NEW THIS WEEK DECEMBER 6, 2024 (IN THEATERS AND ON HOME VIDEO)
NIGHTBITCH--In an utterly fearless performance that ranks with her finest screen work to date, Amy Adams plays a housewife/mom whose frustration at having her career as an artist and curator sidelined for suburban domesticity makes her transform into a dog at night, howling and roaming with the neighborhood pack. While the film's overriding feminist allegory about a creatively stifled woman embracing her animal instincts is a tad on-the-nose, Adams and director Marielle ("Can You Ever Forgive Me?," "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood") Heller make it work, sometimes brilliantly. Adams is spectacular and Scott McNairy somehow manages to turn the thankless role of her clueless husband into an unexpectedly sympathetic figure. (B PLUS.)
THE ORDER--Ironically, Australian director Justin ("Nitram," "True History of the Kelly Gang") Kurzel's riveting, fact-based docudrama about the 1980's roots of American white nationalism stars two Brits (Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult, both terrific and totally nailing their accents). Law plays alcoholic FBI agent Terry Husik who, after being transferred to Idaho, begins investigating a series of robberies and bombings that seem connected to Aryan Nation founder Richard Butler (Youngstown native Victor Slezak in a chilling performance). Husik's prime suspect is a former Butler protege (Hoult) who's plotting to overthrow the government with lessons gleaned from Aryan Bible "The Turner Diaries." Because his fellow feds aren't much help, Husik teams up with a local deputy sheriff (Tye Sheridan) to take down Matthews and his posse. Comfortably working in a terse Michael ("Manhunter," "Thief") Mann groove, Kurzel embraces the story's genre elements as well as its frightening contemporary parallels: the MAGA movement and 1/6-ers are clearly offshoots of Matthews, Butler, et al. As a result, he's made a film as harrowing as it is deeply sorrowful. (A MINUS.) https://youtu.be/BIJrmpDpEeI?si=KDLzFZu32niWrNVT
THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE--When ex-mercenary "Blue" (Robert Shaw) and three accomplices (Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman as "Green," "Grey" and "Brown:" screenwriter Peter Stone beat Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" by 18 years with his color-coded monickers) hijack a New York City subway train, holding 17 passengers and the conductor hostage, grizzled transit cop Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) is called into action. Blue is demanding $1-million in ransom to be paid within an hour; if the city doesn't meet his deadline, one hostage will be killed for every tardy minute (Elizondo's trigger-happy "Grey" is only too happy to oblige). With its scene-stealing supporting turns from seasoned New York character actors Jerry Stiller and Tony Roberts (hilarious as a smart-ass Deputy Mayor), "Pelham" seems on paper like a classic Sidney Lumet film. But it was actually helmed by journeyman director Joseph ("Colossus: The Forbin Project," "MacArthur") Sergeant who rose to the challenge, turning in the best work of his career. Although remade in 2009 by Tony Scott (Denzel Washington and John Travolta played the Matthau and Shaw roles), it's Sergeant's 1974 original that gained a deserved cult following for being one of the grittiest, most unapologetically "New York" movies ever made. The KL Studio Classics' Blu-Ray has a plethora of bonus features including two separate audio commentary tracks (one with historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson; the other with actor/filmmaker Pat Healy and programmer Jim Healy); a vintage making-of featurette; interviews with Elizondo, editor Gerald B. Greenberg and composer David Shire; theatrical trailers and TV/radio spots. (A.)
