NEW THIS WEEK SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 (IN THEATERS AND ON HOME VIDEO)
AMBER ALERT--When Uber driver Shane (Tyler James Williams from "Abbott Elementary") and Jaq (former "Nashville" star Hayden Panettiere), his last fare of the day, both receive Amber Alerts on their phones about the abduction of a 7-year-old girl (Ducky Cash), they impulsively decide to follow the car identified as the driveaway vehicle. Because the local police think the case is like finding a needle in a haystack--apparently Black Camrys are America's most popular automobile--they're considerably less invested in the pursuit. Shane and Jaq's amateur sleuthing eventually takes them to a deserted house where the kidnapper (uber creepy Kurt Oberhaus) is holed up with his victim. Writer-director Kerry Bellessa's reimagining of his micro-budgeted found-footage 2012 movie of the same name is surprisingly effective thanks to some very good performances which make it easy to overlook the script's jaw-dropping implausibilities and gaping plot holes. It's the type of slick, pacy "B" movie that's, sadly, gone out of fashion in today's franchise/tentpole-driven theatrical marketplace. (B MINUS.)
AZRAEL--In a dystopian post-Rapture future where speaking is verboten, Samara ("Ready or Not") Weaving plays Azrael, a young woman who's punished by leaders of an armed militia for sneaking off into the woods with her boyfriend (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett). Strapped to a chair as the designated human sacrifice for a stampeding army of flesh-eating ghouls, Azrael somehow manages to escape. (One of the militia members gets eaten instead.) Determined to take down her oppressors, she returns to their camp and wreaks holy vengeance. Ultra-violent fight scenes intermixed with regular feedings by the hideous monsters (who resemble hideously scarred burn victims) comprise most of the 85-minute run time of director E.L. (2014's indie breakout "Cheap Thrills") Katz's sensationally effective action/horror flick. For the record, it's the third movie in nine months (John Woo's "Silent Night" and the Zellner Brothers' "Sasquatch Sunset" preceded it) to feature zero dialogue. And the third to turn that seeming disadvantage into an aesthetic virtue. IFC's track record of releasing groovy horror movies ("Stopmotion," "Late Night With the Devil," "In a Violent Nature," "Oddity") continues apace. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. (B PLUS.) https://youtu.be/XWtKsBGWsig?si=CUH0NNVNUXAcCW3R
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.) https://youtu.be/oEOQCazGqeI?si=a918A-3xoHXmO-a_
THE LADYKILLERS--Under the leadership of Sir Michael Balcon, England's Ealing Studios produced a potpourri of sophisticated, satirical comedies (including "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and "The Lavender Hill Mob") in the late '40s and early '50s. Quintessentially British in their understated, irreverent and self-deprecating humor, Ealing's movies enjoyed international success. But 1953's "The Ladykillers" is the only one that was remade--in 2004--by the Coen Brothers. With some memorable orthodonture, Ealing rep player Alec Guiness plays Professor Marcus who rents rooms for himself and his criminal cohorts at the home of kindly widow Mrs. Wilberforce (Katie Johnson). Posing as a string quintet, Marcus and company (Herbert Lom, Cecil Parker and, in his screen debut, future Inspector Clouseau Peter Sellers) are instead plotting to steal 60,000 pounds from an armored truck. When Wilderforce gets wind of their larcenous plans, Marcus makes an executive decision to murder her. Because his crew is as inept as they are larcenous, they wind up double-crossing (and eventually killing) each other instead. Smoothly directed by Alexander ("Sweet Smell of Success") Mackendrick from an Oscar-nominated screenplay by William Rose, this is the rare movie that giddily fires on all cylinders. And does so in a judicious 91 minutes to boot. KL Studio Classics' new Blu Ray includes a treasure trove of extras, including two separate audio commentary tracks (by film historians Philip Kemp and David Del Valle); two featurettes, "Cleaning up 'The Ladykillers'" and an entertaining tutorial on the history of iconic Ealing Studios; fanboy interviews with director Terrence ("The Long Day Closes") Davies and screenwriters Allan Scott and Ronald Harwood; and the original theatrical trailer. (A.) https://youtu.be/9X_vzsLhbr8?si=CH3ZA7Qpilaou7Dq
