Category: Reviews

  • ‘Equity’ provides a great return to its audience

    ‘Equity’ provides a great return to its audience

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    Anna Gunn in ‘Equity’

    “Wall Street is the world’s biggest casino” –  Edward O. Thorp

    Movies about Wall Street have littered the landscape in the wake of the crash of financial markets in 2009.  The Wolf of Wall Street, Money Monster, The Big Short and Arbitrage are just a few of the recent ones.  The common theme in all of them is how men running amok have hurt many investors while making gigantic profits for the fortunate few.

    Equity is different in several ways.  First, it is a look at the lives of three women trying to move up in the world of high finance, two inside an investment bank and one who is an assistant United States attorney. She’s just moved out of the prosecuting of drug dealers and into the world of white-collar crime.  Aside from being female-centric, Equity is also a terrific primer on the world of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) and what goes on behind the scenes before a company goes public.

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    Sarah Megan Thomas and Anna Gunn in ‘Equity’

    Anna Gunn is “Naomi Bishop” and she’s a very senior investment banker at a big firm.  Senior enough to consider herself in the running to replace her boss when he leaves in the near future.  She’s had a stellar career until her last IPO, Dynacorp ran into problems.  Now she has a chance to shine with an IPO for an internet security company, Cachet.  Cachet’s CEO, “Ed” (Samuel Roukin) likes her pitch but seems more interested in Naomi’s protege, “Erin Manning” (Sarah Megan Thomas).  Erin feels she is undervalued, under-compensated and is under the pressure of having just become pregnant.

    Naomi’s boyfriend, “Michael Connor” (James Purefoy) works on the other “side” of the investment bank.  His clients aren’t companies looking to go public; they are hedge fund managers and other industrial investors looking to profit from those IPOs.  The “Chinese Wall” is supposed to prevent people like Naomi and Michael from sharing information that would give an unfair advantage to his clients.  Naomi’s old friend “Samantha” (Alysia Reiner) is the aforementioned assistant U.S. attorney and she’s looking into one of Michael’s clients.  She wants to rekindle her relationship with Naomi in order to learn what Michael might have been up to.  As in any IPO, there is a potential problem that could cause the stock’s opening price on Wall Street to fall well below the expectations of the company going public.  If that happens, it will be a very serious black mark on Naomi’s resume and she will do almost anything to prevent that from occurring.

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    Alysia Reiner in ‘Equity’

    Director Meera Menon manages to take some complex concepts and present them in a way that allows even those who aren’t educated in matters of high finance to see what’s going on.  The film makes it clear that even in this day and age, women are still taken at face value in that world; evidenced by a joke Naomi tells about how her choice of dress might have caused a business deal to tank.  The three women central to this film are all powerful, intelligent and driven and seeing positive portrayals of such women is a welcome change.  If there is a problem with Equity it is that almost every single male character is flawed in more than just a minor way.  Then again since this is the world of Wall Street, perhaps this is simply realism in the experiences of the writers and people who advised them.  There are ethical lapses on both sides of the gender aisle in this film, but those of the men are far more egregious than those of the women.

    The three lead actresses are terrific.  The fact that Sarah Megan Thomas co-wrote the script may be part of the reason it seemed she was born for the role of Erin.  Anna Gunn proved her chops on “Breaking Bad” and they are on full display in this powerful performance.  Equity is worth more than one viewing.

  • ‘Star Trek Beyond’ goes boldly down familiar roads

    ‘Star Trek Beyond’ goes boldly down familiar roads

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    Chris Pine as Captain Kirk in ‘Star Trek Beyond’

    “If ‘Trek’ is a hit, we’d love to do a series of films – a regular event. Look at James Bond’s films. They’ve been around since the early sixties.” – Gene Roddenberry

    If only the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Mr. Gene Roddenberry had lived to see his vision going strong, five decades after the first episode of the TV series “Star Trek” first aired.  Star Trek Beyond is the third film in the reboot of the movie franchise and while it isn’t as excellent as the initial Star Trek from 2009, it is very pleasing to the eye.

