Promising Young Woman (2020), M.F.A. (2017)

I was having a hard time determining how to start my review of Emerald Fennell's film 'Promising Young Woman'. I knew I wanted to make the point that the film captured something of the spirit of a 1970's women's revenge picture but adapted for the era of MeToo. However despite some similarities to past exploitation movies 'Promising Young Woman' is too high brow in it's bearing, and legitimately emotional for that description to really capture it. Then I stumbled upon the 2017 film 'M.F.A.' for which the comparison is more apt. 

'M.F.A.' stars Clint Eastwood's daughter Francesca doing her own variation on the 'Dirty Harry' or 'Death Wish' type leads. She is a student in a masters of fine arts program at a California university, she is about to have consensual sex with a fellow student but he starts getting violent and will not stop. Francesca's character is stunned by the rape but eventually opens up to her roommate, who informs her of a friend (who later turns out to the be the roommate herself) who had a similar experience and went to the school administration who simply made her feel guilty and didn't do anything to help.

Francesca tries to just get on with her life but find's she can't, she goes to the school administration which is indeed no help, so she decides to confront her rapist who falls over a railing to his death during their confrontation. Before long the formerly shy wall flower, having found rape something of an epidemic on her campus, proceeds to seduce other rapists so as to kill them in various, often ironic ways. The detective on the case played by Clifton Collins Jr. eventually figures it out. 

'M.F.A.' is far closer to the kind of Pam Grier kick ass fair I was expecting from 'Promising Young Woman'. The 2017 film is efficient, though not always creditable in it's characterizations and provides plenty of satisfying feminist revenge action set pieces.  There is some pathos here, especially in the relationship between Francesca and her roommate, and the early rape scene is a tough watch.

While 'M.F.A.' is a good film 'Promising Young Woman' is by far a deeper exploration of it's uncomfortable subject matter. It's a smatter, more subtle movie then the earlier film, and while Ms. Eastwood is a good actress Carey Mulligan is a great one. 

Mulligan plays Casandra, a women on the verge of turning 30 who works in a coffee shop and lives at home with her parents. Casandra was once a 'promising young woman' a medical student who dropped out to care for her best friend when she had a mental breakdown following a rape. The friend later killed herself and Casandra never recovered, retreating into her self and seemingly giving up on life. 

While Casandra may appear to be doing nothing on the surface with her existence she is in fact engaged in a long running project. She will go to a bar or a club, pretend to be extremely drunk, and when a man takes her back to his place hoping to have his way with her she will confront him. It's kind of an odd plan, a form of reeducation effort through guilt, makes for some awkward but effective scenes. While these efforts appear to be about regaining a sense of control in her life, they actually seem to be preventing her from living it.  

Cassandra may have found a off ramp from her form of vigilantism when a former medical school acquaintance played by Bo Burnham happens into her coffee shop. He's nice to her, and the two start dating and Cassandra seems to be regaining a sense of joy in life. Then Cassandra encounters some information about her friends rapist, now a successful doctor and about to get married and the stage is set for a kind of final confrontation.  

'Promising Young Woman' is a slow burn, a seeming walk towards disaster, a story of pain, and obsession, and of revenge, it's about being lost in a mental place of being unsure how to move on. In the end I felt disoriented, unsure of just what to make of what I had seen and the film stayed with me for days. I still find it hard to get a handle on this film, on exactly what it's message is. It's exceptionally well done, and feels timely, one of the best and most memorable films of it's year.  

Promising Young Woman ****

M.F.A. ***

Minari (2020)

 'Minari' is the name of a Korean herb for those who were wondering, and it grows best near water, which is kind of a metaphor. The film is about a first generation Korean American family who relocate from the west cost to Arkansas in the mid 80's. Jacob and Monica Yi (Steven Yeun and Han Ye-ri ) are both Chicken Sexers, meaning they are skilled at swiftly determining the sex of baby chicks, an important job at hatcheries. The move is inspired by Jacob's dream of eventually running his own farm, or garden as he calls it. Monica is not so sure but want's to support her husband, however concern about their seven year old son's heart condition, and her desire to be near more Koreans put some strain on the marriage. 