LEE--Watching a Kate Winslet movie is always an adventure. A performer who makes good films better and dreary ones tolerable ("The Mountain Between Us" anyone?), she has a restlessness that's made Winslet one of the leading actors of her generation. Besides a gift for making a character's inner life transparently readable, it's her fascinatingly unquiet presence that draws us in. "Lee," esteemed-cinematographer-turned-middling-director Ellen Kuras' prosaic biopic about fabled World War II photojournalist Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, isn't truly worthy of Winslet, but her mercurial performance single-handedly keeps you in the game. First introduced as a party girl living an expatriate American's life in mid-1930's Europe after hanging up her modeling career, Lee describes herself as someone who drinks and screws too much "while taking the occasional picture." After a whirlwind romance with the dashing Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgard) that leads to marriage, Lee gets the itch to try her hand as a war correspondent. Not only does she get British Vogue editor Audrey Withers (Andrea Riseborough, very good) to finance her adventure, Lee gets permission to travel with the American troops, even finding a mentor in Time Magazine photographer David Scherman (Andy Samberg, egregiously miscast). Miller's photos of the liberation of France and corpses of Holocaust victims helped make her career; a morbid picture she took sitting naked in Hitler's bathtub made her briefly notorious. The framing device of Miller being interviewed in 1977 by a young journalist (Josh O'Connor from "Challengers") probably worked better in the script than it does on screen where it mostly feels like an attempt to shoehorn as much biographical/historical exposition into the mix as possible. Miller's abrasive personality clashes with the more decorous biopic cliches, happily giving Winslet a lot to work with. She's never less than riveting, even when the film surrounding her seems permanently becalmed in a sea of terminal meh. (C.) https://youtu.be/DmFYkiUAAA8?si=qb3X4TWW3T9DwH0g
MEGALOPOLIS--The long-delayed dream project that Francis Ford Coppola fantasized about making for 40 years--and which he self-financed using $120-million of his own vineyard money--finally hits the screen, and it's arguably the movie event of the season. Whether audiences will turn out remains to be seen, however: early tracking has been underwhelming to say the least. Set in the titular city which looks like a digitized version of present-day Manhattan--although clearly modeled on ancient Rome--Coppola's "fable" pivots on the conflict between visionary architect Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) and autocratic Mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito). While the idealistic Cesar envisions a "perfect school-city" utopia where everyone can become who they were meant to be, Cicero prefers the status quo where political chicanery and greed reigns supreme. Another sore spot between them is Cicero's beautiful daughter (Nathalie Emmanuel's Julia) who Cesar is understandably smitten with. The eclectic performances are a fascinating mix of hyper-stylization (Aubrey Plaza, Shia LeBeouf) and Method-esque "realism" (Driver and Jon Voight as Cesar's oligarch father). Awash with cinematic and literary inspirations (including Coppola's own "Apocalypse Now" and "Godfather" films, Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," Ayn Rand and the collected works of William Shakespeare) as well as historical arcana (legendary urban designer Robert Moses was a clear inspiration for Cesar), it's a movie which feels literally intoxicated by the infinite possibilities of a medium that's been kicking around since the Lumiere Brothers. And yes, Martin Scorsese would very much recognize "Megalopolis" as a shining exemplar of "Pure Cinema." (A.)