THE TRAIN--Shot in a quasi-documentary style by "The Manchurian Candidate" auteur John Frankenheimer, this breathlessly paced 1965 WW II actioner stars Burt Lancaster as Labiche, a member of the French Resistance charged with derailing a train carrying stolen French paintings in August 1944. The thief is Nazi Colonel Van Waldheim (Paul Scofield, amusingly cast as the heavy a year before playing saintly Sir Thomas Moore in "A Man for All Seasons"), a self-avowed art connoisseur and first-class asshole. A battle of wits quickly ensues between Labiche and Van Waldheim with Frankenheimer serving up memorable setpieces like an Allied air-raid attack of a train carrying German weaponry on an adjacent track and Labiche ingeniously choreographing a collision of Van Waldheim's Berlin-bound train. Costarring the great Jeanne Moreau (as the war widow proprietor of a roadside hotel who strikes romantic sparks with Labiche), Michel Simon, Suzanne Flon and Jacques Marin, the movie effectively employs a sparingly used Maurice ("Dr. Zhivago") Jarre score and gets beaucoup atmospheric mileage from its location lensing. Newly released on Blu Ray, The KL Studio Classics set includes two audio commentaries (with Frankenheimer and, on an alternate track, "Combat Films: American Realism" author Steven Jay Rubin sharing duties with historian Steve Mitchell); a making-of featurette; and the original TV spot, theatrical teaser and trailer. (A.) https://youtu.be/KDpjtVI1z9g?si=Qqelj89htoIyTv7j
Y2K--Set on New Year's Eve 1999 when the whole world was in a tizzy about global disasters stemming from potential tech breakdowns, this rambunctiously entertaining sci-fi disaster comedy is like a melding of "Superbad" and "The Terminator." Two high school misfits, brainiac Eli (Jaeden Martell) and doofus Danny (Julian Dennison), crash a party thrown by BMOC "Soccer" Chris (Aussie rapper The Kid LAROI). Eli's main goal is to finally make romantic inroads with his secret crush, fellow computer geek Laura (Rachel Zegler, Maria from Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story"); Danny just wants to make it through the night without getting pantsed by the jocks. What begins as a fitfully amusing (if derivative) teen comedy turns deadly at the stroke of midnight when household appliances (a microwave oven, a blender, etc.) unite to become veritable killing machines. Eli and Laura ultimately flee into some adjacent woods to escape the slaughter where they encounter Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst (don't ask). As good-naturedly goofy as it is unapologetically gory, director Kyle Mooney's genre-bending romp has "Future Cult Movie" written all over it. (B.) https://youtu.be/Oa823lY1sTs?si=MaHu7sR8XI4ib8fE
NOW AVAILABLE IN THEATERS, ON HOME VIDEO AND/OR STREAMING CHANNELS:
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER--When dithering housewife Grace (Judy Greer) volunteers to helm the local church's 75th anniversary Christmas pageant after the regular director is sidelined with a broken leg, she suffers the wrath of the community for casting the hard luck Herdmans ("absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world" according to Grace's bratty tween daughter played by an obnoxious Mary Belle Wright) as the leads. Because the film's director (Dallas Jenkins) is the ham-fisted auteur behind "The Chosen" franchise, it's inevitable that the experience of playing Mary, Joseph, et al will somehow "redeem" the heathen Herdmans. The most offensive thing about the film is its utter lack of curiosity about the Herdman kids themselves. We never once venture into their crumbling shack of a house, learn how they survive (eat, have clothes to wear, etc.) or whether there's even a parent or adult guardian in their lives. It's like they only exist to serve as repositories for heavy-handed Christian proselytizing. While I frequently complain about how overdone multi-culturalism is in contemporary movies, Jenkins' tone-deaf adaptation of Barbara Robinson's beloved 1972 kid-lit favorite takes things so far in the opposite direction you'd swear it was made in 1952. It's the whitest movie I've seen in years, and preachy/pandering to boot. Even Greer, usually a refreshingly sardonic screen presence, is disappointingly bland-vapid here. (D.)
