Netflix And Chill: To Leslie (2022)

Like most people, I first heard about To Leslie when there was some minor scandal about how it started to get more notice in the run up to the 2023 Academy Awards. It was a strange affair, mainly because I assumed that all movies without a huge marketing campaign behind them would end up being noticed and discussed in the same way during awards season, but, despite no Oscar going to Andrea Riseborough for her performance here, I am thankful that I was at least made aware of the film.

I would also be aware of it nowadays from the times that Marc Maron has discussed it on his podcast. Arguably still known best for his stand-up comedy, despite putting in some great acting performances, whatever size the role, over the past decade or so, Maron has been podcasting for about 15 years now, and throughout that time he has been incredibly honest and insightful about addiction issues, which adds a sweet layer to the role he plays here.

Let's get to the actual film though. Riseborough is Leslie, a single mother who finds her life changed completely when she wins a large sum of cash in the lottery. That doesn't last as long as she thinks it will though, and some years later we see that Riseborough is destitute, can't really maintain a relatonship with her now-grown son (James, played by Owen Teague), and seems unable to drag herself out of the bottom of whatever glass or bottle full of alcohol she can get her hands on. She is given a chance to turn things around when offered a cleaning job by Sweeney (Maron), but an addict can only ever be helped if they want to change.

I can see why people were discussing the performance from Riseborough here. It's pretty great, and more than enough to make up for the fact that the screenplay (only the second one from Ryan Binaco to make it to the screen) makes a number of surprisingly safe choices throughout. There's an ugliness throughout this, and a feeling of desperation and self-esteem that has been eroded into near-non-existence, but it holds back from some of the really dark depths that many addicts find themselves in, whether that indelibly stains their character or irrevocably damages their body. Director Michael Morris has some great TV work under his belt already, but his move to film is impressive. He stays focused on the characters, knowing when to push in further and when to move back a step, and uses his cast to really lift Binaco's solid writing.

Aside from Riseborough, who somehow also keeps you on her side even as she is at her lowest and most sickeningly selfish, Maron is allowed to be wonderfully sweet and funny as the one person, maybe the only person, that she needs to be given help from. Teague makes a strong impression with his limited screentime, as do the reliable Allison Janney, Andre Royo, Stephen Root, and James Landry Hébert, who all match the intensity and authenticity of Riseborough in a variety of ways.

Not an easy watch, especially for those (like myself) who may have direct, or even indirect, experience of dealing with addiction issues. It feels very well-handled throughout though, showing that there's not necessarily a point of no return for anyone who eventually realises the damage being caused by that very strong and heavy monkey they can struggle to shake off their back.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical (2022)

First thing's first, I am not going to keep referring to Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical as Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical. That's too much for me to type out every time, and I am trying to get this review written as quickly as possible, having fallen behind schedule yet again. I'll just call it Matilda, and there's no need to be confused as I won't be comparing it to the previous film version, Matilda (1996). Secondly, I want to start this review by saying that I enjoyed Matilda. It made me smile, and I enjoyed the musical numbers while they were happening. I didn't love it though, and I was really hoping to love it, especially considering the people involved.

Alisha Weir plays Matilda Wormwood, a little girl not treated nicely at all by her parents, played by Andrea Riseborough and Stephen Graham. Matilda is actually delighted when she is required to start attending school, but her delight starts to fade away when she finds out that the school is run by the child-loathing and super-strict Agatha Trunchbull (Emma Thompson). Thankfully, there's a ray of sunshine in the form of Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch), as well as something changing within Matilda that makes her think she could encourage the pupils to take a stand against the formidable Miss Trunchbull.

Based on the stage musical by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin, itself based on the book by Roald Dahl (of course, hence the overlong title), Matilda has a fine pedigree. The stage musical has, as far as I am aware, been a great success, which isn't surprising when you think of how talented Minchin has been, and how successfully he has blended music and comedy, for many years now (no offence to Kelly, I am just not familiar with much of his previous work). You also have Matthew Warchus directing, a man who has worked in theatre, but who also delivered the crowd-pleasing Pride almost a decade ago. So the talent behind the camera seems to be as good as you would want for this.

