4.5 stars out of 5
I love me some later-day Spielberg, but he hasn’t given us the “full Spielberg” in a long while. OK, even while I’m typing that, I’m thinking, “Wait, he wrote and directed the superb Fablemans just four years ago, and it’s basically autobiographical. How much more ‘full Spielberg’ do you want?” Fine, let me rephrase: A.I. back in 2001 – yes, Steven Spielberg made a feature-length film about A.I. a quarter century ago – was the last time he made a movie that he’d totally dreamed up himself. So when I saw the trailer for Disclosure Day and it said “Story by Steven Spielberg,” well, I was pretty excited.
Excitement totally warranted! The trailer was cool – hell, if the movie was just weathercaster Emily Blunt suddenly talking in click-clack gibberish, I would’ve bought a ticket – but the full movie is so much cooler. Certainly, the “we are not alone” concept does not originate with Steven Spielberg. But for a half century he has defined it for popular culture. If there’s no Close Encounters, there’s no X-Files. Etcetera etcetera (which starts with E.T. – coincidence??). In Disclosure Day, Spielberg takes an idea he’s addressed before, and that so many have borrowed from him – that aliens have visited us but the government has COVERED IT UP – and really runs with it.
In this story, we have an evil Department of Defense contractor company where everyone wears black and drives black cars – and they have whistleblowers, including Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo. Josh, I wasn’t crazy about your performance in The Mastermind, but you’ve fully made up for it as Dan Kellner here. He’s a down-to-earth tech whiz who is scared out of his mind and in over his head but is driven by a certainty that he needs to do the right thing. So he’s made off with some very sensitive data.
And so a lot of this movie is a tense thriller, with that sensitive data initially a MacGuffin (not to be confused with a McMuffin). The big bad company, led by a sinister facial-haired Colin Firth, wants that data back and will stop at nothing to get it. Thankfully Emily Blunt gets to Kellner first before Firth. (Say that five times fast.) We get exciting narrow escapes and chase scenes, including a particularly thrilling car-and-train sequence I’ve never seen before.
Rounding out the excellent top cast are Wyatt “Kurt and Goldie’s son” Russell and Eve “Bono’s daughter” Hewson as our leads’ significant others who have different levels of understanding and support for the nuttiness going on. Trusty Spielberg scribe David Koepp (Jurassic Park films, later Indiana Jones, etc.) keeps the plot easy to follow (so often not the case in sci-fi), gifting us with key details on a need-to-know basis, and the dialogue feels real.
But wait, what about that trademark Spielberg wide-eyed wonder? It’s here too, but you have to be patient. Thank you, Steven Spielberg, for another highly entertaining movie with much food for thought: faith and doubt and loyalty and nothing shorter than our place in the universe.
Movie Review: Disclosure Day
Movie Review: Backrooms
3 stars out of 5
OK, here’s the deal. I was incredibly tired when I went to see Backrooms last week. As I sat down to write this review, I admitted to myself that I had dozed off sporadically in the second half of the movie, perhaps missing some key connections, so didn’t think I could fairly evaluate it. So yesterday, I went to see Backrooms again. And all I can say is… I WANT MY MONEY BACK!
I think I saw the trailer for Backrooms when I went to see the much superior Japanese film Exit 8. They seemed to be the same movie, and both seemed to basically be somebody lost in the Lumon Industries building. Oh, but I guess I’m supposed to pay special attention to Backrooms (looking like it’s set in an abandoned Levitz showroom) because director Kane Parsons, a.k.a. Kane Pixels (uggh whatever), is some kinda Gen Z online horror wunderkind who was signed by overrated studio A24 when he was only 16 years old.
His theatrical debut is about what I’d expect from a now-20-year-old: Pretty cool concept and visuals (yet all borrowed from the internet concepts of backrooms and “creepypasta” which date back to 2019) and some admittedly very strong sequences, but no deep understanding of the human condition required to deliver a really clever plot or emotionally complex characters. That screenwriter Will Soodik a.k.a. Willliam Bromell – because why use your own name? Idiots. – only has a background in TV makes sense; this movie seems slapped together from different segments that simply do not cohere.