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS--If, as Roger Ebert once opined, "A Hard Day's Night" is the "Citizen Kane" of rock-and-roll movies, than Sidney Lumet's 1974 Agatha Christie whodunit is the "Citizen Kane" of Christie movies. Sure, Billy Wilder's "Witness for the Prosecution" based on a Christie play is an acknowledged (and deserved) classic, but "Orient Express" serves up undiluted Christie magic in truly epic fashion. If Lumet's oeuvre can be neatly divided into three camps--literary and theatrical adaptations ("Long Day's Journey Into Night," "The Fugitive Kind"); realistic social dramas, usually set in New York City ("Dog Day Afternoon," "Prince of the City"); and commercial projects made for cash ("The Wiz," "The Anderson Tapes")--this Christie corker probably fits squarely into the third group. It also ranks among the most purely entertaining films of his storied career, helped in large measure by an embarrassment of riches cast. When an American millionaire (Richard Widmark) is killed during the titular train's Istanbul-to-Calais route, Belgian detective extraordinaire Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney with a waxed mustache and amusingly untraceable accent) is recruited to solve the crime. The fact that the Express is currently buried under a snow drift means that Poirot only has until the rescue team arrives to solve the crime. The suspects, in typical Christie fashion, are legion. There's a pushy American widow (Lauren Bacall), a Swedish missionary (Ingrid Bergman who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance), the murder victim's valet (John Gielgud) and personal secretary (Anthony Perkins), a stiff upper lip British army officer (Sean Connery) and his socialite lover (Vanessa Redgrave), Hungarian royalty (Jacqueline Bisset and Michael York), a deposed Russian aristocrat (Wendy Hiller) and even a Nazi-sympathizing German maid (Rachel Roberts). The key to the mystery turns out to be a kidnapping five years earlier in Long Island, but it's Poirot's cagey interrogation of the passengers that is the movie's true raison d'etre. The KL Studio Classics' Blu Ray includes an audio commentary track with film historians Howard S. Berger, Nathaniel Thompson and Steve Mitchell; making-of and Christie featurettes; an interview with co-producer Richard Goodwin; and the original theatrical trailer. (A.) https://youtu.be/kjSN6hmg2UY?si=5TPDehT-5ibnG9rh
MY OLD ASS--After taking shrooms with best friends Ro (Kerrie Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler), college-bound 18-year-old Elliott (former kid actor Maisy Stella in a potentially star-making performance) makes the acquaintance of a woman (Aubrey Plaza, dependably wry) claiming to be her 39-year-old self. Adult Elliott dispenses valuable life lessons to Young Elliott, some of which she follows (spending quality time with her kid brothers and appreciating mom and dad more) while conveniently ignoring others (e.g., steering clear of a boy named Chad). The latter advice--and the reasons for it--provides writer/director Megan Park's film with the sort of twist ending you'll never see coming, and that will probably move you to tears. (It did me.) Besides the pitch-perfect Stella and Plaza, there are memorable supporting turns from Percy Hynes White, Maria Dizzia and Alain Goulem as, respectively, the enigmatic Chad and Elliott's salt of the earth parents. A rare coming-of-age film that both adults and teenagers can embrace, this is one of the year's smartest, funniest and most touching discoveries. (A.) https://youtu.be/NbkSfO-eqAE?si=1Spn2Zdvojk265Ab
THE WILD ROBOT--Director Christopher ("How to Train Your Dragon," "The Croods") Sanders has described his animated adaptation of Peter Brown's kid-lit staple as "a Monet painting in a Miyazaki forest." What he didn't mention was that the narrative plays an awful lot like a cross between Brad Bird's 1999 cult classic "The Iron Giant" and Pixar masterpiece "Wall-E." Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o voices titular service robot Rozzum Unit 7134 (aka "Roz") who, after crash landing on a remote island, immediately begins searching for a master to serve. In short order, she becomes surrogate mom to an orphaned gosling (Kit O'Connor's Brightbill), as well as making friends with a veritable menagerie of critters including opposum Pinktail (Catherine O'Hara), fox Fink (Pedro Pascal) grizzly Thorn (Mark Hamill), and beaver Paddle (Matt Berry). What's most interesting about a film intended for very young children is its assiduously unsentimental attitude about mortality. ("Death's proximity makes life burn all the brighter" says Bill Nighy's sage flock leader Longneck.) The gorgeous backdrops--sunsets, changing seasons, sea vistas--have a near painterly precision while the animal designs are, disappointingly, a tad on the conventional side. (B.) https://youtu.be/67vbA5ZJdKQ?si=pQHBS2CCKoiTD3yC
