Mubi Monday: Black Bear (2020)

Warning - I wouldn't consider the following information spoilers, BUT I would advise that it is best to go into Black Bear completely blind. So please do yourself a favour, avoid any reviews of the film until you've seen it for yourself.

The second full feature from writer-director Lawrence Michael Levine, Black Bear starts off feeling like something very familiar - a filmmaker (Aubrey Plaza) is welcomed as a guest into the home of a couple with a strained relationship (played by Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon). Snippy conversation turns increasingly sour as tension rises. You've seen moments onscreen that explore that kind of atmosphere before. But then things change. A second part presents the actors given different roles, and viewers are now looking at the actual act of creating a fictional piece akin to what we've just been watching. And this is where things really start to get interesting.

Although I appreciate that I didn't know what Black Bear was going to be about, I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I'd been aware of the structural upheaval that was coming along after the first main section. The constant sense of discomfort and unease had me feeling that the film would become a tiresome experience. Thankfully, the big shift in focus makes everything so much better, including what you've just been watching.

Although they take on different roles within each main story segment, Plaza, Abbott, and Gadon are consistently excellent. Plaza is especially impressive in a role that feels more removed from the kind of thing she's done before (and the casting initially, and cannily, allows her to first embody exactly the sort of thing we've seen her do so often already), and both Abbott and Gadon are happy to play characters with layers of deviousness and unpleasantness to them.

Apparently based on some of Levine's dreams, what you get here is a thought-provoking look at just how far some people go to produce a performance from actors, and how manipulative that process can be. You can equate that with any of the more innocuous moments you may have heard of - such as Wes Craven helping Drew Barrymore to act upset by reminding her of stories of animal cruelty - or you can easily consider onscreen performances that came from much more difficult, and problematic, circumstances. The most egregious example of this, in my view, would be some of the work of Bernardo Bertolucci and Alejandro Jodorowsky - men who have delivered some amazing art, but at what cost to women being directed by them.

A film that works well for the actors, as well as being ABOUT actors, Black Bear also explores gaslighting, consent, and abuse. There are toxic relationships on display, as well as toxic environments. Perhaps it's all a very clear analogy for sexual abuse, or perhaps, even more disturbingly for us film fans, it's a damning indictment of methods that are used far too often on film sets where the person in creative control gets to do whatever he (and it's invariably a male in such cases) damn well pleases.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: Vampires Vs. The Bronx (2020)

Gentrification. It isn’t always a completely bad thing, especially when certain areas are rejuvenated and re-energised in a way that helps out local residents. But it is often done in a way with little, or no, regard for the people already living in an area that is about to be changed beyond all recognition. So that isn’t a good thing. Neither are vampires. 

Vampires vs. The Bronx is a film that throws both of these things together in a wonderfully entertaining kid-centric horror that effortlessly feels much more in line with ‘80s flicks than so many other modern films that have tried, and failed, to capture that essence.

Jaden Michael is Miguel, Gerald Jones III is Bobby, and Gregory Diaz IV is Luis, and these three Bronx kids are the ones who discover that vampires are buying up local real estate and planning to snack their way through the Bronx. The vampires are being helped by Frank Polidori (Shea Wigham), and their business front uses the name Murnau to give those in the know fair warning. Can the kids get anyone to believe them? Can they save the neighbourhood, from both gentrification and the vampire menace? And how much will they be able to take away from watching Blade?

Directed by Osmany Rodriguez, who also came up with the story that was developed into the screenplay by Blaise Hemingway, this is one of the most pleasant surprised I have had in months. Admittedly, the trailer piqued my interest, but this benefits from perfect lead performances, pacing and plot progression that only falter in the third act (which may be enough to turn some viewers against it, but it still worked for me), and a real sense of fun throughout. 

Not looking to reinvent the wheel, or familiar vampire movie tropes, this is a film that gives you a checklist of things to look out for . The use of holy water, the suspected vampire who isn’t one, the improvised stake, and much more. You have seen everything here before, but that is only a problem if none of it is done well here. On the contrary, it is all handled with gusto, even if some may consider it a little bit bloodless.