    The crew of the USS Enterprise returns, in their now familiar roles.  “Captain Kirk” (Chris Pine) hasn’t told “Spock” (Zachary Quinto) or any other member of his crew that he’s put in for a promotion and new position as a Vice-Admiral aboard the Federation’s newest star base, Yorktown.  Yorktown is not on a planet, but is a gigantic facility that was built in space.  This was done to avoid any appearance of favoritism by placing it on a particular planet.  Spock also has a secret, he plans to leave Star Fleet to work on the restoration of his race on New Vulcan; in the wake of the passing of Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy appears only in a photograph).

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    John Cho, Karl Urban, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana in ‘Star Trek Beyond’

    966 days into the five year mission finds the Enterprise docked at Yorktown for shore leave and supply replenishment but an emergency arises.  “Kalara” (Lydia Wilson) arrives at Yorktown in an escape pod and claims that her ship’s entire crew is marooned on a planet within a nearby nebula.  Enterprise is dispatched on a rescue mission, but it turns out to be a trap.  A trap set by “Krall” (Idris Elba) whose true origins will be revealed late in the movie’s third act.

    His ships overwhelm Enterprise and the saucer section makes a crash landing on the planet where Krall’s base of operations is.  He captures most of the crew, but “Scotty” (Simon Pegg, who co-wrote the film), Spock and “Doctor McCoy” (Karl Urban, who steals every scene he appears in), and Kirk and “Chekov” (Anton Yelchin, who died in a tragic accident after filming and before the release of the movie) all manage to avoid detection.  Scotty meets “Jaylah” (Sofia Boutella who was brilliant in Kingsman: The Secret Service) who is living on the planet in an old star ship that is hidden from view.  With Jaylah’s help, the members of the Enterprise crew who have evaded capture must work to free their imprisoned crew and stop Krall from his plan to destroy Yorktown.

    Idris Elba as "Krall" in 'Star Trek Beyond
    Idris Elba as “Krall” in ‘Star Trek Beyond’

    There are elements from the TV versions of Star Trek and while they allow criticism of the movie as not entirely original, they give it a familiar feel that fans of the series should enjoy.   Director Justin Lin’s extraordinary skill at action, as shown off in his entries in the Fast and the Furious films is on display here and he rocks the battle scenes in this movie.  As the late James Doohan noted when he decried the lack of an Oscar nomination for Ricardo Montalban’s performance in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, this type of film doesn’t generate acting award nominations outside of sci-fi specific types of awards.  That there aren’t any award-worth performances here, even though Karl Urban is terrific isn’t a knock on the movie.  It’s merely an acknowledgement that in this instance, the movie is the star.

    For those who haven’t been followers of things Star Trek  over the last five decades, TailSlate has put together some information you might enjoy here.

  • ‘The Infiltrator’ is a good film with great performances

    ‘The Infiltrator’ is a good film with great performances

    Bryan Cranston in 'The Infiltrator'
    Bryan Cranston in ‘The Infiltrator’

    The Infiltrator is based on the true story of Robert Mazur, a U.S. Customs Special Agent who managed to infiltrate the drug cartel of Pablo Escobar.  We’re introduced to Mazur (Bryan Cranston) as he wraps up another successful undercover operation.  Because of what the military would call a “non-combat” injury, he has the option to retire with full benefits.  An option his wife Evelyn (Juliet Aubrey) wants him to grab onto.  But he’s not quite ready to retire.  And he has a brilliant idea.  Rather than try to stem the flow of cocaine into the U.S., he suggests to his boss, Bonni Tischler (Amy Ryan) that they follow the money.  This leads to an operation where Mazur goes undercover as “Bob Musella.”

    Mazur’s fellow Customs Service agent Emir Abreu (John Leguizamo) has a connection with an informer who can introduce Musella to some people who are involved with the Escobar cartel’s money laundering operations.  This leads to an introduction to Gonzalo Mora Jr. (Rubén Ochandiano) and Gonzalo Mora Sr. (Simón Andreu).  To help protect his cover and his life, Mazur arranges for someone he put behind bars to be released to act as his driver/bodyguard during this operation.  “Dominic” (Joseph Gilgun) is street-smart and constantly reminding Mazur of just how big a risk they are all taking.