Eventually Monica's widowed mother is sent for from Korea, however she likes to play cards and swear so that seven year old David (Alan Kim) concludes that she is not "a real grandmother". Going in I was expecting the Yi's to suffer the undue prejudices of their neighbors, however everyone seems to treat them real well. Of course there is the odd cultural misunderstanding, the Yi's employ a Pentecostal Korean War vet named Paul (Will Patton, possible best supporting actor Oscar contender) to help them around the farm, and it takes them awhile to know what to make of him. 

'Minari' is principally about family dynamics, and the push and pull of a marriage. Slow and meditative it builds to an especially strong final third. I love a film that shows me something I haven't seen before, and I haven't seen this. One of last years best. **** 

 (Chick sexing: Method of distinguishing the sex of chickens and other hatchlings), but they move in puriset 

The Firm (1993)

'The Firm', yep I'd never seen this. 1990's John Gresham legal thrillers are just satisfying viewing, strong track record during the Clinton years. Great cast with especially fine work from Gene Hackman. Cruse is all purpose leading man, Jean Tripplehorn in fine form, Hal Holbrook, Ed Harris, Wilfrid "freaking" Brimley, what else could you want? Well we'll throw in David Strathairn, Holly Hunter, and a glorified Gary Busey cameo, as well as foot chases and a Tennessee setting. Sold.  *** 

Get Me Roger Stone (2017)

 'Get Me Roger Stone' is a Netflix produced documentary on the famed Republican dirty trickster. It basically confirmed for me what I went into the film thinking, that Stone is basically amoral. He is not just an 'ends justify the means' guy, but someone who thinks that ethically dubious means can be pretty fun. ***

Willy's Wonderland (2021)

In 'Willy's Wonderland' a silent Nicolas Cage is locked overnight in a Chucky Cheese/Showbiz Pizza type restaurant whose animatronic figures are possessed by the ghosts of serial killers. A group of young people anchored by Emila Tosta also end up stuck in the abandoned building, they for the most part do far less well then Cage. Largely a one joke idea, I was intrigued by the casting of Beth Grant as the local sheriff, having seen the movie I now wish Grant had gotten to play police in a better film. Similar in premise to that 'Banana Splits' flick from a few years back. *1/2

The Student Nurses (1970)

 'The Student Nurses' was perhaps surprisingly directed by a woman, Stephanie Rothman who is still with us at 84. Made for Roger Corman's New World Pictures the film was a surprise success, and launched a wave of 'nurses' themed exploration features over the next several years. 

This films kind of a weird beast, built around some low common denominator studio dictates, lots of skin, occasional nudity, and violence. We see the breasts of three of the four principle student nurses and there is an attempted rape less then four minutes into the picture. Yet it's transgressively progressive in other ways, containing a pretty non judgmental abortion story line, mater of fact depictions of drug use and sympathy towards semi-militant minority youths. It's like a period medical anthology was run through an HBO filter.

Some of the acting and writing is pretty bad, and the tone is a little all over the place. However at the time this was an achievement, using a spoon full of pruience to help the social awareness go down, in a most delightful way. **1/2

Treasure Island (1950)

'Treasure Island' was Disney's first full length all live action motion picture. Filmed in Britain and distributed by RKO Pictures, it's probably a little slow for modern audiences, but it looks great, bravo on the costumes and set design. The ill fated actor Bobby Driscoll (found dead in an abandoned New York tenement building at 31) plays young Jim Hawkins, while Robert Newton gives perhaps the most piratey performance in film history (and I'm including Johnny Depp) as Long John Silver,  a part he would return to in another movie as well as a television series before dying from an alcohol abated heart heart attack six years later at the age of 50. So there are some sad tangential stories to this, but it's probably the most iconic version of the story that will ever be put to film. ***

Mitt (2014)

