The safe word is Screening Room! This week, we run through the good (Peter Rabbit), the bad (Fifty Shades Freed), and the hard to review (The 15:17 to Paris) as well as Michael Haneke’s latest Happy End and all that’s fit to watch in new home entertainment.
Listen in HERE.
by Hope Madden
Happy End is as perceptive as it is dispassionate—and this, as every choice filmmaker Michael Haneke makes—is intentional.
Channeling themes from across his career, pulling most noticeably from both his 1992 horror Benny’s Video and his 2012 masterpiece Amour, Haneke slowly, deliberately unveils a tale of distance.
His subjects are the well-off Laurent family: a doddering patriarch (Amour’s brilliant Jean-Louis Trintignant), the daughter who runs the company (Isabelle Huppert), her surgeon brother (Mathieu Kassovitz), her disappointing son (Franz Rogowski), and the surgeon’s 13-year-old daughter, Eve (Fantine Harduin).
Eve has come to live with the family because of her mother’s suicide.
In the film’s opening moments, we watch as an emotionally unattached and unnamed character documents a mother’s every banal moment with critical commentary before poisoning a pet hamster.
It’s a maneuver that announces Haneke’s point: whether by way of technology, psychosis or money, the Laurents lack any depth of emotion, intimacy or personal connection. Or is it humanity they lack?
The filmmaker braids together the stories and points of view of several main participants, keeping his focus at arm’s length until we’ve become apprehensive about every move. Why is Georges (Trintignant) wandering the median in a wheelchair and talking to strangers? What struggles could cause Pierre (Rogowski) to behave—and dance—like that?
Why would anyone leave a baby alone with Eve?
Patient viewers will recognize Haneke’s deliberate and chilly storytelling, but Happy End really requires your patience. Still, don’t let your eye wander because too many frames contain a startling image, and this filmmaker won’t insist that you notice.
Eventually the distance becomes somewhat problematic because it feels as if Haneke is pulling punches he was happy to land in previous films.
As is always the case, though, you’re repaid for your efforts. Whether it’s the understated brilliance of the performances (Trintignant and Harduin are particularly memorable), the chilling clash of human emotion with whatever has taken its place within the Laurent family, or the diabolical final image, Happy End leaves you stunned.
by Rachel Willis
This year’s batch of Oscar nominated documentary short films offers a look at wide-ranging subjects. From an artist’s struggles with mental illness, to the problem of elder care, to the effects of the opioid epidemic in Huntington, West Virginia, these documentaries will evoke a gauntlet of emotions.
Edith + Eddie – USA Dir: Laura Checkoway
“It was love at first sight.”
So says Eddie, who at 95 married 96-year-old Edith. The two are very obviously in love, but because of a dispute between Edith’s daughters over her care, the couple’s relationship is put into question. Through this clash, we’re given a look at the effects of elder guardianship. It’s a depressing glimpse at the reality many elderly face as their own wants are often circumvented by the wants of others or by their own medical needs.
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 – USA Dir: Frank Stiefel
For artist Mindy Alper, life has been extraordinarily hard. Early in the film, she lists the myriad drugs she takes daily, including Zyprexa, an antipsychotic, one she says she’d be vegetative without. As Alper speaks about her experiences with mental illness, her art plays on screen, a visual representation of her story. Stiefel conveys deep sympathy for Alper and magnificently blends her drawings and sculptures into his narrative. It’s a lovely, touching film that celebrates Alper’s accomplishments in life and art.
Knife Skills – USA Dir: Thomas Lennon
Edwins Restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio is unique. Its owner, Brandon, is at the center of Knife Skills because he’s done something that many would never think to do: hire eighty former prisoners to work in his restaurant. Most of them have no restaurant experience, but Brandon’s restaurant also functions as a school. In the six weeks leading up to opening night, the film follows the students as they earn all they can about how to work in a French restaurant. It’s an ambitious idea, but Knife Skills only scratches the surface. Rather than focusing on Brandon and his goal, the film follows several of the students and teachers, leaving the viewer with a shallow impression of the subject.
