Mubi Monday: Animals (2019)

When I saw that Alia Shawkat was one of the leads in Animals then I knew I had to watch it as soon as possible. It turns out that Holliday Grainger is an equally good lead performer, which made this even more enjoyable than I expected it to be.

Based on the novel by Emma Jane Unsworth, Animals is the tale of two close friends who seem to spend their time drinking, amusing one another, and keeping a distance from others they can then safely mock without pangs of painful self-awareness. Shawkat is Tyler, a superb and fierce force to be reckoned with. Normality and social norms are obstacles to be faced and overcome. Grainger is Laura, a writer who seems to be stuck on the actual writing part. She takes many notes, but hasn't put anything down that even comes close to resembling the start of her debut novel. Things start to change when Laura meets Jim (Fra Fee), a pianist who is happy to live a fairly normal life in between his times impressing people with his piano-playing prowess.

Having only seen one other film directed by Sophie Hyde (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande), and nothing else yet written by Unsworth, I was drawn to this by the cast alone. They are fantastic, but there's an energy and truth to the writing that makes me keen to try other material written by Unsworth. She may still need a good enough cast to help get everything successfully from page to screen, but the characters and observations are so well-crafted here that I wanted to spend more time exploring them all. I hope I can find similar satisfaction in other Unsworth projects.

Aside from Shawkat and Grainger, because I think I've made my views on their acting skills quite clear already, there's a solid turn from Fee as the pianist who forces one of the main characters to start re-evaluating and reframing their approach to life. Dermot Murphy also does a good job portraying Marty, a poet who somehow lives his authentic life without any of the self-doubt or guilt that Laura has, reflecting her own faultlines and insecurities back at her as she finds herself at an unexpected crossroads in her life.

Not only does Animals look at the struggle of those wanting to spend their lives being creative artists, it also highlights the chasm that exists between the self-belief of men and women, with the former generally benefiting from a history of not being told that they should give up on their dreams to settle down, marry, and have children. The main characters here might seem selfish and irritating at times, but being selfish and irritating is sometimes what it takes to do whatever your real passion is. And women get far fewer opportunities to try taking that demanding journey than men. That might not be the point of Animals, especially when one scene has characters actually discussing the priorities that animals need in their lives, but I suspect that it's definitely one of the main ingredients helping to make the final dish what it is.

8/10

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Prime Time: Being The Ricardos (2021)

Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, Being The Ricardos is a film I was keen to watch for the past few years. A look at the career and relationship between Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem), I was interested in everything to do with this. Lucy and Desi were huge stars who helped to reshape the landscape of television comedy, the casting intrigued me, and Sorkin is often a brilliant writer able to convey a lot of information in entertaining and sharp dialogue. 

The framework here is quite simple. We are shown a hectic time, and an important time, in the lives of Lucy and Desi. We also cut to some footage of people in the present talking about what they remember from their days witnessing the power couple make their show. Alongside our main stars are a couple of important supporting characters (played by J. K. Simmons and Nina Arianda), there’s a young writer (Alia Shawkat) who looks up to Lucy, but also has an idealism that doesn’t always take into account the diplomacy sometimes required to get the show made, and Jess Oppenheimer (Tony Hale) keeps trying to find a balance between the instincts of his stars and the feedback from the money men.

I won’t say that this is a bad film. The structure is a good choice, the key moments stringing the plot together work well, and it manages to celebrate the two main characters while also showing their problems. It isn’t great though, and that comes down to both the casting and the writing.

I really enjoy Kidman in many of her movie roles, but there’s a reason why she hasn’t had much success when trying her hand at comedy. Admittedly, this isn’t a comedy, but you have to believe how funny Lucille Ball can be when you see some of her famous moments being recreated onscreen, and Kidman just cannot manage it. Perhaps wary of looking too silly, or maybe not directed well enough by Sorkin, Kidman never really feels like Lucy when she has to be LUCY, although she does a perfectly good job of showing us the woman behind the TV persona. Bardem has a similar issue, although he also feels a bit weak whether portraying Desi the performer or Desi the man. The better performances come from Simmons and Arianda, both convincing as people and comedic performers, and Shawkat, who spends a lot of time being depressed by the constant crush of reality as she attempts to convince those around her of the importance of their platform. Hale is fine, but his character is the least interesting of the main bunch.

