The Impenetrable TENET

 

Director/Writer Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) challenges his audience with Tenet, a mind bending, ambitious, and at times overwhelming adventure. It melds two distinct genres, spy and science fiction into a dazzling display of imagination.

Beginning with a terrorist attack at a crowded concert venue, the ‘Protagonist’ (John David Washington) is drawn into a desperate mission to seek the source of a mysterious, potentially world altering paradox called ‘inversion’. With a special agent (Robert Pattinson), the trail leads to a ruthless, powerful Russian (Kenneth Branagh at his villainous best) and his estranged wife (Elizabeth Debicki). As the stakes rise astronomically, the threat of world annihilation becomes real unless the agents can somehow intervene.

The control of one’s destiny and the bond between parent and child are recurring themes in Nolan’s films where his characters are at the center of extraordinary, transformative events. Further, he has always been fascinated with fragmenting and scrambling linear narrative (like Momento). The film’s plot device is an intricate concept (even more convoluted than his great Inception) like pieces of a very complicated puzzle that slowly come together. Though confusing at times, the best thing is to just go with it (and watch it again). A miniseries could have been a better format.

With his excellent cast (Michael Caine, makes another appearance), Nolan devises some wonderfully elaborate set pieces including an airport heist and a couple of wild chases with an added dimension unlike anything you’ve seen.  He is obviously exercising his affinity for James Bond films.

This is moviemaking on a superior level with its sweeping scope of locations and production value.  If only the plot was a bit easier to follow.  I give Nolan credit for sheer audaciousness in aiming high and just missing the mark.

***1/2 of **** stars (for Nolan fans)

An Actress for Her Times

 Actress Cicely Tyson has passed at 96. She was a pioneering black actress during the Civil Rights movement choosing dignified roles and refusing exploitation films which likely cost her film roles while waiting for her moment which was Sounder and an Oscar nomination. A flurry of projects came including Roots, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and more recently The Help. She won a Tony Award and three Emmy Awards among 16 nominations.  In 2018 she received an honorary Oscar. Her many accomplishments off stage and screen were just as impressive. Ever hear of The Dance Theater of Harlem? Yes, she helped in its founding. With her memoir just published, she was active until the end.

Remember Me

Actress Cloris Leachman passed at 94. This veteran of film and TV acted from early beginnings like the memorable opening woman on the run in Kiss Me Deadly in 1955. She was the mother of a monstrous boy in Twilight Zone in 1961's episode It's a Good Life. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in The Last Picture Show in 1971. She was the nosy landlord in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spinoff Phyllis. She was nominated 22 times for an Emmy Award and won a record setting eight times! And who could forget her turns in several Mel Brooks films especially as the Frau in Young Frankenstein? She even appeared in Dancing with the Stars not long ago. As one of her characters memorably said, "Remember Me."

I AM WOMAN and the Musical Feminist

 

This factual drama is an interesting take on singer Helen Reddy, whose female anthem, I Am Woman, forms the basis of the similarly titled film. As one of the recent spate of music biopics, it depicts an icon who tapped into an important time in our culture.

In the late 1960s, aspiring singer Helen Reddy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), an Australian, comes to America with her young daughter to launch a singing career only to face skepticism, sexism, and indifference to her style of songs as Beatlemania takes hold. Befriending a music agent, Jeff Wald (Evan Peters), she begins with small nightclubs in New York City and moves to Los Angeles with Wald where record labels like Capitol Records beckon.  Motivated to write her own songs that feature her own ‘voice’, she represents a new kind of pop music that not only takes the charts by storm in the 1970s, but speaks to a growing, nationwide chorus of women’s equal rights. However, family tensions come to a head as drugs and financial ruin threaten everything.

The plot follows the tried and true narrative of radio airplay and luck to create a hit song. The film draws parallels between Reddy’s career and the Women’s Movement as many of her hit songs bracket key plot points including the question ‘if a woman can have a life and a career’. These issues and her personal relationships could have been developed a bit more for dramatic impact.

Cobham-Hervey is fine as the pop star and, with an aura of authenticity, does her own singing instead of dubbing in Reddy’s vocals. Though not on par with similar films as Bohemian Rhapsody, the film will resonate with fans who remember the pop sensation and her influence.

*** of **** stars (for Reddy enthusiasts)

The Man Behind the Front

Screenwriter Walter Bernstein passed away at 101. This Oscar nominated veteran was blacklisted in Hollywood from 1950 til 1958 when Director Sidney Lumet hired him. In the meantime he worked under other writers who were 'fronts' and dramatized in The Front. He wrote Fail Safe, Yanks, and Semi-Tough and had a hand uncredited in films like the original western The Magnificent Seven. Up til his passing, he was an instructor for screenwriting.

