Completely Bonkers: Sorry to Bother You Delivers

Movie Reviewed: Sorry To Bother You

Director: Boots Riley

Date: 23 May 2020

jamesintexas Rating: ***

On Hulu

Bonkers is not a word that I get to use very often.  Boots Riley's film Sorry to Bother You is bonkers, jarring, and completely unique in its dark comedy set in contemporary but alternate reality Oakland.  Cassius Green (LaKeith Stanfield) lives in his uncle's garage, loves his sign-twirling struggling artist girlfriend Troit (Tessa Thompson), and follows best friend Salvador (Jermaine Fowler) into telemarketing call center job where he discovers a previously unknown talent.  "Just use your white voice," old head Danny Glover tells him, after announcing that he's "too old for this shit," and when Cassius does, he finds that his David Cross mimicry leads him to become a vaunted Power Caller in the company, headed to corporate ascension and unlimited success.  However, as this is a science fiction fantasy of sorts, this Oakland consists of a mysterious company offering lifetime employment and housing for workers, and Cassius soon finds his initiation into the upper levels of the call center hinge upon that sort of capitalistic greed and oppression of workers.  He finds himself clashing with Troit and his friends as he takes on more and more responsibility and rises in status.  A co-worker Squeeze (Steven Yuen) reaches out about organizing for workers' rights within the company, and though Cassius goes along, he quickly finds himself at odds with his friends.  Hovering in the background is CEO Steve Lift (Armie Hammer), an acclaimed corporate architect of great fortunes with shadowy origins and racist undertones who is eager to exploit Cassius.  It is no surprise that Cassius finds himself asked to perform a rap in front of a nearly all-white audience at a party at Lift's house in just one of a series of upsetting scenes.  The film is totally committed to its completely unique vision, and instead of going off the rails, it just surprises and surprises, which is different. 

Riley's work here takes turns that are deeply unsettling.  He employs a strong sense of humor into the proceedings with Stanfield and Fowler's compliment-off being one highlight for sure.  Thompson has many great moments, especially in a brutal art gallery scene.  The cast is very strong, and the visual style employed drops Cassius into scenes with his call receivers, sometimes even fading the walls of scenes out and in like Michel Gondry in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, another surreal, jarring film.  Stanfield and Thompson have great chemistry and ease with each other and the story, and the sharpness of the film shows up in the second half as more secrets unfold leading to increasing darkness and intensity.  It is fun to drop your jaw and be very unsure of where a film is going.  Riley steers his film ably through to the end, sticking with his conceit through and through, though I cannot say that I want to see this film again any time soon.  Like BlacKKKlansman, which came out the same year, Sorry to Bother You's skewering of race and class are cogent and timely, and if the voices used took me out of it a bit, that is a small criticism.  Overall, Riley's vision and confident storytelling build and build, and Sorry to Bother You is a powerful debut from a new voice in film. 

Something Wildly Fun: 1986's Something Wild

Movie Reviewed: Something Wild

Director: Jonathan Demme

Date: 24 May 2020

jamesintexas Rating: ***

On HBO

I am a Jonathan Demme fan, and the chance to revisit one of his earlier films was a treat.  I was eight years old when Something Wild came out; my entry into Demme's work was seeing ads on HBO for Married to the Mob as a kid and then in 8th grade seeing the terrifying The Silence of The Lambs, for which he won the Oscar.  Here, Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith play Charlie Driggs, an uptight New York yuppie who likes to dine and ditch, and Lulu/Audrey Henkel, a free spirited adventurer, respectively, whose paths cross when Lulu picks him up, and lead to a weekend (it seems longer; a week?) of wildness together.  The film hinges upon the singular charisma of Griffith who is more than up to the task.  I remember her being very striking in Working Girl, and the film goes all-in on her wild card persona: stealing money out of the register, drinking and driving, handcuffing Driggs and never unlocking him, coaxing him to sing along with The Troggs to "Wild Thing."  They debate the merits of freedom and rebellion as a long weekend driving trip turns into a faux marriage, multiple costume changes, a trip to Henkel's high school reunion, and the chance encounter with the recently sprung from jail Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta), Audrey's old flame who wants to pick things up again.  Ray's machismo brutality comes up against the quick-thinking Driggs who has to figure out what he values and what he is willing to sacrifice for this long weekend escapade and maybe more.

