Author: ineffabledelectation

Mindhunter (TV) ☆ (1/5) 2/3/19

Dull and drawn-out Silence of the Lambs wannabe.
 “Just the facts, ma’am.”

I’m not a David Fincher fan. I think his only really good movie is Zodiac, otherwise I think that somehow his chilly style prevents people from seeing just how flat and on the nose his work is.

Mindhunter was filmed in my hometown, though (My childhood Dairy Queen is in it!), and I am interested by Jonathan Groff, because he’s an out gay actor and because I think his performances are weird. Not in that fake, attention grabbing Johnny Depp way, more in an, “I don’t know if I think that is good or awful,” way.

I don’t know if I think Groff’s performance here is good or awful, either. His natural charm keeps shining through the cold fishface he sinks into as his character becomes increasingly obsessed with his serial killer work. He’s definitely watchable, and the other actors do their best to shine through the low-key material they’re given. Holt McCallany is especially good.

It’s just all so… gray. Happy Anderson elevates his scenes by flirting with camp, and a less stagnant director could have really turned that into something special, but Mindhunter doesn’t want to be fun or suspenseful. It wants to be Serious, and it has all the flat affect of a modern Dragnet.

Don’t even get me started on the stupidity of that recurring cat thing. I’m still mad at how that pays off.

Abducted in Plain Sight ☆☆☆ (3/5) 2/03/19

Truth is stranger – and more infuriating – than fiction.

My mouth hung open for 90 minutes watching this shocking tale of parental neglect and sexual abuse. There are so many twists, each so outrageous that I had to talk about the film all day today.

It is a bit like gawping at the scene of an accident, though. While it may empower other victims of predators, the situation is so specifically strange that it’s hard to see Abducted in Plain Sight as any kind of serious warning or enlightenment. Don’t be a shitty parent, maybe. Maybe that does need to be said more.

My nominee for worst person in a film full of them? The brother.

This is like The Up Series for misanthropes.

The Rider ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/5) 1/17/19

One of the year’s best, and most unusual, films.

The Rider’s pace is what critics often, charitably, call deliberate, and my father calls slow. It entranced me, but individual mileage is going to vary. I think that’s important to note up front.

Chloé Zhao casts non-professional actors to play versions of themselves to heartbreaking effect. Brady Jandreau may be essentially playing himself, but that doesn’t negate the honest sensitivity he projects. He’s stunning, with an introspective charisma male actors can rarely convey effectively, and Zhao casually showcases his youthful physical beauty in the same vivid way she films mountains and sunsets. Everyone seems completely authentic and unrehearsed; Jandreau’s sister, Lilly, is particularly lovely and is, herself, a reason I already plan to revisit this film soon.

The Rider has no shortage of heavy themes, hardship, identity, masculinity, recovery, and sport are all examined in surprisingly complex ways, but the film never feels bogged down or preachy.

I think The Rider is going to stick with me for a long time.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before ☆☆ (2/5) 1/15/19

…inoffensive, I guess.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before starts cute, but loses steam quickly.

The set-up is fun and the (mostly) appealing young actors smile a lot, but the stakes are low and the outcome is predictable. There’s not even a B story to flesh things out a little.

At one point, the characters watch the problematic classic 16 Candles and rightly comment on its racism. This movie isn’t racist, but it also doesn’t have 16 Candles’ charm or humor or weirdness. This movie isn’t 16 Candles – or the even better Easy A. But it’s okay. It’s fine.

Halloween (2018) ☆☆☆☆☆ (4.5/5) 1/7/19

Enormously statisfying.

Jamie Lee Curtis, amiright?

I have a real fondness for the stupidly titled H2O, but I’m fine with erasing the sins of past Halloweens. This one is tight and almost brilliant, with sweet surprises and terrific set pieces – the introduction is great, and so is the scene at the gas station. I do think the chase through the house at the end is a bit sloppy and questionable in a couple respects, but I had a lot of fun regardless.

It’s not 2018’s best horror – that’s Hereditary. But it is a fantastic popcorn movie and I live for it.

You (TV)☆☆ (2/5) and The End of the Fucking World (TV)☆☆☆☆☆ (4.5/5) 1/8/19

You has too much soap and not enough suspense, but TEotFW might get a little deeper under your skin than you’re comfortable with.

You is the miniseries adaptation of Caroline Kepnes psycho stalker boyfriend bestseller. I’d read the book and not been terribly impressed, but the series stars the (sexy but much-too-skinny-here) Penn Badgley and features one of my favorite actors, Lou Taylor Pucci, miscast here as a standard millennial fuckboy.

