story points out of thin air when it suits him, and focusing on shock value over story telling. Until he reaching his climax which boils down to two bloody, naked (yet penisless???) men pounding each other with swords wordlessly, only grunting as they finish each other off. 

There just wasn’t enough here to keep me engaged. The ideas were simplistic, the story cheating when developing character or plot points would bog it down. I could never feel anything for what I was watching. And for a film that didn’t take the time to tell story points in an organic way, it sure was long.

This kind of myth making feels cheep, feels presumptive, like we’re supposed to be on board with it already and if we’re not, the film doesn’t make the effort to make it authentic. It like blood and betrayal are supposed to be enough. But for me that’s not what Hamlet is about and certainly not what makes it endlessly fascinating. The Northman felt like it took all that I wanted from a story, threw it out, and just gave me more and more of what I found the least engaging. 

The Northman

Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Claes Bang, Björk, Gustov Lindh, Kate Dickie, Ralph Ineson

Director: Robert Eggers

Writers: Sjón, Robert Eggers

 

The Bad Guys (2022)

The Bad Guys is a fun story filled with funny jokes. But it is also completely predictable and the standardized moral to the story offers nothing new. While a step above the oh-so-average Croods/Boss Baby/Trolls era of Dreamworks' most recent decade, it just doesn't hit the heights other animation studios are reaching. But it is progress. 

Best of all The Bad Guys attempts a rather unique and quite beautiful animation style that mixes an anime inspired surrealism with a heightened focus on the main characters. None of the main characters feel like more than archetypes, and I get that's sort of the point. There is a good message here for the kiddos about how social constructs that prioritize certain classes of people and villinaize others become self-fulfilling prophecies. 

But why do the fish have feet? And why is this world populated by humans only to have a very few characters be anthropomorphized animals... again only to have other animals be treated as pets??? There is a lot that doesn't make sense in the world of The Bad Guys. But since Dreamworks' shtick is to milk their franchises for as many sequels as possible I'm sure they'll explore some of these answers in the future.  

The Bad Guys

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos, Craig Robinson, Marc Maron, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, Lily Singh

Director: Pierre Perifel

Writer: Etan Cohen

 

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

Absurdist comedy doesn't usually work for me. I need people in stories/movies to act like people act in the real world. When characters start acting over the top ridiculous, even when it's funny, the story loses me. With Massive Talent the story lost me about 20 minutes in. The plot, so loosely stitched together that it felt neither rational or clever, felt more like an excuse to get to certain funny scenes than to actually build characters or reveal some point. And while I felt Cage put on a good show, his performance was undercut by the film's utter irreverence for anything meaningful, ending up on a rather cliched "family" moral that made the Fast & Furious series seem deep. 

I get that others may truly enjoy this gonzo romp that winks at its audience. It's all in good fun and I get that for many that's what they are looking for in a film. But for me this sort of story leaves me cold. I smiled a few times at some of the jokes but rarely felt moved to any real laughs. I appreciated Cage's performance, especially when he played against himself. The dynamic between the older more grounded Cage and his more typecast younger version was interesting, but I was disappointed the film didn't do anything with that. 

And the story is boring. The narrative just skips essential plot building moments that would have been necessary if it needed us to buy into the story at all. And when something is no longer convenient it's gone. While Cage tries to go deeper into... well Cage, the rest of the cast feel like they are in a Naked Gun movie. Again I get why that will be attractive to people but to me it just wasn't. 

Massive Talent just isn't for me. I hope others enjoy it and I think they will. 

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Sharon Horgan, Neil Patrick Harris, Demi Moore, David Gordon Green

Director: Tom Gormican

Writers: Kevin Etten, Tom Gormican

 

Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

The Fantastic Beasts films never quite captured the magic of the Potter franchise that inspired them. While the first film was a charming adventure generally without quite being as inspiring as the Potter films, the follow up got bogged down in unnecessarily complicated plots, rather tedious mysteries, and generally fumbled how to integrate them all together into an entertaining whole. The Secrets of Dumbledore is less of a mess but still struggles to find its footing and still remains uninspiring. 

