Netflix And Chill: The Kitchen (2023)

Considering what a talented and brilliant actor he is, I was immediately interested when I heard that Daniel Kaluuya had decided to try his hand at directing, working on this alongside Kibwe Tavares. As well as putting himself in that big chair, Kaluuya also co-wrote the script with Joe Murtagh. I was expecting great things.

I didn't get great things, but that doesn't mean that The Kitchen should be dismissed. It's a film with some interesting ideas tucked away inside it, even if the end result is a bit of a mess.

Kane Robinson (AKA Kano) plays Izi, a young man who lives in an area of London known as The Kitchen. It's not a great place to live, with resources being scarce and the inhabitants generally trying to get through their days without being beaten and harassed by police. Izi also works for a company that sells funeral plans "transforming the remains of loved ones into trees", although they may not be quite as pleasant and long-lasting as the marketing implies, and he has been saving up for a long time to earn the money to make his way up the social ladder and get a nice new home. But things change when Izi meets a young boy, Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman). Benji has just lost his mother, spots Izi at her funeral, and starts to consider the possibility that Izi is his father.

Working with limited resources, Kaluuya and co. do a good job of presenting an onscreen London that feels only a step or two away from how society is at the moment, depressingly enough. Those who can afford to live in comfort tend to have their own little bubble, far enough removed from the struggling members of society to enable them to stay carefree and happy, and those who are left to suffer end up pushed into smaller and smaller spaces until they start to turn on, and devour, themselves, helping to do the job of their oppressors without realising it.

Both Robinson and Bannerman are very good in the main roles, with the former in a role that I'm surprised Kaluuya didn't give to himself (although I'm sure he wanted to just focus on his main roles behind the camera). Hope Ikpoku Jnr also does well, playing a character named Staples who embodies a very different way of viewing that stairway to the rarefied air of those living in comfort. Ian Wright also impresses, playing a DJ named Lord Kitchener who delivers observations and messages of support and hope to the residents of The Kitchen. It's a bit of a cliché at this point, but Wright has the right voice and presence for it.

This is a film with some important things to say, about the importance of supporting and helping one another, and about the tactics of distraction and division that are used by those wanting to maintain the status quo of an unequal society, but it just doesn't quite do enough to be as effective as it should be. Everything about Izi's workplace feels like an afterthought, the other characters who move in and out of scenes add little, or nothing, to the whole thing, and it all ends with more of a whimper than a bang. I can understand why the third act plays out as it does, considering how we can look at the world around us and see that things are getting worse and worse for those who are already in a vulnerable position, but it doesn't work as an end point for the journey that Kaluuya and his creative partners have taken us on. 

Not a disastrous directorial debut, but I hope for something much better when he gives it another go. But he should definitely give it another go, and I would even appreciate seeing another story set within the world that has been set up here.

5/10

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Nope (2022)

I have aimed to keep this spoiler-free, talking about some general ideas that resonates with me before mentioning a few specifics about the film, but I would advise people to go into this film knowing as little as possible. Seriously. The less you know, the more you are likely to enjoy it. As long as you prepare to watch something that isn’t what you expect.

Cinema has progressed so much in the 100+ years that have passed since it began, not always for the better (we've all seen fads come and go), but it's worth remembering that all you need to make a movie is the right camera and the right level of creativity. In fact, you could argue that everyone can make a small animated movie with some drawings on a flickpad. And maybe more people should do that, giving themselves a reminder of the sheer joy that comes from creating a teeny tiny motion picture.

Cinema has also been built on the blood, sweat, and tears of many others, from the stunt performers who often risk their lives to the imaginations that were pillaged, appropriated, and simply used up as industry execs kept searching for the next big thing. Streaming may be a relatively new phenomenon, but the quest for content has always been a giant machine chewing up the lives of those who aren't situated high enough to stay out of its way. Cinema is exploitation, even when it isn't. It exploits animals, it exploits natural resources, and it exploits people. Even when audiences are being catered for, they are also being exploited, which was maybe most obvious during the blaxploitation boon of the 1970s.