GLADIATOR 2--Bigger, noisier and replete with all the frequently dodgy CGI a 2024 mega-production can afford, Ridley Scott's "legacy" sequel to his Oscar-winning sword-and-sandal blockbuster inevitably pales in comparison with the Russell Crowe original. Set 16 years after the original film ended, the story picks up when Maximus and Lucilla's now-grown son Lucius (Paul Mescal) is captured by General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) and brought to Rome as a gladiator-in-training. The fact that Acacius is now married to Lucilla (Connie Nielsen reprising her role from the 2000 movie) adds a potentially interesting Oedipal dimension to the plot that screenwriter David Scarpa stubbornly refuses to develop. Under the tutelage of Macrinus (Denzel Washington), the Don King of Ancient Rome, Lucius becomes the most fearsome gladiator on the block. The Colosseum is flooded for full-scale sea battles (yes, there are sharks) and even rhinos are enlisted to battle the combatants. Despite amusing support from Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn as mincing twin emperors Caracella and Geta, the movie is largely devoid of humor. Washington does his usual pro job and Pascal impresses in an underwritten role, but the biggest problem is the miscasting of Mescal. One of those interchangeable British pretty boys who, for some unfathomable reason, has become Hollywood's latest flavor du jour, Mescal lacks both the gravitas, musculature and thesping chops to make Lucius a compelling screen presence. It's hard to believe this neurasthenic wimp could ever rise to become the savior of Rome. Since every movie is a trilogy these days, the ending feels like the set-up for yet another sequel. If that happens, I hope the powers-that-be have the foresight to recast Lucius with another actor who could make a more convincing gladiator supreme. (C.)
GREG ARAKI'S TEEN APOCALYPSE TRILOGY--Unlike some directors who eventually outgrow the mantle of "enfant terrible" (e.g., Francois Ozon), Gregg Araki never fully discarded that bratty appellation. Starting with "The Living End," his $20,000 critical and commercial breakthrough, Araki was officially designated as poster boy of the nascent Queer Cinema. Following the success of his 1992 provocation in which two gay men--one who's been recently diagnosed as HIV positive--hit the road for a "Clyde and Clyde"-style crime spree, Araki has consistently pushed the envelope. The fact that the Criterion Collection is releasing Araki's self-described "Teen Apocalypse Trilogy" (1993-'97) shouldn't be terribly surprising. After all, Criterion previously gave Araki predecessor John Waters their bells-and-whistles treatment with lavish renderings of zero budget Waters underground classics like "Mondo Trasho," "Pink Flamingos" and "Female Trouble." Araki's stories of teen alienation, hazy/fluid sexuality and hyper-aggression might not feel as shocking as they seemed at the time, but they're no less transgressive or in-your-face gnarly.
1993's "Totally F***ed Up" was Araki's winking avant garde homage to John Hughes' '80s high school movies. Loosely plotted and episodic in nature, it artfully delineates the lives of six gay Los Angeles teens (4 boys and a lesbian couple). Besides introducing actor James Duval who would become Araki's designated creative muse, starring in all three of his "Apocalypse" films, it was also the only Araki movie to world premiere at Lincoln Center's tony New York Film Festival.
Although 1995's "The Doom Generation" was semi-facetiously marketed as "A Hetero Movie by Gregg Araki," its Queer bona fides were unmistakable. Jordan (Duval) and Amy (Rose McGowan) impulsively pick up a sexy hitchhiker (Jonathan Schaech's amusingly monikered Xavier Red) who temporarily upends their relationship by sleeping with both of them. He also takes the couple on an increasingly violent joy ride that eventually brings them to the attention of the F.B.I. After Jordan is killed by neo-Nazis crackers, Amy and Xavier drive off together, destination unknown although it looks an awful lot like the abyss. (Parker Posey does an unforgettable cameo, too.)
