Movie review: "The Post"

dir. by Steven Spielberg
written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer
Uniting Steven Speilberg with two of Hollywood's finest actors and a timely script, The Post seems like a surefire recipe for awards success. It's a recipe which on the surface seems foolproof: a major event from American history, milked for all of its contemporary relevance, perfectly poised for great actors to do their thing, all wrapped up with direction from one of the greatest filmmakers currently working. While such a perfect formula may bring the accusation of Oscar bait, that doesn't necessarily mean the film isn't worthwhile: that a premise is suspiciously timely doesn't make it less powerful, and that the performances are so heavily emphasized doesn't diminish their excellence.

But there's only so much that great actors and a great director can do, and with The Post, they're given the tough job of elevating a script which consists largely of a constant stream of exposition, with plot detail after plot detail explained to the audience and personal stakes which strain against that plot for even the faintest hint of emotional resonance. The film's politics are certainly admirable, and Spielberg's mastery of tone and tension elevates the whole affair, but it's only in the all-too-rare moments where the film shuts up for a moment that it finally gains the tension which this story so desperately needs.

Movie review: "The Disaster Artist"

dir. by James Franco
written by Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber

Quick rundown for those not in the know: In 2003, an enigmatic weirdo named Tommy Wiseau released his directorial debut, a strange, inept drama titled The Room, in which an obvious director surrogate - of course played by Wiseau himself - has his life fall apart as everyone he knows "betrays" him. The film, which played in an extremely limited run, was soon the target of mockery, and gained a sizable cult following over the years in large part due to internet popularity and ironic midnight screenings. Ten years later, actor Greg Sestero, who played a key role in Wiseau's film, collaborated with a journalist on a memoir regarding the production of the film, featuring numerous stranger-than-fiction details, and now we're here, with a film adaptation.

When The Disaster Artist works best, it's emphasizing Wiseau's secretive past and the surrealism of the filming process, and much of its humour comes from the astonishing strangeness of its real story. It's filled with great performances and some fairly solid comedic timing, and particularly in its energetic second half, the film is genuinely riveting. But Franco and his writers have no perspective on Wiseau, and despite emphasizing many of the dark edges in this real-world story, the film settles on an upbeat, self-congratulatory tone which at once feels like a mismatch for the material and like bland self-congratulation. The Disaster Artist, as entertaining as it can be, only occasionally recognizes the real value in this story, and its ultimate positivity feels undeserved.

Movie review: "Okja"

dir. by Bong Joon-ho
Okja is not only the successor to Bong Joon-ho's excellent 2014 film Snowpiercer, but also Netflix's first stab at the festival circuit. The streaming service had made stabs at art films previously with Beasts of No Nation as well as numerous Sundance acquisitions earlier this year, but Okja's position in the Competition for Cannes's Palme d'Or was a big enough deal that its very inclusion proved controversial.

It's an absurd controversy, frankly, as a film is a film regardless of where it's viewed, and Bong's reputation is enough to have earned that Competition slot on its own. Indeed, Okja's environmentalist moralizing suits it to film festival awards just as well as its exciting spectacle suits it for widespread popularity, and it's no surprise that many were immediately won over. Unfortunately, as exciting, funny, and technically accomplished as Okja is, it's all brought down by heavy-handed, one-sided moralizing which at times borders on manipulative.

Movie review: "Silence"

dir. by Martin Scorcese
Silence is a film which Martin Scorcese has been trying to get made since the 1990s. An adaptation of Shūsaku Endō's 1966 novel of the same name, the film dramatizes the oppression of Catholics in Feudal Japan, following a Portuguese Jesuit mission. What drew Scorcese, an auteur who frequently deals with themes regarding faith, to the material is obvious, and Silence is remarkable both for the obvious passion which went into its creation, as well as for its nuanced themes on the nature of faith, sin, guilt, and arrogance. However, at nearly three hours, the film is a monotonous and frequently unengaging sit, and while its fascinating concepts and enormity of vision make it worth seeing, it stands on the line between art and homework.