I won’t go on and on about how great the young leads are, but they are, so I will take a moment to mention how good Whigham is in his role, how much fun Sarah Gadon has as Vivian, a newcomer to the area that the kids want to keep safe, and how nicely the cast is rounded out by the likes of Method Man, Chris Redd, The Kid Mero, Judy Marte, and even Zoe Saldana (in a fantastic cameo).

It may not be destined for status as an enduring classic, it may not be as scary as you want it to be, and there are moments of silliness that stretch plausibility (why do people always end up hunting vampires at night?!?!?), but Vampires vs. The Bronx is a perfect film to enjoy in the right company, especially during October.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Enemy (2013)

Sitting in between the less mainstream, but no less interesting, films from director Denis Villeneuve, Enemy is a dark and strange film that boasts a fantastic dual performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, some interesting themes being explored, and a head-scratching ending that feels much more surreal and nonsensical than it actually is.

Gyllenhaal plays Adam, a teacher who seems to enjoy his quiet life. His weekdays are taken up with work and he usually sees his girlfriend (Mélanie Laurent) at weekends. His world changes, however, with the discovery that he has an exact double in the form of an actor, Anthony, and he decides that they should meet. But that may just makes things stranger, and may lead to a spiralling chain of events that include mistrust, anger, and arachnid-infused nightmares.

Based on a novel by José Saramago, Enemy is a dark and compelling psychological drama that rewards multiple viewings, and also retains enough ambiguity to allow viewers to have their own interpretation of events. There are clues, probably even pointers, generously sprinkled throughout the first half of the film, but they still don't point to any one, definitive, conclusion. Well, not in my mind.

Villeneuve knows exactly how far to push things, working with a fine script by Javier Gullón that takes time to observe the main character in between a number of defining moments. Everything has an air of menace and foreboding about it, emphasised by the dark visual style (not murky, but this feels like a film with a hell of a lot of dark brown used in the colour palette), and that doesn't disappear as you realise that a number of the external cues may just be representing the state of mind of the main character.

Although he has many performances that could contend for the title, Gyllenhaal once again proves why he's one of the most watchable actors of his generation as he portrays Adam and Anthony here, two men who may be physically identical but certainly seem poles apart when it comes to personalities. Laurent and Sarah Gadon (playing Anthony's partner, Helen) both do great work in roles that could have easily been further sidelined in favour of more screentime for Gyllenhaal. They're not big roles, or handled as well as they could be, but both actresses do excellent work, reminding you at all times that these are very important characters in the story, even when they're not onscreen. There's also a cameo from Isabella Rossellini, who provides more information that could help sway you towards one definite conclusion, yet once again proves far from definitive.

Enemy is a film I have thought about often, since I first saw it a couple of years ago. It's not one I will revisit often, but I WILL revisit it. And I doubt I will ever stop appreciating the little touches throughout - the character beats, the dialogue, the design work, etc. I recommend others seek it out, if you haven't seen it already.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

Mubi Monday: Antiviral (2012)

Directed by Brandon "son of David" Cronenberg, Antiviral is a debut feature that feels very much like something his father would have done back in his early years. There is, however, a lack of the wit and intelligence, and even frame composition, that Cronenberg Senior would have laced throughout, but it's not a bad first full-length film.

Caleb Landry Jones stars as Syd March, a young man who works in a strange, thriving, industry. He sells illnesses to people. Those illnesses are harvested from celebrities and the people wanting to buy them are obsessed fans. To make himself some extra money, Syd smuggles diseases out in his own body, making use of a work device that he has stashed in his home. It's an obviously flawed system, and nobody should be surprised when Syd starts to become more and more unwell.

Cronenberg is working with his own screenplay here, and you can also feel the clear influence from his father in the plotting and main ideas. The illnesses are commodities, but they can also be weaponised, and can lead to those infected with them having strange hallucinatory moments. With Syd a pawn who cannot see the big picture around him, there are many moments here that feel bastardised from Videodrome. It's just that instead of seeking out more extreme content, these people are warped by "celebrity culture" (pun intended).

