Guns Akimbo (2020)

Guns Akimbo wastes no time in getting to it's very high concept conceit. The film very quickly sets up its story about Radcliff forced into internet death matches watched online with guns strapped onto his hands. It's not a new idea, folks walking death matches on social media is an update of folks watching them on TV which is an update of people watching them on a stage. It's been done a million times before and will be done a million more times. So the idea needs something new. In this case its the social media wrinkle, how it turns us all into monsters who cheer on the deaths of strangers.

While I think there is something interesting there to be explored I also think it requires a lot more nuance and examination than Guns Akimbo is up for. It's more interested in the cliched "people are so aggressive online" than in exploring the way our online interactions play into our in person interactions, the way connections can be created through different mediums, and how class and economic circumstances affect which avenues we have for our interactions.

Instead Guns Akimbo stays in its oh so cool Purge meets Tik Tok aesthetic. It errs on the side of funny and irreverent instead of facing up to the horrific ideas it wants to exploit for entertainment value. And in doing so it looses most of what could have made it interesting. The film seems to think Radcliff figuring out how to get by with guns strapped to his hands is far more entertaining than it is. The film seems to think almost all of what it is doing is more interesting than it is.

Guns Akimbo can be enjoyed for its hip cool humour, fairly surface level stuff. I guess I just hoped it would work on a deeper level too. 

Guns Akimbo
Starring: Daniel Radcliff, Samara Weaving
Writer/Director: Jason Lei Howden

The Way Back (2020)

In so many ways The Way Back has a very meta feel to it. Affleck's career had careened out of control, partially due to addiction related issues, and he chooses to make a film about a recovering addict who had gone through a divorce and needs to hit rock bottom. His character is super sympathetic despite all the poor choices he makes and how honestly it shows him letting down everyone around him. In some ways The Way Back feels more like PR than a movie.

But despite most of that The Way Back is generally a good movie and Affleck is generally pretty good in it. He teams with The Accountant director Gavin O'Connor, another choice which feels really calculated as that film was generally well received without having been a phenomenon. It has the sort of vibe that is perfect for rebuilding a career on. O'Connor is a competent director who knows how to tell a good story who makes pretty good films but nothing that has blown me away. Affleck eschews giving big "Oscar moment" scenes and instead restrains himself for a rather touching and interior sort of performance. It generally all comes together rather nicely.

But The Way Back never reaches great heights. It is formulaic and predictable. The ending is rushed and not really earned. We see Affleck's character do all the stumbling through addiction and some half-hearted attempts at sobriety and then all of the sudden he's in a program and on the road to recovery. The characters around him are all stock characters that go through their rather stock arcs and end up just where we expect them to.

But O'Conner gets the sports movie stuff right. Watching his basketball team play is energizing. Riding the roller-coaster of their sport season is exhilarating. The Way Back is at its best when we see the team win, loose, and do what they love.

Will this be the ticket for Affleck's return to the A-list? It feels like a very good attempt.

The Way Back
Starring: Ben Affleck, Al Madrigal, Michaela Watkins, Janina Gavankar, Glynn Turman, Brandon Wilson
Director: Gavin O'Conner
Writer: Brad Inglesby

Onward (2020)

It's been since 2017's Coco that Pixar made a film that wasn't a sequel to an already established film of theirs. Before that it was the Good Dinosaur in 2015. Lately Pixar has been in the business (like most American animation studios) of just recycling their ideas from old movies. This is especially disappointing since Pixar made its brand on coming up with truly original films that were nothing like what we had seen before. From Inside Out to Monsters Inc. to Ratatouille to Up Pixar films were wholly original... or used to be.

Well we have finally returned to Pixar's gold.

Onward is not only a completely original idea with a story that doesn't fall into cliches. It is also the sort of story that is best told through animation. The fantasy world morphed into a modern suburban life is something that likely wouldn't have felt as real in live action or in a heavily CGI'd film. And, like the best Pixar films, it is a story about our most personal qualities. Onward reaches into a truly beautiful place in our hearts and creates a wonderful adventure from it.

