Movie review: "Mandy"

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directed by Panos Cosmatos
written by Panos Cosmatos, Aaron Stewart-Ahn

For several years now, Nicolas Cage has been largely banished from mainstream cinema. Since 2013's Joe and excepting the occasional Paul Schrader joint, the Oscar-winning, internet-beloved actor has been largely relegated to direct-to-video dreck, and low-budget trifles. Recently, however, that's begun to change, with Mom and Dad receiving a cult following out of TIFF 2017, and Teen Titans Go! To the Movies casting him as none other than Superman himself.

But neither of those movies has accumulated as much momentum as Mandy, Panos Cosmatos's mesmerizing, intensely stylized, frequently absurd evocation of both B-movie pulp and prog-rock grandiosity. Cosmatos blends self-serious, droning aesthetic experimentation with pandering machismo, creating a hallucinatory, genuinely transporting landscape all in the service of watching Nic Cage kill biker lizardmen and druggie cultists. This film's perverse blend of highbrow stylings and lowbrow content marks it as perfect cult film material.

Movie review: "BlacKkKlansman"

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dir. by Spike Lee
written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmot, and Spike Lee

For a good while now, Spike Lee has balanced his for-hire work with much more idiosyncratic projects, every Oldboy remake or NBA 2K story mode balanced with oddities like a Chicago-set adaptation of an ancient Greek play, or a story about a man cursed with a thirst for blood. Given that recent history, BlacKkKlansman is one of his more straightforward premises, a biopic based on a particularly strange piece of history, with a lot of work already done by the premise. On the other hand, the film comes as not only Lee's first Palme d'Or competitor since 1991's Jungle Fever, but also as the winner of the second-place Grand Prix at that same festival.

Indeed, it's the relative accessibility of the film which is its greatest strength. Here, Lee has crafted a funny, tense crowd-pleaser while intertwining pointed social commentary into the humour and narrative, and the result is a film which is equally thoughtful and entertaining. The film is professional and straightforward without being mindless, and at the same time it's intelligent and righteous without being self-indulgent... well, mostly. Come for the crazy premise, stay for the sharp critique of American institutional racism.

Movie review: "Incredibles 2"

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dir. and written by Brad Bird
Going into the long-awaited sequel to The Incredibles, I had some idea what to expect: fun action scenes, a funny script, and quirky family dynamics with a superhero flavour. The first Incredibles, released over 10 years ago now, is one of Pixar's best films, an exciting, funny, and inventive take on the superhero genre which remains delightful and refreshing even as its graphics have aged. Incredibles 2 is many of those things, and retains the humorous family dynamics and the exciting, creative setpieces, albeit with a somewhat darker tone in places. This is still a film which takes advantage of it superheroes' abilities far better than most films in the genre, and it's still refreshing to see superheroes placed in this context.

The difference is that Incredibles 2 is weirdly overstuffed and idea-driven, juggling at least three main thematic threads which it adheres very closely to, even stating in blunt dialogue on more than one occasion. These three main threads are disparate enough that they directly compete with one another whenever they come into contact, and none is quite as fleshed out as they could have been, but what's particularly commendable about this movie is that it weaves these ideas into the story in intriguing and often hilarious ways, very rarely feeling like it stops dead to sermonize. If recent Pixar sequels like Finding Dory have felt too similar to their predecessors, Incredibles 2 stands out by doing something different.

Movie review: "Hereditary"

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written and directed by Ari Aster
I'm not very well versed in the horror genre, but when I do watch horror films, I tend to prefer them to be on the artsy side. Great films like The Babadook and The Witch have been major highlights of their respective years, and the latter established distribution company A24 as a major purveyor of weird, artsy horror films, with a similarly harrowing release in last year's It Comes at Night cementing this reputation. Even more than the aforementioned films, however, Ari Aster's Sundance hit Hereditary seems tailor-made to alienate mainstream audiences, an exquisite slow burn which only explodes very late into its running time.

It's peculiar, then, that what holds Hereditary back from greatness is that it's not weird enough. While certain themes are carried through into the horror elements, others actively compete with them, resulting in the curious effect that the film becomes less moving as it gets scarier. Approximately half of Hereditary is a powerful meditation on grief and guilt, while the other half is a sharp, imaginative modern horror feature. But despite the latter half gaining much of its effectiveness from the former, the actual imagery offered here has very little to do with the psychological depth which the film is so successful in establishing. But even with that disconnect, it's hard to resist a movie which is this accomplished on a scene-to-scene basis.

