Fargo (1996)

  I didn't post last week because I had a couple of deaths in the family.  I can't believe I've never posted a review of Fargo but it got picked for Movie Club so I re-watched it.

Car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) has a problem:  he has committed fraud and needs almost half a million dollars or he'll get caught.  He knows his father-in-law (Harve Presnell) has the money, so he comes up with a scheme to hire two criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife, Jean (Kristin Rudrüd), and hold her for ransom.  Things do not go to plan and as the body count rises across multiple jurisdictions, police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) begins pulling apart the various strands leading back to Jerry.

This was pretty much an instant classic when it came out and it continues to be held in high regard.  I have had my ups-and-downs with the Coens but I can't deny that Fargo is a great movie.  It's got the alchemy of a great cast, great writing, and great direction.  Sometimes you can have all three and still not work out, but when you do, it really is movie magic.  There are still some things I would change (because I'm an asshole) but not enough to even talk about.  If you've never seen it, you definitely should.  Also, the TV show is very good as well.  It's streaming on Kanopy with a library card or Tubi and Roku for free with ads.

UHF (1989)

  I didn't have anything to post yesterday because I DNF'd a bunch of stuff.  I've been having a hard time finding movies to watch lately.  Probably the aforementioned burnout.  Content warning:  some gore, animal death (dogs), child endangerment

George ("Weird Al" Yankovic) keeps getting fired from menial jobs for daydreaming until his uncle (Stanley Brock) lets him run the local UHF TV station, U-62.  George stumbles upon Stanley Spudowski (Michael Richards), a janitor fired from an evil network affiliate, and gives him a chance as host of a kid's show.  Stanley is an overnight success and catapults U-62 to the top of the ratings.  Evil Network Affiliate Boss (Kevin McCarthy) vows to crush the tiny upstarts.

Like a lot of 80s movies, there are aspects of this that have aged like milk and others that have remained staggeringly current.  If you saw Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, you probably already know if this style of humor is for you or not.  I liked it but I've been a Weird Al fan since I was in middle school.  

I'm not going to get super sappy about it, but it struck me that all of George's success comes from being kind and all of the villain's nastiness contributes to his downfall.  That sounds really simple, but a lot of modern shows and movies have moved away from direct narratives and more into post-modern and fatalistic "this is just how the world works; you can win for a little while but you'll eventually be ground down" mentalities.  Again, could just be the burnout talking but it was great just letting good guys win because they're good.  

Anyway, UHF is streaming on Kanopy for free with a library card. 

After Hours (1985)

  I'm going to consider this a corollary to Women's Horror.  Content warning:  suicide

Paul (Griffin Dunne) is a typical 80s yuppie.  He's stuck in a job that pays well but is boring with no upward mobility, and he's lonely.  During a bout of insomnia, he meets Marcy (Rosanna Arquette) at a diner and decides to try his luck.  Thus setting in motion a series of events that results in the worst night of his life.

Okay, so we previously defined Women's Horror as "what if we just showed what women's lives are like" and believe it or not, this counts.

Paul spends the majority of the night second guessing the intentions of every woman he meets, being hounded, harassed, and at one point literally imprisoned as he grows increasingly desperate for help.  Now, because he is a man, this is played for dark humor.  If he were a woman, this would be a slasher/thriller.  Which drags us back around to dark humor, actually.

This was directed by Martin Scorsese and it is probably the biggest outlier of his filmography.  He has made movies with humor before but never an out-and-out comedy.  Now whether you consider this to be successful as a comedy or not is entirely your perception.  It's streaming on Kanopy for free with a library card.

Brighton Rock (1947)

  The poster is washed out but that's a baby Richard Attenborough.  

A gang leader (Richard Attenborough) bumps off a journalist (Reginald Purnell) but finds out there's a witness, a waitress named Rose (Carol Marsh), that can throw off his carefully constructed alibi.  He decides to cozy up to the girl, easily winning her over despite pressure from a nosy small-time theater performer named Ida (Hermione Baddeley).  Ida had met and liked the dead journalist and didn't believe the suicide story being floated by the cops.  She took it upon herself to figure it out, following the breadcrumbs right to Rose and her new beau.  

It's so funny to watch old movies and realize that absolutely zero things have changed.  All Ida needed was a podcast and she could have been an OG true crime legend.  

If you're into noir at all, this should be part of your curriculum.  The story is a little underwritten, I think, but the performances are all really solid.  It's streaming on Kanopy with a library card, the Criterion Channel until the end of the month, and (sigh) Max.  Give it a shot.

Hundreds of Beavers (2024)

  This was hugely popular in Movie Club but I will flat tell you, I didn't like it.  I don't care for slapstick.  Never have.

An alcoholic Apple Jack brewer (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) must learn to become a fur trapper after beavers destroy his brewery, leading him on an epic journey to find love and purpose.

It's shot in black and white, mostly silent, and has early cartoon energy that takes a joke and keeps repeating it in more and more absurd ways.  Like I said, went over huge with normal people.  It's gotten a lot of word-of-mouth recognition and is poised to become a cult classic in the next ten years.  It was not for me.  However, if it seems like something you will like, I encourage you to seek it out on Kanopy with a library card, or Tubi with ads.  

Rio, I Love You (2014)

  This is the third entry in the Cities of Love series.  It's a little uneven but I expected this.

A series of love stories swirl together in Rio de Janeiro.  A dancer (Rodrigo Santoro) struggles with a potential career change that would take him away from his girlfriend (Bruna Linzmeyer).  A man (Eduardo Sterblitch) tries to understand why his grandmother (Fernanda Montenegro) is living on the streets.  A cab driver (Marcelo Serrado) deals with a jet-lagged actor (Ryan Kwanten).  A sculptor (Vincent Kassel) tries to find inspiration in the sand.  

There were vignettes I liked more than others.  My least favorite was probably the one with John Turturro and Vanessa Paradis but there were enough "good" ones that I still feel really comfortable recommending this. 

It is a tourism pitch, of course, but holy shit is it a good one.  Every aerial shot of the city is stunning.  Gorgeous lighting and composition.  Anthologies are always a mixed bag but if you're in the mood for a whole bunch of different riffs on the concept of love, give it a shot.  It's streaming on Kanopy with a library card. 

No Men Beyond This Point (2016)

  I generally like mockumentaries but this was a swing and a miss.

In a world where parthenogenesis has rendered men an endangered group, Andrew (Patrick Gilmore), has unwanted notoriety from being the youngest man alive.   A documentary crew interviews him, the family he works for as a caretaker, and various talking heads about what the societal shift means for men.

I have no idea what the larger point of this was.  It is billed as a comedy and parts of it are funny but it just doesn't seem to know who its audience is.  It makes sweeping generalizations about women including worldwide period synchronization, which is just fucking stupid, doesn't explain anything about the process of parthenogenesis --is it a choice?  Is it random?  What other options are there for women who don't want to be pregnant by any means?-- claims that the surviving men would be put in camps with their every whim catered to because they can't take care of themselves (implying that it's women's job to do), and even makes the incredibly bizarre claim that women would try to outlaw any sexuality because it's somehow a "gateway drug" to liking men?

Zero surprise that when I got to the end credits that it was written and directed by a dude.  A dude who has apparently never met a lesbian or picked up even one book of erotica.  Like I said, I have no idea what this was going for, but it comes off as a "Won't someone think of the Straights?!" propaganda.  It's currently streaming on Kanopy with a library card, Tubi and the Roku Channel with ads.  Not worth it.

31 Days of 2024 Horror - Day 21 - Night Shift (2023)

  Content warning:  some gore

Gwen (Phoebe Tonkin) takes a last-minute under-the-table cash job pulling the night shift at a motel but soon finds that outdated appliances and weird décor aren't the only features.

This was cliche-ridden, derivative drivel and you can do better.  Tonkin gives it her all but she can't save the movie.  The twist isn't twisty, the ghost design is boring, and there's no tension.  It is as generic as its title and I don't feel like wasting any more words on it.  

31 Days of 2024 Horror - Day 18 - Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2023)

  Content warning: mild gore, cannibalism

People keep going missing in the Arvores National Park.  A fact that Ranger Lennon (Georgina Campbell) is all too aware of, given that her sister, Jenny (Letícia Assunção), was one of them.  Jenny's disappearance has haunted Lennon for years and now, she plans to use her first season in the back-country to search for answers.

I wish I could be nicer to this movie but it just didn't do anything for me.  I'm sure there are a bunch of people for whom the unknown is terrifying and if so, this is probably a great movie for them.  I needed clarity and I wasn't getting it.  Also, I don't camp so I don't really care what happens in the woods.  You go out there, that's on you.

If bugs and sleeping on rocks are your thing, give this a shot.  It's currently streaming on Kanopy with a library card and Tubi for free with ads.

Vox Lux (2018)

  Content warning: school shooting, ableist slurs, statutory rape

A violent tragedy propelled teenaged Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) into celebrity.  Now an adult, Celeste (Natalie Portman) struggles with self-esteem, body dysmorphia, a range of addictions, and narcissism as her 6th studio album is set to drop.

I'm not entirely sure what this movie was trying to say.  It felt very cynical but fell short of actual satire.  Mostly, it was very whiny.  And the music was terrible.  Portman is fine, you can tell she's had a lifetime of training but it's very much not a style of music that suits her voice.  I feel like Cassidy was intentionally told to be bad as some sort of "only famous because of circumstance" commentary but she was really bad.  The absolute very least you can do in a musical drama is have good music.  

I love Natalie Portman but this was a total misstep.  Just unpleasant on a lot of levels.  It's streaming on Kanopy but I wouldn't bother.

Watu Wote (2017)

  This Oscar-nominated short is based on a true story in case you were having too good a day today and needed to be reminded that horrible people exist.  Content warning:  terrorism

A woman (Adelyne Wairimu) confronts her prejudices when she is stuck on a bus being threatened by a terrorist group.

It's not a fun watch but it is only 21 minutes long so at least it's fast.  It's streaming on Kanopy.

Angel Heart (1987)

  This movie is Bonkers Bananapants.  It 100% is not for everyone, but if you do vibe with it, you are in for a wild ride.  Content warning:  some gore, animal death (chicken), racism, sexual violence

Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) is a two-bit Brooklyn private eye hired by a shady lawyer (Dann Florek) on behalf of an even shadier client (Robert De Niro) to track down a singer who went missing after WWII.  The trail leads Angel from New York down to New Orleans, where old money meets Jim Crow and Southern charm covers dark magics.

Okay.  This movie is wildly racist and conflates voodoo with Satanism which is offensive to both.  It is definitely a product of its time and if that is a dealbreaker for you, that is perfectly reasonable.

However.  It is also a shockingly good metaphor for PTSD and a fairly decent noir until it careens headlong off the rails into horror.  It makes me so mad.  Because if either one of those things weren't there, I would have no problem telling everyone that this is an exploitative trash fire.  But it's not.  Argh.  It has just enough good qualities that it would make a really fun group watch with a bunch of your drunk friends.

It is streaming on Tubi and PlutoTV for free, but if you're going to watch it, use your library card and get Kanopy.  Ad breaks are going to ruin the immersion and you'll need it for this one.

DeKalb Elementary (2017)

  This is an Oscar-nominated short from 2017.  Content warning:  active shooter

A distressed man (Bo Mitchell) walks into an Atlanta elementary school with a rifle and takes the front office hostage.  The receptionist (Tarra Riggs) calls 911 and attempts to keep him calm.

This is based on a real 911 call that was resolved peacefully.  That probably counts as a spoiler for the film but frankly, I think we've all seen enough dead kids in real life that this basically qualifies as a fairy-tale ending.  This guy didn't even want to hurt children; he wanted to be killed by cops because he was off his medication.  We're so fucked up as a country, that's practically gentlemanly behavior.

261 mass shootings this year the in U.S. as of July 4, 2024.  I could link every word of this post to a different article and still have 88 left over.  I don't give a shit what your politics are.  Regulate guns and fund mental health services.

DeKalb Elementary is currently streaming on Kanopy.

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2009)

  Since no-fault divorce is back in the news, let's revisit exactly why it's a great idea that should never be rescinded by looking at what happens when you don't have it.

Viviane (Ronit Elkabetz) wants a divorce from Elisha (Simon Abkarian) after 20 years of marriage.  But they live in Israel which means their court is a tribunal of rabbis and the entire thing hinges on Elisha giving permission.  Viviane has no grounds with which to compel Elisha.  He doesn't beat her or sleep around.  He simply quietly terrorizes her with his silences and his petty malice.  She just wants to be free and even though he doesn't want her, he can't stand the thought of her being with someone else.

This would actually make a good double-feature with Possession.   Like seeing one divorce through the perspectives of the husband and the wife.  Of course, as a woman, this movie is infuriating to the point of physical illness.  I started wondering if the song "Goodbye Earl" did numbers over there or what.  Because you know what you get when you force women into marriages they can't leave?  Dead women. Suicides, murder, and intimate parter violence all go down when women have legal alternatives.  The only reason you don't care about those stats is if you don't think of women as people, just things to be owned and used.

This is streaming on Kanopy.  Vote in your local elections.  It matters.

The Silent Child (2017)

  This is a 22-min film that won Best Live Action Short a few years ago when the Academy re-discovered deafness as a cause du jour.

Libby (Maisie Sly) was born deaf to a hearing family and has struggled to communicate.  Joanne (Rachel Shenton), a social worker, begins to teach Libby some sign language, opening an entire new world for the six-year-old.  But Libby's mother (Rachel Fielding) wants Libby to focus on fitting in to the hearing world around her.

This is not a happy movie.  It is a sad PSA about understanding the need for accommodation even if it means disrupting the nice, orderly view you have about the world.  If it were any longer, it would be masochistic but it skates right under that limit.  It's currently streaming on Kanopy.

In the Fade (2017)

  After a string of disappointments this weekend, here's a movie to knock your socks off.  Content warning:  terrorist attack, suicide bomb, death of a child (off-screen but described), and attempted suicide

Katja (Diane Kruger) finds it difficult to continue on after her husband (Numan Acar) and son (Rafael Santana) are killed in an explosion.  The cops keep pushing her to say that her husband had gone back to dealing drugs, but she believes he was targeted by Neo-Nazis.  She had seen a woman (Hanna Hilsdorf) parking a bicycle in front of the shop, minutes before the explosion.  But her quest for justice takes her down dark paths.

Kruger is completely spellbinding.  If you've only seen her in, like, National Treasure, you will not be prepared.  For me, the trial portion in the middle dragged on but she kept it from being boring by sheer force of personality.  Katja is going through some shit and Kruger makes sure you feel it.

This was made seven years ago but shines a spotlight on the growing wave of fascism sweeping across Europe and the U.S. in a way that feels disturbingly current.  Germans.  I guess they Know a Thing or Two Because They've Seen a Thing or Two.  Fatih Akin has made several films about the Turkic-German experience in a way that recalls Ranier Warner Fassbinder.  

This is streaming for free on Kanopy in case you needed a reminder that it's always moral to punch Nazis.

The Man in the Moon (1991)

  We continue our Weekend of Women, I guess, with another coming-of-age story, this time debuting a baby-faced Reese Witherspoon.

Fourteen-year-old Dani (Reese Witherspoon) has a crush on the boy next door, Cort (Jason London).  He (correctly) thinks Dani is too young for him and sets his eyes on her older sister, Maureen (Emily Warfield), sparking jealousy between them.

Honestly, this movie is pretty stupid.  Maureen states that she's going to college in like two weeks so all Dani has to do is wait and she'll have Cort's undivided attention with zero fuss.  But that's not apparently the point of the movie.  Anything more involves a major spoiler.

Cort feels icky about a three-year age gap between him and Dani, which plays well to modern viewers but is not apparently a sentiment shared by the camera, which delights in lingering over her pubescent body.  It's not quite as egregious as Fear but it's close.

If you grew up with this movie or it resonated with you for whatever reason, you probably still like it.  It's not nearly as condescending as some coming-of-age stories I've seen.  The only casting note is that Sam Waterston feels like the wrong choice to play Dani's dad.  He doesn't project authority to me.  Everybody else is fine.  

It's currently streaming on Kanopy.

The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

  Continuing our noir theme, we have a Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis entry.  

Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) is a press agent for small acts in and around Broadway.  He is beholden to columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) to publish Falco's promotional materials.  Hunsecker, a vengeful megalomaniac, has frozen Falco out until Falco breaks up the relationship between Hunsecker's younger sister, Susan (Susan Harrison), and jazz musician Steve Dallas (Martin Milner).  

This is definitely noir and Lancaster has never made a bad movie, but it just didn't stick the landing for me.  The climax peters out instead of detonating.  I wanted this movie to have shrapnel.  Still, it's very highly regarded in film circles and does showcase a sweaty, sleazy Curtis as well as a solid supporting cast.  If you're a Lancaster completionist or interested in All Things Noir, give it a shot.  It's currently streaming on Kanopy with a library subscription or Tubi with ads.

La Femme et le TGV (2017)

  See, eventually I watch the shorts.  It just takes me a while.  Roughly seven years in this case.

Elise (Jane Birkin) is trying to hold on to her way of life, biking to town, running her small bakery in the face of a conglomerate with lower prices, and waving at the high-speed rail that passes her house twice a day.  She doesn't expect anything, but one day finds a letter in her garden, thrown from the train.  She begins a correspondence with Bruno (Gilles Tschudi), forging a connection that gives her a new lease on life.  But when the train schedule changes, will she ever be able to see him?

Jane Birkin passed away pretty recently and this is the only film I've seen of hers.  It's only 30 minutes long and she manages to pack two hours of character development into them.  It doesn't bring any real surprises, you pretty much know how it's going to go as soon as you see each character introduced, but it's a sweet little film about how life doesn't stop and you can find joy at any age.

It's currently streaming on Kanopy.

Four Daughters (2023)

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature    Content warning:  discussion of spousal abuse, child abuse, CSA

Olfa grew up in Tunisia in a house of only daughters.  She learned to dress as a boy to defend herself and her mother from men looking to hurt them, only to be sold in marriage to a man she didn't love.  She had four daughters, Ghofrane, Rahma, Eya, and Tayssir.  Terrified of them coming to harm at the hands of violent men, she encouraged the older two when they became interested in wearing the hijab, but was unable to stop their descent into radical fundamentalism.

This is a strange documentary because it involves hiring actors to recreate certain scenes.  On the one hand, I think that's great because it gives the real people a break from having to go through their particular traumas over and over, but on the other, it's kind of stretching what the definition of a documentary is.  I think it works here because Olfa, Eya, and Tayssir are so heavily involved but it does blur some lines.  I wouldn't like to see it become the standard format.

I will say, I felt like there had been kind of a bait and switch throughout the majority of the movie **SPOILER ALERT** because they make it seem like Ghofrane and Rahma are dead and they are very much not, just in prison **END SPOILER**.  It's not a deal-breaker but it does feel a little anticlimactic.  

It's an emotional movie, very raw in parts, with extremely charismatic subjects.  If that is your bag, it is currently streaming for free (with a library card) on Kanopy.