A documentary on the two presidential campaigns (2008 and 2012) of Mitt Romney. 'Mitt' is a refreshing watch, especially after four years of Donald Trump in the White House. It's the family dynamics and inter relationships that give this film it's hook, the Romney's allowed a documentary camera crew into some fairly private moments, and they came out looking quite good. They are true cheesy Mormons, and they really care about one another and others. It is interesting to see Mitt Romney acknowledge his faults as a candidate, sometimes he can be quite candied and observant, sometimes there is a little bit of denial, but hey he is a politician. ***

For the Love of Spock (2016)

 'For the Love of Spock' is director Adam Nimoy's tribute to the iconic Star Trek character and the actor who first played him, his father Leonard Nimoy. While I don't think I can quite call it "fascinating" it is rather interesting, I knew little of the actors past and personal life, and the complicated and sometimes strained relationship between father and son made for an effective dramatic arc, something you don't always get in a tribute doc like this. Some playful editing. ***

Long Weekend (1978)

 The 1978 Australian film 'Long Weekend' wasn't a hit when it first came out, but overtime became iconic enough to warrant a remake 30 years later. It is the story of Peter and Marica (John Hargreaves & Briony Behets) a suburban couple in their mid 30's who decide to take a long weekend vacation at an isolated stretch of beach. The couples relationship is not in the best place, swingers who've recently decided to revert to monogamy to try and save things, they have secrets from and hidden resentments towards one another. 

The whole weekend begins wrong, a fight at home about bringing the dog (they do), and getting lost on the way there. When they arrive in addition to their domestic problems nature seems to be against them, Peter is attacked by an eagle and chased by a shark while surfing, ants get at the food, small animals into the tent, the dog disappears, and the corpse of a Dugong (a sea cow like marine mammal) keeps moving locations. In addition there is a van parked further down the beach and a small base camp, but the people that go with it are never seen. 

The film is an intriguing mixed bag, there is much slow tension building that can get a little old, punctuated by intense moments. There's seeming homages to things as diverse as 'The Bird's' and  'Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf'. Things get increasingly surreal, and it's never entirely clear exactly what's happening. The wrath of God for disrespecting the environment? Ghosts? Are they victims of a prank gone out of hand? Are they just going mad? I can't say I really enjoyed it, but I was kind of impressed by it, and may have to watch it again to try and make more sense of it. Sometime graphic, very not for everybody. ***

Currently free on Prime. 

Midnight Mary (1933)

'Midnight Mary' is another Wellman directed pre code picture, this one featuring a 19 year old Loretta Young who is astoundingly beautiful. She's a good girl whose had a rough life, got mixed up as a gangsters moll, then get's an opportunity and goes straight for awhile, but ultimately has to back out when her old life threatens the safety of the good man for whom she's fallen in love (Franchot Tone). Film is bookended by her murder trail. More then competently done, but still unable to transcend it's genera limitations. It's Young's presence that makes the movie not completely forgettable. ** 

Frisco Jenny (1932)

 'Frisco Jenny' is a William Wellman directed pre-code picture that is an ode to the love and scarifies of motherhood. It really lays it on thick. Frisco Jenny Sandoval (Ruth Chatterton) works in her fathers bar/brother (notably not as prostitute) but hopes to change her life by marrying an aspiring musician. Both her fiancé and her father are killed in the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake (this film came out 4 years before the better known 'San Francisco', it's effects shots are much more limited) and she is left pregnant and unemployed. 

Jenny has her baby boy and try's to go straight, but economic desperation drives her back and into the world of organized crime (it's never quite said outright but she's a pimp). After tangential involvement in a murder Jenny's well connected employer arranges to stash her kid with a wealthy family until the smoke clears. That process, and Jenny's efforts to put away enough money so that her and her son can make a new start of things somewhere far away, well it takes years. By the time Jenny is ready to go her son has forgotten about her and bonded with his new family. So Jenny let's him go but keeps an eye on the young man's progress even while re entering the world of shady dealings.