Movie review: "Thoroughbreds"

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dir./writ. by Corey Finley
Feature film debuts are a hard business. Acclimatizing to hour-plus filmmaking can be a hard process for many filmmakers, and while some directors like Jordan Peele hit the ground running, others take a bit longer to find their footing. Corey Finley, not unlike Peele, has prior experience in another medium, in this case theatre, and this goes some distance to explaining the unpredictability and novelty of Thoroughbreds, his first work as a filmmaker. The film is a showy exercise, heavy on concept and light on thematic heft, but Finley's writing talent shines through in the film's tightly-wound thrills and razor-sharp dark humour.

What makes Finley's debut so astonishing, though, is that, despite never making a film before, he has matched his exciting narrative with a strong formal style. So many first-time filmmakers can only dream of making something this confident and distinct, and yet Finley seems as comfortable with the form as if he had been making movies for years, merging his great script with an off-kilter, unnerving aesthetic which colours even the most mundane of events. So sharp is his formal control that it elaborates and elevates the already exhilarating content of his script, and if this film is any indication, Finley should find cinema a good fit for his talents.

Movie review: "Black Panther"

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dir by Ryan Coolger
writ. by Ryan Coolger and Joe Robert Cole
It's widely acknowledged by now that the post-Iron Man superhero genre has been overwhelmingly dominated by stories about good super-powered white men defeating sinister villains and scary monsters. The current crop of Marvel movies so frequently rely on such traditional narratives that they've come under wide criticism for it, and while movies like Doctor Strange and Thor: Ragnarok added tweaks to the films' visual styles, they're nonetheless cut from the same template. It works, but it's been working for a full decade at this point, and understandably some people are starting to get tired of it. Black Panther could have been an unholy disaster, and it still would have stood out not only for swapping out the skin colour and cultural background of its cast, but also for making tweaks to these movies' expected plot structure.

However, what Marvel hasn't gotten quite enough credit for lately is how they've attempted to infuse many of their recent films with a greater degree of introspection. What they dub "Phase 3" started with the genuinely thoughtful Captain America: Civil War, a film in which the primary conflict didn't even have a proper villain, and which seemed surprisingly ambivalent about the fundamental tropes of its own genre. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 tied all of its characters back into a nuanced theme about finding one's family, and Spider-Man: Homecoming featured subtext about wealth and privilege in both the genre and in modern America. Black Panther, then, didn't come out of nowhere, but while it's more talky and heavy than much of Marvel's usually buoyant catalogue, it's also the studio's most dramatically compelling and thematically committed film to date, and generally its best since Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Movie review: "Paddington 2"

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dir. by Paul King
writ. by Paul King & Simon Farnaby
2015's Paddington was an unexpected delight, a sweet and funny kids' movie which did justice to its source material with a warm and inviting tone which gave it broad family appeal despite being clearly geared at a younger demographic. Especially when so much family fare can be shrill and overly self-aware. the simple charms and Wes Anderson-inspired visuals of Paddington were refreshing, even with all of its broad slapstick.

Like its predecessor, Paddington 2 has arrived in North American cinemas riding a tidal wave of good news from its original United Kingdom release, and also like its predecessor, that praise is warranted. But whereas the original film was merely sweet and endearing, this sequel is a nonstop delight, tightening up the prior film's slapstick while doubling down on its heartwarming sweetness, making for a truly joyous example of pure cinematic pleasure. Paddington 2 is absolutely brilliant, and that makes its American dump release in January all the more criminal.

Movie review: "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

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dir. and written by Rian Johnson
Star Wars has been successful for 40 years. It's a testament to the strength of this franchise that it's never fallen from the popular consciousness, but it's also a testament to the sheer force of marketing which has always surrounded these films. Any franchise as successful as this risks falling victim to complacency, delivering exactly what its fans expect for fear of alienating them, and while The Force Awakens gloriously tip-toed the line between paying tribute to all that came before it while still providing a new, exciting future for this universe, its deviations from series formula were related to theme and character, whereas its plot structure remained similar to the the original film from 1977, albeit purposefully so.