Sorkin’s dialogue just doesn’t work here though, and perhaps he would have been wise to get the structure in place and then pass the framework along to someone else. Everything that reveals actual truth about our leads is often presented in a heavy-handed and underlined way, and the mention of how Desi helped to revolutionize the TV sitcom is so horribly shoe-horned in that it feels like a clumsy segue in an improvised skit. The direction is disappointingly flat and lifeless, ensuring that Sorkin can be blamed for this being far below par for almost everyone involved.

There are still moments that work, especially when everything starts to tie together on the way to the final scenes, and Lucy and Desi are certainly worthy of the 131-minute runtime, but I won’t ever want to rewatch it. Maybe a book or documentary will serve them better, and I intend to find out when I have the time (so any recommendations are welcome).

5/10

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Blink Twice (2024)

Some may roll their eyes at Blink Twice starting with a pretty serious trigger warning, but I don't have a problem with it. The subject matter here is something that needs to be carefully navigated, and if any film warrants a trigger warning at the start of it then it's this one.

Naomi Ackie plays Frida, a young woman who cannot believe her luck when she and a friend (Jess, played by Alia Shawkat) end up blagging themselves into the exclusive company of super-rich Slater (Channing Tatum) and his friends. When I say super-rich, I mean that he has the kind of money that allows him to have his own private island, and that is where everyone goes. It's a remote paradise, with everyone enjoying plenty of food, drink, and a variety of illicit substances. But Frida starts to worry when she realises that she has lost track of time, and she has no idea when, or how, she will get home.

This is an impressively bold feature directorial debut from Zoë Kravitz, who also co-wrote the film with E. T. Feigenbaum, but I have already had conversations with people who really disliked what she ended up delivering. I think, personally, that there's an important balance here between things we know to align very closely to real people and events and things that work as a bit of cinematic wish-fulfilment. If you've been reading some of the dark and depressing news headlines of the past decade then you will know who is being (not so) loosely represented onscreen, and the whole film serves as a reminder that justice still needs to be served, as well as being a conversation-starter about the behaviour, entitlement, and different perceptions of abusers and victims.

Although it feels best to start with the female cast members here, for obvious reasons, I am going to praise Tatum for his willingness to take on a role that paints him in such a bad light. He's still charming enough for most of the runtime, which helps a lot in showing the women being seduced by the combination of the setting and the company. Alongside Tatum, making up his inner circle, are Christian Slater, Haley Joel Osment, Simon Rex, and Levon Hawke, and they all do well as fellow party-goers who spend a lot of their time making sure that everyone else remains smiling and blissfully ignorant of any dark undercurrent. Geena Davis also deserves to be highlighted, with her character easily as important as either of our leads, in terms of her part in the proceedings and how she creates another big part of the post-film conversation. Ackie is the real star though, and a great lead to stick close to. She's absolutely brilliant, and the script allows her to enjoy herself for a long time before cracks start to show in the idyllic environment around her, but it helps that she's supported by Shawkat, as great as usual with her portrayal of the ride or die bestie that every woman wants in her life. Adria Arjona also does great work, and actually gets some of the best development of any of the characters, and both Liz Caribel and Trew Mullen do well to avoid getting lost in the busy mix as the party slides towards a close. 