Onward is one of those films that is best to go into without knowing much of the story. But I will say that it explores what family means and gets us to rethink that in a beautiful, more inclusive way. Like the best genre films Onward takes something fantastic to get us to look at our real world and our real lives, and see something remarkable there, something fantastic and magical.

Onward reminded me what made me a fan of Pixar in the first place and why I hope they keep coming up with original stories.

Also kudos to Pixar for casually including LGBTQ content much to the chagrin of the million moms out there. 

Onward
Starring: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Octavia Spencer, Mel Rodriguez, Kyle Bornheimer, Lena Waithe, Ali Wong, Grey Griffin, Tracey Ullman, Wilmer Valderrama, John Ratzenberger, Dave Foley
Director: Dan Scanion
Writers: Jason Headley, Keith Bunin, Dan Scanion

Emma (2020)

First time director Autumn de Wilde is known for her photography and Emma shows off that skill set. Emma is a gorgeous film and de Wilde both frames her shots in a compelling manner but uses that shot to create beautiful moment after beautiful moment. Also she doesn't, as one might expect of a photographer, restrict herself to stillness. She uses quite a bit of movement in her shots, imbuing the film with a kinetic energy which is all appropriate for this whimsical tale.

Because Emma is whimsical. Yes it is a critique of social norms and stratification but this film's approach to the tale is on the lighter side, using charming humour to take the piss out of early 19th century English society, a critique that holds up well to today. From de Wilde's joyful approach to the endearing score and the cast's clear enjoyment of their work, this Emma is a fun and beautiful romp and not nearly as tongue in cheek as the last Hollywood adaptation. In many ways it feels like she strikes just the right balance for this tale.

Anya Taylor-Joy, who I often find is great even when the film isn't, embodies the title character very well, full of sweet arrogance. The story of Emma can be a problem as we need to remain sympathetic to Emma while also seeing through her careless cruelty. Yes, her behavior is well meaning, but that's part of the novel's critique, the way her status and privilege make her think she should wield her power despite its effects. It is easy to either downplay just how bad her interfering is or to give up on her. Taylor-Joy finds the way to keep us invested in her complicated, flawed character.

But I'm not sure I felt any chemistry between her and Mr. Knightly. In many ways Knightly is our way into Emma, as we often see her similarly to his experience, we are frustrated with her but also are drawn to her. Without this essential piece the film flounders a little. Their banter doesn't fail but also doesn't light up the screen as much as I would have hoped. I'm not sure I ever was fully into their romance arc and it's such an important part of the story this pulled me out a bit.

The film most succeeds in the it lets Emma discover her faults and remake herself. Taylor-Joy's presence and gravitas helps with this. Despite all the levity, Emma does find its heart and makes it worth watching.

Emma
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Callum Turner, Josh O'Connor, Rupert Graves, Mia Goth, Miranda Heart, Gemma Whalen, Amber Anderson, Tanya Reynolds, Connor Swindles
Director: Autumn de Wilde
Writer: Elanor Catton

Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2020)

Disappearance at Clifton Hill quickly gives you a sense of unease as you watch it. This is partially from writer/director Albert Shin's somewhat chaotic narrative style, which jumps around a bit and imbues a sense of dread into each scene, but also due to the fact we see our central character may not be being very honest with us. She lies a lot and there are clues that her memories may not be overly accurate. But the film keeps us with her, not distancing us from her, so we are tied to her and her experience of the events.

This story is of a young woman who remembers witnessing a crime as a child and her pursuit of the truth of that crime. Set in the Vegas-lite area of Niagara falls frequented by tourists, Clifton Hill has a sense of phoniness to it which fits with the mystery element of the film, as in what is real? Shin pulls all this together quite effectively as does Middleton who plays the complicated heroine with grace.