One of the biggest missed opportunities is the story of Dumbledore himself. One of modern literatures most beloved characters remains sidelined both literally and spiritually. In the series' desire to make this about Scamander and the other new characters, it purposefully keeps its most fascinating character on the edges. But also in the productions desire to not centre a homosexual hero, the film goes to great lengths to downplay the relationship between the title character and the story's main villain, and I believe this is very much a mistake. It's morally pretty shameful but even just for the purposes of the narrative, the film misses its mark. If the film had been more about Albus' conflicts centred in the story we would have had a much more compelling story and perhaps it might have somewhat atoned for the lack of any real sense of diversity within the Potter books and films themselves. The end builds to a wizard duel between Albus and Gallert that finally gets to the emotional punch that has been missing from these films all along but even that is truncated so as to mute the importance of their love. 

The Fantastic Beasts series feels like a movie series made up on the fly. Characters that are important in one film are dropped entirely to the next. Plots begin and are dropped. The mysteries that are supposedly important to the narrative are solved, then revised, and then don't necessarily have the significance one thought they would. It all feels chaotic. 

My recommendation: drop this series, let it be a trilogy and move on to another story in another corner of the Wizarding World that can be better planned out. 

Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Dan Folger, Jessica Williams, Mads Mikkelsen, Callum Turner, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudal, William Nadylam, Victoria Yeates, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Richard Coyle, Oliver Macucci, Fiona Glascott, Katherine Waterston

Director: David Yates

Writers: JK Rowling, Steve Kloves

 

Cow (2022)

Who knew you could just point a camera at a cow and be transfixed for an hour and a half? I don't mean to be glib or undercut the work of director Andrea Arnold, who skillfully meshes together the cinéma vérité style narrative about a real cow and her life from the moment of birth of one of her calfs until her human inflicted death. Cow ends up being stunning, capturing the beauty and melancholy of the life of a cow. 

Shot beautifully on a dairy farm in the UK, Cow is literally just what you think it is. Arnold captures something unexpected in the day to day reality of an animal most of us don't think of as particularly cinematic or regal. But by the end of the film, you as the audience are invested in her struggle. Despite how much the film pulls you into its story it doesn't preach or take sides on any issue. This isn't a "vegan" film. It stands back and just shows it to you. There is no score (although some songs are played throughout, mostly those heard in the actual barn), no commentary. The only human language is some off hand comments by the farm hands. Yet let me tell you the cow's groans, especially upon being separated from her calf, will stick with you. 

Cow is the sort of film that surprises. Arnold's approach to just let her subject take centre stage is a smart one and very effective. If you ever thought you wouldn't want to watch a cow walk around for 94 minutes, think again. 

Cow

Director: Andrea Arnold

Ambulance (2022)

Okay yes, Ambulance is a bit of a chaotic mess that wishes is was Michael Mann's Heat (which it is not) but despite all of that it was completely engaging and a lot of fun. Do you have to suspend some disbelief? Sure. But do you mind? Not so much. 

Let's get out of the way what's wrong with the film. Bay doesn't create any sense of place or space so you can never 100% tell what's going on. He prioritizes his stylish car chase mayhem over actually establishing where each car is or where the characters are. You often have to just assume stuff. His narrative kinda works the same way. He sometimes skips over moments which would help make his story make sense and you just have to go along for the ride (see what I did there?). 

As Bay wants to make a movie about police chasing an ambulance he stretches out the logic of this for as long as humanly possible, often without holding on to the logic part of that. There are many times when realistically the whole thing would have just come to an end but we just keep going. The wrap up is on the unbelievable side too but again telling a realistic story doesn't serve this film's purpose. 

So lets get on to what works. The film is a fun ride despite all of the above. It never drags. Bay skips over any downtime jumping right into his story. And he commits. Sure there is a lot excessive camera work (shooting up buildings and then down the other side for some reason...) but he brings it. This is a car chase movie and that's what we get. 

But in reality if that's all this was it could still feel a bit tepid. Ambulance succeeds in part because of the rich characters. Bay (or perhaps screenwriter Fenak) channels Tarantino here, building fascinating back stories enriching his characters, who speak rapid and often textually rich dialogue. You care about these characters, even if the script doesn't always have them behaving in completely believable ways, even the smaller characters. Ambulance doesn't create black and white good guys and bad guys. We are sympathetic to the players in all camps. The troupe is drawn richly enough that we can get a lot out of everyone. 