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    Diane Kruger and Bryan Cranston in ‘The Infiltrator’

    The Moras want to reward Musella and arrange for a hooker to service him.  He begs off, claiming he is engaged to the great love of his life and he won’t risk that relationship.  That’s how another agent, Kathy Ertz, becomes part of the operation.  She’s never been undercover before but she plays the part well.   After some vetting, Bob is introduced to Roberto Alcaino (Benjamin Bratt) a major player in the Escobar organization.  This leads to larger and larger sums of money being laundered and that brings a large international bank into the mix.  The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was at one point the 7th largest bank in the world, but was deeply involved in money-laundering.

    There is a lot less action than one might expect in this type of film, but the action sequences that are present are done well from a technical basis.  The best scenes in the film are later in the op when Mazur and Ertz are involved as friends to Alcaino and his wife.

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    Benjamin Bratt in ‘The Infiltrator’

    While the film and its narrative are somewhat pedestrian, the actors rise above the material and deliver outstanding performances.  John Leguizamo is simply spectacular as the wise-cracking, risk-taking Abreu.  Benjamin Bratt nails the role of a high ranking cartel member who is an old-fashioned gentleman truly in love with his wife, with an utter ruthlessness lying just under this gentle facade.  But this is Bryan Cranston’s movie.  As he did in Trumbo he brings a real person to life before our eyes.  He captures the highs and lows of being in a deep-cover assignment, especially in the all too few scenes he has with Juliet Aubrey who plays Mazur’s wife Evelyn.

    SPOILER ALERT – The film takes some poetic license in telling Mazur’s story.  To facilitate the creation of a film, the five years that Robert Mazur spent undercover as part of Operation C-Chase are compressed into a much shorter timeline.  The drive-by shooting where Mazur was in a car with the man who was murdered did not happen.  Nor did the voodoo ritual that adds some real color to the film.  To properly illustrate the success of this Customs Service operation, they seized 3,200 pounds of cocaine, $100 million in cash and put BCCI completely out of business.

  • Buy a pass for ‘Train to Busan’ a brilliant Zombie thriller

    Buy a pass for ‘Train to Busan’ a brilliant Zombie thriller

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    Gong Yoo and Kim Su-an aboard the ‘Train to Busan’

    The last thing in the world that “Seok-woo” (Gong Yoo) wants to do is take his adorable daughter “Su-an” (Kim Su-an) on a train ride to Busan.  Tomorrow is Su-an’s birthday and she is desperate to get down to Busan, a resort city in the Southern part of the Republic of Korea.  Like any young girl she misses her mother terribly.  Seok-woo is a very busy fund manager and the stress of work is even worse than usual.  Which is how he has justified to himself not spending time with his daughter.  They live with his mother,  who Seok-woo has relied on to care for Su-an and she encourages her son to try to mend his crumbling marriage while in Busan.

    Thanks to an opening sequence at a quarantine station involving a deer that appeared to be roadkill, we know something’s rotten in the ROK.  But it seems like the train will make a safe escape from the station before the hordes of the undead can threaten them, until two people board at the very last second.  Soon the train is beginning to fill with zombies, and these aren’t the kind that move at a snail’s pace.

    The focus of the film is on Seok-woo and Su-an although there are others at risk.  “Sung-kyung” (Jung Yu-mi) is pretty, pregnant and very much in love with “Sang-hwa” (Ma Dong-seok), the father of her unborn child.  He’s a big burly sort with an attitude to match.  Others aboard the train are members of a baseball team, and then there’s “Yong-suk” (Kim Eui-sung).  He’s the COO of a transportation company and his willingness to sacrifice others to save himself seems to be a social statement about disregard for the safety of the public that led to the sinking of the MV Sewol, where over 300 people died.

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    Jung Yu-mi and Ma Dong-seok in ‘Train to Busan’

    Like the brilliant Snowpiercer, setting the action aboard a train with separate compartments makes for great set pieces involving movement away from and toward the dangers of the every increasing number of the undead.  As the train travels further and further away from Seoul, reports come in to the passengers about how there may be no safe place to stop before the train makes it all the way to Busan. The question is, can the passengers survive and can the train’s conductor get the train all the way to its destination.

    Zombie films where the zombies move rapidly and go through all sorts of contortions as they go from dead to undead are much more pleasing and frightening to the eye.  The close quarters of the train’s compartments and the vulnerabilities of a number of the passengers as those who are able-bodied do their best to protect them ratchet up the tension remarkably.  The poignancy comes as Seok-woo realizes that the most important thing in his life is in fact Su-an and he will make any sacrifice to keep her safe.  It’s very well done, like the rest of the film.  What makes the excellence of Train to Busan is the fact that this is the first live-action, full-length feature from writer/director Yeon Sang-ho.

  • ‘The Purge: Election Year’ is a solid entry in the franchise

    ‘The Purge: Election Year’ is a solid entry in the franchise

    Elizabeth Mitchell in 'The Purge: Election Year'
    Elizabeth Mitchell in ‘The Purge: Election Year’

    “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” – Plutarch

    When The Purge was released in 2013 it was a critical failure but a commercial success.  That kind of result is almost guaranteed to generate a sequel, and possibly launch a new franchise.  The following year brought The Purge: Anarchy and now the third entry, The Purge: Election Year is in theaters.

    The annual Purge, which began in 2022, is 12 hours of incredible mayhem where anything is legal, even mass murder.  It had come into being the prior decade when the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) took power following the near destruction of the economy.  Police and other emergency personnel will not respond during this time.  Now 18 years have passed and “Senator Charlie Roan” (Elizabeth Mitchell, who was wonderful on “ER” and “V” on television) is a candidate for the presidency.  Everyone else in her family was murdered during the purge 18 years earlier.  Naturally, her main campaign issue is bringing about an end to the Purge.  Her opponent in the election is “Minister Edwidge Owens” (Kyle Secor), a NFFA figurehead as it is “Caleb Warren” (Raymond J. Barry) who is the person actually running the NFFA.  Senator Roan’s head of security is “Leo Barnes” (Frank Grillo) who we first met in The Purge: Anarchy.  Since the NFFA sees Senator Roan as a real threat to their grip on power, they arrange for the immunity from the Purge that normally protects people like Senator Roan to be revoked right before the Purge is scheduled to begin.

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    Mykelti Williamson, Frank Grillo, Joseph Julian Soria, Betty Gabriel and Elizabeth Mitchell in ‘The Purge: Election Year’

    Another person whose world is threatened on the eve of The Purge is convenience store owner “Joe Dixon” (Mykelti Williamson).  His Purge insurance is being cancelled because the premium cost was raised so high he couldn’t pay it in time.  So he sets out to protect his store with his own cache of weapons, aided by his one employee “Marcos” (Joseph Julian Soria).  He can also count on help from “Laney Rucker” (Betty Gabriel” who is an EMT who drives a reinforced RV around during the Purge to help the victims.

    Senator Roan insists on staying at her home, but there is an NFFA plot to kill her and the resources behind the plot are considerable.  There’s also a plot to take out the NFFA leadership being organized by a Purge resistance leader named “Dante Bishop” (Edwin Hodge).  Through a confluence of events Senator Roan’s party winds up joining forces with Joe Dixon’s group.

    Members of the NFFA meeting to plot the killing of Senator Roan in 'The Purge: Election Year'
    Members of the NFFA meeting to plot the killing of Senator Roan in ‘The Purge: Election Year’

    Like its predecessors, The Purge: Election Year is filled with brutal sequences of torture and killings, all done for the pleasure of the thugs who make the purge what it is.  The message of both Senator Roan and Dante Bishop is that the Purge is exacerbating the gulf between the “haves” and “have-nots” since those without means can’t afford to secure their homes against those who take part in the Purge.

    Also like The Purge: Anarchy, this is an improvement over the original film.  It isn’t great movie making but it works.  Elizabeth Mitchell and Frank Grillo have just the right amount of chemistry as one would expect between a powerful politician and their most trusted bodyguard.  But the best relationship is that of “Joe Dixon” and “Marcos” who are very committed to helping each other.  Buy a big tub of popcorn and enjoy the action.

  • ‘How He Fell in Love’ rises above typical indie film dramas

    ‘How He Fell in Love’ rises above typical indie film dramas

    Matt McGorry in 'How He Fell in Love'
    Matt McGorry in ‘How He Fell in Love’

    “You can’t do monogamy 90% of the time.” – Alanis Morissette

    I don’t usually offer disclaimers ahead of reviews.  But this is an exception.  Since this is a movie about infidelity and I’m making a critique of the movie, I feel compelled to disclose that I’ve been a victim of spousal infidelity.  More than once.  I hope this isn’t coloring my assessment of this film.

    How He Fell in Love is an unusual film in several ways.  It’s an indie drama that isn’t making a social statement.  It looks at a critical social issue without making any judgments.   “Ellen” (Amy Hargreaves) is a woman who came to New York City to become a dancer but had that dream shattered when she was injured.  She is now a yoga instructor who owns her own studio in the city.  She’s married to “Henry” (Mark Blum) who is much older, is a land developer and he’s out of town when she attends a wedding in the countryside.

    While waiting for her ride back to the city she meets “Travis” (Matt McGorry).  He’s more than a decade her junior and has been drifting aimlessly in life after his band fell apart following a tragedy.  She offers to share her ride back and he accepts.  She invites him to attend one of her classes and he says he will.  When he gets home he  encounters his girlfriend “Monica” (Britne Oldford).  She’s unhappy that Travis didn’t take her to the wedding and introduce her to his friends.  She dumps him, he decides this is the moment to give up music and soon he’s working with focus groups to scratch out a living.

    Matt McGorry and Amy Hargreaves in 'How He Fell in Love'
    Matt McGorry and Amy Hargreaves in ‘How He Fell in Love’

    Not long after he goes to one of Ellen’s yoga classes and they quickly develop a relationship beyond that of teacher and student.  They begin an affair that grows to a certain point in intensity and then plateaus.  Henry finally returns from Florida, he and Amy are conflicted over other personal issues in their married life.  The affair continues with Henry in the dark.  Until something happens as the two illicit lovers are returning early from a stolen weekend, again in the countryside.  This leads to Henry discovering what has been going on and the predictable conflict ensues between husband and wife, and between the two paramours.

    Movies about marital infidelity abound.  Fatal Attraction, What Lies Beneath, To Die For, Jungle Fever and the aptly titled Unfaithful are only a partial list.  It’s a societal problem that invades America’s living rooms daily on shows like Jerry Springer, Maury Povich and Cheaters.  But to make a film on the topic without taking a position on the right and wrong of infidelity itself is unusual.  Especially when it’s a well-crafted movie.

    The 107 running time passes quickly, a point in the film’s favor.  The chemistry between Hargreaves and McGorry is strong and they play their roles well.  But the best moments are those when we watch Hargreaves and Blum deal with the difficulties of trying to re-knit the fabric of their union.  Every moment of those scenes is real and palpable.  While those sequences are the best parts of this film, the whole thing rings of real people, not characters created by a writer to tell a story.  Definitely worth your time.

  • Independence Day: Resurgence breaks away from the original, badly

    Independence Day: Resurgence breaks away from the original, badly

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    Jeff Goldblum and Liam Hemsworrth in ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’

    “Houston, we have a problem.”  Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell in 1995’s ‘Apollo 13’

    Nearly two decades ago, Roland Emmerich brought Independence Day to the big screen.  It won an Academy Award for Best Visual effects, deservedly so.  Plans for a sequel began almost immediately but it took 19 years and 358 days to bring Independence Day:  Resurgence to the big screen.  The protracted passage of time between original and first sequel was a clear harbinger that the sequel won’t live up to the level of the original.   It turned out to be accurate.

    After the aliens were defeated in the original film, the world became united.  A celebration of the 20th anniversary of the defeat of the invaders is in the works, with a worldwide audience.  The Earth Space Defense program, led by its director “David Levinson” (Jeff Goldblum) is about to complete the deployment of a new weapon on the moon as part of the preparations for the expected return of the aliens as the celebration is about to begin.  David Levinson is supposed to be at the celebration in Washington, D.C. but on July 2nd he is in Africa.  He has traveled to the Republique Nationale d’Umbutu to investigate the only alien craft that made a safe landing back in 1996.  He finds “Doctor Catherine Marceaux” (Charlotte Gainsbourg) there.  She was invited, like David, by the leader of the country, “Dikembe Umbutu” (Deobia Oparei) who killed dozens of the aliens during the 10 year ground war his people fought following the landing of the ship.  Like the people interviewed by Dr. Marceaux and “President Whitmore” (Bill Pullman), he seem linked to the aliens.  Many of these people draw an image that no one is able to properly interpret.

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    Sela Ward and Jessie T. Usher in ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’

    As to the rest of the people of note in the original film, David’s father “Julius” (Judd Hirsch) is living on a boat and attempting to eke out a living hawking a book on how he saved the world.  “Jasmine Dubrow” (Vivica A. Fox)is a widow and working in a hospital.  Her husband, “Colonel Stephen Hiller” was killed years earlier but their son “Dylan Dubrow-Hiller” is the leader of a squadron of the latest fighters the ESD has.  “Patricia Whitmore” (Maika Monroe) is working as a speechwriter for the current president, “Elizabeth Lanford” (Sela Ward).  She was an ESD pilot until changing careers to care for her father.  “Doctor Brakish Okun” (Brent Spiner) has been in a coma since his close encounter with an alien in the Area 51 lab some 20 years earlier.

    There are additions to the story.  “Jake Morrison” (Liam Hemsworth) is an ESD pilot who was part of the elite squadron led by Captain Hiller until he took an extreme risk and was demoted to shuttle pilot.  He works with his best friend, “Charlie Miller” (Travis Tope) who is also a qualified shuttle pilot.  “Rain Lao” (Angelababy) is a Chinese pilot in Captain Hiller’s squadron.  William Fichtner plays “General Joshua Adams” who is the military commander of the ESD.

    The plot of the film is weak and predictable.  The aliens return with an even bigger ship, destroy nearly all of the Earth defense systems built during the last two decades and begin trying to drill to the Earth’s core.  Prior to the arrival of that alien ship another alien craft of a clearly different design was approaching Earth.  David Levinson says it would be a mistake to destroy it but President Lanford chooses to shoot it down.

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    Maika Moore and Liam Hemsworth in ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’

    There’s little point in describing the rest of the story.  It is lacking in many ways, although a smidgen of the humor that was present in perfect proportion in the original can be found.  I described so many characters because this highlights another of this movie’s weaknesses, lack of character development.  The film’s run time of exactly two hours is just too short to create that kind of character arcs.  Worse yet is that the two hours seem to take nearly an eternity to pass.  This is not helped by the fact the audience is given a constant countdown of the moment of impending doom for the planet.  However, the biggest problem with this film is the absence of Will Smith.  It might have been salary demands or scheduling conflicts but there can be little doubt his presence would have helped immensely.

    The one saving grace for Independent Day:  Resurgence” is that it is an awesome achievement on a visual basis.  The effects and imagery are breathtaking and I can only imagine how they’d be even more so in 3D, IMAX or better still, both.  Unfortunately the visuals can’t salvage this dystopian disaster.

  • It’s easy to love ‘Love & Friendship’

    It’s easy to love ‘Love & Friendship’

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    Kate Beckinsale and Tom Bennett in ‘Love & Friendship’

    “‘Cause the boy with the cold hard cash is always Mister Right” – Madonna in her song Material Girl.

    The title of the latest film from the multi-talented writer/director/producer Whit Stillman might seem a bit confusing.  Both the movie and its title come from Jane Austen, but they aren’t one and the same.  The title is from a “juvenile” story while the story itself is from a novel titled Lady Susan.

    Set near the end of the 1700s, this is the story of “Lady Susan Vernon”  (Kate Beckinsale).  She is a beautiful, young widow whose husband’s passing has left her finances in a very poor state.  She means to find wealthy husbands for herself and her daughter, “Frederica” (Morfydd Clark).  With nowhere else to go after having to leave the home where she was doing the 18th century version of couch-surfing for nobility, she winds up at Churchill, the country estate of her late husband’s brother “Charles Vernon” (Justin Edwards) and his wife “Catherine” (Emma Greenwell).

    At Churchill Lady Susan meets Catherine’s brother, “Reginald DeCourcy” (Xavier Samuel) who is handsome, charming and wealthy.  The two begin a flirtation although Lady Susan has other targets in mind for matrimony.  One being “Sir James Martin” (Tom Bennett), a daft dandy who is even wealthier than Reginald.

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    Emma Greenwell and Kate Beckinsale in ‘Love & Friendship’

    Lady Susan is aided in her sinister scheming by “Alicia Johnson” (Chloë Sevigny).  She is only too happy to assist, although her husband does not want her involved with Lady Susan.  In fact, he has threatened to send Alicia to America if she doesn’t stay away from Lady Susan.  As all of these machinations are going on, Lady Susan is actually involved with a married man.  “Lord Manwaring” (Lochlann O’Mearáin) is suspected by his wife “Lady Lucy” (Jenn Murray) of infidelity.

    The  Vernons want to keep Reginald away from Lady Susan.  They also want Frederica, once she has come to Churchill, to remain there.  Lady Susan sees Sir James as a potential mate for Frederica and plans to ensnare Reginald for herself.

    The last time Whit Stillman directed a film with both Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny acting in it was 1998’s The Last Days of Disco.  Like that and his other movies, Metropolitan, Barcelona and Damsels in Distress, Love & Friendship is a finely-crafted film that contains compelling story and social commentary.  His writing is reminiscent of David Mamet’s in that there is a unique cadence to the way he constructs dialogue.  He is also a director who gets the most of the well-chosen casts in his movies.  You can see the Stillman influence in the similarities between this film’s  Lady Susan and “Charlotte” in The Last Days of Disco.  Both parts portrayed by Kate Beckinsale, the two women are alike and different all at once.  Kate Beckinsale is brilliant as Lady Susan.  This is one of her best performances in some time.

  • ‘Me Before You’ is a real tear-jerker

    ‘Me Before You’ is a real tear-jerker

    Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin in 'Me Before You'
    Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin in ‘Me Before You’

    Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin star in Me Before You.  Making a beloved novel into a film is never an easy task.  Even when the author adapts their own work for the screen, the limits of time and budget make it virtually impossible to translate every facet and nuance of the tale onto the big screen.  The challenge is made more difficult when the resolution of the story is known to much of the audience before the opening credits roll.  These were the obstacles facing Thea Sharrock, making her big screen directorial debut.

    “Louisa Clark” (Clarke) is a 26 year old girl in a small town in the English countryside where she’s spent more than six years working in a cafe when she is suddenly laid off.  The cafe is closing down.  With no other job skills and a family situation that requires her to contribute to the household she winds up at the local job center.  That leads her to the palatial residence of the Traynor family.  “Steven” (Charles Dance) and “Camilla” (two time Oscar nominee Janet McTeer) are the parents of “Will Traynor” (Claflin) who lives in the annex.  Will was a very successful businessman and avid skier and mountain climber who was injured when he was struck by a motorcycle.  Now he is a “quad” paralyzed below the neck.  He cannot even feed himself.  The Traynors are in need of a caregiver for Will to work for a fixed period of six months.  The money is excellent and “Lou” (as she prefers to be called) is surprised when Camilla offers her the job.

