It was Just an Accident

 

    This new Iranian film was written and directed by Jafar Panahi. Mr. Panahi is very critical of the Iranian government and has been imprisoned several times. The film was shot without permission from the Iranian authorities which makes it all that more remarkable.

     When a former prisoner believes he has recognized his former torturous interrogator and jailer, he kidnaps the man with the intent to kill him. When a shred of doubt makes him hesitant to finish the act, he seeks the help of an eclectic group of other former prisoners to help make a positive identification.

     The film becomes more and more complex as other characters are introduced and the final resolution is not as simple as it seems. 

      Vahid Mobasseri stars as Vahid, who initially thinks he has found Eghbal, his former jailer. Ebrahim Azizi costars possibly as Eghbal. As Vahid seeks help for identification, he enlists Mariam Afshari as Shiva, Hadis Pakbaten as Golrokh, Majid Panahi as Ali, and Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr as Hamid.

      The film is thrilling and absurdly humorous at times and raises moral questions about justice and revenge while making a fairly blunt statement against the current Iranian government. It is presented in Persian with English subtitles.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

 

         Directed and screenplay by Scott Cooper, this new film explores a particular period in the life of Bruce Springsteen and is based on the terrific book, "Deliver Me From Nowhere" (The making of Nebraska) by Warren Zanes. It takes place between the end of "The River" tour in 1981 and before the release of "Born In The USA".

           It is a intimate look into the personal and professional struggles of an artist approaching stardom who retreats to an isolated rental home to work out his demons through his music with the result being the stark, solo, acoustic, album known as "Nebraska". 

            The film stars Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen. Co-starring as his manager, Jon Landau, is Jeremy Strong. The film also features Stephen Graham as Bruce's father Douglas, Gaby Hoffman as his mother, Adele, Paul Walter Hauser as Mike Batlan, Odessa Young as Fay (a fictional girlfriend), Marc Maron as Chuck Plotkin, David Krumholtz as Al Teller, Harrison Sloan Gilbertson as Matt Delia, and as a young Bruce, Matthew Anthony Pellicano Jr.

            Mr. White capture the spirit and essence of Bruce Springsteen without becoming an imitation. He does his own singing and guitar playing. and makes the "character" Bruce Springsteen his own. His scenes of self doubt and depression are heartbreaking.

             The film contains many flashbacks to Bruce's youth and his difficult relationship with his father, which he starts to understand and work out through the songs of "Nebraska".  He finally comes to grips with his crippling depression with professional help. This is a raw glimpse into the life of a rock icon, that reveals his inner struggles (which he has discussed publicly) while at the same time shows us his creative process. And that process led to the album "Nebraska", that at first, no one knew what to make of, but is now regarded as a masterpiece.

              One doesn't have to be a Springsteen fan to appreciate the emotional relationships, terrific acting, and the creative backstory of the film, but of course, fans will thoroughly enjoy it.

Bugonia

 

            The latest film from director Yorgos Lanthimos is a nasty piece of work based on the Korean film, "Save The Green Planet", which in itself, is a completely bonkers film. The screenplay for this story is by Will Tracy and while it has the basic premise of the Korean film, Mr. Tracy and Mr. Lanthimos make it their own.

              The film stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons and they are terrific playing off each other as kidnapper and victim. Ms. Stone plays Michelle Fuller, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company and Mr. Plemons plays Teddy, a low level warehouse worker for her company and a beekeeper hobbyist. Teddy and his mentally challenged cousin, Don, kidnap Ms. Fuller convinced she is an alien from Andromendon.

              Once they have her tied up in the basement of their isolated house in the woods, Teddy proceeds to torture her to get her to admit she is an alien. Much of the film is is contained to the house and scenes of torture. The more Fuller denies, the more Teddy tortures her until she figures out her best chance to survive is to play along.

              Aidan Delbis plays Don and Stavros Halkias plays Casey, a local policeman investigating the kidnapping. Casey harbors guilt over an incident between him and Teddy when they were both young and Casey was his babysitter. There is also a cameo from Alicia Silverstone, who plays Teddy's comatose, hospital bound mother.

               It's a very small cast and the story is driven by the two leads. Eventually we learn of an ulterior motive for the kidnapping which leads to more horror and even more violence. This is not an easy film to watch as it grows darker and crazier as it goes along.

               The little humor that exists is very dark. None of the characters are likeable or deserve our sympathy except for, maybe, Don, who is just following his cousin's lead. 

