Week Ending 11/10/23
It's Anomaly Fest weekend in Rochester
The latest installment of Anomaly Film Festival in Rochester continues through this weekend with THE PEOPLE’S JOKER on Saturday night amongst a wonderfully curated selection of genre titles. I wish I could be there for Vera Drew’s infamous “fair use” feature since I hadn’t gotten to the screener at last year’s TIFF before the title was pulled (and link removed). Fingers crossed it ends up being available to purchase in the near future.
While I was able to fit in the below four titles this week, most of my free time was spent sifting through music for my end of year mix’s shortlist. Some of the highlights so far: “Welcome to the DCC” by Nothing But Thieves, “Raindance” by Jon Batiste, “Midnight Dreams” by Ellie Goulding, “All I Really Wanna Do” by Devon Gilfillian, “People Change” by Holy Holy, “Major League” by The Tallest Man On Earth, and “Baianá” by Nia Archives.
Still another month-plus of new music to check out. And, of course, designing the new album sleeve … even though it’s been four years since mailing any out. I need to finally get this pile of jackets out of the attic this season.
What I Watched:
ANATOMY OF A FALL [Anatomie d'une chute]
(now in theaters)
A URL appears right before the Neon logo flashes on-screen: DIDSHEDOIT.COM. It’s an intriguing tease for what’s to come and an even more relevant landing page for post-screening conversation once you have all the facts and speculations to decide for yourself. Because you will have to decide. Justine Triet and co-writer Arthur Harari very intentionally refuse to do it for you. So, don’t expect to see how Samuel Maleski (Samuel Theis) actually dies. That’s not the point. Neither is guilt since there will never be enough evidence to prove anything either way.
What is the point then? Our fear of uncertainty. That’s what ANATOMY OF A FALL truly boils down to considering all anyone has (including judge and jury) is objective scaffolding for a truth that can go two ways depending on the architect’s subjective desires. The semantics battle waged in the courtroom between prosecutor (Antoine Reinartz) and defense attorney (Swann Arlaud’s Renzi) as far as the difference between “probable” and “possible” says it all. Facts will have to take a backseat. They’ll need to rely on emotion instead.
That’s why the website is necessary. Not as a gimmick, but as a communal interpretive device for the film. We become the jury. We weigh the testimony and decide which way our gut takes us. As such, we actually get more runway than those on-screen since they must decide whether the prosecution proved Sandra Voyter’s (Sandra Hüller) guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt. We are free of that constraint. We, like the prosecution so vehemently wants, get to create the fantasy we feel fits the details best. And there are no wrong answers.
The result is an impeccably crafted courtroom drama with some heavy moments meant to jumpstart our imagination. Is it Top Ten material? Not for me. Does it merit its Palme d'Or win? Definitely. All solid films do since the award is about consensus and they often prove heady enough to feel worthy despite never taking a truly big swing. And that’s okay because Triet doesn’t need one. The film’s success lies in its ability to make us take that swing for it. It presents the ambiguity of a death and asks us to ascribe meaning whether murder, suicide, or accident.
Think of it as a litmus test. Are you a Sandra (Hüller deserves to be in the Best Actress Oscar conversation) or a Samuel? Does the evidence point to a troubled marriage and power struggle or the unfortunate self-made frustration of a man willing to find escape by any means necessary? Like so much of the movie, a crucial fight between husband and wife is expertly constructed to feel one-sided in both directions depending on where you reside. Triet is daring us to choose just as Sandra and Samuel’s young, blind son Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) must too.
And that’s why the more interesting question and potential sibling URL should be DIDHELIE.COM. In the heat of the moment, he probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
- 8/10
FAIR PLAY
(streaming on Netflix)
I was so worried throughout the entirety of Chloe Domont’s feature debut FAIR PLAY that a pivot was on the horizon. This type of rapidly escalating relationship-centered drama way too often finds itself desperate to go “both sides” about the subject without recognizing that doing so only facilitates the inequality. There needs to be a very clear division where fault is concerned. That doesn’t mean the other party is innocent as far as letting emotion provoke an in-kind reaction, but their culpability is nothing compared to the level earned by the true culprit.
And yet we want that moment of recognition for the latter to take stock even if reconciliation proves impossible. We shouldn’t. We should be yelling for Emily (a fantastic Phoebe Dynevor) to run as far away from Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) as possible the moment we realize his anger at overhearing the co-worker rumor mill speculate she slept her way to a promotion targets her for its potential rather than them for propagating a blatant lie. Because if he doesn’t laugh that impulse away before apologizing for the lapse of judgment and rededicating himself to trusting the woman he loves, there’s no going back.
Emily doesn’t, though. That would be too easy. Domont creates a story to not only expose how deep-seated patriarchal norms are in corporate culture, but to also honestly portray how its victims will often attempt to believe those hurting them most are still worth saving. And it’s so much more potent when the usual gender roles are reversed. So much more glaringly unavoidable to admit. Because no one thinks anything is wrong when Luke is primed to be the one to help advance Emily’s career at the investment firm where they work (and where romantic relationships are forbidden).
That’s the beauty of what happens on-screen. It’s why some people will probably watch FAIR PLAY and earnestly state that Emily is just as bad as Luke. They’ll say she patronizes him. Emasculates him. They’ll paint her as a villain for doing the exact same things they’d champion him for if the power dynamic were switched and he became her boss. And you know those same people will feel just like Luke does after a violent climax that fully severs Emily and his bond seconds after it seemed they might inexplicably forget and forgive. Those people won’t understand what comes next.
But we do. We realize it’s all been a giant gaslit revenge plot in Luke’s mind. Sabotage not to take what he believes is his, but to destroy what she has rightfully earned. All the jabs presented as “advice” are meant to force her to question the very thing he says she needs in the workplace because she already has it in spades. And if she questions it there, she’ll question it at home too. She’ll let him grab the upper hand. Let him use the tools he’s been studying to better position himself in business to dominate her instead—the real reason he’s been taking notes in the first place.
It’s why the final scene is so good. All this time Luke has been desperate to ape the attitudes and personas of the revolving door of empty suits who cry or scream when they get fired rather than appreciate true strength isn’t in theatrics. It’s in the work. It’s through respect. Don’t therefore sleep on Eddie Marsan’s performance as their boss Campbell. This is Ehrenreich’s and especially Dynevor’s show, but his pragmatic cutthroat exposes the real reason the Lukes of the world have such short shelf lives. Greed allows the Campbells a modicum of contrition if performance warrants it. Insecurity rules the Lukes with nothing but rage. It blinds them from acknowledging their self-inflicted destruction.
- 8/10
IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE
(now in theaters; streaming on AMC+ and Shudder TBA)
I was sold by the text “From the writer of FREAKY and the director of TRAGEDY GIRLS” since I’m a big fan of both. Add the promise of an IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE pivot a la the title IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE and I really didn’t think there was a world where I wouldn’t end up being a fan. Yet here I sit trying to wrap my head around the tonal choices Michael Kennedy and Tyler MacIntyre made. Because this doesn’t feel like an homage of Frank Capra’s masterpiece. It feels like a parody of itself.
I’m talking the corniest of corny line deliveries. The cringiest of cringey “we’re pro-LGBTQ+” gags and out-of-nowhere results. And a narratively intriguing twist on the conceit that ultimately leads to a completely unexplained final reality that may have been easier to gloss over if two characters made separate wishes rather than just one. The film is trying so hard to be so many things that it ends up becoming something akin to the musicals we used to put on in middle school: those off-brand, cheaply licensed IP-knockoffs that proved as cute as they were forgettable.
Jane Widdop and Jess McLeod as Winnie and Bernie (the self-labeled George Bailey and Clarence of this escapade) are endearing as our potential heroines learning that it took less than a year for Angel Falls to become Demon Falls without the former being born. Winnie makes the wish on a rare night with a visible aurora borealis because she’s realized that everyone is pretending last year’s tragic murders never occurred. She can’t follow suit considering her best friend died and she killed her murderer. There’s an intriguing PTSD commentary here that never forms in lieu of easy, gendered jokes.
I enjoyed Justin Long’s budget Henry F. Potter, though. He’s embraced his recent horror period and never shies away from looking the fool—something his Henry Waters can’t avoid with a thinly-veiled cutthroat agenda beneath a hokey smile of blindingly white fake teeth. And both Joel McHale and Erin Boyes provide a funny duality as Winnie’s parents with a Hallmark Card sheen in “reality” and fully broken souls in the alternative. All the characters (besides Bernie and Katharine Isabelle’s Aunt Gale) possess this stark contrast since the filmmakers skew more towards Biff Tanner’s Pleasure Paradise than Capra’s Pottersville.
Maybe it was the high expectations, but everything unfortunately felt TOO. MUCH. I guess the ironic thing is that a lot of people felt that way about FREAKY and TRAGEDY GIRLS while I certainly did not. So, definitely check this one out for yourself if it seems worthwhile. It might turn out being just right for you.
- 5/10
THEY CLONED TYRONE
(streaming on Netflix)
When Fontaine (John Boyega) abruptly wakes in his bed and proceeds to follow the same routine we watched him perform the previous day, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’ve stepped into a time loop. Director Juel Taylor and co-writer Tony Rettenmaier intentionally throw this curveball to both mess with expectations and set-up one of many great comedic sequences once he’s seen banging on the same door he pounded twenty-four hours ago. Because as soon as Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) realizes who’s knocking, he’s starts babbling like a crazy person since he knows what we know. Tyrone is dead.
The title says it all: THEY CLONED TYRONE. Who is the “they”? Well, that’s the question he, Slick Charles, and Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) are going to try and Nancy Drew an answer from. Is it a conspiracy? Some weird white dudes with afros? Kiefer Sutherland’s self-proclaimed “mall cop” Nixon? Maybe it’s a little of everything as the trio finds themselves descending metal elevators inexplicably located inside trap houses that open to high-tech laboratories and a bustling scientific colony beneath their feet. And what starts as a messed-up mystery for one man’s identity soon becomes a life or death scenario for the world.
Think a grounded SORRY TO BOTHER. Like if Boots Riley was replaced by Jordan Peele since the scope is sci-fi surreal and the tone social horror. Throw ideas touching on eugenics, socio-economic enforced community prisons, and existential dread in a blender with an ample amount of hilarity courtesy of these purposefully designed stereotypes (Tyrone the drug dealer, Slick Charles the pimp, and Yo-Yo the prostitute) having their eyes opened and horizons broadened and you can get a sense of the ride that ensues. Just because it proves more of an entertaining romp than political satire, though, doesn’t mean the latter won’t resonate.
Its tongue-in-cheek nature simply helps open the door to the wild philosophical ideas at its center. Watching these three easily forsaken characters authentically react to, as Yo-Yo succinctly puts it, “crossing the Rubicon” is laugh-out-loud funny precisely because they wouldn’t in a million years believe they’d become embroiled in something so insane. And on the other side of the coin, neither would Nixon. So, of course the latter underestimates his opponents. Of course, they’ll try to bring the very chaos his bosses count on them delivering in the Glen down to this sanctuary to create absolute pandemonium.
Add the anachronistic aesthetic (my partner walked in and caught Slick Charles mentioning 9/11 before doing a double take and saying, “I thought this was set in the 70s”), the “white people targeting Black people via cliché” jokes, and a very game Foxx and Parris bringing the laughs opposite Boyega’s effective straight man and it’s easy to get caught up in the high concept underpinnings because the surface vehicle is so damn enjoyable. It might not have the cinematic chutzpah of a SORRY TO BOTHER YOU or GET OUT, but it delivers the popcorn appeal to potentially supply many of the same themes to a much broader audience.
- 8/10
Cinematic F-Bombs:
This week saw BABYLON A.D. (2008), JUMPER (2008), SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS (2006), SLIDING DOORS (1998), and WALKING TALL (2004) added to the archive. Jeanne Tripplehorn really leans into her f-bomb for a great future social media header. cinematicfbombs.com
New Releases This Week:
(Review links where applicable)
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 11/10/23 -
THE HOLDOVERS at North Park Theatre; Dipson Amherst; Regal Quaker
IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE at Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
Thoughts are above.
JAPAN at Regal Elmwood
JIGARTHANDA DOUBLEX at Regal Elmwood
JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM at Regal Elmwood & Transit
THE MARVELS at Dipson Flix, McKinley & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
Streaming from 11/10/23 -
BIRTH/REBIRTH – Shudder on 11/10
THE KILLER – Netflix on 11/10
ALBERT BROOKS: DEFENDING MY LIFE – Max on 11/11
HOW WE GET FREE – Max on 11/14
BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER! – Netflix on 11/16
IN LOVE AND DEEP WATER – Netflix on 11/16
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
SOUNDS OF FREEDOM (11/4)
BUTCHER’S CROSSING (11/7)
“Gabe Polsky's BUTCHER'S CROSSING is a familiarly harsh depiction of men going against nature with nothing but greed, vengeance, and hubris in their hearts.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
CARLOS (11/7)
DUMB MONEY (11/7)
THE ETERNAL MEMORY (11/7)
FOE (11/7)
THE INVENTOR (11/7)
MEN OF DEEDS (11/7)
ONYX THE FORTUITOUS AND THE TALISMAN OF SOULS (11/7)
POLARIS (11/7)
“Polaris will prove a divisive work both because of its overt politics and its bold desire to drop us in with as little comprehension of the bigger picture as its lead. We want Sumi to live. The rest is backdrop and atmosphere, for better or worse.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
SCRAPPER (11/7)
SHOOTING STARS (11/7)
STILL A BLACK STAR (11/7)
V/H/S/85 (11/7)
WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY (11/7)
THE DIRTY SOUTH (11/10)
JEZABEL (11/10)
LION GIRL (11/10)
THE OTHER ZOEY (11/10)
RUMBLE THROUGH THE DARK (11/10)
SHE CAME TO ME (11/10)
From the press kit archive:
