Ready or Not (2019)

Ready or Not is dark satire more than horror. It's premise is ridiculous, a rich family plays a deadly game of hide and seek on the night their youngest son is married as part of a satanic ritual. But this is just the gimmick to get at the real moral of the story, that being wealthy is a bit of a devil's bargain and there may not be a moral way to be rich.

The film sticks to its premise fairly simply which is its strength. it doesn't try to flesh out to much, just giving us enough of the basics to get us through it story without getting bogged down in distractions. However it never quite makes its plot believable enough. Maybe with a plot like this that is asking too much. But the film doesn't feel like it's trying to be real, instead it knows its a morality play, a satirical look at the evils justifying any bad behavior in the name of securing wealth. So instead the film just runs with it and in that it makes for a rather entertaining time.

Film makers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett use sepia tones and warm lighting to give the film an elegance which they quickly disrupt with the evil of the family. Their message isn't a subtle one but it is cogent. The direct link is made between earning wealth by engaging evil and maintaining it by sacrificing the poor. It is clever satire if not nuanced, and as the film continues they embrace more and more absurdity until the audience is laughing, uncomfortably, with the film.

Ready or Not probably could have been a stronger film and even darker but for what it delivers it is surprisingly cohesive within all its absurdity. One has to take it with a bit of salt but don't underestimate its relevance.

Ready or Not
Starring: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Andie McDowell, Mark O'Brien, Henry Czerny, Nat Faxon
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Writers: Guy Busick, R Christopher Murphy

Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019)

Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Maria Semple’s novel of the same name isn’t really a good film it is a showcase for a great performance. Basically it shows off just what a talent Blanchett is and what she can do with a role.

Unlike the book, the film doesn't deliver no the mystery in the title. Its approach to the story of a brilliant mind constrained by her own ways of interacting with a world not ready for her, and her escape from that is presented here in a very straight forward way leaving out the sort of delicious mystery the book offers. A story like this requires a certain unconventionality yet Linklater sticks to a fairly common approach, which almost makes Bernadette’s tale seem far fetched and somewhat ridiculous. the game of chase at the bottom of the world just feels forced and coincidental in a way that is unbelievable. If Linklater had found a way to give magic to his story, he could have pulled this off but he doesnt.

But what he does is stand back and let his lead find her way. Blanchett is, as usual, gripping to watch and she makes her remarkable character into someone unstoppable. Her Bernadette is a force of nature and fully realized, with nooks and crannies of character and personality that make it impossible to take your eyes off her.

So while Where’d You Go Bernadette isn’t a great film it remains watchable for Cate.


Where's You Go, Bernadette
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, Laurence Fishbourne, Steve Zahn, Megan Mullally
Writer/Director: Richard Linklater

Blinded by the Light (2019)

While the real life story of a young Pakistani first generation Brit finding his voice through listening to the music of Bruce Springsteen is crowd pleasing, the film with its clunky pacing and mostly simplistic story beats often feels rather dull. But director Gurinder Chadha find some powerful moments in a movie that would otherwise feel rather paint by numbers making it more inspiring than it would be.

There are a lot of relationships in this film which feel forced and cliche. They often aren't developed organically, instead the film relies of our assumptions to make the relationships work. Javed’s childhood best friend is never shown to be anything more than an accessory yet certain emotional beats rely on their connection. I never felt Javed’s romance was built in a believable way. And Hayley Atwell as his teacher is the prototypical inspiring teacher trope. Fortunately the film spends the time more on his connections to his parents and since this (rather formulaic) journey of clash between first generation child and his immigrant parents mostly works and is the heart of the film.

And if it was jus that Blinded by the Light might feel like a rather typical film in this genre. But what Chadha does that takes it just a bit higher is help make Javed’s experience of racism and rising racism in 80s Britain feel authentic and real. It is often in these moments that Chadha’s film comes together and delivers its best punches. Also she finds a way to help us feel Javed’s love of music in a way that is both cinematically beautiful but emotionally strong and, as with any music based film, the connection wth the songs is essential.

So while Blinded by the Light is fairly typical it does manage to offer something a it special.

Blinded by the Light 
Starring: Viveik Karla, Hayley Atwell
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Writers: Paul Mayeda Berges, Sarfraz Manzoor, Gurinder Chadha

Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)

Dora and the Lost city of Gold finds its way to balance making a movie for young kids that also manages to be entertaining for adults by being all wink wink tongue in cheek. Director James Bobin of Flight of the Concords and The Muppets knows how to achieve that. Dora quite appropriately falls on the younger side of the entertainment spectrum being best for elementary school kids the most (probably too intense for toddlers but a little too childish for pre-teens). But it ends up being charming and entertaining enough that adults can enjoy it too.

Sometimes Dora felt like it was trying a little too hard to make the adults laugh. There is a rave joke at the beginning that started out okay but went on a little too long. And really? Raves? What year is this? And Danny Trejo as the voice of Boots and Benicio Del Toro as Swiper are probably the biggest feats of stunt casting I've ever seen. Still, Dora never felt too boring, moving along with its basic but satisfying if predictable plot at a quick pace.

Isabela Moner is a young actor to watch. I've seen her if a few films so far and have always been impressed, often rising above sub-standard material. Here she manages to do a good impression of what a teen version of the classic cartoon character would sound/act like but also making her character feel like a real enough person. 