If Russ Meyer had directed a bi, mixed race "Very Special Episode" of "Beverly Hills 90210," it might have looked something like Araki's Hellzapoppin "Nowhere" (1997). Dark (James Duval again) and Mel ("The Craft" breakout Rachel True) are an L.A. high school couple in an open relationship who inadvertently get caught up in alien abductions, bad acid trips, suicides and rape on a day when the world is predicted to end. Working with the biggest budget of his career until then, Araki went for broke in the gonzo casting department. Ryan Phillippe, Heather Graham, Scott Caan, Chiara Mastroianni, Guillermo Diaz, Debi Mazar, Beverly D'Angelo (clearly having a ball playing Dark's reprobate mom), Christina Applegate, John Ritter (as seedy televangelist "Moses Helper"), and even former "Brady Bunch"-ers, Eve Plumb and Christopher Knight. All three films on the Criterion box set include juicy audio commentary tracks: "F***ed Up" (with Araki, Duval and actor Gilbert Luna); "Doom" (Araki, Duval, McGowan and Schaech); "Nowhere" (Araki, Duval, True and sundry costars). There's also a new conversation between Araki and Richard ("Boyhood") Linklater; a documentary featurette on the trilogy's Pop Art-influenced visual style; "James Duval's Teen Apocalypse Trilogy," an affectionate catching-up hangout between Araki and Duval; Q&As with Araki moderated by "My Own Private Idaho" auteur Gus van Sant and Andrew Ahn; a "Doom Generation" comic book; trailers; and an essay by critic Nathan Lee. (A.)
I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE; THE SEVENTH VICTIM--After immigrating to the U.S. from his native Russia in 1911 (he was seven at the time), Val Lewton attended Columbia University before landing a job as editorial assistant to uber-producer David O. Selznick in the early 1930's. By the time he entered films, Lewton was already a published author of ten novels, six non-fiction books and a book of poetry, sometimes under pseudonyms. In 1942, he was put in charge of a special RKO production unit specializing in low-budget horror movies. The films bear Lewton's personal stamp more than that of their individual directors, and their influence has been formidable. Accordingly, the Criterion Collection has just released a box set featuring two of Lewton's most celebrated and iconic films.
"Zombie," director Jacques Tourneur and Lewton's follow-up to the previous year's "Cat People," ranks among the most poetic horror movies ever made. As Canadian nurse Betsy Connell who goes to Haiti to work as the live-in caretaker for Jessica (Christine Gordon), ailing wife of wealthy planter Paul Holland (Tom Conway), Frances Dee takes her place among Lewton's many proto-feminist heroines. The natives believe Jessica is one of the walking dead, and her lifeless appearance confirms their suspicions. Is she merely insane as her husband insists, or is her zombie-like appearance the result of a voodoo curse placed on her by Paul's mother (Edith Barrett) for having an affair with her brother-in-law (James Ellison)? We never know for sure, but the film places as much validity in voodoo as in a belief in "God." Pretty transgressive for 1943, right? Refreshingly, the native islanders aren't mocked for their beliefs and religious practices. In fact, they're the only ones who understand what forces reign supreme while the hapless whites wallow in confusion and terror. Since Lewton was an avowed Bronte superfan, it's not surprising that the movie reads at times as "Jane Eyre in the West Indies." The narrative is set up like a Greek tragedy with a homestead ravaged by infidelity, sibling rivalry and meddling in-laws. There's even a one-man Greek chorus (Black Calypso singer Sir Lancelot) to explain the plot in song. Because this is arguably the most visually striking of Lewton's productions, the lyrical quality of the long silent passages, sepulchral lighting, shadows, music and exotic settings all contribute to making this one of the masterpieces of the horror genre. Lewton, Tourneur and cinematographer J. Roy Hunt truly created the ultimate "beautiful nightmare."