And this is amplified by the great cast. The actors here all deliver. Jake Gyllenhaal is wonderful, layered and complicated but also delightfully camp, while Yahya Abdul-Mateen II provides the grounded gravitas that gives the story more weight than it should. The entire cast is great and create a wonderful ensemble. 

So yeah you do have to give the film some leeway in how it plays fast and loose with reality but if you can watch it that way it's a light and fun film that is exciting on the big screen. I think I might like Michael Bay's late career work. I said "like" not "love."

Ambulance 

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, Garret Dillahunt, Keir O'Donnel, Jackson White, Olivia Stambouliah, Moses Ingram, Colin Woodell, Cendric Saunders, A Martinez

Director: Michael Bay

Writer: Chris Fedak

 

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)

 

No shock to anyone, the sequel to the pretty bad movie Sonic the Hedgehog isn't much better. The plot is a mess of deus ex machina moments, the jokes aren't funny, and nothing in this movie is even remotely similar to what could possibly happen. But to stay on the positive side here is a list of reasons to see Sonic the Hedgehog 2:

1. Enjoy what might be Jim Carrey's final film performance

2. You're an Idris Elba completionist

3. It's scored by Tom Holenborg (not really his best work...)

4. Lee Majdoub is a cutie

5. ...

sorry I ran out of excuses...

Your kids deserve better so stop making excuses and take them to see a better movie. 

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Starring: Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Idris Elba, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Lee Majdoub, Tom Butler

Director: Jeff Fowler

Writers: Pat Casey, Josh Miller, John Whittington

Nitram (2022)

Nitram is notable for both the powerful performances, especially of Jones and Judy Davis, as well the film makers careful choices. In many ways Nitram doesn't attempt to explain the unexplainable, but instead attempts to examine a person, and those around, him who did something so horrific it is unexplainable. For this Nitram may be difficult for many to watch. The attempt to humanize, if not sympathize, with a mass murderer may not be something many are comfortable with. But the film makes not excuses for its subject, instead hoping for some insight into who he is. 

The film quite smartly avoids putting any of the violence on screen. As the film builds towards its conclusion we see the killer approach the sites of his attacks but the film then skips over the massacre itself. I believe this is the right choice. Such a thing would be extremely problematic regardless but it really isn't what Nitram is about. 

Nitram is a portrait of a person attempting to exist in a world where everyone experiences that world differently than he does. Often the film will highlight that he truly doesn't understand how to act or interact. Again the film walks a careful line here never using that as an excuse, but showing just how difficult his experience and the experience of those around him is in light of this. Similar to We Need To Talk About Kevin Nitram tries and mostly succeeds in bringing us into a very painful place for all those involved. 

A lot of this success has to do with the performances of Jones (award winning) and Judy Davis who are both stunning in this film. They both deal with very difficult roles and they both shine. Lapaglia and Essie Davis are also strong. Nitram likely wouldn't have worked without such a strong team bringing these characters to life. 

Movies based on real people always struggle to find the right balance between drama and honesty and that can be especially hard when dealing with such a difficult subject. But Nitram is an example of a fairly successful telling of a very difficult story. 

Nitram

Starring: Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Essie Davis, Anthony LaPaglia, Sean Keenan

Director: Justin Kurzel

Writer: Shaun Grant

 

All The Old Knives (2022)

The good: All The Old Knives is an emotional mystery that packs a few good punches. It is well acted by the entire cast and the chemistry between Pine and Newton is strong, which the story needs. 

The bad: All The Old Knives is a little on the sloggish side and never quite hooked me into it enough for the weight of it's story to truly hit me. Also the twist felt easy to guess meaning I spent most of the movie looking for confirmation of my theory instead of being taken away by the narrative. 

Without spoiling anything, this is the story of a CIA agent assigned with looking into who may have been a traitor during a terrorist attack about 8 years earlier. Not only does he have to look into his old colleagues and friends, but even an ex lover, complicating his investigation. It's a good idea and the mystery plays out in a way that has a very satisfying ending (more on that later in a spoiler section) but I struggled to get into it enough to care. I do think the ending would have been incredibly powerful if the story had brought me in enough.