Demme's film is centered upon all three performances: Daniels, Griffith, and Liotta, all great.  They really are all stars, and it is fun to watch them work.  It is a bit of a road movie with a travelogue quality of motels, diners, and highways making up much of the non-NYC scenes.  My limited understanding of 1980's films reflects on how they depict the uptight conservative values of Manhattan bankers and businessmen who really, deep-down, just want to party and go a little crazy.  Driggs insists that he is really a wild guy: "I may look straight," he says, "but deep down, I got what it takes."  And the film is an exploration of that conceit.  Demme's love of music here features a rich soundtrack of David Byrne, Oingo Boingo, and The Feelies.  He also works with some of his usual supporting actors like Charles Napier (an officer disemboweled by Hannibal The Cannibal, but here, an aggressive chef) and Buzz Kilman (supporting host of Jonathon Brandmeier's Loop morning show that I used to listen to in Chicago, and also, a victim of Hannibal The Cannibal, but here, a tv newscaster).  There is also some humor here as Driggs finds his own capacity to lie and tell tales, with Daniels spinning his dialogue out wildly, making it up as he goes, most notably when a work colleague happens to see him at the reunion, allowing Driggs the chance to act out in a most un-Charlie Driggs way.

There is a rich sort of humanism at work here without an epic scope or archness to the proceedings.  These are flawed people, negotiating the currents that swirl around them, with Driggs being neither a complete dope or a hero, but someone with a real level of pathos to him.  If the film's climax is a bit underwhelming, it certainly does not veer off into the realm of heroic fantasy and does not make Driggs into some sort of superhero.  Demme handles the final scene with a lightness of touch that is sweet and returns us to the opening scene, and he ends the film with a musical performance from Sister Carol East that is quite wonderful.  Overall, this modest film is light, lifted by its three strong lead performances, and showcases Demme's touch as a director which I have to think, in my limited experience, is drawing out amazing, charismatic work out of his actors and actresses, telling a good story, and layering in well-chosen music.  Those hallmarks are on display here in Something Wild.

John Wick 3: Parabellum

Movie Reviewed: John Wick 3: Parabellum

Director: Chad Stahelski

Date: 18 March 2020

jamesintexas Rating: ***

It was said by someone wiser than me that the original John Wick was the Citizen Kane of head shot movies, and the third in the series, John Wick: Parabellum, while no Kane is certainly loads of fun and style and dogs.  I watched it early in the morning in several pieces, trying to avoid Corona Virus news, and it provided a ballet of death with Keanu Reeves as the maestro, centerpiece, and eponymous hero. I never would have expected Ted Theodore Logan to have become the icon of our times, but it is well-deserved, and times like these call for Keanu.  Times like these call for John Wick.

John Wick must flee right from the beginning, which picks up at the end of John Wick 2, having broken the rules and been "Excommunicado," a word that the film lovingly states time and time again.  Violence and mayhem follow him, starting with an innovative use of horse kicks and culminating with a brutal fight in the New York City Library, a highlight, as he faces off against a gigantic enemy.  Wick must appeal to the other powerful forces in the city, one being The Director, the great Angelica Huston, always a welcome sight, who leads Wick through a ballet studio-wrestling center that seems straight out of From Russia With Love.  Wick has less to say here, and the story is pared down to its basics.  A trip to Morocco links him with Sofia (Halle Berry), the ruler of that country's version of The Continental, and her acrobatic attack dogs.  Wick must, of course, fight his way back to respectability and New York City, which he does with typical (and no less astounding) aplomb.  It cannot be stated how calibrated and capacious the attacking and violence is within the John Wick universe.  It is gargantuan.

The background of the film is filled with the regal Winston (Ian McShane), the graceful Charon (Lance Reddick), the crafty Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), and the laser-focused, lethally-sharp nemesis of The Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon).  Some of Wick's enemies come across as fans of the man.  "Guns, lots of guns," Wick announces of his needs, and the film delivers a feast of firepower that would make Neo blush. 

There is a meticulousness to the edges of the film: the stylized announcements of when it is permitted to kill someone, the arcane rules of territory, and the shiny edges of mirrors and lights.  This film, like its predecessors, seems like an incredible and fun challenge to film, and Stahelski and his crew have done stellar work again here.  The film even has the wonderful Jason Mantzoukas as Tick-Tock Man, who plays a pivotal role in guaranteeing there will be a John Wick 4.  If you want peace, the title tells us, prepare for war, and I have no doubt that there will be another unwieldy title to look forward to whenever movies start back up.  For now, we have three John Wick films, a marvel of a cinematic universe of its own. 