The more carefree moments are soundtracked by the kind of tracks that go with that cool party vibe, but there's also a superb score from Chanda Dancy running throughout the whole thing, and Adam Newport-Berra keeps the visuals light and vibrant until that glow of contentment starts to disappear. I thought this worked on a couple of different levels, and Kravitz has surrounded herself with people who are able to help her walk a very tricky tightrope (including editor Kathryn J. Schubert, and all of those responsible for the whole look and feel of the luxurious playground where we spend most of our time). I know that others disagree, but that disagreement is almost as valuable as agreement with something like this. It's all about the conversation, and keeping that conversation going is one way to stop people from forgetting how these horrors keep being perpetuated.

8/10

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Shudder Saturday: Paint It Black (2016)

There's nothing inherently wrong with Paint It Black. Nothing that makes it stand out as a terrible film. In fact, I'd say quite the opposite. The cast, the performances, the script, it's all good stuff. Which makes it a shame that I, and many others, end up discovering it on Shudder. Although I am always happy for Shudder to show work that pushes at the boundaries of horror (and they've included a number of Japanese crime movies that aren't really horror at all, but either have moments of horrific violence or simply have that crossover appeal), Paint It Black isn't a film that horror genre fans will enjoy, if they're expecting a horror film. Or even a film with some elements of horror. This is not one of those films.

Alia Shawkat plays Josie, a young woman who ends up rocked by the sudden death of her boyfriend, Michael (Rhys Wakefield). While trying to process her feelings, she ends up at loggerheads with Michael's mother, Meredith (Janet McTeer). Meredith wants to find someone to blame for the death of her son, wants to share memories of him, and wants to prove that she retained a strong bond with him, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

I'll admit that it took me a bit longer than it could have to warm up to Paint It Black. I initially wondered where the horror elements were going to come into play. When I realised that this wasn't a horror movie, not by any stretch of the imagination, I settled into it more easily, enjoying it more for what it was than what I expected it to be.

The first feature directed by Amber Tamblyn (who has been acting onscreen for over two decades now), Paint It Black is an impressively interesting and unique work. Tamblyn also helped to shape the script with Ed Dougherty, adapting the book by Janet Fitch, and she shows a real knack for treating dark drama in a way that is thoughtful, stylish, and a step removed from the norm.

It helps that the cast is so good. Shawkat puts in yet another great performance (when has she ever been bad?) and McTeer attacks her role with gusto, giving and taking the hits in her battle of wills with Shawkat. Wakefield does well enough to make his presence more impactful than it otherwise could have been, Alfred Molina pops up to steal a couple of scenes in a supporting role, and Simon Helberg does exactly the opposite.

Grief is processed by people in many different ways, and that can depend on many different factors. This is what Paint It Black scrutinises, and it's not necessarily saying one person has more right to grieve in their way than any other. Yes, there is one character here who is certainly a villain of the piece (almost a pantomime villain, at points), but things go on longer than they would because of others trying to offer them room to battle through the grieving process in their own way.

This is definitely worth your time, and I'll look forward to whatever Tamblyn does next when she's behind the camera, but you can't go into it expecting a horror movie, or something even containing a hint of the supernatural. That will only lead to disappointment, does a disservice to both the film and the viewer, and may stop you seeing a great little drama for what it is.

7/10

Dead By Dawn 2016: Green Room (2015)

AKA that film that features Patrick Stewart as the leader of a bunch of neo-Nazis. AKA "Do you feel lucky, punk?"

Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, who previously gave us the excellent Blue Ruin (and before that gave us Murder Party - which I have yet to watch), Green Room could accurately be described as a snarling beast of a film. It feels raw and visceral throughout, and not just because the main protagonists are members of a punk rock band who prefer their vocals to be primal and full of anger.

The band is made up of Alia Shawkat, Anton Yelchin, Joe Cole, and Callum Turner. They're not having a very good time, having to siphon petrol to keep their van on the road and being interviewed by someone who no longer has a show on air . . . . . . . . and can't get them the decent gig that they thought they were travelling to. To make amends, they are offered a gig elsewhere. It's the middle of nowhere. Most of the audience seem to be of a certain political leaning, to put it nicely, but the band figure that they can insult them, play a few songs, and make out with a few hundred dollars for their troubles. Which isn't bad at all. And then someone pops into a room backstage and witnesses some people around a fresh corpse. Which is when things start to go from bad to worse to the stuff of nightmares.