The imprimatur and coffers of A24 allowed Parsons to cast top-tier actors: Chiwetel Ejiofor as a divorced furniture store owner, Renate “Sentimental Value” Reinsve as his therapist, Mark “Yeah I Used To Be a Wunderkind Too” Duplass as a paranormal scientist, and the girl from Shrinking as a store employee. Oh and she has a boyfriend who has resting Blue Steel face and, importantly, a Blair Witch video camera.
Parsons could’ve leaned into one of two not-super-original concepts here – divorce is hard; having a rough childhood is hard – and still come up with a nifty psychological horror. But there’s a big layer of “evil-corporate overlords” that just renders Backrooms stupid and nonsensical. It’s still watchable, mind you, as long as you’re well-rested.
Movie Review: Star Wars — The Mandalorian and Grogu
3.5 stars out of 5
I guess this is what passes for a Star Wars movie these days? Say what you want about George Lucas, but even at his worst it felt like the fate of the galaxy was at stake. Supposedly this flick was planned as a TV series but rejiggered for the big screen, and the plot does feel TV-episodic; hard to get fully invested in.
All that said, this is fine, maybe even good. It’s a no-pressure, family-friendly, enjoyable time at the cinema. For us olds, they mention or show various Star Wars stuff: Jabba the Hutt, X-wings, AT-ATs, stormtroopers, hyperspace lines. The credits say Anthony Daniels’ voice is in this; sadly no John Williams themes or phrases.
Pedro Pascal is reliably “I’m Batman”-gruff as the Mandalorian. Oh I don’t know if this is a gripe or whatever, but the Star Wars marketing team worked their intergalactic asses off to re-brand Baby Yoda as Grogu. He has a name – use it! But I’m looking at the IMDb page, and Pascal’s character’s name is Din Djarin. I don’t think I heard that uttered once. It’s all Mando this and Mando that. I call double-standard shenanigans!
Sigourney Weaver is in this as a Rebel bigwig which she can do in her sleep, yet I couldn’t help thinking maybe she accidentally wandered in from a different sci-fi set. As for-the-parents voice casting goes, Martin Scorsese is very amusing as a food-truck vendor, but they did not need to hire Jeremy Allen White as Jabba’s kid; the voice is processed and anybody could’ve provided it. Even Anthony Daniels.
Kudos to the creature shop, their work is a real highlight of this film – cool, funny, scary. There is some solid action as well. Director Jon Favreau does a decent if not remarkable job here.
But the main draw is the sweet friendship between the Mandalorian and Grogu, and the message to young viewers is to always be loyal to your friends. Which has been floating through the Star Wars universe all along.
Movie Review: Omaha
4 stars out of 5
Walking out of the Clairidge theater, I turned to my pal the ticket clerk and said, “I really need to mix in an upbeat film now and then.” Omaha was my second consecutive real downer at the movies. Which is not to say I didn’t like it – quite the contrary.
As the movie begins, we’re in Utah, not Omaha, in the very early morning in the recent past. Dad is waking up his two sleepy kids and rushing them out of the house and, with the dog, into the beat-up car. Something bad has happened that they are running away from. One of the beautiful things about this movie is that we rarely know any more than the kids do. Mom has passed away, and we are driving to – Dad eventually tells us – Nebraska.
Who or what is in Nebraska? Dad won’t say.
Very good actor John Magaro is the dad. You may know him as the white guy in Past Lives or the human in First Cow or as Silvio in The Many Saints of Newark or as the loyal buddy in The Mastermind or as a crewman in Finest Hour. He has a bearded down-to-earth everyman quality that suits him very well in this role. There is not a ton of dialogue in the script so body language and facial expressions do much of the heavy lifting here, and Magaro is more than up to the challenge. He is depressed and defeated and exhausted and in one heartbreaking scene has taken all that he can take, yet he wants to remain a loving, devoted father.