And for the record, there should be an Academy Award for Best Stunt Performers. 

The Boss of Us All: Blinding Brilliance

Movie Reviewed: Blinded By The Light

Director: Gurinder Chadha

Date: 3 May 2020

jamesintexas Rating: ***1/2

On HBO

In a two week span, I saw Gurinder Chadha's Blinded By The Light and Tom Hanks's That Thing You Do!, and though the films differ in their time periods, musical styles, and overall aesthetic, both films lovingly depict the idea of fandom and stardom in ways that appeal directly to the heart.  Here, a 1987 British boy in Nowhere-ville Luton, the son of Pakistani immigrants, is hit with the lightning bolt of rock-n-roll music when a new acquaintance Roops at his HS (Aaron Phagura) hands him cassette tapes of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA album," and his life is never the same.  Javed asks, "Who's that?"  Roops replies, "The Boss."  Javed wonders, "Whose boss?"  Roops responds wisely, "The boss of us all."

Javed (Viveik Kalra) struggles living with anti-immigrant sentiment in his neighborhood, an overbearing father who wants to chart his path for him, and the sinking sensation that he is not cool and never will be.  Chadha places the words to Springsteen's songs directly on the screen as Javed is physically moved by them, dancing outside of his home to "Dancing in the Dark" with a fervor.  Javed becomes transformed by Springsteen's ethos, finding concordances in its depictions of striking out on your own, capitalism gone amok, wanting more from a place that seems all about defining and confining him. Javed wants to be a writer, so he starts finding ways to pursue his craft, and he becomes brave by wooing his classmate/activist Emma (Kit Reeve) through singing Springsteen lyrics.  Chadha has the characters frequently break out in songs within the confines of the world that they are in, and though it is jarring, she makes it work by depicting the effervescence of these young people and their complete exuberance.

And that exuberance comes up against the stark realities of racism, a broken economy, and deep, stubborn pride as Malik (Kulvinder Ghir), Javed's father, struggles with being out of work himself and thrown into a strange place within his family dynamic.  He collects the money from everyone, including Javed, while not being able to find work.  Noor (Meera Ganatra) Javed's mother has to take on increasingly more sewing work late through the night to make ends meet.  The film is an exploration of a father-son dynamic that is both familiar and original, as Javed realizes truths about his father's own immigrant experience of leaving Pakistan to move to London but only after perhaps going excessively far in his Springsteen worship, so much so that he leaves a family event at a crucial moment that collides with the turbulent forces marching down their streets.  But Javed is being true to himself and his newfound identity through Bruce Springsteen and through writing.  Through it all, Javed tries to write, has conversations with his English teacher about his future, and crafts lyrics for his neighbor-friend Matt (Dean-Charles Chapman), a singer in a band.  A protest at a local mosque becomes a chance for him to get a by-line while also driving a wedge between him and Malik, who sees his writing as frivolous at best and hurtful to his community at worst.

I like that the film does not culminate in a big Bruce Springsteen concert or meet-up.  Instead, a sojourn to New Jersey marks a major turning point for Javed and Roops in their hero worship.  Malik is not a one-dimensional character, but instead a man struggling with his own identity in his fifties, and the scenes with Noor have a poignancy to them because these are two people who love each other and are experiencing great pain.  Javed's final speech is a thing of great beauty and heart-breaking emotion that I found incredibly affecting.  Chadha's direction here is confident and powerful, and she earns the emotion achieved in these final scenes because these are fully formed characters with flaws.  I also cannot say enough about Viveik Kalra's wonderful performance, and Aaron Phagura is completely memorable as his gateway-to-Springsteen friend Roops.  I want to see the movie about Roops next.  Blinded By The Light offers a glimpse into Javed's relationship with his sister Shazia (Nikita Mehta) who also has a secret musical obsession, and the film would have been better served by giving her more to do and more conversations with her brother.  Ultimately, the film's sincerity, its terrific cast, its exuberance, and its heart makes me rank it among the best films of 2019.