                Root for the bees.

The Lost Bus

 

     Nobody does realistic recreations better than director Paul Greengrass. Here he tells the true story of a heroic bus driver and a teacher who drove 22 kids to safety in the middle of the devastating California "Paradise" wildfire.

      The film stars Matthew McConaughey as bus driver, Kevin McKay and America Ferrera as teacher, Mary Ludwig (in the actual events there was a second teacher, who did not want to participate in the making of the film). The film co-stars Yul Vazquez as fire chief, Ray Martinez, Ashlie Atkinson as Ruby, Ray's boss at the bus depot, and Mr. McConaughey's real mom and son as Ray's family.

       Blending actual footage and special effects, Mr. Greengrass puts the viewer in the heart of the fire. It is so well done, you can't tell where the actual fire begins and the CGI ends. You can literally feel the heat and smoke around the bus as Kevin desperately tries to find a way around the flames. And he does it dodging traffic jams, narrow mountain roads and, along with Ms. Ferrera, trying to keep twenty two kids calm at the same time. And on top of all that, Kevin worries about his own mother and son, while Mary worries about her own family, all caught, as well, in the middle of the fire.

        This heroic story (just one of many that I'm sure occurred during that catastrophic fire) is edge of your seat excitement and one hell of a ride. It's streaming now.

A House of Dynamite

 

      If you like your movies linear with a definitive beginning, middle and end, this new film is NOT for you. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who is a master with this kind of material and written by Noah Oppenheim, the film is a doomsday scenario played out with multiple perspectives.

     When a nuclear warhead is launched by an unknown entity and is discovered heading into United States airspace, the military and government leaders must make crucial decisions within twenty minutes. The film is presented with three different perspectives with overlapping dialog. Characters in the first section may only be heard as voices and then revealed in the second and third section and vice versa.

      Once the rogue missile is detected, we see officials spring into action for almost twenty minutes and then the film momentarily goes black and resets twenty minutes to replay the action from the perspective of different characters and then resets again in the final third of the film.

       The film stars Idris Elba as POTUS (the President of the United States), who's voice we hear early on but only see him in the last third of the film. Also starring are Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Geta Lee, Jason Clarke, Gbenga Akinnagbe with cameos from Kaitlyn Dever and Renee Elise Goldsberry. Everyone is excellent in their realistic roles but to this critic, the standout is Jared Harris as the Secretary of Defense.

        Ms. Bigelow rachets up the tension with each perspective as the no-win situation plays out with the final, ultimate decision squarely in the hands of the President. Many viewers may not like the ending but if you watch the credits, you may get a definitive clue as to how the film finally ends.

          Apparently Mr. Oppenheim and Ms. Bigelow did deep research as to how this scenario would really play out and the film represents a very scary, realistic view of  "what could happen".  The title refers to our planet as the "house" and all the nations with nuclear weapons as the "dynamite". 

          The film is this generation's "Fail Safe", released in 1964 during the "Cold War". It was and still is, a chilling drama about the possible consequences of nuclear war.

Good Boy

 

                Let's get this out of the way immediately...the dog doesn't die, nor is he ever in any real danger. Directed and co-written (with Alex Cannon) by Ben Leonberg, this new horror film stars Mr. Leonberg's own dog Indy. What make this horror film unique is that it is told from the dog's perspective.

                Mr. Leonberg pulls off quite the trick. He filmed the movie over three years shooting with the dog only three hours a day. Indy, of course didn't realize he was making a movie. Just another day in the life of a dog. What makes the film work is the camera angles, perspective, and sound that will convince you Indy is indeed "acting". He is extremely emotive with wonderful expressions and obvious intelligence. And of course, he is absolutely adorable.

                The story is simple enough. Todd is dying of cancer. He decides to live out his final days at his deserted grandfather's home with his loyal dog Indy by his side. His sister tells him the house is haunted which he ignores. Indy, however, senses a presence immediately upon arriving and through his eyes, Todd appears to be slowly becoming possessed by an "evil spirit".

                 Besides Indy, the film stars Shane Jensen as Todd, Arielle Friedman as his sister, Vera, Stuart Rudin as Richard, the neighbor and Larry Fessenden as Todd's grandfather.

                 Despite taking three years to make, the final cut is only seventy five minutes long but it packs quite a wallop. It is suspenseful,  always creepy and contains a few good "jump-scares" as Indy tries to save Todd from the "evil spirit". 