Director Pedersen plots out the story well. It is structured effectively managing a series of flashbacks (to the attack, the goings on in the CIA during the attack, subsequent and previous events, and the current investigation) well so that it is a clear and cohesive story. There are a lot of balls in the air here and Pedersen juggles them well. But in all that, there is an emotional quality lacking. Which is remarkable because some of that is the jarring attack itself which is quite upsetting to watch, and the moments between Pine and Newton have a genuine feeling to them. But perhaps despite a strong cast, they were never quite able to get me to the point of being invested enough in them. The exercise feels more academic than gripping. 

However it is a smart plot with a satisfying ending. I would recommend it to those seeking a smart if light film that needs you to pay attention but doesn't punish you too much if you look at your phone now and then. Stop reading here until you have see it.

Spoilers: The ending is one I saw coming but I hoped it was true. I like it when films upend our expectations. Turns out the man at the centre of the story is the guilty party, and the film's twists don't stop with that but include his reasons behind his betrayal. This is an idea I like. The film doesn't provide enough misdirection to throw us off the scent. Once we are presented with the it-could-be-anyone premise, it isn't hard to ask if it's Pine himself. I know we're supposed to worry the whole it's Newton but the film never tricked me into that. As I said, this ending would have been amazing if Pine's character was one I left myself become invested in but the film never quite got me there. Still, Pedersen's approach wraps up the ending in a way that is very satisfying and cleverly done. 

All The Old Knives

Starring: Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton, Laurence Fishburne, Jonathan Price

Director: Janus Metz Pedersen

Writer: Olen Steinhauer

 

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

When a film can manage to be absurdly silly, mind-blowingly obscure, poignantly heartfelt, edge-of-your-seat exciting, surprisingly romantic, laugh-out-loud funny, and stunningly profound all at once, what do you have? You have Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

I love it when a film lives up to its hype. 

The Daniels have made a movie that feels like they have taken the work of Zhang Yimou, Quinton Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Ang Lee, David lynch, Greta Gerwig and mashed it all together with a little Wong Kar-Wai thrown in just for fun. Just when you think you've got a handle on what is going on, they throw you for another loop. The film evolves before your eyes, adding layers to what was built on before, until it crescendos into something that is just remarkable. 

Don't read anything about it. Just see it. 

Michelle Yeoh is a force of nature. We all knew that already but this is the sort of career defining performance that seems to do her and her talent justice. It's the sort of role that one couldn't imagine anyone else pulling it off. She commands the screen in all sorts of ways. And her pairing with Stephanie Hsu is just serendipitous. As they morph through their narrative, the climax in a powerful and beautiful moment at the end that is just heart warming. 

But the rest of the cast brings so much too. From Quan's charming performance to Curtis' scene stealing turn, the cast of Everything Everywhere All At Once bring everything to the table. 

The script is tight and layered, both telling a story that is richly satisfying but also filled with the sort of dialogue that will be come quotably classic while also being complex and textured. The film is a masterclass on making a stunning film to watch. There is just so much going on and the details even in small moments, or the background is packed full of experience. The Daniels have stuffed it full of cinematic joy. 

Yes Everything Everywhere All At Once lives up to the hype and perhaps exceeds it. Just a joy. 

Everything Everywhere All At Once 

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., Tallie Medel, Daniel Scheinert

Writers/Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

 

The Shadow In My Eye/The Bombardment/Skyggen i mit øje (2022)

War movies, and by that I include any film that depicts battles of any kind including the Marvel blockbuster variety, that do not engage with the devastation of war are doing its audience a disservice. This film has become notorious for its graphic portrayal of a group of children being killed, injured, and trapped in rubble by an attack during WWII. The film may be a difficult watch, but it is also important to watch. In our lives we engage with the moral questions as our governments engage in military operations around the world and our stories need to wrestle with the reality of war and its consequences. 