In front of the camera is a bit more of a mixed bag. The adults are all quite wonderful though. I have heard the criticism about the casting of Thompson as Miss Trunchbull, but I have always viewed many Dahl characters as unsubtle caricatures. With that in mind, I could envision almost anyone in the make-up and costume required for this character, and I think Thompson is enjoyably cruel and spiteful in the role, as full-on nasty to the children as the story demands. Graham and Riseborough are also entertaining as they treat their child in a genuinely horrible way that comes close to unbalancing the tone of the film, but everything is helped by the moments in which Matilda quietly gets some revenge. Lynch is as sweet and lovely as Miss Honey should be, and Sindhu Vee is delightful as a librarian who has been friends with Matilda for quite some time, and finds herself engrossed in a story that Matilda relates to her daily, one "chapter" at a time. As for Matilda herself, Weir is okay in the role, although I think her precociousness is slightly overdone and a bit irritating (which may just be the difference between approaching this material as an adult and approaching it as the younger age group it is aimed at). Very few of the other children get a chance to stand out, with the notable exception of Charlie Hodson-Prior as Bruce Bogtrotter (THE eater of cake in a scene that will be stuck in the memory of anyone familiar with this tale), but all of the supporting players do well enough in their roles.

So it's all pretty good throughout, but lacks one vital ingredient to make it great. Surprisingly . . . it's the songs. As of right now, and I watched the film a week ago, I remember part of one song. One. It's the enjoyable song that all the kids join in on while Bruce is being forced to eat an entire cake. There are other songs I enjoyed, particular highlights being "School Song", "When I Grow Up", and "Revolting Children", but it's as if the clever and witty Minchin was too busy making them clever and witty to also make them memorable. Maybe an extra viewing or two will lock them into my brain, it's tricky for a relatively new musical to worm into your ears from the very first experience, but I'm not motivated to rush into a rewatch. There's also the problem of the staging of the musical numbers, each one presented in a way that reminded me of this being adapted from a stage show. It's not an easy thing to pin down, but I watched the film and thought "okay, yes, they would have the playground set, the dinner hall set, a classroom, Matilda's house, and a couple of extra special pieces" whenever the film moved between main locations, and particularly when it used the environment as part of the musical numbers.

A good cast, a child-friendly tale of good battling evil, and some clever lyrics make this enjoyable enough. There's nothing great here though, sadly, although I can imagine enjoying this much more when seeing it performed as it should be, live on stage. I suspect I'm in the minority with my view, but I think I enjoyed the 1996 movie more (okay, ONE comparison, but that's it).

6/10

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Amsterdam (2022)

Writer-director David O. Russell seems to be coasting along lately, to put it nicely. His films have become an excuse for an ensemble cast to put on some glad rags and have some fun together, but without saying anything of substance. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, not every film needs to be substantial, but it’s odd that they are still being presented as praiseworthy and interesting when they, sadly, are not. 

Maybe I am part of the problem, considering I gave American Hustle a pass and genuinely enjoyed Joy, neither of which were on a par with his better films. So this disappointment was probably inevitable, and I suspect many others will have felt the same way when they finally watched Amsterdam, a pretty, but ultimately hollow, distraction.

The plot is more convoluted than it needs to be, which is why I am not going to properly summarize it here. Let’s just say that a suspicious death alerts one or two people to the idea that certain individuals may be plotting to overthrow the US government. This puts the people (played by Christian Bale, John David Washington, and Margot Robbie) in a lot of potential danger.

This material could have been done any number of ways, from tense thriller to farce, from straightforward historical drama to action movie, but Russell, in all his wisdom, decides to do just what he’s done before. You get some humour, you get a lot of drama, and you get a cast allowed to indulge themselves as long as the director is also happy with their work.

As for the cast, it’s more of a mixed bag than you might think. Bale doesn’t feel enjoyable in his main role, his character defined by the false glass eye he wears, but both Washington and Robbie improve every scene they are in, both avoiding that sensation of just repeating tics and tricks from their own back catalogue that Bale conveys. Zoe Saldaña is good in her small role, Robert De Niro is fun without being funny, and Timothy Olyphant brings the added bonus of, well, being Timothy Olyphant. If there is ever a film in which I don’t welcome the appearance of Olyphant then I want to be slapped repeatedly around the face until I see sense again. There are also supporting turns from Rami Malek, Andrea Riseborough, Taylor Swift (just a cameo, really, but she’s decent), Alessandro Nivola, Matthias Schoenaerts, Anya Taylor-Joy, Michael Shannon, and Mike Myers.