                  Mr. Leonberg and his wife, producer, Kari Fischer deserve a lot of credit for a successful experiment in filmmaking and turning their dog into a star. Stay after the credits for a short behind the scenes look at how the film was made.

                 It is said that dogs can sense disease in people and it's quite possible that what Indy is "seeing" is Todd's cancer manifesting itself as an evil spirit or the house is truly haunted. Either way, it's a different kind of horror film that will both scare you and tug at your heart.

            

 

         

The Smashing Machine

 

          Written and directed by Benny Safdie and based on the documentary of the same name, this is a raw and intimate look at the life of MMA fighter, Mark Kerr during his most successful years in the ring.

         The film takes place between 1997 and 2000 during the early days of MMA when Mr. Kerr was one of the top fighters in the sport. Dwayne Johnson stars as Kerr and he is absolutely terrific, completely disappearing into the role. It is easily his best screen performance and he "smashes" it.

         Also starring is Emily Blunt as Dawn Staples, Mr. Kerr's longtime girlfriend. The two actors have wonderful chemistry together, in both the tender moments as well as in the screaming matches between them. Co-starring as himself is Bas Rutten, a former MMA fighter and now Mark's trainer as well as Ryan Bader as Mark Coleman, another MMA fighter and Mark Kerr's best friend.

         Mr. Safdie shoots the film closeup and personal, clearly focused on Mark's fights and life outside the ring. His fight scenes are incredibly realistic. You can feel every punch and kick. Mr. Johnson's makeup is remarkable and it helps him to disappear into the character.

           I'm sure the original documentary is fascinating but this "fictionalized" version, while very interesting is really a showcase for Dwayne Johnson's serious acting chops. You can't take your eyes off him.

One Battle After Another

 

      This new drama directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (who also wrote the screenplay based on the book, "Vineland" by Thomas Pynchon), is just terrific.  The cast is perfection. The script is original and so relevant to the country we are living in today. And Mr. Anderson's direction could not be better, bringing out the best in his cast, his eye for detail and even his trust in the audience.

       The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as "Bob", a member of the far-left revolutionary group, The French 75 who, along with his partner, "Perfidia" played by Teyana Taylor wreck havoc on the establishment. Shortly into the film, the story jumps 16 years and Bob is now a burned out stoner, and paranoid ex- revolutionary raising his teenage daughter, Willa, played by Chase Infiniti. The film also stars Regina Hall as Deandra, Benicio del Toro as Sergio St. Carlos, and Sean Penn as Col. Steven Lockjaw. As I mentioned, the cast is perfection but in particular, Sean Penn is just sensational as Col. Lockjaw disappearing completely into the character of an obsessed military man.

       Mr. Anderson's script touches lots of hot buttons and while serious in nature, still contains flashes of humor. There are many exciting sequences including not one but two unique car scenes, one a getaway and the other a chase. His trust in the viewer is never more obvious when he makes the conscious decision to shoot a scene in Spanish without subtitles. He has us engaged from the start and while the film runs almost three hours it never feels too long or bloated. 

        This is an easily one of Mr. Anderson's most entertaing films and should rack up many Oscar nominations.

         

HIM

 

         Not quite a sports film and not quite a horror film, "HIM" is just a horrible film. Directed by Justin Tipping, who also co-wrote it along with Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers, the film misses in every direction. 

          Tyriq Withers plays Cameron Cade, an up and coming quarterback who has a chance to sign with the Fictional San Antonio Saviors. After a very strange head injury almost ends his career, he is given the opportunity to train with "legendary" quarterback, Isaiah White at his remote compound. Marlon Wayans plays Isaiah White and he puts "Cam" through a rigorous and bizarre training regime. Mr. Withers shows much promise as an actor. It's just a shame his first starring role is in this mess.

           The film co-stars Julia Fox as Isaiah's wife, Tim Heidecker as Tom, Cam's agent, and comedian  Jim Jeffries as Marco, Isaiah's personal sports doctor.

          We never see an actual football game, only the training which borders on sickly sadistic and turns into a competition between the two men. Both actors are in amazing physical shape which is evident by the consistent, bordering on fetish, camera work of their topless bodies.

          The cost of greatness is played out against odd and violent rituals which never really make sense. Producer Jordan Peele dropped the ball on this one.