NOW AVAILABLE IN THEATERS, ON HOME VIDEO AND/OR STREAMING CHANNELS:
ANSELM--If the late Rainer Werner Fassbinder was the "Father" of the German New Wave's Holy Trinity and mystic visionary Werner Herzog the "Holy Ghost," then Wim ("Wings of Desire," "Paris, Texas") Wenders should rightfully be designated the "Son." Having observed firsthand Germany's postwar "Economic Miracle"--largely fueled by American capitalism and technology--it's no wonder he became the most America-obsessed of the filmmaking trio. That economic dominance inadvertently produced a form of cultural imperialism which conveniently erased Germany's Nazi past. According to Wenders, "the need to forget 20 years created a hole, and people tried to cover this up by assimilating American culture." Ironically, the subject of Wenders' latest documentary, painter/sculptor Anselm Kiefer, made his career out of a personal reckoning with German history, including the Holocaust and Nazis. His first major work, 1969's controversial action piece "Heroic Figures," was a series of photographs in which Kiefer (ironically) gives the Nazi salute. Mortality, permanence, being and nothingness have been major themes throughout the 79-year-old Kiefer's remarkably prolific career. (An abandoned French airplane hangar was the only place large enough to house a lifetime of work.) "Anselm" isn't a conventional "Great Artist" documentary in which the arc of a subject's life is relayed through reams of archival footage and admiring talking-heads interviews with colleagues, friends and family members. Instead of an air-brushed biographical sketch, Wenders' film is instead the study of a man told almost exclusively through his art. With its free-form blending of animation, re-enactments of Kiefer's past (Wenders' great nephew, Anton, plays Kiefer as a boy; Kiefer's own son, Daniel, portrays him as a young man) and Kiefer's poetic, frequently political, occasionally rambling musings on his life, art/work and times, Wenders' portrait of the man emerges. Shot in 6K resolution, cinematographer Franz Lustig's mobile, floating-in-space 3-D imagery achieves a remarkably tactile effect: it's immersive in every sense of the word. The Janus Contemporaries new Blu-Ray set includes both 3-D and 2-D versions of the film, as well as an interview with Wenders and the theatrical trailer. (A MINUS.)
BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE--Like another recent 36-years-later sequel ("Top Gun: Maverick"), Tim Burton's belated follow-up to his 1988 sleeper hit proves to have been well worth the wait. Winona Ryder reprises her role of Goth teen princess Lydia, now a widowed cable TV host with an angsty teenage daughter (Jenna Ortega's Astrid) of her own. Returning to Winter River, Connecticut for her dad's funeral, Lydia decides to shoot an episode of her "Ghost House" series at--where else?--her spook-laden family home. It isn't long before Michael Keaton's irrepressible Beetlejuice hones in on the action, even serving as a couples therapist for Lydia and her obnoxious producer-fiancee Rory (Justin Theroux). Despite being haunted by fearsome ex Delores (Monica Bellucci) who spends a good chunk of the movie reassembling her dead body piece by piece (they're conveniently stored in separate boxes), Beetlejuice sets his marital sights on Lydia. The climactic "wedding," scored to Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park," ranks among the most demented and hilarious setpieces of Burton's gloriously bonkers career. Also back for the ghoulish festivities are Catherine O'Hara as Lydia's pathologically self-absorbed artist stepmom Delia and the iconic "Shrunken Head Bob." Playing former "B" actor Wolf Jackson who now heads the afterlife police, Willem Dafoe steals every scene he's in. While Burton has had more misses than hits this century, "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" proves he's still got the right stuff. And major props to Burton for making a 2024 franchise tentpole that runs a mere 108 minutes; the original was 92 (!) minutes. (A MINUS.)
FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE--Chen ("The Emperor and the Assassin," "Life on a String") Kaige's 1993 arthouse smash has always felt like the movie David Lean could have made if he'd elected to follow "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr. Zhivago" with a Chinese-language historical romance. Despite being the first Asian film to win Cannes' Palme d'Or where it shared top honors with Jane Campion's "The Piano," 16 minutes were chopped off the original 171-minute run time by Miramax major domo Harvey "Scissorhands" Weinstein prior to the U.S. release. Finally restored to the "Cannes Cut," Criterion Collection's gorgeous new 4K Blu Ray rendering is a cause for rejoice in all self-respecting cinephile households. Along with Zhang ("Raise the Red Lantern," "Shanghai Triad") Yimou, Chen was one of the leading lights of China's "Fifth Generation" of filmmakers. A member of Mao's army in his youth, Chen frequently referred to "Concubine" as his official mea culpa for having publicly denounced his own father at the time. Spanning fifty tunultous years, this glorious old-fashioned epic--with staggering Technicolor vistas courtesy of director of photography Gu Changwei--boldly uses the wide-screen format to tell a surprisingly intimate story about the lifelong friendship between two wildly disparate orphans (brawny Duan Xiaolou and androgynous Cheng Dieyi) apprenticed to the Beijing Opera as children. During the '40s Japanese occupation, the duo makes the acquaintance of House of Blossoms' courtesan Juxian (Yimou muse Gong Li), inaugurating a love triangle which creates an irreconcilable rift between Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi) and Dieyi (best known for his starring roles in John Woo's "A Better Tomorrow" and Wong Kar-Wai's swoon-worthy gay romance, "Happy Together") who still harbors an unrequited crush on his boyhood pal. The movie heartbreakingly climaxes in the aftermath of Mao's Cultural Revolution when loyalties, and even love, were crushed by government-mandated political dogma. The Criterion disc includes a new conversation between Chinese cultural studies scholar Michael Berry and producer Janet Yang; a 2003 documentary about the making of the film; Chen's 1993 American television interview with Charlie Rose; and an essay by author/scholar Pauline Chen. (A.)
MOTHER--When Albert Brooks' "Mother" opened on Christmas Day 1996, awards pundits all seemed to agree that it would be the movie that finally won Debbie Reynolds an Oscar. (Shockingly, she'd only been nominated once previously for 1964's "The Unsinkable Molly Brown") Apparently AMPAS disliked Debbie as much as they did Brooks since she wasn't even recognized for her career-defining performance. Brooks' sole nomination was for his supporting turn in James L. Brooks' "Broadcast News." (I still find it mind-blowing that he didn't even rate an original screenplay nod for 1985's "Lost in America," the best American comedy since "The Graduate.") The movie's set-up is deceptively simple. Twice-divorced fortysomething sci-fi author John Henderson (Brooks) moves back in with his Sausalito, California mom (Reynolds' Beatrice) hoping to cure his writer's block. The fact that Beatrice makes passive-aggressiveness an Olympic sport is immediately signaled when she introduces John to a neighbor as, "Oh, this is my son; the other one." (John's kid brother Jeff--Rob Morrow from "Quiz Show" and "Northern Exposure"--is the apple of Beatrice's eye despite being a preening narcissist.) Picking favorite funny moments is probably a Sisyphean task, but Beatrice's description of the ice crystallizing over her orange sherbet as a "protective layer" is something I've been quoting for nearly 30 years. Although Reynolds was actually Brooks' third choice to play Beatrice (both Doris Day and Nancy "Just Say No" Reagan turned him down), it proved to be remarkably fortuitous for all concerned. Not only did Reynolds' bravura performance help make "Mother" Brooks' top-grossing film, but Carrie Fisher, Reynolds' daughter, was instrumental in getting her ex, Paul Simon, to rewrite the lyrics to "Mrs. Robinson" for the movie's soundtrack ("Here's to you, Mrs. Henderson..."). Despite being the antithesis of "prolific" ("Mother" was only the fifth of seven movies Brooks wrote, directed and starred in over 45 years), I've been championing him as a national treasure since his short films which aired in the early days of Saturday Night Live. And while I'm delighted that the Criterion Collection is honoring him this month with dual releases of "Mother" and "Real Life," Brooks' 1979 feature debut, there are, sadly, precious few bonus features. Separate interviews with Brooks and Morrow, an affectionate essay by critic Carrie Rickey and the '96 teaser trailer directed by Brooks are the lone supplements. (A.)