It is known by different names in different countries but by whatever name, this film is beautifully made and incredible to watch. The film brings us into it by introducing us effectively to a swatch of characters from innocent children to Nazi collaborators and it does so in ways that invest us in all of them, even those involved in evil. Then the film builds to its centre piece, a bombing performed by the British, the good guys, remember? That kills and maims many innocents. The film takes us through painful situation after painful situation. It is gruelling in the way it brings us into the lives cut short by state violence, even state violence that is on the side of "good." 

And that is the point and power of this film. It reminds us that the blood is on all our hands. Perhaps that makes it even more difficult to wrestle with. Situations like this are often unimaginable, yet people live them all the time. So this film's power comes in how it forces us not to look away, not to let our apathy and racism keep us from facing it head on. 

And maybe only then can we engage more deeply with the real world decisions to violence. 

The Shadow In My Eye/The Bombardment/Skyggen i mit øje

Starring: Alex Hugh Andersen, Danica Curcic, Fanny Bornedal

Writer/Director: Ole Bornedal

 

Apollo 10 1/2 (2022)

OK Boomer

Sometimes it can be hard for those of us born after the Baby Boom generation to understand the sense of possibility that existed for them in their youth. I felt like the closest I've come to getting a taste of that in a long time is watching Linklater's Apollo 10 1/2, a charming fantasia about growing up in a time of expansion and optimism. 

Linklater returns to his rotoscoping animation he used in his films A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life to create an unreal feeling flashback to a time when he could believe he could walk on the moon. Apollo 10 1/2 is the story of a boy who becomes an astronaut, or perhaps the story of a boy day dreaming himself to the moon. Along the way we get glimpses into his suburban life in a time when the suburbs offered promise and everything was shiny and new. 

I think what brought me into his tale was just how appreciative it felt to have been able to experience that. For people like me, born later and lived through times which were far more cynical, sometimes these stories can feel remote, and unreal. But Apollo 10 1/2 has a sweet earnestness to it which engenders the story, and perhaps presents it as something lost. 

Apollo 10 1/2 isn't necessarily the story of a nation. While the film hints at the civil unrest happening as American awoke from the 50s utopian mirage to understand better just how limited that dream was, instead the film focuses on just the experience of this boy and his dream in white suburbia. The animation helps frame it as what it is, fantasy, nostalgia, a remembrance that is neither true not entirely false. Its beauty is in its sweet naiveté.  And the desire to hold on to a feeling, even just for a moment. 

Apollo 10 1/2

Starring: Jack Black, Glen Powell, Zachary Levi

Writer/Director: Richard Linklater

 

Morbius (2022)

Morbius, like it's Sony Marvel Universe cousin Venom, is a solid (if light) monster movie/comic book movie hybrid that leans into the classic monster movie tropes and takes you on a fun (if sometimes silly) ride. By keeping the story telling economic Morbius offers popcorn entertainment that is easily digestible and accessible to most audiences. 

Sony seems determined to grab what they can from their partnership with Disney over the Spider-Man properties while keeping their own toys in their own sandbox. They could have left everything ambiguous enough in these movies to allow the audience to see the characters as existing in the same world as Tom Holland's Spider-Man but instead they go to great lengths to establish their little universe is theirs and theirs alone. Perhaps in case the deal ever falls through they can still do what they want with these characters they are developing? So we get some tacked on world building during the credits which may or may not make a lot of sense narratively but allow the audience to get excited about potential team ups in the future. 

But back to the movie. Morbius starts with a scene that plays more for gothic mood than for story purposes. Honestly it isn't clear where it fits into the whole narrative. But then it gets its main story going and tells it systematically, simply, so anyone can follow it. It's Jekyll and Hyde, it's not that far off from Venom. The film may require some suspension of disbelief but it commits pretty solidly to its premise and its story making it all work if you just let it. 

The film is quite visually spectacular. It was a fun watch in the cinema on a big screen. The effects feel less real world logical and more artistic in their approach. It was lovely to watch and overall just fun and entertaining. Honestly so much of the MCU can be a slog its nice to see a film just be light entertainment that pushes all the buttons, even if it won't be earth shattering or anything. 

Morbius

Starring: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson,  Al Madrigal, Michael Keaton, Corey Johnson

Director: Daniel Espinosa

Writers: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless