TESLA (2020)

December 26, 2020

(Hulu/VOD) Was the world asking for another biopic about Nicolas Tesla? No, at least I wasn’t until I heard this one was helmed by cult filmmaker Michael Almereyda (NADJA, THE ETERNAL).

Michael Almereyda’s has recruited his regulars to bring TELSA to life: Ethan Hawke is Tesla, Kyle MacLaughlin is Edison, Jim Gaffigan is Westinghouse, and there are several other established, white, male actors. Eve Hewson (THE KNICK) is J.P. Morgan’s daughter Anne, who serves as the narrator in-and-out-of-time, trying to convince the viewer how Tesla’s current ranking in the cultural consciousness is unforgivably woeful (which goes against everything I know).

While it often looks and feels like an early naughts PBS docudrama, where the re-enactors often break the fourth wall to educate the viewers through a hazy digital video lens, Almereyda ladles out numerous idiosyncrasies to try to keep the audience off-kilter, such as roller skating scenes; anachronistic ice cream cones; obvious rear-projection with intentionally misplaced lighting setups; fictional interactions where Hewson’s character then informs the viewers that the scene ‘likely didn’t happen this way’; even a full-blown musical number.

Those bits of whimsy keep the film breezily entertaining. I know if my hungover high school science teacher screened it for class one day, I’d feel like a lucky boy (although I’d expect the teacher to make the requisite number of caveats that this biopic has ‘fictional elements for dramatic effect’). Despite the (presumably intentional) cheap sheen of the biopic, the blocking and camerawork is top-notch, and no one phones in a performance. I’m especially fond of Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s (GIRLS, BLOW THE MAN DOWN) loose turn as Tesla’s right-hand man.

That said, in the age of modern re-enactments like BIZEBEE ’17 and CASTING JONBENET, it feels like TESLA isn’t formally daring enough, doesn’t push itself far enough, which is a shame as Almereyda is known for grounded weirdness. However, this film is based on his first screenplay, which may account for why the tomfoolery feels quaint, as opposed to a grand remark on the unreliable nature of recreating history. Given the times we’re currently living in, perhaps a safely odd, comfortably unreliable biopic is what you need right now.

By the way, if you’re looking for some more fact/fiction-blended Tesla works, I highly recommend Samantha Hunt’s novel THE INVENTION OF EVERYTHING ELSE.

MILLENNIUM S02E10: Midnight of the Century (1997)

December 25, 2020

(DVD) While I have a favorite Thanksgiving film (PIECES OF APRIL), and a favorite New Year’s Eve film (AFTER THE THIN MAN), I don’t have a favorite Christmas film. However, I do have a favorite Christmas TV episode, and MILLENNIUM’s -Midnight of the Century- is it.

MILLENNIUM is about Frank Black (Lance Henriksen), an offender profiler who has astounding intuition. Also, he can see angels and demons. In the second season of the show, he’s joined by Lara Means (Kristen Cloke) who also suffers from being bestowed the same ‘gift’. These are people who feel too much, feel too hard, who have insight and empathy they don’t want, but feel they have to utilize their gifts to help others.

MILLENNIUM’s holiday episodes, including the Halloween episode -The Curse of Frank Black- (also my favorite Halloween episode of all time) hit pause on the machinations of the Millennium Group that Frank Black is involved with, and instead focuses on Frank Black reflecting on his past, present, and future. -Midnight of the Century- features him mulling over the ramifications of passing along his ‘gift’ to his daughter, reminiscing about how his mother struggled with the same ‘gift’, and confronting his father (Kolchak himself, Darren McGavin — although I suspect most know him as the father in A CHRISTMAS STORY) about his mother holing herself up in their spare bedroom until she died.

It also includes a terrifically poignant story that involves a barely disguised Red Rose Tea figurine, the likes of which I grew up with.

It’s not all devastatingly sad, though: Frank Black takes a bit of time to detail why the killer in SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is a spree killer, not a serial killer.

A hallmark of second season MILLENNIUM episodes are their exceptional music programming, and this episode doesn’t disappoint as it utilizes Tchaikovsky’s Arabian Dance (from his Nutcracker Suite – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPuf9krTR4w) as a haunting refrain.

It’s a quiet, contemplative episode that’s not only a substantial character study, but also perfectly captures the many facets of Christmas. While it is certainly not the most uplifting Christmas episode of a TV show, it is one of the most remarkable.

DRIVEWAYS (2020)

December 24, 2020

(Fubo/hoopla/kanopy/VOD) Kathy, a struggling Asian-American single mom travels with Cody, her pre-teen son, to settle the affairs of her dead sister’s estate. While there, the son befriends an aging-but-able Vietnam veteran, who welcomes them into his small town.

While it’s a standard indie film premise, DRIVEWAYS excels in a number of ways, first and foremost by having Brian Dennehy (RIP, Brian — I’ll never forget you in THE BELLY OF AN ARCHITECT) as the neighbor, secondly by having a simple human story play out simply and, lastly, how it’s visually framed — lots of tight shots instead of expository shots, which are disarming for the first half of the film until it settles into a familiar sort of comfort.

While Dennehy is fantastic, I’d be remiss to neglect both Hong Chau (WATCHMEN’s Lady Trieu) and Lucas Jaye as the mother-and-son pair, who have an exquisitely honest mother/son relationship. Chau is especially brilliant as she tries to compose herself as everything around her is falling apart.

All of that said, my favorite part of the film is how much everyone swears around this kid.

It’s a film filled with melancholy, but is also a very sweet slice of life.

THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY (2020)

December 23, 2020

(Starz/VOD) Adapted from detective fiction writer Charles Willeford’s novel, this film is oddly not much of a potboiler, and not terribly thrilling. It does, however, attempt to examine critic-as-artist and vice-versa, as well as the different masks one wears in order to operate in order to ingratiate yourself to others in society, which gives it the trappings of a prestige neo-noir.

To summarize: art critic James Figueras (Claes Bang) hooks up with an enigmatic woman named Berenice (Elizabeth Debicki) and the two of them go on a road trip to visit his friend/art dealer Joseph Cassidy (Mick Jagger — yes, Mick Jagger). James is handed the possibility to reinvigorate his career by scoring an interview with the reclusive ‘last great modern artist’ Jerome Debney (Donald Sutherland), who just happens to live on Joseph’s Italian estate. Plans misfire culminating with an end that you may or may not enjoy. (That said, the final realization is extremely satisfying and, I imagine, taken from the book.)

As this is a ‘prestige’ genre flick, director Giuseppe Capotondi takes it slow, giving you all the time in the world to revel in the fantastic backdrops and production design* while the characters talk circles around each other. It is a nice distraction because the mysteries and secrets aren’t terribly intriguing, and the characters are maddeningly paper thin. While the film is explicit about its themes of critic-as-artist/artist-as-critic/the many masks folks wear, the execution is rather facile, and rarely paid much more than lip service. For example: Debney bluntly states to Bernice that “It’s masks all the way down.”

It’s disappointing because novelist/screenwriter Scott B. Smith (A SIMPLE PLAN, THE RUINS) penned the adaptation, and he certainly has a tendency towards noir-like duplicity and the ramifications of distrust, but there is very little friction or underhandedness on display. It feels as if Smith couldn’t quite get a bead on how to approach the adaptation.

However! This film does scratch a certain itch for me and, despite the wasted potential of Bernice, Debecki wrings as much out of it as she can, and Jagger is a delightful surprising, turning in a restrained devilish performance that — as someone who has seen FREEJACK — didn’t think he had it in him. Worth a watch if your tastes are THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY-adjacent.

UNDERWATER (2020)

December 22, 2020

(VOD) In January 2020, I had just watched FORD V. FERRARI at a cineplex in Evanston, Illinois as part of my obligatory Oscar viewing, and I had some downtime before I was due to meet up with my wife to watch 1917. I exited the theater and noted the poster for UNDERWATER on my right. “Well,” I asked myself. “I could eat popcorn for dinner again and squeeze this film in, or I could wander around town and look for a new pizza place.” Sick of popcorn, I opted to skip UNDERWATER and, while the pizza and unnerving quiet of exploring a college town in-between semesters was memorable, I have regrets because this film is best watched on a big screen, not at home.

UNDERWATER is a film that shamelessly borrows from ALIEN and THE ABYSS but, if you need a summary, here’s one: it’s about a ramshackle bunch of characters stuck in a corporate underwater mining rig that’s about to collapse upon itself due to what may or may not be some newly discovered creature. Despite that, it’s the film’s later clutch collection of set-pieces that makes it feel more inspired from videogames like BIOSHOCK, SOMA, and METROID PRIME. Cinematographer-turned-director William Eubank and cinematographer Bojan Bazelli (who shot the fascinatingly gonzo A CURE FOR WELLNESS) make this film into a visually relentless marvel; there is one scene that literally made my jaw drop and then start clapping — don’t worry, you’ll know it when you see it — but I realized I was clapping alone, and wished I’d witnessed it with a crowd, even if I’d be the only person clapping.

It helps that Kristen Stewart makes a fantastic action lead, as all of the Stewart tics that people (unfairly) complain about — her flat affect, her distanced glance, her disaffected air — also make her a great action hero. She isn’t given much to work with character-wise but she goes above and beyond to imbue it with something more meaningful. The supporting characters include T.J. Miller who, predictably, sucks up everyone’s air (and obviously improvs some terrible lines), and even tries to outshine French mainstay Vincent Cassel (LA HAINE), who is keeping it classy.

Obviously, this film was buried as production wrapped in 2017. You can visibly see that there were rewrites involved during shooting, re-edits, probably re-shoots. It wasn’t released until January 2020 and it bombed because who wants to see a underwater horror film in January? My guess is: the end tested poorly, which is understandable, but it’s a big swing that made my eyes well up and I love films that take big swings, and perhaps you do too.

(It’s worth noting that the expository dialogue in the trailer is -not- in the film, and it’s a better film without it.)

TITO (2020)

December 21, 2020

(VOD) TITO is a scrappy and rough film that seems at odds with Amazon Prime’s library, but who am I to argue?

It’s a difficult film to describe, but: Tito is a person trying to live their own young life, fearful of much — as evidenced by the hunch on their back caused by endless peering and cowering as well as the orange ‘emergency’ whistle hanging around their neck — but still has appetites. Someone else enters their life, feeds them, latches onto them, and everything cascades from there.

Written and directed by Grace Glowicki, it’s an audacious character study that at times reminded me of TETSUO: THE IRON MAN, mostly because of its severe sound design and outsider character — not because there’s any aggressive cyborg action in it — but also because it’s a prolonged experimental look at a someone very damaged trying to cope with what’s been forced upon them.

In case I haven’t been clear: this is not a fun watch. That said, Glowicki’s execution perfectly nails what the film means to accomplish. (I didn’t realize it was Kickstarted until writing this post, but the Kickstarter pitch lays out exactly what Grace wanted to do with the film and, well, mission accomplished. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/449341300/tito-feature-film)

BOYS STATE (2020)

December 20, 2020

(Apple TV+) BOYS STATE is a documentary that’s a deep-dive into The American Legion’s yearly effort to prep teens for a political career via a week-long camp that mimics a trial electoral run. It was filmed in the middle of the Trump Administration, and this film focuses solely on the Texan Boys State program so you can expect teen boys trying to impress other teen boys, doodling Pepe the Frog, and shouting many slogans they’ll (hopefully) come to regret in the coming years.

Despite that, it’s still a documentary that shows this isn’t just about MAGA trolls or narcissistic right-wingers. It’s a fascinating look at political youth that made me realize that many are basically theater kids that feel like they’re on a higher mission, in more ways than one, and when they feel the warmth of the limelight, they just want more.

PALM SPRINGS (2020)

December 19, 2020

(Hulu) Yes, PALM SPRINGS is yet another film riffing on GROUNDHOG DAY, where folks are trapped reliving a day over-and-over again, and while everyone was surprisingly pleased when EDGE OF TOMORROW, HAPPY DEATH DAY, and RUSSIAN DOLL proved to be amazing works, I don’t think many people expected Hulu’s PALM SPRINGS to capture the same kind of magic.

Yet, it does. It’s an utterly charming high-concept rom-com that improves on the formula. Samberg plays a less-aspirational fuckup version of the lovable, learnable lunkhead he’s played on BROOKLYN NINE-NINE and it works here, but Cristin Milioti (who I know from FARGO S2, but others may know from HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER) is the star of the show. She’s another fuckup — describing the hows and whys would sadly spoil matters — but she’s the lynchpin of the film, the actionable agent that refuses to settle for living every day as a bridesmaid. Oh, and J.K. Simmons is a third-wheel in a very delightful way. (RIVERDALE fans may want to note that Camila Mendes is in it too, but is given very little to do but sit around and look sultry.)

The trailer below arguably gives a bit too much away, so I’d skip it, but it’s there if you’re on the fence.

I USED TO GO HERE (2020)

December 18, 2020

(hoopla/HBO MAX/VOD) I love films about fuckups, folks who are old enough to be aware that they’re stumbling through life but simply haven’t honed the skills to steady their adult steps, and I USED TO GO HERE is certainly about a fuckup about to fall flat on her face. It’s the tale of Kate (Gillian Jacobs), a 30-something Chicago-based writer whose fiancé has broken up with her because of how he’s portrayed in her first novel and, complicating matters, her first novel lands with a thud, her promotional tour canceled.

Written and directed by Kris Rey, who has spent quite a bit of time in Illinois — delightfully obvious from the opening which showcases a corner of Chicago’s Lincoln Square as opposed to shots of The Loop — keeps the film breezier than most probably would. The script is peppered with deflecting quips that keep the emotional hits her character takes at bay as she tries bolster her self-confidence while navigating her old campus fifteen years after the fact. While it could get away with it, the film rarely leans on many of the traditional tropes you’d expect from a ‘revisiting my old stomping grounds!’ work.

That said, the film succeeds because of Jacobs, who has been perfectly playing fuckups for years (best exemplified by her run as Britta on COMMUNITY https://uproxx.com/viral/britta-brittad-it-community/ ). She’s always been fantastic at turning in clueless performances but, with I USED TO GO HERE, she turns up the self-awareness a bit without making it too winking or hammy. Consequently, her journey is a winsome and entertaining one.

BABYTEETH (2020)

December 17, 2020

(Hulu/VOD) BABYTEETH opens with a jarring glimpse at self-destructive youth before unfurling into a portrait of a family trying to cope with matters they’re not prepared for.

The rest I’d like to leave a mystery, however don’t fear the the trailer as it masks most of the better turns, and it highlights the fact that Essie Davis (MISS FISHER, THE BABADOOK) is in it and she’s brilliant, as always. Eliza Scanlen turns in a magnificent performance as the daughter, making terrific use of her moony facial features. (Scanlen hasn’t had many roles, but she’s been noteworthy in all of them, including Beth in LITTLE WOMEN (2019) and Amma in SHARP OBJECTS.)

While the subject matter might cause a different filmmaker to shoot a treacly mess, director Shannon Murphy keeps a commanding grip on the tone, leaving you off-kilter much of the movie while deftly cranking up the emotion resulting in an extraordinarily moving end.

“I can’t feel anything because you take up all the air!”

“This is the worst possible parenting I can imagine.”