The production design is very good, as are the wardrobe choices and the musical score, but this is a film that needed more than just the visual distractions and a couple of key performances to make it worthwhile. It needed a better-written, and better-performed, lead, and it needed a much better approach to the story, which is an interesting and intriguing tale. Instead, we get to once again look on as Russell and his cast appear to be enjoying some in-jokes that nobody else is privy to. To sum up . . . disappointing, but pretty.

4/10

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Possessor (2020)

It must be both a blessing and a curse to be Brandon Cronenberg. On the one hand, your father is the top name in psychologically-intriguing body horror movies. On the other hand, that's a huge shadow to step out from. After making a decent impression with his debut feature, Antiviral (a film many people enjoyed more than I did), Cronenberg looks like he may be about to solidify his reputation among horror fans with Possessor, a dark and bloody movie that is arguably much more horror of the mind than anything to do with the body.

Andrea Riseborough is Vos, an assassin who takes over the bodies of other people, via an implant, in order to get to her victims. When the job is done, Vos gets the unwitting "host" to commit suicide, thus allowing her psyche to return to her body, which is housed in the machinery allowing her connection to the implant. Vos seems to be struggling with her own identity, understandably so, and also has certain attachments to items/people that may be an issue to someone in her line of work. This all comes to a head in her next job, when she's placed inside Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott). Tate isn't as easily controlled as others, but maybe that is partly to do with Vos not necessarily wanting to immediately return to her own body.

The start of Possessor is certainly a sequence that immediately draws in viewers, showing the assassination M.O. of Vos and then adding enough little details for things to be pieced together. And the end of Possessor is quite jaw-dropping. This is a film book-ended by moments that you won't forget, with Cronenberg showing an ability to deliver real shocks that aren't just delivered in a vacuum. The middle section is where things are a bit problematic, with a number of scenes that are surreal and dark, but not as interesting as the more energised moments around them.

Cronenberg has a bit more room to play here, or so it seems, compared to his debut, and he doesn't squander the opportunity. There's a cast that also includes Sean Bean, Tuppence Middleton, and Jennifer Jason Leigh in small roles, and there's a feeling of a more completely-realised movie world here than there was in Antiviral. Dialogue may not always seem to make sense, but a lot of it is loaded with more meaning that becomes obvious on a rewatch.

Riseborough is very good in her role (although I remain convinced that she isn't now able to take on a role without knowing that it satisfies a certain misery quotient). Even while not seen onscreen, her quiet and cold performance, and how the script conveys this, means that you always feel her presence. Abbott is equally good, and in mostly the same way. He may be onscreen a lot more than Riseborough, but he's portraying someone not always in control of his own actions or thoughts. Everyone else already mentioned does good work, but it's Riseborough and Abbot who own the movie.

I rate this very highly, despite my problems with the middle act. That's how effective the rest of the film is, and how unique it feels. I've not seen anything that caused me to react so strongly in a long time, and a film that can manage that deserves a fair amount of credit.

8/10

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The Grudge (2020)

Here we are with another take on The Grudge, a movie series that has been going on now, in some incarnation, for about twenty years. I have loved most of the movies in the series, from those I have seen, and hoped for the best from this, despite hearing some pretty scathing reviews. Sadly, it's a whole big pile of nothing.

Shown in the series-standard non-linear style, the basic story concerns a Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough) and her young son, Burke (John J. Hansen) being affected by the cursed house. She is working with a Detective Goodman (Demián Bichir), who saw his partner (Detective Wilson, played by William Sadler) driven to madness by the house. There's also a tale of a young couple (John Cho and Betty Gilpin) going through some major horror, and an elderly couple (Lin Shaye and Frankie Faison) who show some terrible sights to someone visiting to discuss assisted suicide (Jacki Weaver).

Written and directed by Nicolas Pesce, The Grudge feels like a movie written by someone given a summary of the previous films, but no direct experience of them. There's no impressive atmosphere here, no consistency in the way scares are built, or delivered, and generally not much that makes it feel like a film in the series. The juggled chronology quickly becomes annoying, especially as it all leads to a finale that absolutely underwhelms.

Without intending to offend most of the people onscreen, the casting doesn't help. Riseborough is a particularly cold nominal lead, and her scenes with Bichir are quite abysmal. She fares better with Sadler,who is a definite highlight. The scenes involving Shaye, Faison, and Weaver are the best in the film, mainly due to their comforting familiarity, but both Cho and Gilpin are wasted in their story strand, as much for the sad inevitability of it all as for the lack of any solid scares.

Considering the films he has done before this, I am even struggling to figure out why anyone would think Pesce a good fit for the series. He seems to specialise in mood and strangeness, which may have been marked in his favour, while The Grudge does best when full of palpable dread, punctuated by major shocks.

And, as lame as this may sound, this take on the material also underuses some other strengths, namely some fantastic audio and visuals that have given fans goosebumps for years.

Very disappointing. You would be better going back to revisit the many other interpretations, sequels, and tangents that the series has had since the start.

3/10

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Mubi Monday: Mandy (2018)

Something a bit different this week, and something that keeps me on track with the horror element for the month. MUBI now has a MUBI Go feature, offering subscribers a cinema ticket to one film per week, subject to availability at your local cinemas. And this week they offered up Mandy. Well, it would have been rude to refuse the offer.

Panos Cosmatos made quite a name for himself with his feature debut, Beyond The Black Rainbow. I still haven't seen that film, despite all the praise heaped upon it, but I couldn't resist the pull of Mandy when it was sold to me as, essentially, Nicolas Cage angrily battling demons.

Cage lives with the woman he loves (Mandy, played by Andrea Riseborough) in a cabin in the woods. It seems to be an idyllic life they lead, with Cage working hard during the day so that he can relax and watch Nightbeast with his loved one in the evening. But that is all spoiled when an evil cult member spies Mandy and decides that he has to have her. So he sends some demon bikers along, which is when things start to get completely insane.

The first reason to see Mandy is the glorious visual style of Cosmatos. Almost every frame is painted like the lurid cover of some pulp sci-fi or fantasy novel. This is a landscape that feels like someone has blended the works of Michael Moorcock and Piers Anthony and then poured them directly onto the screen. It's a truly stunning feast for the eyes. Based on this, and from what I had heard already, I really do need to see Beyond The Black Rainbow ASAP. Cosmatos may not have churned out many movies but his quality over quantity approach means I can be fully caught up very quickly.

The second reason to see this movie is Nicolas Cage. The rest of the cast all do a good job (Riseborough is always pretty great, Linus Roache and Ned Dennehy are two of the main cult members, and you get fantastic small turns from Richard Brake and Bill Duke) but Cage is the one going through a transformation here, from simple man living in contentment to grief-stricken victim to, well, a weapon-wielding kind of demi-god. The shooting style helps to show this, as Cage becomes stronger and stronger on his quest for vengeance, culminating in some final scenes that I won't detail here. Let me just say that I would love to see his character able to reappear in some future film that develops him further.

Other reasons to see the movie include the lush score by the late Johann Johannson, a crazy Cheddar Goblin advert (a turning point for the whole movie, created by someone who helped make the viral hit "Too Many Cooks"), a sparse script that still manages to contain a number of chilling lines, and the fact that it's the best Hellraiser movie in almost two decades, even if it's not ACTUALLY an instalment of that franchise.

Well worth seeing on the big screen, you won't believe your eyes and ears. And you may well find yourself, as I did, eagerly awaiting a repeat viewing. It's an audio-visual experience that I can see myself wanting to have again and again and again.

9/10

A lot of people may want to buy the soundtrack here.
Americans can buy it here.

Birdman (2014)

or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).

There are times when it's hard to simply sit back and watch Birdman. It's so busy, so layered, and so consistently technically accomplished that the experience becomes slightly exhausting. This is, however, another fine example of form perfectly matching content.