 

Talk Show Legend King Passes.

Master talk show host Larry King passed at 87 due to Covid related issues. His 63 year career was highlighted by over 25 years on CNN. No one conducted an interview like King. This clip shows how, as a young radio interviewer in 1963, he was able to secure Frank Sinatra, the biggest star in the world at that time. I have never forgotten it because it is just cool. Adieu Larry.

A Moment in History in ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI

 

‘Inspired by actual events’, One Night in Miami, a fascinating imagining of a fateful meeting among four pivotal figures at a critical moment in history (adapted by Kemp Powers from his play), is compelling cinema and one of the best films of the year.

One evening in February, 1964, in Miami, Florida, four icons meet in a seedy hotel to celebrate Cassius Clay’s (Eli Goree) stunning, boxing triumph. Clay (soon to be Muhammad Ali), full of bravado, is joined by Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), the football great on the cusp of a career change, Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), a hugely popular singer, and activist Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) of the Nation of Islam on the brink of starting a new movement with huge implications.  As they ruminate on life and their respective accomplishments, each realizes the power they wield to not only effect change in civil rights, but also leads to some hard truths and realizations that will change their lives forever.

The conceit of these personalities converging is almost too good to be true, but it did happen. Whether events transpired as dramatized is not as important as providing insight into each character as the film successfully conveys real, humanized celebrities with aspirations and fears. The ensemble excels at personifying their real life counterparts, looking and sounding like them with Odom a standout, singing like the real Cooke.

Though set primarily in a hotel room which belies its theatrical origins, the film does reenact and give new perspective to key moments in their lives.  Ironically their conversations chronicle themes amid a tense political backdrop that resonate to this day.

For her feature directorial debut, actress Regina King signals her cinematic future as a multiple threat.

**** of **** stars 

MANK and the Art of Imitating Life

The classic film, Citizen Kane, is the source for Mank, a fascinating back story of its screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz, and how, despite personal struggles, a legendary, Oscar winning script was born.

In 1940, RKO Studios gives theater wunderkind, 24 year old Orson Welles, complete artistic freedom to do his first motion picture, and he enlists gifted scribe Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) to write a screenplay.  Through a series of flashbacks, Mankiewicz’s experiences with powerful, publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) inform his screenplay which includes Hearst’s mistress, actress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried), as his protégé who befriends ‘Mank’ as his friends call him. Struggling with alcoholism and witnessing an abuse of power by Hearst and MGM heads Louis B. Meyer and Irving Thalberg, Mank feels compelled to speak out despite calls to shelve his controversial, incriminating script even if it risks relationships and his career.

With its snappy, often satirical dialogue, the film, written by the late Jack Fincher (director David Fincher’s father), is filled with real life figures and events like the Depression, and with its parallels to the current political climate, it’s the sort of Hollywood revisionist treatise that the great Billy Wilder would have applauded. For Fincher (The Social Network), this must have been a labor of love, and it shows in the strong acting and tight narrative abetted by gorgeous black and white photography.  In retrospect, it certainly gives deeper meaning and appreciation to Welles’ masterpiece.

This loving tribute to a complex, talented writer is a feast particularly for true cinephiles and those curious about the purported origins of the iconic film.  Oldman is outstanding; his performance and the film are the sort of work that the Oscars love.

**** of **** stars (for movie purists)

 

Sweet Castaway Mary Ann Is Gone

 

TV favorite Dawn Wells has died at 82 from Covid related causes. This star of the classic show Gilligan's Island in the mid sixties and endless reruns had appeared in other shows and films, but her fame will always be as castaway, Mary Ann. I had the pleasure of meeting her twice in 2010 and 2017 (I think) at the Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Covention. She was every bit as nice as you could imagine and commented on how my name was the same as a cousin of hers. She even noted my Wild Wild West t-shirt, and said she appeared as a guest on that show. My picture with her has been a source of pride and sweet memories of a celeb who will always be remembered with fondness.

Truth and Lies in WONDER WOMAN 1984

                                       

An entertaining follow-up to its superior predecessor, Wonder Woman 1984 has an interesting plot and powerful villains to boot; fans will likely approve.

Decades after World War I, the ageless Amazon warrior, Diana Prince AKA Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), now living in 1984 Washington D.C., befriends a shy, timid archivist, Barbara (Kristen Wiig), who comes across a mysterious stone with unknown purpose and powers.  TV personality and oil speculator Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) is also interested in power and wants the stone’s magic as each person’s dreams and desires are realized with sinister consequences that threaten Diana’s world and forces her to revisit a painful past including her lost love, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine).

