Month: May 2021

A Quiet Place Part II

Rated: MA Quiet Place Part II

Directed and Written by: John Krasinski

Based on Characters Created by: Bryan Woods, Scott Beck

Produced by: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, John Krasinski

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

‘Keep listening,’ signs Regan (Millicent Simmonds), because, A Quiet Place Part II is about the children left, the sons and daughter walking in the footsteps of their father (John Krasinski) so the sequel is a continuation of the previous story, to go, “deeper”: the term John Krasinski (writer and director) used to best describe Part II in the Q&A following the preview screening.

It’s hard not to walk into the cinema with sky high expectations after being blown away by the surprisingly taunt suspense yet moving original (A Quiet Place (2018) got 4.5/5 from me, see review here).

And my expectations were met.

Because the tone and feeling are in the same realm but instead of the surprise of family drama amongst the thrill of surviving a monster invasion – Part II is more than just surviving, this is about hope.

Instead of that linear unfolding of story (remember the nail?!), the suspense here is crushing as the family separates to survive: ‘You got this, you have everything you need,’ Evelyn (Emily Blunt) tells her son, Marcus (Noah Jupe), hand to chest – breathe.

And by separating the characters the film multiplies the number of intense situations.  Just waiting, waiting, for that next scare, that hum in the background building to suddenly snap.

I don’t want to give too much away but there’s some clever shifts in time here, seamless, as Marcus remembers Day 1.  The invasion.

I wasn’t expecting the father, Lee (John Krasinski) to be back but what a great way to reintroduce the world by going back to the beginning.

There’s that absolute silence that again invites the audience to lean in, to then jump (there are so many jumps!) with explosive action, the audience gasping and twittering as the monsters prowl, purr and claw people apart.

Jumping forward to Day 474.  It gets tense.

John went on to say the original was written as a family drama that just happened to be a genre film. That family drama is what made it for me (as well as the suspense, play with sound, story, etc).  The father character and the family unit was just so well played the impact still resonates.

So to continue with the family unit but now changed was good but different.

There’s the introduction of friend and neighbour, Emmet (Cillian Murphy).

John describes his character as morally ambiguous and an anchor for the story.

Emmet was an interesting character, a round character that had to be warmed up.  But the standout here for me was Millicent as the daughter, Regan: strong, gentle, determined.  Just like her mother.

Part II wasn’t quite as good as the original (for me) because some of that, wow this is different, had to be built elsewhere.  But with clever direction, steering the tone and build of suspense (really-ramped up this time), while still opening-up the family drama – those scenes of mother and baby so authentic and sweet – made Part II a worthy sequel.

And watching on the big screen, with the audience gasping, jumping and as a whole all holding our breath (breathe) was a treat.

The Audition (Das Vorspiel)

Directed by: Ina WeisseThe Audition (Das Vorspiel)

Written by: Daphne Charizani (screenplay), Ina Weisse (screenwriter)

Produced by: Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Felix von Boehm

Starring: Nina Hoss, Simo Abkarian, Serafin Mishiev, Ilja Monti.

Viewed in German with English subtitles (released as part of the German Film Festival).

“I’m sorry it’s all so complicated right now.”

The Audition follows Anna (Nina Hoss): a violinist, a teacher, a wife and a mother.

She watches young Alexander (Ilja Monit) audition for tutorage at the school where she teaches.  She sees talent. She wants him to be her student.

We watch Anna with her husband, a French violin maker, Philippe (Simon Abkarian).  He loves her.  He understands her, her discomfort, anxiety.  He doesn’t mind swapping tables, swapping plates.

He knows something is wrong just by listening to her play violin.

At first, The Audition feels like it’s about the music, about the protégée, Alexander.  A protégée, but also a replacement for Anna’s lack of success on stage.

But this is a nuanced film that explores the slow twist of relationships to what really matters to Anna: the desperation to succeed.  Her son’s need of a mother’s love.  A mother’s need for her son’s attention.

This is a film about the effect of a son pulling away from his mother.  How it turns her life to seek fulfillment from an affair with another man.  To see her ambition projected onto her young student so she pushes and pushes, eventually setting her own son up in competition against her protégée, Alexander.

This is about how she seeks comfort from the warmth of a hairdryer blown under her jumper.

But more than from her son or lover or husband, Anna needs fulfillment because something’s missing.