In her screen debut, Kim ("A Streetcar Named Desire") Hunter plays Mary Gibson in "Victim," a young woman who leaves college to search for her missing older sister, Jacqueline (Jean Brooks), in Greenwich Village. It turns out that Jacqueline has fallen under the spell of devil-worshippers who are trying to force her to commit suicide for having disclosed their existence to a psychiatrist (Tom Conway again). Hunter falls in love with Brooks' husband, Gregory (future Ward Cleaver Hugh Beaumont), but he won't leave his wife because he thinks she needs his help and loyalty. Stylishly directed by Mark ("Valley of the Dolls") Robson, this spooky noir horror film features delectably sinister creatures (e.g., a one-armed, piano-playing female devil-worshipper) and smart, strong-willed women. A shower scene--albeit bloodless--is shot and edited in a manner that anticipates "Psycho." The double suicide that ends the movie is perhaps the most depressing moment in the history of screen horror. Lewton aficionados will appreciate its existentialist nature as well as smart dialogue scenes about free will vs. fate (a familiar Lewton motif). The John Donne quote that begins and ends the film ("I run to death and death meets me as fast, and all my pleasures are like yesterday") could be interpreted as the thematic inspiration for Lewton's entire horror cycle. The Criterion set includes 4K and Blu Ray copies of both titles as well as a plethora of extras including commentary tracks; the 2005 documentary, "Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy" with, among others, director-fanboys William Friedkin, Guillermo del Toro, John Landis George A. Romero; an interview with historian Sara Smith; audio essays from Adam Roche's "The Secret History of Hollywood" podcast with pertinent info about the casts, crews and production history of both movies; excerpts from "The Origins of the Zombie, From Haiti to the U.S.," an episode of PBS' "Monstrum" series; the original theatrical trailers; and essays by critics Lucy Sante and Chris Fujiwara. (A.)
MOANA 2--This cash-grab sequel to Disney's 2016 animated hit began life as a Disney+ spin-off series and looks it. The trio of directors (David G. Derrick Jr., Dana Leydoux Miller and Jason Hand) desperately try recapturing the magic of the original, but fall short in nearly every department. Tasked with finding the lost island of Motufetu, Polynesian pixie Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) and heavily tatted demi god Maui (Dwayne Johnson) sail across the uncharted waters of Oceania. And did I mention that multi-tasker Moana must also battle the demon Nabo to remove her family curse? Despite its narrative busyness, the film lacks both suspense and wit. None of the new, not-written-by-Lin-Manuel-Miranda songs are remotely memorable (let alone hummable) either. Young kids who grew up on the "Moana" DVD probably won't mind the blandness and predictability, but it's unlikely to engender the sort of passion that helped make its predecessor the most-watched movie of the past five years. (C MINUS.)
PAPER MOON--The third perfect movie in Peter Bogdanovich's amazing string of early 1970's critical and box-office smashes ("The Last Picture Show" and "What's Up, Doc?" preceded it), "Paper Moon" was infinitely superior to the other 1973 period con man movie (George Roy Hill's "The Sting"). Yet Bogdanovich's masterpiece didn't even rate a Best Picture or Director nomination from AMPAS while Hill's year-end blockbuster swept the field. The film, did, however win 9-year-old Tatum O'Neal a Best Supporting Actress Oscar--she remains the youngest competitive Academy Award-winner--for her astonishing thesping debut. As Addie, an orphaned tomboy in Dust Bowl Oklahoma who latches onto smooth-talking Bible salesman Moses Pray (Tatum's real-life father, Ryan) and won't let go, Ms. O'Neal so thoroughly dominates the movie that it's easy to overlook the wonderful performances surrounding her. Besides O'Neal pere (never better), there's fantastic support from Madeline Kahn (also Oscar-nominated as Trixie Delight, the hoity-toity floozy Moses becomes briefly infatuated with), P.J. Johnson (hysterically funny as Trixie's deadpan Black maid, Imogene) and Bogdanovich rep player John Hillerman in a fun dual role as a scurrilous bootlegger and his crooked sheriff brother. Shot in luminous black and white by ace New Hollywood cinematographer Laszlo ("Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces") Kovacs, "Moon" is that rare period film that seems to get even the tiniest details right. And two-time Oscar winner Alvin ("Ordinary People," Julia") Sargent's screenplay does a superb job of compressing/condensing Joe David Brown's 1971 source novel, "Addie Pray." Trivia note: it was Bogdanovich compadre Orson Welles who first suggested retitling the screen adaptation "Paper Moon," inspired by the 1933 song co-written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. ("That title is so good, you shouldn't even make the picture, just release the title," Welles legendarily opined.) Besides Bogdanovich's audio commentary, the Criterion Collection Blu-Ray includes an introduction to the film by Bogdanovich; a new video essay by Bogdanovich biographer Peter Tonguette; a three-part making-of documentary with Bogdanovich, cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, production designer Polly Platt and associate producer Frank Marshall; an archival interview with Platt; excerpts from a 1973 episode of Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" with Bogdanovich and Ryan and Tatum O'Neal; location-scouting footage with Marshall's audio commentary; and an essay by Mark ("Pictures at a Revolution") Harris that's only spoiled by his bonkers, albeit fashionably revisionist claim that Platt was a co-equal auteur of Bogdanovich's early hits. Balderdash. (A PLUS.)