This film has a theme and intriguing premise that begins promisingly with the development of its two antagonists, and moments with Pine’s ‘fish out of water’ in a modern world are amusing, while he and Gadot shine together and culminates in a touching moment of truth. You will pick up direct and passing references in literature (The Monkey’s Paw) and films (Heaven Can Wait and Indiana Jones).  Plus we get to see Diana display new abilities. 

Partially shot in DC and Virginia, the film feels slightly long (at 2 1/2 hours) as the storyline spirals (purposely?) into a couple loose ends, while action scenes including a battle in the White House (X-Men United did a better job) and the climactic battle at a military facility don’t flow quite as well as they should; indeed, a couple of effects shots are average.  

However, with its timely message and the acting of its leads, this is still a solid adventure and worth a viewing. Do stay for that mid-credits scene, a valentine for fans.

*** of **** stars (for Gadot fans and the mid-credits)

Davidson Glows in THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND

 

Saturday Night Live player Pete Davidson shines in his first major starrer that draws from his own life, and the result is a humorous, at times biting drama that reveals glimpses of a rising talent.

Scott (Davidson) is a 24 year old son living at home with his widowed mom (Marisa Tomei) on Staten Island. Jobless and going nowhere, his pipedream is to open a tattoo parlor/restaurant while he hangs with his druggie friends and sweet girlfriend who longs for more in life. When his sister moves out for college, his mom begins dating a firefighter, Ray (Bill Burr) much to Scott’s misery. It seems his own father was a firefighter who died in the line of duty when Scott was a boy. Depressed with post trauma, Scott must learn to navigate an uncertain future and confront his past.

Much as he helped comedian Amy Schumer draw from her own background for Trainwreck, director Judd Apatow (Knocked Up) elicits some painful memories from Davidson’s real past including losing his firefighter father during 9/11 and reframes them with a cynical, humorous eye.

The sharp, heartfelt screenplay (by Apatow, Davidson and David Sirus) walks a fine line between humor and drama never deviating far from its comedic roots. It doesn’t quite gel as well as you would like, but there are memorable moments such as Scott walking Ray’s kids to school and interacting with them, and the battle of wills between Scott and Ray.

Davidson’s touching, self-cathartic performance shows he has a legitimate, dramatic side to complement his comedic talents.  Let’s face it, he’s the reason to see this film; it’s his show all the all the way, and he makes the most of it.

*** of **** stars (add ½* for Davidson fans)

Dancin Reinking

 Actress, dancer and choreographer Ann Reinking passed at 71. A protégée of Director Bob Fosse, her career spanned into the modern era of musical theater in Sweet Charity, A Chorus Line, Chicago, and many others. Her choreography in Chicago won her a Tony Award. She appeared a handful of films, but it is her role in Fosse's semiautobiographical All That Jazz where she shined in her beauty and dance moves. Broadway has lost one of its best.

A Horror Parable

The Masque of the Red Death was an interesting horror film from 1964 at the height of producer Roger Corman and star Vincent Price's successful adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe classics. The vivid colors and set designs were striking despite their limited budgets. Cinematographer Nicolas Roeg would go on to be a noted director (The Man Who Fell to Earth, Don't Look Now). This tale was originally told in Poe's short story and makes you think even today.

The Best of Veterans Day

 

The Best Years of Our Lives from 1946 won 9 Oscars including Best Picture. This post war drama centers in the lives of three veterans adjusting to civilian life. There is not one battle scene. There is, however, an impeccable cast and sensitive, outstanding direction by the master, William Wyler. I can't think of a better film to help commemorate Veterans Day.

A Gameshow Icon

Long time Gameshow host Alex Trebek has succumbed to cancer at 80. An institution since the 1984 revival of the quiz show Jeopardy, he was nominated 31 times and won seven Emmy Awards. Other top shows would reference or cross mingle with this popular show like Golden Girls, Cheers, Saturday Night Live, and even The X Files. Even through his original diagnosis and the Pandemic, viewers hung onto his every appearance. His passing is like losing a family member we grew up with that we visited on a daily basis. With several pre-taped episodes still unaired, at least we can slowly say farewell.

The answer:Alex Trebek. 

The Question: WHO WAS A GAMESHOW ICON

Childhood Halloween Memories

 Wow, Halloween falls on Saturday amid Pandemic and Daylight Savings Time!

(My first trick or treat was on a Saturday, and I remember the Outer Limits was on TV.)

Here are obscure horror films I grew up with as a child watching Chiller Theater on TV. They made a vivid impression on me.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

-Fiend Without a Face- 1958-grisly invisible monsters

-It the Terror from Beyond Space-1958-remade into Alien

-Thirteen Ghosts-1960-playful horror inspired Poltergeist

-Gorgo-1961-became Spielberg's The Lost World

-Carnival of Souls- 1962-one of the first nightmare vs reality films