Little ones will love and their parents won't hate it. But does it have the cross over magic that would let teens and young adults enjoy it ironically or with a nostalgia for their childhoods? Hmmm, not sure. I'm not convinced it pulls of that trick.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold
Starring: Isabela Moner, Eugenio Derbez, Michael Pena, Eva Longoria, Jeff Whalberg, Benicio Del Toro, Danny Trejo, Temuera Morrison
Director: James Bobin
Writers: Nicholas Stoller, Matthew Robinson

The Kitchen (2019)

Sometimes a great idea just doesn't come together.

Casting McCarthy and Haddish, both great actors, against type and telling the story of mob wives who run things when their husbands go to jail should have been a great movie. Exploring the way domestic violence and gender/race politics played a hand in organized crime in the 70s should have breathed depth into a stylish crime movie. But none of this happens.

The Kitchen feels paint by numbers. This happens then this happens then this happens. Characters walk into rooms, explain what they are feeling instead of showing us. The plot/motivations/details are all handed to us on a silver platter as if we aren't smart enough to understand so we have to have it all explained to us. We never get to feel the scenes as they never have a chance to breathe. The film never feels organic or authentic. During the film I was trying to guess if there was a longer, more fleshed out movie in here which was slashed to pieces or if this is all we would have gotten. Whatever the reason The Kitchen is anemic and oversimplified.

Most disappointing are the performances. McCarthy and Haddish have both been better. Great character actors like Margo Martindale are wasted. The thing that made me so sad while watching The Kitchen was how much potential there was and how much of it was wasted. Plots are introduced, resolved, and dropped quickly and expediently so you almost never have a chance to get involved. Characters are thin and shallow so its hard to become attached. It feels like it was all there but just not put together.

As The Kitchen skipped its way to its rather unsatisfying conclusion I wished I had seen a different movie, one which explored the issues brought up here with some finesse and insight, one that gave this remarkable cast something more to do, and one that would have kept me on the edge of my seat.

The Kitchen
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elizabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson, Common, Margo Martindale, Brian D'arcy James
Writer/Director: Andrea Berloff

Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

I'm torn. I'm not a fan of the Fast & Furious movies. These holdovers from the 90s when action movies were all about how stupid they could be, how much they could blow up, and how much toxic masculinity they could celebrate. They were all style and no substance. But director David Leitch makes fun and usually not stupid movies... and Idris Elba who I could watch do anything. So this spin off featuring the cheesy but scene stealing characters of, well Hobbs and Shaw, is it going to be as mind numbingly dumb as the movies that spawned it? And can the cast and director find a way to pull this from the dumpster fire?

Well, one can't say Hobbs & Shaw is a good movie, but Leitch has taken this world and basically done the best one can with it. He sets it up perfectly. He introduces us to Elba's ridiculous villain (but it's Elba so who cares?) setting into motion the simple and straightforward plot. Then he shows us who each of the leads are, giving us just enough in case we haven't seen a F&F movie before, so we want to see what they'll get up to. Then he sets up the central conceit of the movie, the odd couple, buddy cop, best of frenemies trope. He lets Johnson and Statham ooze their off the charts charisma (well Johnson's at least, Statham is more riding his coattails). Finally he shoves in a bunch of action. And Leitch knows action. What he delivers is pure dumb action movie gold.

None of it is believable. All of it is formulaic. Its as predictable as they come. It is overblown and walks the line of ridiculous. The climax is so over the top you'd think it was Con Air. These are things that would normally sink a film for me. But Leitch plays to the film's strengths, self aware in the F&F limitations and just playing it straight for fun without succumbing to the genres low rent impulses. The screenwriters know what they are doing. While Hobbs & Shaw has a bit of a script 101 feel to it, it also does a great job of pulling that off. It's rather funny, embraces its action movie cliches, but does it without punching down. Basically Hobbs and Shaw is a good example of being exactly what a movie tries to do, not exceeding that, but doing just that.

Could this be the best F&F movie yet? In my opinion the F&F movies have been too corny, too ridiculous, and too generic, to be enough fun. I was always rolling my eyes too much to enjoy any of them. H&S pushes right up to this line but didn't quite cross it for me, so basically I had an okay time. So yeah. It's the best F&F movie so far.

But that's not really saying much.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren
Director: David Leitch
Writers: Chris Morgan, Drew Pearce

The Farewell (2019)

It's become common for performers we know for comedy to take a dramatic turn so while Awkwafina first dramatic turn may not be novel, it is truly enjoyable. She does a great job with her character and all her struggles through this lovely, touching, entertaining, and often funny look at the life of a family pulled apart by distance and time and brought together by time's inevitability.

Posthumous director Lulu Wang brings us this personal story, based on her own relationship with her grandmother by keeping it feeling very real. She moves through her story unassumingly, just letting her characters exist and interact with each other. The relationship between Awkwafina's character and her grandmother as well as her relationship with her parents and extended family comes to life easily and naturally by Wang's approach. The whole film feels lived in and honest. Wang appears to be putting it all out there for us and sharing with us something meaningful.

The Farewell is uplifting without being purposefully sentimental and although rather quiet it never drags. It's a lovely piece of film making featuring a star in the making and it's story is truly satisfying.

The Farewell
Starring: Awkwafina,  Tzi Ma, Zhao Shuzhen
Writer/Director: Lula Wang