As the older of the two kids, Molly Belle Wright is splendid. All I ask of kid actors is to be believable rather than actorly and Molly has it. Her character is trying so hard to be mature but it’s hard because she’s a little kid.
Emotions ratchet up a notch as the family reaches their destination. I’ll say no more. Is that latest Spongebob flick streaming yet? I gotta lighten things up.
Movie Review: The Stranger
5 stars out of 5
When I was 17 years old, it seemed like everyone I knew owned the Standing on a Beach compilation by The Cure. There was a sticker on the outer packaging asserting that were absolutely no racist overtones whatsoever to the song “Killing an Arab.” And that’s true; the lyrics are simply a neat summary of the 1942 novella The Stranger by Albert Camus, which I have never read. And now I don’t have to — and after 40 years the Cure song makes perfect sense — because I’ve seen the movie The Stranger and I loved it.
We are in French-colonized Algeria in the 1930s, and we meet handsome young Meursault (Benjamin Voisin). He is like the honeybadger in that he doesn’t give a shit about anything: his job, his dead mom, his girl Marie (the intriguing Rebecca Marder), etc. etc, because NOTHING MATTERS. This is the concept of existentialism which is very appealing to college students and also everyone else at some point or another if they stop and think about it for about four minutes. Meursault’s behavior (or lack thereof) is frustrating to the people he encounters but, you know, shrug.
I”m not going to spell out the plot except to say that Meursault kills an Arab and also stands on a beach. The movie is in black and white and looks spare and exquisite. Meursault travels out to the countryside and meets some old people who look very sad and very real. Director Francois Ozon has done an excellent job. Twenty-three years ago he made a sexy thriller called Swimming Pool which I also loved.
There is a 1967 Italian adaptation of The Stranger by legendary director Luchino Visconti, starring the great Marcello Mastroianni, and I will certainly seek that out. (And yes, maybe maybe I’ll read the book.) But it’s interesting to me that this is a French version, A belated apology of sorts to Algeria; sorry we colonized you and treated your own people like second-class citizens.
Your reaction to this movie may hinge on your own feelings about existentialism, or at least your willingness to consider it for 2 hours. You may become frustrated as well as Meursault bats away one big topic after another: death, love, right/wrong, religion, as you wait for him to betray some shred of humanity. Personally, I found it fascinating and utterly compelling.
Plus a song plays over the end credits which really delighted me.
Movie Review: The Drama
3.5 stars out of 5
Dear Hollywood:
I demand bigger roles for Alana Haim. She was so good in Licorice Pizza! But then in One Battle After Another, Alana didn’t have much more than a cameo, and in The Mastermind she just stood around looking disappointed. I know, I know, acting is a secondary career for her; maybe she’s choosing smaller roles to allow herself time to record and tour with her sisters. But at least give her a starring role in-between album promotion cycles; we don’t want to waste these opportunities!
The Drama is a step in the right direction for Alana Haim. It is clearly a co-starring, supporting actress role: the female in the best-friend couple of engaged Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. They had met cute and are in the home stretch toward their wedding, when some information comes forward that sheds new light on their relationship and whether they should get married at all. Now, I’m not going to ruin the twist for you though apparently, just like with Project Spoil Mary, the most recent trailer tells you way too much! Dear Hollywood, STOP DOING THIS!!
The movie is also a step in the right direction for writer/director Kristoffer Borgli. I had had high hopes for his Dream Scenario (starring Nicolas Cage) yet found it merely OK. Here, he crafts a story that is dark, funny, and uncomfortable. It does feel a little bit undercooked, holding it back from being a really good movie, but The Drama is enjoyable throughout.
Credit also goes to the actors, of course. Zendaya continues to blossom as an actress. Here she gets to freak out a bit while trying to hold her upcoming nuptials together, Robert Pattinson is believably awkward and may be this generation’s Hugh Grant. Alana Haim has fun being judgmental and a little vindictive and nasty – she’s your friend’s significant other who never really buys in to the couples-friends dynamic. And Mamoudou Athie as the best man is very good as a supportive friend and peacemaker and does some very funny wordless physical work trying to get Pattinson to STOP TALKING.