    Will won’t open up to Lou and asks her to make a deal with him where she will be uncharacteristically un-chatty with him.  However he opens up to her a little bit after some time but then Lou learns two secrets about her charge.  One is something she sees with her own eyes.  The other is that Will promised to give his parents six months before journeying to Switzerland to end his life through Dignitas.

    Emilia Clarke and Janet McTeer in 'Me Before You'
    Emilia Clarke and Janet McTeer in ‘Me Before You’

    When Lou overhears this dark news she wants to quit, but her family situation just won’t permit that.  So she sets out to convince Will to change his mind through taking him out of the  castle to places where he might learn to enjoy life again.  Aided and abetted by Camilla and by Will’s physical therapist “Nathan” (Stephen Peacocke), Lou is willing to go almost anywhere and do almost anything to persuade Will to live.

    The camera is madly in love with Emilia Clarke.  That and the strong chemistry between the leads are the best parts of this film.  Definitely a date movie.

    Spoilers follow although since the material involved is well-known, are they really spoilers?  Disability advocates have criticized the film, as they did the novel for the message that quads are a burden on society.   The problem with their criticism is that no one, including Will, makes that claim.  He wants to end his own eternal pain.

  • The documentary film ‘Art Bastard’ is actually quite legitimate

    The documentary film ‘Art Bastard’ is actually quite legitimate

    Robert Cenedella in front of one of his works in 'Art Bastard'
    Robert Cenedella in front of one of his works, Le Cirque – The First Generation, in ‘Art Bastard’

    “The Metropolitan (Museum) to me was more special than a church” – Robert Cenedella

    Writer/director Victor Kanefsky is known primarily for his work as an editor.  Now he’s the man behind Art Bastard, an in-depth look at the life of noted artist Robert Cenedella.  It also examines some interesting questions about the art world today.  Do a tight-knit clique of collectors, critics and curators determine what makes art “good?”  Is art today more about money rather than meaning?

    Robert Cenedella learned at the tender age of six that his mother’s husband was not his biological father.  His youth was shaped in an unusual way when that non-biological father  went from well-paid radio script writer into poverty, thanks to blacklisting.  Expelled from the High School for Art and Music over a satirical letter, he would go on to the Arts Students League.  There he studied with George Grosz.  Never a “traditionalist” within the art world, Cenedella responded to the fad of I Like Elvis buttons with his own design of I Like Ludwig buttons.  They funded his art education.

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    2001, a Stock Odyssey by Robert Cenedella

    Robert rose to real prominence in 1965 when he poked fun at Pop Art with his one person Yes Art exhibition.  He was encouraged to continue in this vein but instead ceased painting altogether for nearly a decade.  His works are nothing short of astonishing in their ability to capture the reality of ordinary and extraordinary people and events with his own style and verve.

    In a number of scenes where Mr. Cenedella comments on not just his art, but how the world perceives art, he makes it clear that politics are a part of almost every one of his works.  It is his form of social commentary.  Take a look at his reaction to the Dow Jones stock index breaking through the 2000 barrier for the first time.

    He was commissioned to create a painting for Saatchi & Saatchi for display at their offices in New York City in 1988 but the resulting work was so controversial that it was never displayed as scheduled.  At least not until later on when the Art Students League of New York displayed the work.  That led to almost instantaneous condemnation by New York’s Catholic League.  Calls to take the work down were ignored by the Art Students League.

    Robert Cenedella's vision of Santa Claus
    Robert Cenedella’s vision of Santa Claus

    We hear from those curators, gallery owners and other artists about what makes the art of Mr. Cenedella so unique and yet so much outside the sphere of “traditional” artworks.  He is beloved by many and clearly has no anger for those who currently establish what is and isn’t “good” in the art world.  He has followed in his mentor’s footsteps, holding the George Grosz Chair at the Arts Student League and teaching classes there since 1988.

    The film makes very effective use of Mr. Cenedella’s works as well as using music to enhance rather than overpower the imagery.  An excellent effort.  Art Bastard opened in limited release in New York City on June 3rd, opened in Los Angeles on June 17th and will break wider on June 24th.