The Last Jedi matches its predecessor for thematic impact, fascinating characters, and astonishing action scenes, but it adds an almost total refusal to give in to fan expectations, and this is what makes it a more challenging and ultimately superior movie. There's nothing predictable about this latest Star Wars, which renders it ultimately more mysterious than this franchise has been in ages, and it benefits further from the considerable skill of director Rian Johnson, who is among the greatest visual stylists to ever operate on this universe. It's a long, often grim, at times even surprisingly talky, and yet it's also relentlessly gripping, punctured by strong comedic beats and some of the greatest action scenes the series has ever seen. Despite all of its idiosyncrasy, this is unmistakably Star Wars at its very finest.

Movie review: "Lady Bird"

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dir. and written by Greta Gerwig
Teenagers can be terrible. Last year's The Edge of Seventeen understood that, and mined it for a lot of pathos and humour, presenting a character who's just beginning to see the world outside of her own mind. Greta Gerwig's directorial debut, Lady Bird, plays on many of the same themes, but imbues them with even more detail and specificity, with a more ambitious lead character and a much wider thematic range. It's just as funny, and boasts both more pathos and more irresolution, and by a wide margin it manages to eclipse last year's already wonderful entry in the genre.

But that's not to say that this is an iteration on already-explored themes. Here, Gerwig shows potential to be just as accomplished a writer and director as she is an actress, with a nuanced script which boasts loads of specificity, strongly developed characters, and powerful insight into the relationships between parents and their children. Specificity has a way of revealing universals, and as much as Lady Bird works simply as an uproarious teen comedy, the way it ends isn't with a big laugh but with one final note of soulful contemplation. This is a wonderful movie.

Movie review: "The Florida Project"

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dir. by Sean Baker

written by Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch

A couple years ago, Sean Baker took the festival circuit by storm with his thrilling, energetic comedy-drama Tangerine, a film about a transgender sex worker getting back at her cheating pimp/boyfriend. Tangerine featured a street-level, D.I.Y. vibe: its cast was comprised entirely of non-professional actors, and it was shot on three iPhones. Baker's new film, The Florida Project, has switched to conventional film stock and features Hollywood star Willem Dafoe, but it has the same down-to-earth authenticity which marked his debut, with naturalistic acting from what's still mostly a cast of unknowns, and the same delightful sense of humour.

What's different in The Florida Project, more even than the cameras and Dafoe, is an increase in ambition. Tangerine was largely a comedy, but while the new film is still very funny, it has much more on its mind than just its subtle progressive politics. The Florida Project is an often poetic look at the shadow of decadence, a portrait of people living on the margins and both the forces and cycles which work to keep them there. Its build is a little slower than that of Tangerine, but its cumulative emotional power is much greater, and if the earlier film demonstrated Baker's promise, this new one codifies him as an auteur to keep an eye on. 

Game of Thrones episode review: "The Dragon and the Wolf"

Image from IMDb.

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dir. by Jeremy Podeswa

writ. by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

The new blockbuster iteration of Game of Thrones is maybe the most popular the show has ever been. It's hardly surprising: newbies and longtime viewers alike can revel in all the fan service, and all the superficial crowd-pleasing has made it an easier watch than ever. It fills the fantasy niche and offers a level of spectacle which you rarely get outside of a movie theatre. All the things which have made it less distinctive and less sophisticated also make it more accessible, so of course it's only ever gotten more and more popular. 

And you know what? It's not so bad. A quickened pace, some great special effects, and what's now seven years worth of character development make for a show which is no longer great art, but is still a lot of fun. Season 7's finale, "The Dragon and the Wolf," slows the pace down, and while it still rushes some crucial moments, it also has several of the season's best scenes, and clarifies the show's intriguing thematic conflict. It took me a while to be convinced, but this new Game of Thrones is alright. 

Movie review: "Dunkirk"

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dir./written by Christopher Nolan
In recent years, superstar director Christopher Nolan has fancied himself a technician. The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar were undeniably theatrical experiences, and now, his Dunkirk is the first major film to be shot with IMAX cameras. Nolan has gone as far as to refer to his films as "theatrical experiences," and would implicitly prefer if you saw this new one on the format which he designed it for. However, the risk of designing a film around technology is that it will lose its power in a lesser format, so for all of Dunkirk's acclaim, I approached with trepidation.