And yet, and yet, despite the perils, despite the horrible history of it, cinema, and indeed the arena of showbusiness, continues to cast a mesmerising spell over everyone. There are those who want fame, those who want to seize an opportunity they know is only available fleetingly before others come along to snatch it away from them, and those who have had a taste, no matter how bitter it may have been, and keep trying to get another slice of the pie. Everyone thinks they can take the beast, until it rips their limbs off.

What does this have to do with Nope? Maybe nothing, maybe everything. With his latest film, a genre-blend of sci-fi, horror, and more, Jordan Peele has delivered a layered and thought-provoking film that provides familiar thrills and entertainment while also providing a small, but important, overview of the history of cinema.

Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are OJ and Em, siblings who end up working together for a while after the sudden, and strange, death of their father (Keith David). The family business is all to do with training horses for movie work, but OJ has already sold a few of his four-legged assets to the nearby child-star-turned-animal-show-host Ricky (Steven Yeun). When OJ starts sensing a presence in the clouds above him, he not only enlists the helps of his sister, but also a local tech store employee (Angel, played by Brandon Perea). And Em becomes convinced that they need the help of legendary cinematographer Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott), a man known for his ability to do the impossible. That is all you need to know. In fact, it is probably more than you need to know.

With great visuals throughout, from the effects to the consistently gorgeous cinematography from Hoyte Van Hoytema (browse his filmography to see a selection of gorgeous movies that he has worked on), and a score from Michael Abels that mixes perfectly with flawless sound design to create one of the best audio-visual experiences in modern horror cinema, Nope is an audacious and thrilling experience from start to finish. It’s a thought-provoking dissemination of art, business, and race delivered in a Spielbergian blockbuster package, something that paradoxically feels like the biggest AND the most persona film yet from the talented Peele.

He is helped massively by his talented cast, with both Kaluuya and Palmer absolutely stellar in their lead roles. Yeun is also great, Wincott has what may be his best role in year, and the only weakness, for me, is the character played by Perea, the one bit of writing and acting that feels less tonally assured than any other aspect of the movie.

I have said all I want to say about the movie. A big chunk of this may not even feel like a review, but it very much is. It is everything I wanted to blurt out after the end credits rolled, and it gives an idea of how much is packed into the 2+ hour runtime. I cannot wait to see this again. I cannot wait to own it. And I cannot wait to see what Peele will deliver next, because it will be hard to top his greatest achievement yet.

I thought long and hard about my rating for this. There are a couple of minor issues that I had to mull over (mainly to do with the scenes involving Petra’s character). Then I realised that they didn’t bother me enough. You can think of a movie as subjectively perfect even while you acknowledge that there are minor imperfections. This, for me, is one of those movies.

10/10

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Netflix And Chill: Johnny English Reborn (2011)

I have no idea what movie I saw, and so disliked, some years ago but it seems that it wasn't this one. Or, if it was, I was in some kind of terrible mood that completely clouded my judgement. Because Johnny English Reborn made me laugh a lot. It's silly, it's predictable (seriously, if you cannot spot the main villain as soon as they appear then I'll be amazed), and it's superior to the first outing in a few key ways.

Atkinson returns to play the main character, a man we last saw basking in the glow of success. That glow has long faded, after an incident in Mozambique that was so bad that he even had his knighthood removed, and he has spent a long time training with Tibetan monks. But an opportunity for redemption awaits when he is requested back by MI7. There's a plot brewing to kill the Chinese Premier and the main lead will only talk to English. Partnered up with a young man named Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya) and armed with the latest gadgets, English is determined to foil the plot. And he's a lot more skilled than he used to be.

There's a level of polish and ambition here that was missing from the first film, although I think it may have been possible here as a direct result of that film's success. And it also does a great job of delivering what audiences want more of while not simply rehashing all of the previous highlights.

Director Oliver Parker oversees everything with a sense of confidence and style, working with a great script from Hamish McCool that, sensibly, makes the main character a much better agent than he used to be, although he still lacks essential knowledge and social skills while remaining oblivious to his own failings. Rather than just derive laughs from the ineptitude and clumsiness of English, McCool gives the character a different flavour. He's an agent who now compensates for his failings with new techniques and tricks.