Pretty Okay Vibrations

Movie Reviewed: Love and Mercy

Director: Bill Pohlad

Date: 3 May 2020

jamesintexas Rating: **1/2



Love and Mercy has beautiful moments, most of them the exuberant creation of the magical music of Brian Wilson's album "Pet Sounds," and Paul Dano does a terrific job showing Brian getting carried away with the songs in his head that translate into unforgettable and complete unique sounds.  The film is at its best during these sequences, sometimes with Pohlad panning the camera across the entire room to show what Brian and all of the different musicians are doing at one particular moment.  The musicians themselves play up the liveliness of Wilson's vision.  There is an energy and a crescendo of creation in these scenes that the rest of the movie just can't live up to as it aims to upend the traditional musician biopic format by splitting the role into two: Paul Dano for the 1960's era Wilson and John Cusack for the late 90's era Wilson.  To do something like this, instead of staying with one actor and using make-up, has to be done for a compelling reason, as does cutting back and forth from one story to the other as often as Love and Mercy does.  It is watchable for sure, as a relatively ignorant Beach Boys and Brian Wilson listener, someone who appreciates the hit songs but does not know the full story.  However, I just don't think that the film is greater than the sum of its parts here, and I left longing for the singular film that would have gone deeper into one chapter of Brian Wilson's incredible life and allowed the actors more to do and more screen time.

The film seems to never want to delve deeper than pointing out that Brian Wilson's father was an abusive, awful man who hurt his son physically and emotionally, abuse that is carried forward like a relay race baton by Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti, reprising a version of his slimy manger from Straight Outta Compton), a pseudo-doctor/manager in Brian's later years who kept him heavily medicated and tightly controlled.  I had so many questions about Brian's estrangement from his brothers and how things got to this dire point.  The film hints at such conflict but sidesteps the details, opting to leave it mysterious.  The film focuses on Brian's casual encounter with car saleswoman Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks) which sparks into a loving, genuine relationship; she is generally unaware of who he is and what parameters his life consists of now as he behaves a bit awkwardly and has a bodyguard follow him around. Melinda (and the audience) gradually uncovers the level of control that Landy has over all aspects of Brian's life.  Cross cut with the younger Brian fighting with his brothers and bandmates (and father), Love and Mercy is generally stronger at depicting Brian's eclectic music-making and painful struggles with hearing voices and mental illness in the earlier sections of the film.  The layering of the sounds and songs is quite brilliantly done by the film, even though it leaves major characters and questions unexplored and unanswered, like Brian's first wife, for instance, who is given next to nothing to do, sadly.  John Cusack is an actor that I like, and here he is forced to mostly play only a few notes: sluggish, spaced-out, drugged out, and fighting to swim to the surface.  Cusack is a capable actor, and even with the very good Banks at his side, he fails to capture my attention the way that Dano does.

In a depiction of a man putting himself out into the world again, the film modestly succeeds with showing Wilson's tentative steps with Melinda's love and guidance.  Undeniably, Wilson's music is so iconic and special, and treated as such here, and this film made me seek out "Pet Sounds" on Spotify to listen to and enjoy, as well as the song "Love and Mercy" which was new to me too and quite great.  Ultimately, I do not fully recommend this film, but it has its moments, and I can only marvel at the artistry and strength it took Brian Wilson to create such art in such conditions.  The world is a better place because of his iconic music and sounds.  He deserves a stronger movie.

That Wondrous Thing You Do!

Movie Reviewed: That Thing You Do!

Director: Tom Hanks

Date: 3 May 2020

jamesintexas Rating: ***1/2

Based on a comment in my favorite film podcast Battleship Pretension, I realized that I had never caught up with Tom Hanks's That Thing You Do! from fall of 1996.  I was a freshman at Kenyon College, miles away from a movie theater and car-less.  In fact, the big Kenyon Film Society field trip that January was to drive an hour into mid-Ohio to the Bexley Art Theater to see Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet.  But, I was immersing myself in film: Leaving Las Vegas and Dead Man Walking were the opening KFS film screening weekend in Rosse Hall.  But, I wasn't seeing many movies that were current until it was Thanksgiving Break or Christmas Break, so I missed this one completely and never caught up with it.  The release date was October 4th, 1996, and that's probably right around the All-Ohio Cross Country Meet in Delaware for the Kenyon Lords which was a huge part of my world (Ross, Mickey, Rudy, Jason, Dan, John, Brendan, Ryan, and Charlie), but I would like to think that I would have recognized and responded to the sheer exuberance and joyousness of this film.  There is an undeniable joy to this story, and it is lovingly told.

