It’s easy to start believing in curses, when bad things keep happening to you. For Kevin Von Erich (Zac Efron), the eldest brother of the family at the center of The Iron Claw, the idea of a curse goes from being laughable to credible with each mounting tragedy. I can’t blame him for deciding that his children will not inherit the Von Erich last name, because if there really is a curse, it surely would pass over someone named Adkisson.
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The Boys in the Boat tells the story of the eight-man junior varsity rowing crew from the University of Washington who, against all odds, made it all the way to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. As you may recall, this was the same Olympics where Jesse Owens won four gold medals and single-handedly dealt a crushing blow to the Nazi belief in Aryan supremacy. I wasn’t aware that the American rowing crew also took home the gold at that same event, but since the movie establishes that it’s an inspirational sports movie from the outset, I was certain that they would triumph in the end. The only questions remaining were who these boys are and how they would get to that point.
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Like many people, I was very skeptical about Wonka. The trailer, which tries too hard to appeal to younger and older audiences, had turned Willy Wonka into a guileless nerd who is singularly fixated on chocolate. Yes, this movie is a prequel (of sorts), but I couldn’t see how the character ever becomes the one in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I suspect that won’t happen, as Timothy Chalamet’s Wonka is far removed from Gene Wilder’s version of the character. Having grown up with the 1971 movie, no one could ever match Gene Wilder’s eccentric performance in my mind. So it stands to reason that this movie wouldn’t even try to go there. Instead, Chalamet’s Wonka is nothing like Wilder’s Wonka. (Sorry, but Depp’s version doesn’t exist to me.) While this Wonka may look like his predecessor, his personality is the polar opposite. Instead of being bitter and isolated, he’s full of youthful optimism and naivete. Like the movie that surrounds him, this Wonka is funny, clever and cares about others, and I was won over by the end of the opening musical number. Like Wilder, Chalamet isn’t a song and dance man. However, his talent makes up for his lack of a musical actor’s pedigree. However, he has enough handsomeness and charm to spare, and he sells his seven (7) numbers well enough in my opinion. (Chalamet’s performance is akin to Ryan Gosling’s in La La Land in this regard.)
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I don’t know if Toho Studio’s decision to take Godzilla seriously again was in response to the bombastic and silly Warner Brothers “monsterverse” movies, but if it is I applaud them. Godzilla may be big, but bigger is not better when it comes to the Godzilla movies I’ve watched since I was a kid.
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I imagine that every employee working for Disney during the company’s centennial anniversary must feel proud at being able to take part in the celebration. Putting my cynicism aside for the moment, it’s possible that the people behind Wish made the movie as a nostalgia trip out of a genuine affection for the past. When it’s done right, references to other movies can add to the overall experience. For example, the inclusion of the Disney princesses in Ralph Breaks the Internet was funny because it was self-aware. I also laughed at the last-minute references to Star Wars and The Avengers in Free Guy because they fit within gamer culture and were done with a nod and a wink. Corporate synergy, when done with nuance, can enhance a story without becoming a distraction.
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He came. He saw. He conquered–in spite of himself.
Napoleon may look like a classic historical epic from the Fifties, but director Ridley Scott–who has made several pictures in this category, is not interested in treating his subject with admiration or even respect. Instead, his movie mocks Napoleon from beginning to end, resulting in the cinematic equivalent of a rude gesture delivered for over two hours.
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We’ve all met a person like Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) in our lives, perhaps more than one if we’re particularly unfortunate. He’s a stickler for the rules, insisting that whatever is to be done must be in accordance with the policy manual. Any deviation from the established order must be penalized. If your Paul Hunham probably wasn’t a teacher, he probably was a colleague at work, a relative or a friend of a friend. You do your best to tolerate people like this as best you can until you are free of them, because there’s no way around them. Their sole purpose is to make your life miserable by enforcing the rules and then seeing you are called out for failing to do so. (Full disclosure: I’ve been a taskmaster from time to time.)
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Priscilla opens with a signature Sofia Coppola montage. Threaded with the credits are images of personal items that belong to the eponymous character, as well as close-ups of her applying eyeliner and false eyelashes. As it turns out, the special event in question is not just a very consequential one in Priscilla Presley’s life, but also one of the few instances where she will have the attention of the media. When you’re married to The King of Rock & Roll, you have to make the most of what few opportunities have to make a good impression. The irony of the event and Pricilla’s preparation for it speaks volumes about how dramatically her life had changed in the eight years since she met Elvis.
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There’s a key moment in The Marsh King’s Daughter, when Jacob (Ben Mendelssohn) hands his daughter Helena (Brooklynn Prince) a rifle and tells her to shoot a female wolf. She takes aim but hesitates because a wolf cub is pawing at the ground. Both wolves are starving, Jacob explains. Helena lowers the rifle and asks, “What will become of the cub?” Jacob says that the cub will starve and die, and tells her again to shoot the wolf. Helena lowers the rifle once more, and the wolf edges closer. Jacob grabs the rifle and shoots the wolf and its cub. “You must always protect your family,” he tells her. The next morning Helena scratches that message on a piece of wood that we later learn is a punishment pit. Jacob has thrown her down there so that she will not make that mistake of choosing anything over the family ever again. What Helena doesn’t know is that her “family” is built upon a monstrous lie, one that her father has spun to rationalize how he treats them.
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The Evil Dead franchise is known for its wicked sense of humor, so what better way to kick off this latest entry than with a dig at dead teenager films? Unlike its predecessors, Evil Dead Rise isn’t set in a secluded cabin in the woods, but at a cabin by a lake. The sun is shining, the water is glistening and a couple of teenagers are annoying each other. (Ah, hormones.) The standoffish Teresa (Mirabai Pease) defiantly reads her paperback copy of Wuthering Heights while trying to ignore Caleb (Richard Crouchley), her cousin Jessica’s oafish boyfriend. If you’ve seen more than one slasher movie, you know that these characters will soon be dead. That’s true here, but this movie definitely wants to make a statement in that regard.
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Detroit Cineaste 