Miss Bala

First Hit: Although there’s a twist at every turn, it is predictable, but has enough of a twist at the end to make it interesting.

The film begins with Gloria (Gina Rodriguez) doing makeup for some fashion models in a Los Angeles fashion show. After the show, she gets in her car and heads to Tijuana Mexico to visit a close friend, whom she considers family. Suzu’s (Cristina Rodlo) family took Gloria in when she was small, and they spent their young years together. Gloria is headed there to help Suzu get ready for the Miss Baja California contest.

To introduce Gloria to Chief Saucedo (Damian Alcazar), who has some sway over who wins the contest, Suzu takes Gloria to a nightclub. What we also learn is that Saucedo is slowly taking over all the illegal trade that goes across the U.S – Mexico border. He’s attempting to take this unlawful business away from a gang called Las Estrellas.

Las Estrellas is led by Lino (Ismael Cruz Cordova). To shut down the Chief’s attempt to take over the border trade business from Lino, the Las Estrellas gang steals into the nightclub and starts to shoot it up. In the process they kidnap Suzu.

Gloria spends the rest of the film trying to find and rescue her close friend.

The storyline takes Gloria through being captured and used by the DEA, Las Estrellas, and the CIA. It is how the story weaves its way through all this that makes the film both work and not work. There’s too many tricks, story twists, and plot turns.

One thing that wasn’t very believable was the apparent age difference between Gloria and Suzu. This difference made me wonder about how they were friends when they were young. I also thought the some of the scenes were overly staged.

Rodriguez was good as an intense person who wanted to find her friend. Rodlo was OK as Gloria’s friend. Cordova was OK as the heavy leader of the gang. Alcazar was appropriately manipulative and arrogant as the crooked police chief. Anthony Mackie was OK as the undercover agent. Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer wrote an overly trick-filled screenplay. I didn’t engage with all the twists and turns. Catherine Hardwicke did a reasonable job of directing through all the storylines. 

Overall: This was an overly complicated film, and it didn’t need to be.

Capernaum (Chaos)

First Hit: This is an incredibly powerful film about the state of children and their survival in Beirut.

The tale told in this film holds up a mirror to share the reflection of what happens when ill-informed beliefs, the devastation of war, and the lack of order (chaos) creates a society not equipped to deal children born into it.

Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) is twelve years old, but nobody knows because his parents, Souad (Kawsar Al Haddad – as the mother) and Selim (Fadi Yousef – as the father), failed to document and register Zain’s birth with the government, so he has no ID and is unknown to the government. Souad and Selim follow tradition and have lots of children, and as the oldest, Zain takes care of himself, brings home what money and food he can steal or hustle and is protective of his 11-year-old younger sister Sahar (Haita ‘Cedra’ Izzam).

He’s in court facing a judge while serving a 5-year jail sentence for stabbing a “son of a bitch.” Zain is now suing his parents. The judge asks, “Why are you attacking your parents in court?” He responds with “For giving me life.”

Hearing this from a twelve-year-old boy was heartbreaking. And from this opening moment, we delve back into how Zain ended up stabling someone and in court suing his parents for giving him life. Not only is he mistreated, the family lives in abject squalor.

We follow Zain as he tries to protect his sister Sahar when their parents attempt to sell/trade her to Assaad (Nour El Husseini), the family’s landlord for chickens. When Sahar has her period for the first time, Zain, helps her wash her pants, and folds up his own shirt to catch and absorb her menstruation. Zain doesn’t want his parents to know because then she’ll “be ripe” for sale.

Finally fed up Zain leaves his home and journeys out only to find Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw) who is barely 17, has a baby named Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole) and is illegally in Lebanon from Ethiopia. Being the incredibly responsible person he is, because she provides a place to sleep and food, he takes care of Yonas. When she gets caught by immigration and doesn’t return, what Zain does is beyond remarkable. His ability to survive, protect, and take care of this baby is impressive.

However, equally as powerful, is the way this film is shot. Extraordinary. The actors are not professional actors by trade. As in another of this year’s nominees, the film Roma, the roles are filled with everyday people. Screenwriter and Director Nadine Labaki elicited sublime performances from everyone, even the baby. Her camera angles were not looking down on the children but making their view of the world the primary focus. The sound, especially at the beginning, has a deep rumble as if bombs are still exploding in the far distant background. This noise added an edge to the film that haunted me. Lastly, the camera work, including the movement, was excellent.

Rafeea as the boy Zain was beyond amazing. The look in his eyes, the sad face, and his evident intensity to do what it takes to survive were ever present. Shiferaw as the Ethiopian mother of Yonas was divine. I loved how she was able to navigate and figure out how to survive while continually being aware she needed to get papers to stay in the country. Bankole, the baby - Yonas, was perfect. Haddad and Yousef as Zain’s mom and dad respectively, were powerful components of this film’s intensity. Izzam was sweet as the sister. Labaki wrote an extraordinary screenplay that highlighted the plight of children in this war-torn city. Her ability to envision and capture the deep mistrust children have of the world around them, and their ability to continue fighting was terrific.

Overall: If this film were up for the Best Picture award, it would be a great choice.