In Tom Hanks's directorial debut, the film depicts 1960's Erie, Pennsylvania as seen through the sunglasses of Guy Patterson (a winning Tom Everett Scott), a drummer who surreptitiously waits until the family appliance retail store that he works at is closed in order to practice his beats and dream of a day when he can perform in front of a crowd.  That day happens much sooner than expected due to a local group needing an emergency drummer because of a broken arm.  Guy joins the Oneders with Jimmy (Jonathon Schaech), Lenny (Steve Zahn), and The Bass Player (Ethan Embrey), as well as Faye (Liv Tyler), Jimmy's girlfriend and band's number one fan.  Their first gig explodes when Guy moves up the tempo on the eponymous "That Thing You Do!" much to the surprise of the band, but the crowd takes to it, jumping up out of their seats, dancing wildly, and generally grooving to the undeniably catchy song.  That song and set leads to a spot at a local Italian restaurant, a little bit of money, fans who follow them, and eventually, a manager in an RV.  The film moves effervescently from scene to scene, guided by the genuinely sweet performances by the leads who have an undeniable chemistry.  The film is very funny and warm, with the Oneders' good luck growing alongside their popularity.  They secure a record for their song, and when that song is first played on the local radio, their first time ever hearing themselves on the radio, the Oneders respond electrically, leaping out of cars in the middle of the street without shutting doors, blasting the song of every radio they can find in the appliance store, jumping up and down to it as parents and siblings look on in shock, basking in the moment of joy.  It is the best scene in a film of great scenes, and they quickly join forces with a savvy manager for a major record label, Mr. White (Tom Hanks), who steals nearly every scene he is in with his gruff and ruthless steering of their careers from state fairs to Hollywood; he christens them The Wonders, and seems above the silliness while appreciating it from a distance or at least coolly being able to size up what will probably happen to them.  "Watch the shelf," he remarks, adjusting his hair while The Wonders celebrate their single's rise up the chart. 

The film takes a recognizable trajectory with inevitable conflicts that arise from within the band and outsiders.  Yet, Hanks steers the film ably, making everything connect organically, from Guy's hero worship of famous musicians and getting to meet them to Lenny's wonderful embracing of the chaos of stardom, driving to Las Vegas with his new girl.  Lead singer Jimmy remains aloof and a bit of a mystery, and the film swerves into a last-minute romance that it may or may not earn, but the film savors its performances, lets its characters breathe and laugh and cry with each other, and has undeniably catchy music from the late Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne, who recently passed away due to COVID-19.  Hanks dabbled in some songwriting as well to capture the early 60's vibe of the film. 

I remember some of the first times that I ever saw my name in print, and though there is no equivalent to hearing your song on the radio, walking into Peirce Hall at Kenyon during the Fall of 1997 as a sophomore and seeing my film preview of Miller's Crossing in the stacks and stacks of The Kenyon Collegian newspaper was a memorable moment for me.  It was not quite seeing people rush the stage and mob you, but a satisfaction and a joy that had been building since I started reading Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel in middle school and wanting to be a film reviewer.  In the last decade, I had the privilege of being published in Cinespect (now defunct) and the great Battleship Pretension, both amazing and generous opportunities to share my voice with other people to get their reactions.  I still get a little bit of that rush when a friend comments on a film that I have loved with their own take, continuing the conversation, making me feel engaged in this world of art and artists.  That Thing You Do! earns its exclamation point, and I am forever indebted to Tyler and David from Battleship Pretension for steering me towards it during the quarantine.  If you need some joy in your life, borrow two hours of it from Tom Hanks, the impressive cast, and the catchy music of That Thing You Do!  Heck, I would listen to Battleship Pretension too.

And, it bears repeating, but Tom Hanks is and remains a national treasure.  I am glad he is recovered from COVID-19.  I am so glad to have grown up with him in films and pop culture, from Dragnet to Philadelphia, from Forrest Gump to Captain Phillips, from his advocacy for World War 2 veterans to David S. Pumpkins.  Seeing him host Saturday Night Live again and knowing that his light is still shining brings me hope.  Here's to many, many more Tom Hanks movies and appearances.