Green Room is a lean, nasty, grimy thriller that feels very much like something from an earlier decade. Thankfully, it manages to feel that way without making too many obvious nods and winks to viewers. The most obvious jumping off point would be the classic Assault On Precinct 13, and one or two other John Carpenter movies, but these characters, and this level of violence and brutality, could have stepped out from any number of xploitation movies from the '70s and '80s.

But I don't want to spoil your expectations with hyperbole here. Don't go into the movie expecting a) wall to wall violence and b) nastiness unlike anything you've ever witnessed before. No. What Saulnier does so well is litter his movie with moments to make you wince and scenes that often take a left turn when you thought they were moving right (no pun intended).

All of the aforementioned cast members do a very good job, even when jumping around and trying to look like punk rockers, and Patrick Stewart certainly makes a great impression with his relatively limited amount of screentime, but there are also fantastic turns from Mark Webber and Macon Blair, to name but two of a handful of people I could have singled out. Imogen Poots is a bit out of place here, but I like her anyway and she's not exactly stinking up the entire film. She just doesn't really seem to fit into this world.

If you're hoping for another Blue Ruin then this isn't for you. But if you're hoping for a film that uses fight dogs, box cutters, guns, fire extinguishers, and plenty of fake blood then get to this as soon as possible. Personally, I think this is the better film. But that just says a lot more about my mental state than the difference in quality between the two. 

9/10

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Deck The Halls (2006)

Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick star in this disappointing Christmas comedy as two neighbours who end up upsetting each other. It's a tale of escalating rivalry that's been done a number of times before (in a number of better movies) but it suffers from having central characters that it's hard to care for and being more predictable than a Christmas cracker gag.

Broderick plays Steve Finch, an optician, a pillar of the community and an all-round good guy. Kristin Davis plays his wife and they have two normal kids, one teenage daughter (Alia Shawkat) who is unhappy while she tries to show how she's growing into a woman and one younger boy (Dylan Blue) who acts more depressed in the run up to Christmas to bag himself some better presents. Christmas is a busy time for the Finch family with a lot to do and traditions to uphold. That's all thrown into disarray by the arrival of a new neighbour, Buddy Hall (DeVito). Buddy has his lovely wife (Kristin Chenoweth) and two stylish and beautiful teenage daughters (Kelly and Sabrina Aldridge). While Steve and Buddy don't exactly hit it off right away, things start to get a lot worse when Buddy gets the idea in his head to decorate his house with enough Christmas lights to enable his house to be seen from outer space.

Written by Matt Corman, Chris Ord and Don Rhymer, Deck The Halls is almost consistently unfunny. Broderick and DeVito aren't served well at all by the script. I get the point that the characters are supposed to become blinded by their single-minded quests for their own interpretation of Christmas perfection but it's a shame that they had to be assholes for almost every scene. Luckily, the women fare much better and Kristin Davis and Kristin Chenoweth have a few good scenes together and make up for the irritation of the men. To be fair, DeVito has moments when he actually manages to do okay but Broderick never gives anything more than a very weak rehashing of his performance in Election. He was good in that movie, thanks to the obsession of his character being ever so slightly understandable, but it doesn't work this time around.

Director John Whitesell fumbles everything from start to finish. The movie should kick into gear when the two main men meet up near the start but, instead, it starts to sink down into a quagmire of its own lazy mess. The set-pieces in particular (a family photo that's interrupted, a trip to the family Christmas tree lot, an attempt by Steve to cut the supply powering the lights of his neighbour, a speed skating race) are all disappointing and end up boring the hell out of the viewer instead of raising the entertainment levels. Which makes this movie far from the top of the Christmas tree.

4/10

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