Cold War (Zimma wojna)

First Hit: I liked the quality of sets, the black and white photography, and the feel they gave for the time this film covers.

I like good period pieces, and the timing of this story is smack dab in my childhood days. Although it begins before my birth, in the 1940s, it moves through into two additional decades in Poland, Russia, and France.

The feel of the stage shows, the night clubs, and the music really stood out for me. The oppression of the Polish and Russian governments are what the characters played against in choosing their path and livelihoods.

The story is about a Zula (Joanna Kulig) who finds herself auditioning to become one of the state-sponsored singers in a Polish youth group.

The beginning is touching in that a small team of people is combing the countryside looking for authentic voices to sing traditional songs. We follow them as they record these untrained voices in their homes and the fields.

Zula is not one of these country voices. We learn that she has been recently released from jail because she took a knife to her father. And paraphrasing her words when she speaks to Wiktor (Tomasz Kot), one of the school’s music teachers, about why she was in jail; he was mistaking me for my mother, so I took a knife to him to remind him of this.

This statement along with the way Zula teams with another girl to sing a traditional song shows something about her will to survive and the myriad of ways she’ll do it.

Wiktor is the pianist for the music dance school and is impressed with Zula, her voice, and mostly her extra special something. He supports choosing Zula to become part of the stage act. He’s also attracted to her and begins to fall for her romantically. She, in turn, during a walk in the countryside, falls for him as well and here begins their love story for the next twenty or so years.

The film then shows how the stage show moved from being a taste of traditional Poland to a tool used by Stalin and the Polish quasi-government to promote communism. Wiktor cannot take it and decides to defect to France where he can use his musical talents in arranging and musicianship to make a living. He hopes that Zula goes with him.

However, she’s playing it safe and stays with the group but they both pine for each other.

Their love, how they meet up multiple times throughout the film, and the inability to keep their love alive is what this film is about. The oppressiveness of the Cold War is the backdrop for the challenges Zula and Wiktor navigate to stay together.

What didn’t work for me in this film was the editing. Scenes end abruptly, and a new scene begins with little context. It isn’t that the scenes are not within the scope of the film, it was the harsh and jarring way it was cut from one to another.

Kulig was excellent as the strong, apparently aiming to survive, girl/woman who loved Wiktor more than anything because he supported her. Her passion for him on the screen was palpable. Kot as Wiktor was outstanding. His performance as a musician was perfect. I fully believed him as a pianist and his love for Zula. Borys Szyc as Kaczmarek the promoter who was always looking for the angle while being politically on the side that was winning was perfect. He carried the right look and feel for the role. Paweł Pawlikowski wrote and directed this film. As I mentioned, I didn’t like the scene edits, but the writing and overall look and feel to the film was outstanding.

Overall: I can see what this was an Academy Award nominated foreign film from Poland.

Serenity

First Hit: As a thriller it was average, but as the characters begin to question everything and reaching the end of their roles or usefulness, it became more obvious about how this story was unfolding.

The film starts with Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey) fishing on his boat Serenity based at Plymouth Island. He, his vessel, and his deckhand Duke (Djimon Hounsou) were chartered by two drunk guys who want Dill and Duke to help them catch fish.

However, they hook up “The Big One,” Dill takes over the pole and attempts to reel in “The Big One.” They get it close to the boat but end up losing the fish. The charter guests are pissed because they didn’t get to catch the fish themselves. Dill is obsessed with catching “The Big One.”

There is a strangeness to the way Duke talks with Dill, and it is even stranger when Dill visits Constance (Diane Lane) for a quick roll in the hay, and then she pays him. Then she asks about her cat.

Dill needs money, and he thinks Duke is terrible luck, so he fires Duke. Dill then starts fishing alone for sailfish at night and trying to catch “The Big One” during the day. Although he’s successful with the night fishing, he’s not making any progress on his real goal, to catch “The Big One.”

One day Karen Zariakas (Anne Hathaway) shows up, and we learn she is his ex-wife and that the son he had with her, Patrick (Rafael Sayegh) is the same boy Dill telepathically communicates with and the audience has gotten a glimpse constantly typing at a computer in some unknown spot.

Karen wants to give Dill (AKA John to her) 10m dollars cash if he kills her current husband, Frank (Jason Clarke) who beats her and Patrick. Dill refuses and Duke continue to reminds Dill about following the righteous path of the Lord. Karen says her husband is coming to this remote island anyway and that she’s arranged for Dill to take Frank out on a charter. She hopes that Dill will get Frank drunk and toss him overboard and let the sharks eat him.

This is the set up for the film’s story, and it takes a while for it to gel.

In the meantime, there are plenty of hints for the audience about the surrealism of this story. These hints include the bar tender’s actions and words, the silent old man sitting at the table in the bar, the fishing store proprietor always saying everyone knows everything about everybody, Constance and the way she acts, and a new character who sells electronic fish finders, Reid Miller (Jeremy Strong). These hints include oddly controlled dialogue, references to being on this island and nowhere near a mainland, Reid walking around in a suit, the traffic light dance Dill does every morning, and The Doc (an unknown or seen character).