The more I write the more I understand the slow reveal of this character, Anna: her mother dying when she was young.  Her father tough with his life lessons.

It’s a carefully constructed narrative, a character study set to the sound of the violin.

This is a bittersweet piece of a person’s life: her successes, her failures and ultimately her need above all else.

It’s a slow burn with layers of music and the language about music, but it’s the undercurrent that’s shown in a look or gesture, the unspoken that speaks the loudest – that’s what the film is really about.

The Audition is a difficult movie to review because it’s a subtle one, a cerebral thought-provoker and a film I’ve enjoyed pulling apart and thinking about after the credits have rolled, almost more than the actual viewing.

La Daronne (Mama Weed – The Godmother)

Rated: MLa Daronne (Mama Weed - The Godmother)

Directed by: Jean-Paul Salomé

Based on the Book by: Hannelore Cayre

Script Written by: Hannelore Cayre, Antoine Salomé

Produced by: Jean-Baptiste Dupont, Kristina Larsen

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Iris Bry, Hippolyte Girardot, Kamel Guenfoud, Liliane Rovére, Rebecca Marder, Farida Ouchani, Yasin Houicha, Rachid Guellaz.

French / Arabic with English subtitles

Patience Portefeux (Isabelle Huppert) is having an existential crisis.

She’s working for the narc squad, translating Arabic to French, where she spends a lot of time listening to small-time dealers talk crap as they incriminate themselves and end up being put away for 3kg of hash.

But this one’s a big one: 1.5 ton.

So when the stash is lost, Patience sees an opportunity to finally make some money.  To look after her mother in care (Liliane Rovére) and her two daughters.

To live the good life.

It’s like watching Patience evolve backwards in time.  Back to the carefree girl in her father’s boat, fireworks patterning the sky ahead.

The film starts as a recording of voice like an electronic expression, Patience like those little green bars rising up and down as she turns one sound into another.

Her neighbour and building manager say the other tenants call her the ghost.  Or they used to.

As Patience seizes her opportunity, she lifts, her colour rising with her confidence.  She starts to wear red lipstick.  Philippe (Hippolyte Girardot) her boyfriend and now chief of the narc squad comments that she might look like a small fragile woman, but her new confidence and strength makes him see her like the dealers he puts away.  Little does he know.

La Daronne, AKA Mama Weed is a character study without getting too deep, more a message of, ‘I just like it when life finds its path.’

There’s a sweetness and I can relate to that disillusion when life suddenly reveals itself.

There’s some humour – Patience named because, as her mother says, she stayed in the womb for ten months.  That requires patience.  And there’re some thrills as, Mama Weed goes about trying to off-load 1.5 ton of hash.  But it’s light-hearted as she deals with guys nick-named Scotch and Cocopuff.

And that consistent light-heartedness gets trying with the, I’m-an-older-lady-with-a-sharp-tongue, so these small-time dealers do whatever she wants?

But more than anything, La Daronne is a movie about a hardworking lady with a past, doing what she can because in the end, you can’t escape who you are.  Or you can try.  Patience?  She turns around and embraces it.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw

Rated: R18+Spiral: From the Book of Saw

Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman

Written by: Josh Stolberg & Pete Goldfinger

Produced by: Mark Burg and Oren Koules (original SAW team)

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

“Am I getting under your skin, Detective Banks?”

Inspired by the Saw franchise (starting back in 2004 with Leigh Whannell & James Wan teaming up as writer and director), Spiral is the 10th so far in the series – but wow, it’s been a long time since I came anywhere near a Saw movie.  So I was bracing myself for the gore of, Spiral: the case over the face contraptions, ready to slice and dice.

And there’s plenty of that here: tongue, fingers, lots of missing appendages.

The film opens on a carnival and fireworks, then down into the underbelly of the city.

The underground is where we’re first introduced to the Pig Man: “I want to play a game.”

The phrase a familiar echo from the ghost of John Krammer.

Here, in, Spiral, we’re introduced to Detective Ezekiel Banks (Chris Rock), AKA Zeke.

The other cops in his precinct don’t like Banks.

He turned in his partner.  A dirty cop.

To them, he’s just a rat.

Saddled with a fresh rookie (Max Minghella), abrasive and lone wolf Zeke is now forced to play nice (ha, ha).