Jenny's son grows up to be a prosecutor who runs afoul of Jenny's boss who tries to kill him, but Jenny kills the boss before he can do so. Jenny ends up on trial, prosecuted by her own son, and is sentenced to death. Jenny refuses to divulge her real identity to her son fearing that it would ruin his life, and in the end makes the ultimate sacrifice. 

A mixture of the syrupy and rough, Chatterton tries but the movies still trite and even with Wellman's expert technical handling the films only fair. **

Easy A (2010)

 'Easy A' is an early Emma Stone vehicle, and a good one. Comedy is a variation on 'The Scarlet Letter' where good girl Stone gains an unearned reputation as the school slut (she's still a virgin) when a rumor she started to appease a friend gets out of hand. Good cast, Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson play unusually enlightened parents. Thomas Haden Church, Amanda Bynes, Aly Michalka and Malcom McDowell also appear. I enjoyed it, though it's hard to buy the films conceit that Emma Stone starts the story largely ignored by the men in her high school. ***

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Now I had never previously seen a Terminator film after 'T2', but I watch enough film criticism on YouTube to know that the biggest problem the franchise faced after the sequel is that there really wasn't anywhere left to go. Now of course it's fairly easy to come up with all sorts of ideas to continue to franchise but the problem is that 'T2' resolved all the major plot lines, it and the original 'Terminator' act as a coherent whole, the story is done. Subsequent sequels subverted the resolution of 'T2' in an attempt through various means to bring SkyNet back as a threat. 'Terminator: Dark Fate' had the moderately clever idea not to do that. 

Ignoring all previous subsequent films in the franchise 'Terminator: Dark Fate' is a direct sequel to 1991's 'Terminator 2'. It jumps events forward from the end of that film in 1997, to an awkward coda in 1998, and then on to 2020. Here the threat is not 'SkyNet' but a subsequent military computer system called 'Legion' which like it's now alternate reality predecessor eventually unleashed a war of extermination on men by way of a mechanized army. 

Embracing a kind of determinist reading of the future, event's repeat with changed players. A resistance in the 2040's send a cybernetically enhanced Mackenzie Davis back in time to protect a youngish Natalie Reyes, whose survival is deemed pivotal to humanities hopes in the future, from a new Terminator played by Gabriel Luna. What I liked most about Luna's Terminator is that he is polite, operating on the 'get more flies from honey' philosophy, instead of going head on against copes, the boarder patrol, and the military, he attempts to integrate himself into them, and is nice about it.

Linda Hamilton returns to the franchise after 28 years, her son Connor was killed by an unaccounted for 'back up' terminator a year after the events of the second film. Hamilton's Sarah Connor has spent most of the decades subsequent fighting other robots sent from the future, regularly tipped off to the time and place of their appearing by a mysterious allie who contacts her by text messaging.

Conner joins forces with the two new leads in an attempt to save the future of humanity again, and comes to realize that despite all her sacrifice she is unremembered in the future she helped save. This is an interesting idea, there is some pathos there, but as an action franchise this is undermined some by giving Hamilton lines like 'I kill Terminators, and then I drink myself unconscious'.

Sarah's adventures over twenty plus years might have made for a more interesting story, such as under what circumstances she earned the unwavering loyalty of a military Colonel who helps the group acquire both an EMP and air transportation.  

The most ridicules part of this movie, which mixes a few intriguing concepts with basic character types, uninspired dialogue, and over produced action sequences is the return of Arnold. Schwarzenegger plays that back up Terminator we see kill young John Conner in the brief 1998 sequence near the beginning of the film. Now cut off from a future that doesn't exist, and with no further orders to carry out, this Terminator proceeds to grow a conscience, feel bad for what he did to Sarah and act as her mysterious contact, his systems being able to track time distortion waves from incoming time travels several days before their actual materialization. 

In addition to this the Terminator now going by the name 'Carl' has a wife and step son (who he saved from a previous domestic abuse situation) and is in the draperies business outside of Laredo, Texas. Now that is the Terminator film I really want to see, the domestic life of a killer robot drapist.