RED ONE--When Santa Claus (Oscar winner J.K. Simmons) is kidnapped days before Christmas, the North Pole's Security Head (Dwayne Johnson) forcibly recruits hacker extraordinaire Jack (Chris Evans) to help rescue "Red One" (Mr. Claus' too-cute nickname). The culprits turn out to be Santa's grievance-ridden adopted half-brother Krampus (Kristofer Hivyu) and snarky 900-year old shapeshifter Gryla (Kiernan Shipka) who uses lethal giant snowmen to do her evil bidding. This $250-million misfire by director Jake Kasdan--whose two recent, infinitely superior "Jumanji" movies also starred Johnson--is so ugly, loud and cheesy/synthetic looking that even the human actors start resembling not-very-good CGI after awhile. The third act detour into maudlin sentimentality is even more obnoxious than the groan-inducing action setpieces that look like they were sensibly excised from a middling Marvel Corp. film product. The overall effect is like finding a dookie in your Xmas stocking. (D.)
WICKED--The most iconic and beloved Broadway musical since "Phantom of the Opera," Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's 2003 Broadway smash has finally made its (long-delayed) transfer to the big screen. Directed by "Crazy Rich Asians" auteur John M. Chu who proved his movie musical bona fides with 2021's "In the Heights," the only puzzling aspect is that it's actually a "Part One" (something conspicuously absent from the marketing campaign: the concluding chapter arrives same time next year). Putting aside the fact that it's somewhat baffling how one-half of the screen version can be a half hour longer than the original stage production, Chu serves up a veritable smorgasbord of riches with his "Wizard of Oz" prequel. Mostly set at Shiz University where future Wicked and Good Witches Elphaba ("Harriet" Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo) and Galinda (pop star Ariana Grande) are reluctant roommates who become BFFs despite their surface differences (Elphaba is green-complexioned and slightly dorky while the almost illegally blonde Galinda is the original Mean Girl, but nicer). Naturally there's a boy involved--Jonathan Bailey's Prince Fiyero--who sets up a nascent love triangle. Groomed as her protege by Dean of Sorcery Studies Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh, the sole weak-ish link in an otherwise nonpareil cast), Elphaba quickly becomes a thorn in the side of Oz's preening Wizard (Jeff Goldblum, perfectly cast) for protesting his nascent fascistic tendencies (the kingdom's talking animals are treated like second-class citizens and effectively stifled). Thanks to Nathan Crowley's fantastic art deco production design, the film is as visually dazzling as it is timely in the wake of this year's presidential election where division and fear of "the other" ruled the day. Rather than feeling bloated, the luxurious 160-minute run time instead provides ample room to establish Oz's rich mythology. It also works beautifully as a standalone movie: no one will leave unsatisfied despite the lack of a conventional "ending." (A MINUS.)
---Milan Paurich