Sent to yet another dead ‘hobo’ murder scene, Zeke has to embrace working with a partner again because this is more than a suicide by train.  This has all the markings of a Jigsaw copy-cat.

But this copy-cat?  This one likes killing cops.

Zeke has a lot to stand up against: his rep as a snitch, living under the shadow of his highly regarded police veteran father (Samuel L. Jackson).  So there’s this detective with a past, a murder to be solved and some cringe-worthy gore.

Why don’t the victims just let themselves be killed rather than torturing themselves only to be killed anyway? I wonder…  Then think, must be that survival instinct.  But Spiral doesn’t really tap into that tension like the original.  The, how far would you go to survive.  This is more about the character, detective Banks, solving a crime.Spiral: From the Book of Saw

Another difference is this abrasive detective is actually really funny.

Some of the dialogue delivered by Chris Rock is gold: ‘I just found out Pilates doesn’t exist,’ Banks tells the rookie because he’s going through a divorce and his ex cheated on him (no doubt while she was supposed to be going to Pilates).

I can be on the fence with a gory horror.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it’s just gross.

But throw in a bit of humour in the breaks and the story suddenly gets more entertaining, gets, another layer; to be able to absorb that next visceral serving of well, bloody meat.

I’m not saying this next instalment is brilliant (I’m getting sensitive to overacting), but without expectation, I got into the storyline and thought to myself mid-way, if it ties-off OK, this will be a decent film.

Make me laugh in between the bloody stuff and splice in a decent detective story and I say, worth a watch.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

Rated: MA15+Those Who Wish Me Dead

Directed by: Taylor Sheridan

Screenplay by: Michael Koryta, Charles Leavitt and Taylor Sheridan

Based on the Book by: Michael Koryta

Produced by: Steven Zaillian, Garrett Basch, p.g.a., Aaron L. Gilbert, Kevin Turen, Taylor Sheridan, p.g.a.

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Finn Little, Jon Bernthal, Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult, Jake Weber, Medina Senghore, Tyler Perry, Boots Southerland, Tory Kittles, James Jordan, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Howard Ferguson JR., Ryan Jason Cook, Laura Niemi.

“I did the right thing.”

Those Who Wish Me Dead has everything I expected from a Taylor Sheridan film.

The edge-of-your-seat suspense hits from the opening scene: with flashes to black to a parashuter, smokejumper Hannah (Angelina Jolie) falling into the smoke of a raging fire.

Then the layering of story, that impending doom as forensic accountant Owen (Jake Weber) flees with his son Connor (Finn Little) – there’s a directive to kill those who know too much.  No survivors.  It’s a zero sum game.

So father and son escape to the forests of Montana where Owen’s late wife’s brother lives – Ethan (Jon Bernthal), also a sheriff.

But if the worst happens, Owen gives his son a note with all his secrets, to, ‘Give to someone you can trust.’

When Hannah finds Owen wandering in the forest, is she someone he can trust?

She’s a firefighter, haunted by nightmares of her past.  She’s a tough cookie, loved by her team, her fellow firies who see the wild as she drinks, releases a parachute from the back of a truck while still attached.

What they don’t see is her guilt.  But Ethan sees her.  He’s also her ex.

The small town relationships are intertwined – a delicate balance as two hitmen, (Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult) bring disaster, chasing down survivors.  Chasing a young boy who knows too much.

There’s a lot going on in this film but it’s all so well handled and balanced I felt like I was watching this intense story unfold in real time.  While gripping the arms of the cinema chair, holding my breath.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

As well as the suspense, there some shocks and jumps alongside the well-thought crime thriller.

There’s also the relationships, authentic characters and awe inspiring scenery (director of photography Ben Richardson (Wind River (2017)) – those huge expanses of landscape, the clouds and then the fire storm devouring everything like a monster.  Like Hannah’s demons come back to chase her.

But even more than a great story (love a movie based on a book if the screenplay is done right) and cinematic shots and detail like gunfire flashing light in the eye of a killer – every single character was perfectly cast and absolutely believable.

Angelina was made for this role – down to earth, tough, haunted, fighting her way back from guilt by saving this kid.

So there’s a focus on the drama in this film rather than a deep dive into the case the forensic accountant was running away from.  And wow, a rarity for me, the finely balanced intricacies of the drama was more compelling than the crime.  Very rare.

Yet still – that suspense!

Yeah, I liked this movie.  Every bit.

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