NEVER LET GO--The third in an unofficial trilogy of 2024 movies about groups of people menaced in the woods by scary monsters--"Arcadian" and "The Watchers" came first--director Alexandre ("Crawl," "The Hills Have Eyes") Aja's iteration is easily the most compelling of this sylvan pack. As a single mom fiercely protecting her twin sons (promising newcomers Anthony B. Jenkins and Percy Daggs IV) from an evil spirit lurking outside their cabin, Oscar winner Halle Berry is Mother Courage personified. The fact that she could also be seriously unhinged is a strong possibility as well, and both sons begin having serious doubts about mom's sanity. Could the unseen beastie just be a figment of her imagination? An old hand at genre fare, Aja expertly ratchets up the suspense and creepy-crawly atmospherics, and the performances (Berry is better than she's been in years) are all very good. (B.)
QUERELLE--The remarkably prolific German New Wave wunderkind Rainer Werner Fassbinder died in June 1982 shortly after finishing "Querelle," and when it opened in theaters the following year reviews were generally dismissive. Even New York Times critic Vincent Canby who did more than anyone to "break" Fassbinder in America found the movie disappointing. Or maybe it was simply because the (largely) heterosexual bloc of American film critics at the time failed to appreciate Fassbinder's swan song for what it was: the most luxuriously stylized evocation of Gay Sensibility ever seen in a major movie. Along with Fellini's "Satyricon," it was (and remains) pretty much the gayest film ever made: a veritable Disneyland of queerness. Luxuriating in Fassbinder's deliberately artificial mise-en-scene is like taking a hit of amyl nitrate on the dance floor at Manhattan's fabled Crisco Disco in the pre-AIDS era. Although adapted from a novel by Jean Genet, the film seems even more beholden to the homoerotic artwork of Tom of Finland. As the titular sailor, Brad ("Midnight Express") Davis practically oozes sexuality, strutting his fine self into Feria, a Brest bar/brothel run by the imperious Madame Lysiane (Nouvelle Vague diva Jeanne Moreau). In short order, Querelle gets involved in an opium deal with Lysiane's husband (Gunther Kaufmann's Nono) that climaxes with the killing of his criminal cohort. Lusted after by everyone he crosses paths with, especially his superior officer, Lieutenant Seblon (Franco Nero), Querelle is a veritable walking and talking phallus. While the film ends tragically, it's also deeply, ironically funny. (Shades of Fassbinder creative muse Douglas Sirk's gloriously overheated 1950's Hollywood melodramas.) Would the New Queer Cinema that emerged a decade later have ever taken root without Fassbinder's posthumous masterpiece? Maybe, maybe not. Both Todd ("Poison") Haynes and Gregg ("The Living End") Araki have cited the film as a key influence on their early work. What can't be disputed is that Fassbinder--who died at age 37 after having directed over 40 films, 24 plays (most of which he wrote) and three television miniseries (including his magnum opus, 1980's "Berlin Alexanderplatz")--remains, along with Jean-Luc Godard, the most compelling, provocative and singular European filmmaking voice to emerge in the post-WW II era. Extras on the new Criterion Collection Blu-Ray include an interview with Museum of the Moving Image editorial director (and Queer Cinema scholar) Michael Koresky; Wolf German's 1982 documentary, "Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Last Works;" and a compelling, appreciative essay by critic Nathan Lee. (A.)