You isn’t very good, but it’s certainly watchable, especially if you want to watch something while you knit or play solitaire or bake cookies. It’s classic glossy basic cable soap, with the bonus of added murders and a limited time commitment – although even 10 episodes stretch the plot a bit thin.

You suffers dramatically, though, because it really wants you to think its psycho, Joe, is dreamy. A murderer, but dreamy. The problem is, you don’t like him although you know you shouldn’t, you’re constantly being encouraged to like him. Of course the actor is, himself, dreamy and spends a lot of time staring longingly and flashing his impossible smile, but the show also backs him up with a sympathetic backstory and an (effective) relationship with an at-risk neighbor kid.

The sweet surprise is that things end really badly anyways.

The End of the Fucking World (which is a comic book adaptation) also deals with questions of identity vs perception, but has the opposite problem. When its psycho starts planning to murder the object of his (possible) affections, the show is actually difficult to watch. I was creeped by him, worried about her, and OMG I CAN’T.

But I did, and I was – eventually – very glad. The acting is terrific, the twists are frequent and satisfying, and Jessica Barden is stunning. I won’t say much more so as not to spoil anything, but it’s a treat for an adventurous viewer.

BlacKkKlansman ☆☆☆☆☆ (4.5/5) 1/1/19

Spike Lee’s best movie.

BlacKKKlansman succeeds on pretty much every level, as film and polemic. I definitely think it should be seen by everyone.

The performances are exceptional, but my favorite thing is how canny it plays as 70’s pastiche. That’s a film genre of its own nowadays, and BlaKKKlansman hits its marks with lovely subtlety. There’s a shot of Washington crossing a field to examine cut out racist silhouettes that have been used for target practice that literally made my heart swell with appreciation for its nostalgic craftmanship.

But I’m going to call BlacKKKlansman out for its bullshit, too.

Lee doesn’t trust the true story to be dramatic enough, so he tarts it up with a closeted Jewish cop and an improbable bombing plot. More focus on the college group and their goals and guest speakers would have given the film gravitas and power and not seemed as dramatically suspect. As the final news footage shows, it wasn’t necessary to reach so far for context or relevance. As to the use of that footage… meh… it’s a choice, and Lee has never trusted his audience to connect the dots.

And a movie this good should’t have fat jokes. Period.

10 Cloverfield Lane ☆☆☆ (2.5/5) 1/1/19

Mostly predictable but entertaining.

I hadn’t seen 10 Cloverfield Lane because I was pretty sure I had it all figured out, but my friend Dom likes it – and he kind of implied I didn’t know as much as I thought I did. This was intriguing. And Rotten Tomatoes recently posted a list of the 150 best-rated horrors of all time – their lists always skew towards new films and mainstream classics but are otherwise solid – 10 Cloverfield was the highest-rated movie I had not yet seen, so here we are.

I had it all figured out, although the filmmakers do a good job of shifting suspicion and building modest suspense. The whole thing’s a little too clean – it wants to cross Hitchcock with darker Spielberg and on that level it succeeds – but I wanted some gore and nastiness. And that video game survival ending is kind of a mess. It didn’t play for me at all.

Movies like this also suffer for me, ’cause I’d just kill the guy. You hit him with a bottle and knocked him down? Good. But don’t run away, finish him off. You got a pair of scissors? Good. Don’t plan on tying him up and escaping – stab him in the fucking neck. You dumped a bookcase on him? Good. Now bash his skull in.

Maybe, in a horror movie world, I wouldn’t exactly be a good guy?

John Goodman is reliably exceptional, but shout-out to John Gallagher Jr. for the most interesting performance in the film.

Hearts Beat Loud ☆☆☆☆ (4/5) 12/28/18

A feel-good sleeper with a great cast

I’m just going to say this up front: Blythe Danner is a fucking beast. She kills it in this movie in a very remarkable way. Toni Collette is having a great year, too, and although this isn’t her best role of the year (that’s Hereditary, which is on a par with her career best), her particular, eager warmth is always welcome.

If Hearts Beat Loud has a flaw, and it probably does, it’s the amount of time it devotes to Nick Offerman’s schlubby, self-absorbed dad. It’s a terrific performance, but I wanted more Kiersey Clemons, more sweet lesbian romance, less middle-aged ennui. Your Offerman mileage will vary according to your affection for/identification with him.

It’s a relief to watch a movie that hits some familiar emotional beats while still feeling so casual and personal. The stakes aren’t terribly high, but they feel honest and so the modest catharsis feels earned.

I’m a little in love with this one.