I enjoyed parts of the film with out-loud laughter, but I was the only one laughing in the theater maybe because I was the only one who figured it out or everyone else was bored. I liked that I felt the boy’s intensity when the film showed his eyes against the computer screen full of code.

McConaughey brought his standard look and feel to the role. It wasn’t anything unique. Hathaway was OK. The scenes where she succumbs to her husband's demands were intense, but other times her performance didn’t carry the power it needed to. Lane had a small, yet pivotal role and was good. Clarke was well suited to the part of cruel husband and general jerk. Strong had an interesting character because he seemed so out of place, and I didn’t get why he was in the story although he was a great sounding board for Dill. Sayegh was outstanding by expressing his intent through his eyes as we saw them on the computer screen. Hounsou was terrific as the good angel in the film, trying to keep McConaughey on course. Steven Knight wrote and directed this film. I can see why he got the talent he got to star in this film, but somehow the execution or the lack of additional depth in the story made it only mediocre.

Overall: The film has its moments, but somehow it doesn’t quite add up to the film it could have been.

Films that rose above the fray in 2018

This was a particularly good year for films. At first I didn’t think so but after I reviewed the films I watched and wrote about this past year, I was pleasantly surprised. I was entertained by outstanding acting, strong and poignant films about racism, and out loud laughs. My next post will be about the Oscar nominations.

Game Night: This film was funny from the get go and I laughed out loud all the way through.

Leaning Into the Wind: Andrew Goldsworthy: If you liked the film River and Tides, you’ll love Leaning....

The Death of Stalin: There are very funny moments, but I couldn’t help but wonder was his regime filled with that much personal corruptness? Probably.

Flower: The acting lifts this bizarre storyline to funny, engaging and entertaining levels.

Red Sparrow: Although long at 2h 19min, it had enough twists, turns, and detail to keep me fully engaged.

You Were Never Really Here: Beautifully shot scenes, dynamic soundtrack, but this oddly paced film tells a story of redemption, salvation or deeper despair.

Beirut: I really liked the way this film was put together and came to fruition.

A Quiet Place: Well done film and the silence of the actors made all the difference in the world.

Deadpool 2: First Hit: This film is fun, irreverent and filled with out-loud laughs.

RBG: Excellent film about a woman who lives within her strength and defined and changed U.S. law.

Disobedience: Extremely well-acted film about how antiquated thinking can split families and a loving relationship.

Hotel Artemis: Who says Hollywood cannot create a unique and well-acted film.

Blindspotting: Extremely powerful and pointed film and raises the bar for Best Picture of the Year. In my view this unnominated film is by far and away the best film of 2018.

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot: A unhurried film revealing the power of how forgiveness of others and self, can make one’s life different.

Three Identical Strangers: A truly amazing story about how sciences’ curiosity didn't take into account the effects on human beings.

Sorry to Bother You: What I liked about this film is that it is funny, unique, and unlike any other film I’ve seen.

Leave No Trace: Sublimely acted and evenly paced film about a man and his daughter living in a public forest.

Puzzle: I thoroughly enjoyed this poignant film about a woman finding herself through a passion.

BlacKkKlansman: Fantastic film about race relations in the United States while reminding the audience about how far we have to go.

Eighth Grade: Outstanding acting and script gives us an insightful view of what it is like to be in the Eighth Grade today.

Fahrenheit 11/9: Covers a lot of stuff but I think it was mostly about Presidents and people in power managing and acting poorly.

Pick of the Litter: It was an fantastic and interesting way to learn about how guide dogs are taught to be amazing caretakers for the blind.

First Man: Compelling reenactment of an audaciously brave time in the 1960’s where we were challenged by President Kennedy to go to the moon.

The Hate U Give: A fantastic film about the existence of racism and, as indicated here, in our police departments as well.

Green Book: Excellent acting, engaging story, and both funny and thought-provoking make this film fun to sit through.

Boy Erased: Outstanding cast delivers sublime performances in a powerful story about LGBT conversion programs.

A Private War: Rosamund Pike (as Marie Colvin) gives a deeply complex performance of a war correspondent who brought personal stories of war victims to the forefront.

Bohemian Rhapsody: Accurate or not, this film was fun, well-acted, engaging, and joyful.

Can You Ever Forgive Me: Excellent acting about a caustic, friendless author that finally finds her voice.

Mary Queen of Scots: Saoirse Ronan (Mary Stuart) and Margot Robbie (Queen Elizabeth 1) give powerful performances in this adaptation of how Mary Queen of Scots tried to claim her title to the throne of England and Scotland.

Vice: I liked this oddly created film about a powerful yet enigmatic man who really ran our country for a period of time.

Ben is Back: Extremely well-acted story based on 24 hours of a mother and her addicted son’s return for the holidays.

Roma: Outside of the beautiful black and white photography and languid movement of the story, I left the theater with little.

The Favourite: A stark, intense musical score underscores the bizarre and tension filled interrelationships between the queen and her court.

Shoplifters: Wonderfully engaging film about a Japanese family who chose each other while fighting to stay nourished and together.