Heroin(e) – USA Dir: Elaine McMillion Sheldon
Deputy Chief Jan Radar, Judge Patricia Keller, and Necia Freeman are the heart of Heroin(e). While Radar’s rush to save drug overdose victims in Huntington, WV is the film’s primary focus, we also spend time with Judge Keller in her courtroom, and with Freeman as she drives around the city at night handing out food to the needy. Each woman has a goal in mind: to end the epic of overdoses in her city. Huntington is the overdose capital of America, and Sheldon gives a face to that haunting fact. There is a slight glimmer of hope in the film, even though, for now, the reality in Huntington is bleak.
Also included in the program is Traffic Stop – USA Dir: Kate Davis.
(rating for full program)
by George Wolf
Pixar – the veritable Meryl Streep of this category – is here again, and deservedly the favorite to win more hardware. But some impressive frogs may spring an upset, while fractured fairy tales, a sports icon and emotional baggage round out a captivating program.
Dear Basketball – USA Dir: Glen Keane Wr: Kobe Bryant
From a distance, Bryant’s love letter to his sport may appear self-serving, but when brought to life through graceful, impressionistic chalk animation and a John Williams score, it becomes more. Vanity project? That’s fair, but it’s also a sincere farewell from a complicated legend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA3Pqne28PE
Negative Space – France Dirs: Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
With Sam’s dad often leaving on business trips, father and son form a bond forged in a perfectly packed suitcase. The stop motion animation is arresting and well-played, setting fertile ground for the bittersweet emotions the film explores.
Lou – USA Wr./Dir:Dave Mullins
Look at you Pixar, charming us again with your gentle humor and effective poignancy. A cousin to the Toy Story universe, Lou finds a playground bully meeting his match, in a good way. It’s surprisingly touching, and, no surprise, the frontrunner of the group.
Revolting Rhymes – UK Wrs./Dirs: Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer
Based on the much-loved rhymes written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake, Revolting Rhymes counters its somewhat bland animation with a talented voice cast (including Dominic West and Rob Brydon) to give famous fairy tales some new, sinister edges. Part one of a British TV double dip, it wanders off in spots but rallies at the finish.
Garden Party – France Dirs: Victor Caire, Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Theophile Dufresne, Lucas Navarro and Gabriel Grapperon
In a deserted, well-appointed mansion, some amphibians explore their surroundings and follow their primal instincts to unexpected results. Practically bursting with wondrous CGI photorealism, this ambitious film – a graduation project from a French animation school – offers delight in every frame.
Also included in the program are these additional animated shorts:
Lost Property Office – Australia Wr./Dir: Daniel Agdag
Coin Operated – USA Wr./Dir: Nicholas Arioli
Achoo – Japan
(rating for entire program)
by Matt Weiner
Boiling down the Fifty Shades movies into a capsule summary has always felt a bit like playing Mad Libs with a head injury, and Fifty Shades Freed gleefully continues the trend.
Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey (Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, each blinking out Morse code to their agents throughout the franchise) are now married. Christian’s dominant side causes fresh problems for Ana at work, but not as much as her ex-boss (Eric Johnson) returning to stalk the entire Grey family for reasons both mysterious and incredibly obvious.
Having watched the entire series, it’s hard not to feel like additional complaining is punching down, so here are some nice things about Fifty Shades Freed:
• This is the first film in the franchise that earns intentional laughs, an incredible improvement all on its own.
• All the shots, while filmed so perfunctorily that you forget what you’ve just seen nearly in real-time, are in focus.
• There is what amounts to a five-minute Audi commercial, which is helpful if you are considering buying or leasing a new Audi.
• According to the credits, Marcia Gay Harden and Danny Elfman received paychecks from this, and although you can hardly feel their presence on screen or in the score, I cherish them both and I hope they buy nice houses from this because they deserve it.
But the other major improvement in the franchise can’t be separated from the movie’s biggest flaw. The good news: with Ana and Christian having settled into betrothed BDSM bliss, the film (written by Niall Leonard and directed by James Foley) devotes less time to their tepid romance and more time allowing the characters to simply be themselves as they get caught up in a sordid thriller.
Here’s the bad news. Allowing these characters to be themselves suffers from one crucial flaw: every single character in the series is boring to an extent that’s almost an achievement in its own right.
And just like in the first two films, the sexual chemistry between Ana and Christian never clicks on screen. Although since Freed revolves more around the couple’s marital gamesmanship than their “erotic” courtship, the tension occasionally works this time. And even produces some real laughs.
While the movie wraps things up neatly for Ana and Christian—albeit in a comically abrupt way I guess is a clever callback to the bizarre pacing of the previous films—it doesn’t answer the question of exactly who this movie is for.
There’s plenty of nudity, but it’s clinically divorced from any recognizable human emotion. Such short shrift is given to character development that I can’t imagine fans of the lengthy books have been satisfied. There’s a mystery plot, sort of, but nothing you couldn’t get from a made-for-TV movie and save the cash.
But if you’ve made it this far through the series, Fifty Shades Freed is the most competent of the bunch. And at least this one can be watched with a clear conscience knowing that the actors are as freed from contractual obligations as their characters are rid of emotional baggage.
by Christie Robb
Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, some gatecrashing, a tense dude named McGregor, and a pervasive lack of pants. But Will Gluck’s Peter Rabbit is a bit of a departure from Beatrix Potter’s twee kids’ books.
And you might think, ugh, not another attempt to lengthen and embellish a piece of classic literature beyond all reason (looking at you, Peter Jackson). But hold on. This (cotton) tale takes place somewhat after the events in Ms. Potter’s books. Both Peter’s (James Corden) parents are dead and there’s a new McGregor in town, Domhnall Gleeson (perhaps most familiarly known now as the strident General Hux from the Star Wars saga).
Gleeson’s McGregor is an acutely type A city slicker who longs to immediately sell his recently inherited country estate in order to reinvest the profits in a business venture back in London. Until he meets the animal lover/bunny portraitist Bea (Rose Byrne) who lives in the Pinterest-worthy cottage next door.
This gets Peter’s invisible knickers in a twist for two reasons: 1) restricted access to the tantalizing McGregor garden, and 2) a rival for the affections of Bea who, in the absence of his own rodent parents, has become personage he invests with a significant amount of maternal affection.
The conflicts escalate in cartoon violence that’s kinda Home Alone by way of the Odd Couple. And, as you might expect, it is an absolute delight to see Gleeson rant in nearly Shakespearean cadences about the antics of an anthropomorphized rabbit.
(To be honest, I’d probably pay the price of a movie ticket to see Gleeson take exception to piece of burnt toast.)
Like Gleeson, the supporting cast is also a delight. Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, and Daisy Ridley stand out as Peter’s siblings Flopsy, Mopsy, and the devil-may-care Cotton-tail.
If you want to get all highbrow about it, the entire movie can be read as a metaphor for a kid’s struggle to accept a new romance in the life of a primary caregiver. And if you want to be honest, it bears as much resemblance to its source material as my 4-year-old’s picture of me does to the Mona Lisa.
But there’s enough beautiful animation, fun 90s and early 00s songs, and Easter-egg jokes for parents in case the kids decide they really like this movie and you have to watch it 400 times.
by George Wolf
Remember when you asked your English teacher how long your term paper had to be and they answered “As long as it needs to be”?
This year’s group of live action short nominees does. The five stellar films will quicken your pulse, break your heart, educate and bring a welcome giggle, all offering satisfying cinematic visions in smaller packages.
DeKalb Elementary – USA Wr./Dir: Reed Van Dyk
A troubled young man (Bo Mitchell) enters an elementary school office, heavily armed and ready to kill, and a terrified administrator (Tarra Riggs) becomes mediator between the gunman and the police. Awash in breath-holding tension, the film boasts two terrific lead performances and a filmmaker with fine instincts for effective restraint.
The Silent Child – UK Dir: Chris Overton Wr: Rachel Shenton
Libby (Maisie Sly) is a four year-old deaf child who bonds with the social worker (Rachel Shenton) teaching her sign language. Shenton, who also wrote the film, is an advocate for deaf awareness and her passion shines through in this heart-touching and informative short.
My Nephew Emmett – USA Wr./Dir: Kevin Wilson, Jr.
In 1955, Mississippi preacher Mose Wright (L.B. Williams) tries to protect his 14-year-old nephew, Emmett Till (Joshua Wright) from two racist killers out for blood. Based on a true story, Kevin Wilson Jr.’s film is mournful and built from a simmering dread, but ultimately lifted by a spirit that that will not be broken.