In truth, appreciation of Dunkirk is likely to come easy no matter what format it's experienced in, as while the sound and image of the IMAX cinema serves to enhance the film's cacophonous, claustrophobic beauty, those elements are built into the film enough that they will come across clearly no matter how diminished they may be. Dunkirk is a harrowing, disorienting, and genuinely astonishing experience, and it successfully recreates the sheer panic which must have accompanied this evacuation. It looks and sounds like a masterpiece, and had it just a little more of a human core or fully resisted patriotic sentiment, it would be there. As is, it's merely excellent.

Movie review: "The Big Sick"

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dir. by Michael Showalter
written by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon*
Romantic comedies have a reputation for being contrived and artificial. They're associated with a very familiar set of tropes and plot structures and are often filled with silly reasons that the main couple needs to remain apart until the end. These movies are popular, but they're also frequently regarded as fluffy, disposable, and mindless.

The Big Sick is different. Unlike the standard Hollywood romcom, its twists and turns are based on reality. It's an authentic story in a genre which is so often phony, a funny movie but also a heartfelt story with a melancholy undertone. What its protagonists go through isn't easy, but those tribulations are not only believable, they feel true. It's that authenticity which makes the film feel so genuine and which gives it all of its emotional power. It's not packed with gags or comic scenarios. Instead, it's funny because it's witty and honest, and it's great because it's willing to take itself a little seriously.

Movie review: "Spider-Man: Homecoming"

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dir. by Jon Watts
One day, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will consume us all, but for now, it's an astonishingly consistent and frequently delightful if overly serialized blockbuster series which has yet to produce a proper failure. Its third phase, in particular, has achieved a sublimely even quality across its four entries so far, all of which are compelling in their own way. At this point, the Marvel stamp is commonly viewed as a stamp of quality, and although none of these films are high art, they're entertaining and intelligent blockbusters which deliver light thrills just as well as character drama.

Spider-Man: Homecoming, despite its peculiar release arrangement with Sony, is not only on par with its phase 3 brethren, but rises up to be quite possibly the best of the lot. It's a simpler story than many of the studio's other offerings, but that's to its advantage, as it avoids the increasingly oppressive seriousness of the universe's most significant entries while retaining a sharp wit and a low-scale intimacy. It's fun like Marvel films always are, but it's also charming and fresh to a degree which is less common in this franchise.

Movie review: "Baby Driver"

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dir. by Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright spent the 2000s slowly rising to superstar status. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and The World's End established him as a powerful voice in action comedy, and despite leaving the project in 2014, Marvel still built on his script for their Ant-Man film. However, he hasn't had a directing credit since 2013, and so when his follow-up to The World's End was revealed, it was a big deal.

This new film, Baby Driver, has a strong claim to being his very best to date. A very different film from the "Cornetto trilogy," it repurposes genre tropes around a thrillingly unique premise and perhaps an even stronger sense of style than Wright's prior works, and excepting the very occasional overwritten line, it's thrillingly idiosyncratic and beautifully stylized, boasting sublime action and some of the most satisfying rhythms of Wright's entire career.

Movie review: "Wonder Woman"

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dir. by Patty Jenkins
It's odd to consider that it took three years for Warner Bros. to continue its DC Extended Universe after premiering Man of Steel in 2013. Last year's Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad arrived with the intention of competing with Marvel's own cash cow, but both premiered to largely negative reception, and the DC films became associated with a forced bleak tone and poor editing. And yet, the latter also showed Warner Bros. changing course, as last-minute reshoots attempted to add more humour and create a lighter tone. (I haven't actually seen either film, so I can't attest to either's quality.)

Wonder Woman is DC's second film to have been released since Batman v Superman's critical failure, and as significant as its status as the first female-starring superhero movie in over a decade is, almost as notable is that this is the first genuinely optimistic film in the DCEU. Not coincidentally, it's also a massive step up for the franchise, an earnest, big-hearted, and even inspiring movie which is as funny and exciting as the best of Marvel's offerings and which fully understands why these heroes are so beloved. If this is what DC's offerings are gonna be like from here on out, I'm all in.