It is the moments where 'Dark Fate' touches on the existential, or just goes in bizarre directions, that make this movie watchable. Otherwise it's jus forgettable Michael Bay type stuff. Still the improbable and odd ball story decisions earn this film a borderline recommendation. **

Viva Zapata! (1952)

Elia Kazan directs Marlon Brando (who does not yet seem to hate his job here) from a screenplay by John Steinbeck. Slanted bio pic of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. Film lacks for actual Mexican's, even Anthony Quinn is part Irish. The film is pretty earnest however and thus better then it should be. Reportedly John McCain's favorite movie. ***

The Stone Tape (1972)

 This British television film originally aired on Christmas day, though it's not exactly uplifting. 'The Stone Tape' tells the story of a group of audio experts attempting to capture what may be the sound of a ghost on tape. A gothic mansion, obsession, in fighting, and a very clever explanation for supernatural phenomena. I'd been wanting to see this for around a decade, it's currently available as a two dollar rental on Prime. **1/2. 

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (2011)

 I liked this film a fair deal better then the 2009 'Sherlock Holmes' also staring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. The first film in this, seemingly already dead, franchise had a stupide plot that annoyed me and a style that I found off-putting. It wasn't Holmes. 'Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows' isn't really Holmes either, though it comes closer. It's like a hybrid of Holmes and James Bond, a Eurocentric adventure consisting mostly of unmemorable dialogue and over produced action sequences. It got better as it went along, but never properly captilized on the death of Rachel McAdams character earlier in the film as a motivator for Sherlock. Jared Harris was a fine Moriarty, I wish he'd had that part in a better film. I'm a Noomi Rapace fan, but as too often happens this film gave her relatively little to do. The plot is surprisingly similar to that of the  'League of Extraordinary Gentleman' film of 2003, which was also bad. *1/2 

In retrospective I'd downgrade the first film form *1/2 to *. 

The Little Things (2021)

A friend who had seen 'The Little Things' on HBO Max recommended it to me. This is a Warner Brother's film so it's being simultaneously released on HBO's platform and in theaters. I don't have Max so I opted to see it theatrically, I like to try and get out on occasion as like many these day's I'm largely living as a shut in, and several chains are currently operating in the Salt Lake area and they ain't crowded. 

Recommendation and outing however are secondary reasons for going to see this particular film, I was intrigued when I learned that it is set in the 90's. While of course many films were made in the 1990's it's not an era subsequently much depicted as period piece. It further turns out that 'The Little Things' did not begin as a period piece, the first draft of the screenplay was completed by John Lee Hancock ('The Blind Side', 'Saving Mr. Banks') in 1993. 

Eventually Hancock himself, now a director, opted to personally bring his vision to screen, though over the nearly thirty years it took to get this film made the project was attached to various named directors to helm, including Clint Eastwood, Danny DeVito and Warren Beatty. Steven Spielberg turned down the film on the grounds that it was too dark. This intrigued me because as I sat watching it in the theater I kept thinking how refreshingly straight forward this serial killer film seemed. Outside of the shots of nude bodies it felt like a movie of the week that could have aired on CBS some Sunday night thirty years ago. Though I do mean that in a good way what truly makes this film are 'the little things'. 

Denzel Washington seems to always bring it even in crap, and this movie ain't crap, at least not in my estimation, though many film critics seem to disagree. He plays a burnt out former LA County homicide detective who is back in the city after five years running an errand for the small force up north for which he now works. As he was once considered great at his job, a young detective played by Rami Malek (nicely cast against type) brings him in to consult on a series of murders of young women. This case bares some similarity to the one Washington burnt himself out on, and though they butt heads at first Denzel and Rami soon become equally obsessed with the murders, and their prime suspect, a creepy appliance repair man played by Jared Leto.