SPEAK NO EVIL--Unlike most English-language remakes of transgressive Euro thrillers that inevitably manage to lose something in translation even when they're helmed by the original directors (e.g., Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" and George Sluizer's "The Vanishing"), James ("Eden Lake") Watkins' slick gloss on Christian Tafdrup's bleakly nihilistic Danish shocker is nearly as disturbingly effective as the original. (It might be even more impactful if you haven't seen the 2022 original.) When Ben and Louise (Scoot McNairy and Mackenzie Davis) accept an invitation from the friendly couple (James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi) they met on vacation to spend a weekend at their country home, things quickly escalate from mildly disturbing to flat-out terrifying. As good as McNairy and Davis are in their unofficial "Halt and Catch Fire" reunion, the movie truly belongs to a superb McAvoy whose tour de force performance turns from rakishly charming to menacing on a dime. (B.)
THE SUBSTANCE--Freak out, le freak, c'est chic! Former Brat Packer Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparks, a washed-up movie star reduced to hosting a low-rent cable aerobics show. After getting pink-slipped by an oily TV executive (Dennis Quaid, aptly loathsome), Elisabeth decides to test out the titular injection, creating a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley's Sue). The problems begin when Sue rebels against "The Substance" rule that dictates older and younger selves have to switch back every week, launching a battle of dominance between the two Alpha females. Director Coralie (2017's grisly rape payback actioner "Revenge") Fargeat's feminist spin on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde rivals David Cronenberg's body horror masterpieces "Crash" and "Dead Ringers," and wittily references genre classics like "The Shining," "Requiem for a Dream," "Carrie" and "The Thing." (Elisabeth's gnarly, nothing-left-to-the-imagination transformation into Sue has to be seen to be believed.) In physically demanding roles, Moore and Qualley both give spectacular, fiercely committed performances that deserve to be remembered at awards time. Never has the old canard "Be careful what you wish for" been so vividly or horrifyingly rendered. (A.)
TOTEM--A family birthday party forms the backdrop for Mexican writer/director Lila Aviles' deeply felt sophomore effort (2019's "The Chambermaid" marked her auspicious filmmaking debut). Told principally through the eyes of a preternaturally wise 7-year-old (Naima Senties' Sol), Aviles demonstrates an astonishing control of pacing and mood. Because the party is for Sol's terminally ill painter father (Mateo Garcia Elizondo) who may not live long enough to blow out the candles on his cake, everyone, particularly her flibbertigibbet aunties, is walking on eggshells. Observing all the frenetic activity surrounding her--and this is a supremely immersive film--the intrepid Sol often seems like the oldest and wisest person in her grandfather's sprawling, chaotic home. Aviles' use of small visual cues (ghostly images in silhouette, strategically placed jump cuts, long takes) give form to Sol's inchoate feelings. Despite the potentially maudlin subject matter, the tone is never funereal or remotely sentimental. (Aviles has too much respect for her audience to shamelessly tug on our heartstrings.) Instead she's made a humanist masterpiece that, in its artistic rigor and piercing soulfulness, recalls Victor Erice's coming-of-age classic "The Spirit of the Beehive." The only extras on the Janus/Sideshow/Criterion Channel Blu Ray are an interview with Aviles and the theatrical trailer. (A.)
TRANSFORMERS ONE--Like last year's unexpectedly sanguine Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, the first fully animated "Transformers" movie in 38 years manages to breathe new life into Hasbro's 1980's IP. Oscar-winning director Josh ("Toy Story 4") Cooley's origin story introduces Optimus Prime and Megatron when they were still worker-bee robots bonding over mutual contempt for the elite Transformers who rule their home planet Cyberton. Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) embark upon a mission to retrieve the lost Matrix of Leadership, hoping to restore the Energon they need to survive. Besides heavy-hitters Hemsworth and Henry, the vocal cast--including Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm, Steve Buscemi and Laurence Fisburne--is as impressive as the frequently stunning 3-D-style computer animation. Along with sprightly action sequences and wise-cracking comedy, the film even manages to serve up some genuine emotion. Who knew Transformers could be so expressive? (B PLUS.)
---Milan Paurich