Music plays a small but key role, and it was cool to hear New York legend Moondog on the soundtrack.
So if you’re in the mood for a cringey comedy, head to The Drama.
Movie Review: Exit 8
4 stars out of 5
Once I got over the disappointment that Exit 8 wasn’t a movie about driving to Hightstown and East Windsor on the New Jersey Turnpike, I really started to enjoy it. I know we’re in an era where an increasing number of motion pictures and TV shows are based on video games. I am not a gamer (there are 4 games on my phone, and 2 are Scrabble variations) and I had not heard of the game Exit 8. Yet I was intrigued by the concept of someone stuck in underground subway walkways – as anyone who has tried to get from the F train to the PATH at 14th and 6th would understand.
The plot, and there’s not much of it: A guy in Japan is taking the subway to work. As he gets off the train, he receives a call from his recent ex. She’s at the hospital, she’s pregnant, she’s deciding what to do… and he loses the signal. He’d better exit the station. Through exit 8. Except… he can’t find it. And realizes he’s going around in circles.
For a while, this comes across as an extended Twilight Zone episode. And if you like that sort of thing – which I do, very much – then the movie is pretty enjoyable. (And most of the signs in the station are in Japanese, making it even more delightfully confusing for us non-Japanese viewers.) But writers Genki Kawamura (who also directed) and Hirase Kentaro keep adding slight differences, which in the movie are called anomalies, which slowly raise the stakes, and raise the level of the drama. Kawamura maintains a claustrophobic vibe throughout, with touches of horror and comedy.
How much of this was straight from the video game? Well, and this must be a compliment to the filmmakers, because I spent $2.99 to download the game as soon as I got home. Of course I couldn’t figure out the controllers, because I’m an old goat. But it looks very much the same as the world in the movie. And it also looks very much like the upcoming movie Backrooms, which seems to be the same concept except in a deserted Raymour & Flanigan’s. Yeah, I’ll probably see that too.
Movie Review: Project Hail Mary
4 stars out of 5
I feel like I’m about to write a negative review. Which is crazy, because I liked this movie. Look, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The thing is, I wanted it to be great. This movie was promoted for such a very long time. Months and months. I was so excited to see this movie. I love Ryan Gosling!
Project Hail Mary is not a great movie. As a general rule, films with two directors are not great. A great movie is one person’s vision. Not some other guy saying, “Whoa what if he says DUDE right here” or “You know what bro, I think I’m a woman” (Wachowskis only). Phil Lord and Christopher Miller previously directed The Lego Movie, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and the 21 Jump Street movies. That filmography does not really have a trajectory toward greatness. Family-friendly entertainment, sure. And I think that’s what Project Hail Mary is.
Also, can I please say there were one too many trailers? Trailer 1 was wacky: Gosling was all “hey I’m not qualified to be an astronaut” and they’re all “but you’re the only who can save the planet” and he’s all “D’ohhh!” Trailer 2 was, I think, Gosling encountering life in outer space. Ooh so there’s a twist. But then trailer 3 GIVES THE WHOLE FREAKING MOVIE AWAY. There’s an E.T.-like alien in this thing. There’s a goddamn New York Times article explaining how they make that puppet move and talk. And I get it: With all that cash and bitcoin they blew on advertising, the studio wants to MAXIMIZE ITS AUDIENCE. And revealing the cutesy creature makes you that much more likely to BRING THE KIDS. And buy branded merchandise.
It’s a good movie, despite having no surprises whatsoever. Gosling is terrific. Let’s have more movies starring Gosling. The science mumbo-jumbo is mostly understandable. The main thrust of the movie is not Astrophage-powered rockets but is in fact friendship and what we’re willing to do for true friends. I think I was supposed to get teary but i did not get teary, and I am a weepy motherf’er.
Marcus from The Bear is in this for a little bit.
If you haven’t seen Project Hail Mary yet and still want to, adjust your expectations and go. And let’s hope Lord and Miller have a falling out like the Safdies.
Jack Silbert, curator