This police producorial mystery becomes increasingly a cat and mouse game, and is deceptively well constructed. The 90's setting helps set it apart some, and does away with the prevalence of cell phones and computers that can blunt some the tension and difficulties of contemporary crime stories. 'The Little Things' doesn't break new ground or reinvent the wheel, but it does harken back to an earlier ethos of crime drama and makes a fairly standard mystery story feel fresh again. ***

Three Men and a Baby (1987)

 You know I don't think I'd ever seen this one all the way through. 'Three Men and a Baby' was the biggest box office hit of 1987, making $240 million off an $11 million budget. The idea of a comedy being the biggest grossing film of a given year is almost unfathomable in this (I suspect now fading) era of super hero blockbusters, yet it the 80's it was pretty common. 

A remake of a French film from a couple of years before 'Baby' was directed by Leonard Nimoy of all people, coming off his success both before and behind the camera in 'Star Trek 4'. Steve Guttenberg, plus TV stars Tom Selleck and Ted Danson are lady loving bachelor buddies sharing an apartment in New York City. They end up in unexpected custody of a six month old girl, while also landing in the middle of an underdeveloped hereon smuggling plot. 

The script's not great, but you will get to like the three men, as well as the baby. Having 'tough' guy's lookin after a baby was apparently considered a hilarious concept back in 1987 and I expected it would date poorly. However the thing holds up, again not out of the strength of the story, or because anything is particularly funny, but because you just really like these characters, even if they're hardly deep. ***

 If you opt to see 'A Ghost Story' go in knowing this is not a conventional film, and is what you might call slow. It is a meditation on the idea of eternity, it likes to hold it's shots for longer then you're used to and is not in rush, there is a scene of around 6 minutes where Rooney Mara grief eats a pie. Mara eats her pie in the aftermath of the death of her lover Casey Affleck. Affleck has died in a car accident and rather then enter the portal to the next world that conveniently opens for him in the hospital, he opts to stick around, wanders back to his old home and just kind of stays there, literally a ghost in a sheet, but invisible to the mortal world (with a possible exception or two). 

Affleck occasional messes with electricity in an involuntary way, but when he gets angry he can do things like nock books off shelves. When Rooney moves out of the house he stays, through multiple subsequent renters, and even after the place is torn down, and an office tower built in it's place. The film takes a turn near the end which I won't go into here. Only an hour and thirty two minute's in length it will probably feel longer. I enjoyed it, I thought it had some interesting ideas but I wasn't greatly moved as I had been bracing myself to be. Currently on Netflix. ***

A Ghost Story (2017)

 If you opt to see 'A Ghost Story' go in knowing this is not a conventional film, and is what you might call slow. It is a medication on the idea of eternity, it likes to hold it's shots for longer then you're used to and is not in rush, there is a scene of around 6 minutes where Rooney Mara grief eats a pie. Mara eats her pie in the aftermath of the death of her lover Casey Affleck. Affleck has died in a car accident and rather then enter the portal to the next world that conveniently opens for him in the hospital, he opts to stick around, wanders back to his old home and just kind of stays there, literally a ghost in a sheet, but invisible to the mortal world (with a possible exception or two). 

Affleck occasional messes with electricity in an involuntary way, but when he gets angry he can do things like nock books off shelves. When Rooney moves out of the house he stays, through multiple subsequent renters, and even after the place is torn down, and an office tower built in it's place. The film takes a turn near the end which I won't go into here. Only an hour and thirty two minute's in length it will probably feel longer. I enjoyed it, I thought it had some interesting ideas but I wasn't greatly moved as I had been bracing myself to be. Currently on Netflix. ***

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952)

 'The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men' is the second fully live action film Disney produced, the first being 1950's 'Treasure Island'. The film takes many of its ques both visually and structurally from the the 1938 Fox version, though it contains more back story on Robin and Marion's early relationship and what motivatived Loxley to become Hood. Not a lot of character development which actually works for this film, it's streamed down only an hour and twenty four minute running time. It's a simple bedtime story put to film, upbeat as I think Hood is meant to be. The cast is mostly unremarkable, Joan Rice is cute, and Richard Todd his usual bland self. Future Oscar winner Peter Finch is the Sheriff of Nottingham, and there is a fun scene where he is guilted by a crowed to donate more money to the fund to free King Richard then Robin and his men donated from 'stolen' funds. **1/2