Atkinson has just as much fun in his role, perhaps even more so with the moments that allow him to look a lot cooler than he ever has before (a chase sequence in which he relentlessly, but sedately, strides along after a daredevil practitioner of parkour is a highlight in the first half that best rings the changes), and the supporting cast is even stronger than it was for his last spy adventure. Kaluuya is as likeable as ever in his role, Gillian Anderson is the weary boss, Dominic West is the standard British agent in the mould that we're all more familiar with, and Rosamund Pike is a behavioural psychologist who obviously finds herself fascinated by English, and you also get small roles for Stephen Campbell Moore, Richard Schiff, Tim McInnerny, and Pik Sen Lim (as a deadly assassin).

If you enjoyed the first film then you're likely to enjoy this. There's even a chance that, like me, you enjoy this one even more. And I'm looking forward to checking out the next instalment.

7/10

Here's a triple-pack for you.
Americans can buy the same set here.

Mubi Monday: Widows (2018)

Based on the TV series by Lynda La Plante, Widows has been successfully transferred to America and updated to be quite a bit more than it originally was, a group of women who took on "jobs for the boys". Not that the original was bad, and I am not going to praise this movie while criticising the TV series (which I never actually watched, I just have vague memories of it being advertised when first screened), but director Steve McQueen, who worked with Gillian Flynn to adapt the material into this screenplay, uses the premise to explore issues of race, abuse, and the way wheels turn and keep society the way that many want it kept.

Viola Davis plays Veronica, a woman left in a very sticky position after her professional thief husband (Liam Neeson) and his crew die in a botched robbery that seems very unlike his usual modus operandi. When Veronica is threatened by the man that her husband stole from (Brian Tyree Henry), she sees no way to fix the situation. Until she finds a notebook left by her husband, a book with plans and details for one last job. Enlisting the help of some of the other widows (Michelle Rodriguez and Elizabeth Debicki), and eventually a fourth woman who can help them and help herself (Cynthia Erivo), Veronica masterminds a robbery that she hopes will allow her to settle the debt, and allow the women to start new lives.

When I first saw the trailer for Widows I wondered why McQueen, best known for his serious films looking at difficult subject matters, was drawn to the material. My curiosity dissipated within the first few scenes, intimacy between Davis and Neeson that underlines a major aspect of the screenplay. Despite not being, at least on the surface, a film as worthy as some of his other movies, Widows comes close to being McQueens best movie yet, thanks to the way it marries some important themes with visceral thrills. 12 Years A Slave may remain his most important directorial work, but this has a  sugar-coating makes the bitter pill easier to swallow.

Davis is a superb lead, given great support from Rodriguez, Debicki, and Erivo. All of them are doing excellent work, and all of them grow believably into their roles within the team. There's also a small, but characteristically brilliant, turn from Jacki Weaver, as a mother who wants her daughter to have a better life, no matter what it costs her in terms of her identity and integrity. There may not be many good men onscreen (excepting one played by Garret Dillahunt) but they're also all portrayed brilliantly. Neeson casts a large shadow over the proceedings, Henry is a quiet threat, as are the father and son political figures played by Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell, and Daniel Kaluuya almost walks away with the entire film, so brilliant is he as a merciless and violent individual being barely held in check by Henry.

In a way, the heist that everything is leading up to is the least important part of the film, which may explain why McQueen isn't at his best during that sequence. It's almost as if, with the resolution so close, he loses interest, knowing that he has already covered the plot points that he was most fired up about. The third act does have a peak, and a driving sequence to equal that of the opening scenes, but it starts to go downhill fast after that, leaving the viewer with a lot of unanswered questions and a feeling that something important is missing. Some extra details, some annoying loose ends. It's not enough to spoil the film, and most of it is deliberate on the part of McQueen and Flynn, who did so well with majority of the screenplay, but it's a shame that it ends with a whimper after the bang.

Despite my problems with the ending, and a few minor issues scattered throughout the main plot, Widows holds up as a cracking action thriller that mixes intelligence, tension, and a small amount of humour to great effect. And there's also one of the cutest dogs I've seen in a movie in years.

8/10

You can buy the original show here.