Jones is very good in the main role, carrying most of the movie even as he grows weaker and looks ready to shuffle off the mortal coil at any moment. There are many other characters who pop up throughout the film but the focus stays on Syd, what he can do for them and how valuable he can be, which allows Jones to stay front and centre at all times, even when he's being given a lot of exposition by Malcolm McDowell. Joe Pingue and James Cade both do well, playing a creator of celebrity foods and a virus "pirate", respectively, and Sarah Gadon portrays one of the most sought-after celebrities on the market.

The look of the film is often, as you would expect, sleek and sterile. If you're going to see blood coughed up then it may as well spatter against a pure white surface, right? But the work environment is juxtaposed against some living conditions that are much less sleek and stylish. They're not exactly squalid but it's easy to see that employees certainly don't get to reap the rewards from the business that the management do.

Although it's a bit of a mess at times, losing focus and building towards an ending that doesn't feel worthy of everything we've gone through, Antiviral shows a lot of promise. Cronenberg can be forgiven, more than most, for being a bit too heavily influenced by his father. And, hey, there are far worse directors out there to be influenced by.

5/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

Cosmopolis (2012)

Robert Pattinson plays Eric Packer, a man who wants to get a haircut. He's an extremely rich man (a multi-billionaire, in fact) and could just get someone to visit him at his office, but instead he insists on being driven around town in his stretch limo amidst the chaos that is a Presidential visit, an ongoing protest against capitalism and serious threats on his life. During his trip, he tries to convince his new wife (Sarah Gadon) that they should have some sex, he speaks to various members of his staff, engages in some energetic infidelity and views the turbulent events unfolding around him with a mixture of morbid fascination and cool disinterest.

Written and directed by David Cronenberg, based on the novel by Don DeLillo, this is a movie perhaps best described as Videodrome meets Wall Street with a white version of Driving Miss Daisy. Yes, I know that mixture sounds quite ridiculous, but it's appropriate. It's certainly not a film to watch if you need some great set-pieces and a bit of energy in each scene. This is almost completely cerebral, for better or worse, and demands patience from viewers. Patience that isn't really rewarded in the obvious fashion.

Pattinson is pretty good in the main role, there's a hint of Patrick Bateman about his character but also quite a Charles Foster Kane vibe. Details about how he amassed his personal wealth are teased out during conversations, but not enough to put together a complete picture. He seems like a potential philanthropist one minute and a complete sociopath the next, and Pattinson conveys every facet of his personality while also keeping hold of himself in a very stiff and controlled manner, most of the time. The other people that move in and out of the movie are strangely disconnected in a variety of ways, whether it's through their fleeting appearance and disappearance or the actual nature of the character (Gadon seems to move through the film without letting any of the world around her get within touching distance). Jay Baruchel, Juliette Binoche, Kevin Durand, Samantha Morton, Mathieu Amalric and Patricia McKenzie, plus quite a few others, all do well with their roles, even if they do often feel like characters taken directly from the Packer's overactive subconscious. Paul Giamatti gets to play someone more connected to the actual reality of everyday life than any of the other characters, and he puts in another fantastic performance.

Cronenberg seems to do what he can in this film to push people away. He certainly doesn't make it an easy film to enjoy, but it IS enjoyable. It's a lesser Cronenberg film, that's for sure, but it's still worth a watch if you're a fan of his work. The best, and most unexpected, thing about the film is the humour throughout, often subtle and sly but sometimes completely over the top and surreal. That humour hardwired to the intelligence running through the script allows Cosmopolis to become a bit of a paradox - a film that is hard enough to get through once but may well leave observant viewers wanting to rewatch it.

Equal parts amusing and irritating, this may be a film that you end up absolutely hating. It could also be one that you end up enjoying much more than I did.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cosmopolis-Blu-ray-Robert-Pattinson/dp/B008HDQPTC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1365598758&sr=8-2&keywords=cosmopolis