The mystery suffers a bit from the reliance on a number of coincidences that many of these sorts of mysteries rely on. But when the end comes and the twists and turns come to their conclusions it all makes sense in a way I appreciated, especially in light of how much the film tries to pull one over on us. The ending leaves us asking more questions, which is something I appreciate in a mystery.

Cronenberg is at home in his off-kilter film, that has an air of one of his own films. His quirky character is slyly entertaining.

Disappearance at Clifton Hill 
Starring: Tuppence Middleton, Hannah Gross, David Cronenberg, Marie-Josee Croze, Noah Reed, Conner Jessup
Director: Albert Shin
Writers: James Schultz, Albert Shin

Wendy (2020)

"All kids grow up, but some, the wild ones, escape."

Wendy is gloriously chaotic. Writer/director Zeitlin applies his handheld constant movement (as in his breakthrough Beasts of the Southern Wild) and a narrative that jumps from moment to moment to infuse his film with lived in feeling of childhood emotions, experiencing the world in a more childlike way, a manner that has less control and understanding of convention. The film therefore feels strongly random while managing to tell a cohesive narrative. In this the film finds a true place of honesty.

Wendy is the story we are more familiar with as Peter Pan. But it is different. It is told in the present day and told from Wendy's point of view. Wendy and her brothers escape their lives, not because Peter comes to the room, but because they see their chance and run for it. And where they end up, and island where they are kept from aging, they are given a choice, and it is that choice we are all faced with as we age.

As with all adaptations of Peter Pan, Wendy is the story, at it's heart, of a young woman coming of age. Most versions, including the famous Disney version, are about Wendy's becoming ready to set aside her girlhood and move into being a woman. Wendy is no different. In Zeitlin's beautiful, fantastic film Wendy is given the chance to live without responsibility forever. Peter is here, and as always, he is a force of temptation, one that Wendy must overcome to move on with her life. I actually didn't find Wendy to be as much of a diversion from it's source material as many have described it. It sticks to the idea of the struggle with letting go and growing up.

The film gets fairly muddled in the middle but it remains a beautiful, reckless thing that is rather mesmerizing. Zeitlin clearly lays out the bittersweet and melancholy spirit of coming into your own and films it all with his signature chaotic style. I think we often forget what Peter Pan is about and Wendy is a good reminder.

Wendy
Starring: Devin France, Yashua Mack
Director: Behn Zeitlin
Writers: Eliza Zeitlin, Behn Zeitlin

Portrait de la jeune fille en feu/Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Everything about Potrait de la jeune fille en feu should feel cliche. It is a romance between two women of two separate classes in the late 18th century in an age where they had little to no power over their own destiny regardless of their class, yet writer director Celine Sciamma's story finds a compelling centre which is riveting. Perhaps like the painting referred to in the title, a truly lovely piece by artist Hélène Delmaire, the film captures a searing passion within a fairly familiar scene.

At first Portrait felt to me like many of the queer films I saw as a younger film goer seeking out representation in a sea of hetero-normative movies. Forbidden love across cultural divides, doomed to be separated by the end because "that's how things were" blah blah blah. They even work in a a feminist touchstone as the pair help a young pregnant servant end her pregnancy, again shuffling off the expectations of their womanhood. But despite how loaded with predictability the story was, as I watched I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the loves story.

Stars Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel, often through quite a bit of intense staring, infuse their characters' falling in love with a very palpable passion, so much I felt my heart racing at times. Sciamma eschews showy camera work for a more personal and quite beautiful approach to filming her star crossed lovers. Each frame is quite gently beautiful, making us fall in love as well. By the moment in the poster, when Héloïse's dress accidentally catches on fire for a moment, we have built up a very lived fire inside of her, perhaps a recognizable relatable fire, and the whole things comes together. And the ends with a beautifully long but heartfelt moment that was breathtaking. 

So despite how many times we've seen this before, and despite how much we knew what was going to happen, Portrait inspires us and ends up being quite lovely.

Portrait de la jeune fille en feu/Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Starring: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel

Writer/Director: Céline Sciamma