On the surface, Birdman is about actor Riggan (Michael Keaton) trying to gain respect and attention through a new play that he has written, directed, and will also star in. He is supported in this endeavour by a great suppporting cast: Lesley (Naomi Watts), Laura (Andrea Riseborough), and talented-but-infuriating Mike (Edward Norton). There's also his friend, and right hand man, Jake (Zach Galifianakis). And his personal assistant/daughter, Sam (Emma Stone). These people all want the play to succeed, but don't always seem to be on the same page as Riggan. To be fair, that may be due to Riggan's many flights of fancy, involving him hearing advice from the superhero character that both made him his fame and fortune and then kept hanging around his neck like a dead weight, the titular Birdman. This film could have just as easily been titled Albatross.

Created to look almost like one continuous take, Birdman is dazzling and dizzying in the technical department. The edits are all hidden away, and many scenes are filmed with camera angles that shouldn't be possible (e.g. any showing characters conversing in front of a mirror as the camera moves around them). Yet it's this mix of long takes, great acting, and skilled camerawork and editing that helps to hammer home both the similarities and differences between actors and stars, between worthy works of art and entertaining movies. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu shows that one doesn't necessarily rule out the other.

The script, written by Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Armando Bo and Alexander Dinelaris, is as sharp as can be, mixing in some fantastic one-liners with no small amount of melancholy and great characterisations. It's smart too, packing every scene with huge amounts of information and detail without ever feeling too dense.

But nothing would work without the central performances lifting the whole thing from the great to the sublime. A lot of praise has already been heaped upon Keaton, and rightly so. He carries most of the movie with a performance that riffs on a public perception of him, playing the vanity and vulnerability with equal accomplishment, and often glee. Norton also riffs on a persona that, rightly or wrongly, he has been given over the years, and he easily holds his own alongside Keaton, although he also benefits from being allowed many of the bigger laughs. Watts and Riseborough both play women who seem to want very different things, but in very similar ways, and Stone gets to do her best stroppy young lass act, putting up defensive barriers when there really isn't anything, or anyone, out to hurt her at this time. Galifianakis joins the long line of comedic performers who can step up to the mark when called upon to try something more dramatic. His role isn't without humour, none of the roles are, but it's far removed from anything else we've seen from him in recent years. Which is a very good thing.

Birdman looks at ego, art, criticism, the difference between being famous and being famous for something notable. It looks at delusion, even illness, and doesn't necessarily write it off as a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with fantasising about flying high up in the air. As long as you don't rush to dive out of the nearest window.

9/10

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April Fools: Magicians (2007)

David Mitchell and Robert Webb try to make the transition from TV to film with this fairly amusing comedy vehicle. While it's not great, and certainly nowhere near their TV work, it's not that bad, and it's a hundred times better than many other British comedies that I could name.

Mitchell and Webb are, respectively, Harry Kane and Karl Allen, a pair of stage magicians. They're pretty damn good, and they've been working together for years. Unfortunately, Harry finds out that Karl has been sleeping with his wife just before they are due to go on stage and perform their grand finale, which involves Harry's wife being put in the guillotine (she's the assistant, you see). Even more unfortunately, the trick goes horribly wrong, leading to Harry becoming a widow and the magical pair going their separate ways. Years later, a competition tempts the two to reunite. That doesn't last long, thanks to the unresolved issues between them, and so the former partners end up competing against one another.

Written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain (who helped to thrash out the story details along with a number of other people), Magicians goes through everything that you might expect. The world of stage magic is one ripe with comic potential (just see The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, because more people should see that film anyway), which is why it's such a shame that Magicians just isn't as funny as it could be. But it's decent enough, and also surprisingly sweet in places.

Director Andrew O'Connor may not work any magic on the material (no pun intended), but he doesn't really do himself a disservice either, especially considering this is his directorial debut. His many producing credits, including Peep Show and a number of magic shows among many others, seem to have stood him in good stead for this step into movie-making.

Mitchell and Webb don't stretch themselves here. They are reprising personas that fans of their TV work will recognise, which is fine because fans of their TV work LIKE those personas. The two of them work well together, of course, and it's just a shame that the movie often keeps them apart. Thankfully, a spirited supporting turn from Jessica Stevenson, as a wannabe magician's assistant with more enthusiasm than skill, and some fun moments are had with the likes of Darren Boyd, Andrea Riseborough, Tim Plester and Peter Capaldi, among others.

It may not be the best way to spend 90 minutes, but it's not the worst. It's just a shame that Mitchell and Webb couldn't successfully transplant their particular style of awkward humour from TV to film.

6/10

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