The Eleven O’Clock – Australia Dir: Derin Seale Wr: Josh Lawson
While a temp secretary (Alyssa McClelland) minds the appointment book, a delusional patient (maybe Damon Herriman) of a psychiatrist (maybe writer Josh Lawson) believes he is actually the psychiatrist. As each attempts to treat the other, the session gets out of control. Seemingly inspired by Monty Python’s famous “Argument Room” sketch, it’s cleverly cheeky and sometimes hilarious.
Watu Wote/All of Us – Germany Dir: Katja Benrath Wr: Julia Drache
Based on the 2014 attack by Al-Shabaab militants on a Nairobi-bound bus near the Kenya-Somali border, Watu Wote is grounded in a familiar narrative theme, but buoyed by director Katja Benrath’s gracefully subtle hand. It’s a somber yet inspiring salute to courage, love and mercy.
Rating for full program:
Some under-appreciated gems plus the worst of a bad crop of 2017 Christmas movies are all ready for you. So quit binging Fifty Shades movies, already!
by George Wolf
Helen Mirren in a haunted house? Could be fun.
But let’s be honest, Helen Mirren in a bouncy house sounds fun, too, but we come to Winchester looking for some solid frights as well. Instead, we get a mostly nonsensical mishmash of jump scares and music stabs.
Directors/co-writers the Spierig Brothers (Daybreakers, Jigsaw) dive into the legend of the Winchester house, the mysterious mansion in California with endless oddities and rumors of spirits restless after meeting death at the barrel of a Winchester rifle.
Mirren is family matriarch Sarah Winchester, still grieving from the losses of her husband and child in 1906. She orders constant construction on the house, building room after room for the wandering spirits, and the Winchester company board sees an opening.
Dr. Eric Price (Jason Clarke), battling demons of his own, is hired to stay at the mansion and evaluate Sarah’s sanity, hopefully returning a verdict that would force her out.
Bumps in the night ensue.
Mirren and Clarke both rise above the material, which is pretty weak. The Spierigs can build no simmering tension or creepy atmospherics on the order of say, The Woman in Black (a very effective PG-13 haunter). Winchester is built only from standard “boo!s” and lazy red herrings.
Boo indeed.
by Rachel Willis
For women stuck between tradition and modernity, the choices presented to them can mean happiness or alienation from friends, family, and society. In Between explores these choices through the eyes of three women living as roommates in Tel Aviv.
The women are wildly different. There’s attractive, social Laila, who parties with her friends at night while working as a lawyer during the day. Salma is a tattooed, pierced chef whose parents are determined to find her a suitable husband. Nour, a conservative Muslim, is already engaged, but living in Tel Aviv to complete her degree in computer science.
Writer/director Maysaloun Hamoud, in her debut as a feature filmmaker, builds her narrative first from the perspective of each woman on her own, before drawing the stories together into a larger commentary on the world they inhabit.
The roommates connect over shared desires, as well as shared heartache. A particularly touching scene links Laila and Nour, as they prepare a dinner for Laila’s boyfriend. Laila is nervous, as she’s not cooked for anyone in some time, but Nour, who’s doing most of the cooking, reassures her that she does it for her betrothed all the time. It’s an intimate moment and details the different lives the two women lead.
There are additional intimate scenes between the women, and each is touching in uniquely different ways. A particular moment in which the roommates rally around Nour is both heartbreaking and poignant. It further reiterates the connection between women in a world that can be difficult to navigate, especially as it changes.
As Laila, Mouna Hawa is especially dynamic. She is the embodiment of a woman who knows who she is and what she wants, even if the world around her isn’t ready to accept that. However, Nour, magnificently portrayed by Shaden Kanboura, is perhaps the most interesting character as she is the one who changes most over the course of the film.
Salma’s (Sana Jammelieh) story feels the least explored. Though it carries its own emotional weight, when compared to the others it sometimes feels more like an afterthought.
Hamoud doesn’t shy away from forcing her characters into difficult, sometimes scary situations. Nor does she pull any punches in showing how those situations can leave a lasting impact. It’s often a rather bleak examination of the world women are forced to occupy.
These women have choices ahead of them, but the question is what they’ll have to give up to make them.
