La Guerra Civil (2022) - Sundance

Full Review: spoti.fi/3rBtV4g
2022 Ranked: boxd.it/eWCVi

LA GUERRA CIVIL is a solid sports documentary that manages to both introduce a lesser sport-savant like myself to the history of a sport that discusses the nature of heritage, belonging, and collective identity through two guys punching each other. What a knockout. 

For Mexican and Mexican American communities, boxing is more than a sport. From ring walk-ins to trunks, opponents take full advantage of the theatrical spectacle, narrating their histories and the stories of their individual fanbases. In 1996, Oscar De La Hoya, the charismatic golden boy from East L.A, challenged Mexican-born boxing legend Julio César Chávez in what was billed as the “ultimate glory” fight. Mexicans on both sides of the border were forced to choose their favorite champ: the record-holding immigrant from humble beginnings, or the younger and more marketable Olympian born in the U.S. These rivals felt the pressure to prove their athletic superiority, while the fans’ choice of champion revealed the type of Mexican they aspired to be.

Eva Longoria starts her feature film debut with a boxing documentary that is more about the Mexican identity than the sport itself. With traditional interjected sit-down interviews with both the fighters and other ‘witnesses’ of the time, LA GUERRA CIVIL doesn’t change the paradigm of documentary filmmaking. Nonetheless, the story is engaging with a closer look at how one can be rejected by their own heritage and people as the parasitic US identity poisons the sense of belonging and self-identity.
This inner conflict within Oscar De La Hoya doesn’t really get explored much though and we practically get a quite basic retelling of events in a mostly linear timeline. Now, this was great for someone like me - a Swiss guy in his 20s with no real interest in boxing - this was all news to me, but in saying that I realize that this documentary lacks a bit of depth in its processing of the dichotomous ideal Mexican identity in Mexico and the US.
When addressed, all we get is: Chàvez was idealized as he represents all the good Mexican values and De La Hoya does not. And both of them just kinda go: It is what it is. 

As a quick, bit-sized historic catch-up, LA GUERRA CIVIL does its job well but I doubt that it will do much for those already familiar with Chavez and De La Hoya.
The elements of the time-old story of a new challenger De La Hoya arriving and challenging the champion Chavez are framed in an exciting way and make for an entertaining watch.

6/10

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

INT. A STARRY CAST - NIGHT

Joel Coen is already a great established director with the combined work alongside his brother Ethan. But this is the first time Joel is dropping solo into the big bad battle royal world that we call ‘Cinema.’ Joel strikes gold with his retelling of Shakespeare’s beautiful story, fantastic cinematography, and, above all, a perfect cast.

I first want to prise the use of light in The Tragedy of Macbeth. Black and white films are renowned for shaping and folding light for different effects. But I think of more recent B&W films such as The Lighthouse, I see how simply this film uses its lighting. While I still believe that The Lighthouse has overall a better aesthetic than The Tragedy of Macbeth, the overall simplicity of this film shows how if you have a great story, you don’t need anything too flashy.

While everything is simple, there’s nothing simple about the cast. Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Brendan Gleeson, Alex Hassel, Cory Hawkins & Harry Melling. Each character feels perfectly cast (even if one of them is your wife) and they all perform the most confusing but beautiful dialogue of recent memory.

I don’t blame Denzel’s action fanboys for skipping this one. Joel and Ethan Coen are well known for that Coen brothers’ style and while it’s not present here, Joel tells a phenomenal story without anything too flamboyant–dramatic sure, but not over the top ridiculous like Buster Scruggs in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Let’s hope that it’s not Joel’s last solo adventure because more films like this would be great!

FADE OUT

#82 - The Tragedy of Macbeth & The Lost Daughter

Spoiler Review: 43:53

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Spider-Man No Way Home is like a thrilling theme park ride filled with references, action, and the one or other heartfelt moment that will resonate with not just MCU but just overall Marvel fans alike and sees Tom Holland fully come into his role in this third installment that somehow feels like an origin story.

Audio Review: spoti.fi/3sbEhdo
2021 Ranked

Welcome to this non-spoiler review of Spider-Man No Way Home. No worries, I will try my best to refrain from spoiling anything specific that happens in this film. However, everything that was shown in trailers already is fair game, so warning for those who really don’t wanna know anything before going in. But what are you doing listening to this review? Go see it! It’s literally out now. 

Anyways, this third or in some ways 8th installment in the Spider-Man saga comes from director Jon Watts who previously directed the first and second installment with Tom Holland as Peter Parker.

Taking place right after the end of Spider-Man Far From Home, which saw Peter being unmasked as Spider-Man by J. Jonah Jamerson, No Way Home wastes no time to get into its jam package adventure story. 
With an abundance of characters - new and old - to focus on, No Way Home can feel quite full at times, but it never runs into the issues that other overcrowded Spider-Man films like Spider-Man 3 or the Amazing Spider-Man 2. 

At its core, No Way Home is a huge fan service that packs an endless amount of references into 2 and a half-hour-long runtime, which makes for a very entertaining watch overall.
How you value and maybe appreciate these references and the all-too-familiar quippy comedic style of these MCU films is - as always - in the eye of the beholder. 
To me, although this is probably the first real Tom Holland, Peper Parker as Spider-Man centered story we get, when previously Tony Stark was quite a big preference in the first two - as an actual presence or in his legacy - it still felt like to me that we were slowly going down the list of things that needed to happen to this character.

This might be my own mistake for hoping to be presented with a movie that throws me for a few more loops and surprises than it actually did or maybe I’m just burned out from all the MCU and Marvel superhero content that I don’t care as much when Jamie Foxx’s Electro and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin are standing in the same room.

Willem Dafoe - as always in whatever movie he’s in - steals the show with his performance and I was quite glad about his overall presence in the film. Apart from Tom Holland, he’s probably the person who manages to get the most depth out of their character, and with this story getting into the weeds of what it means to stand on your own two feet for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, there are numerous moments where Tom Holland gets to shine as well. 

MJ and Ned are also firmly implemented into the story overall and feel very involved in the over-arching story at large. The decision to focus so much on the high school lives of those characters and the attempt to ground them with their relatable and - in this world - smaller aspirations sometimes comes off a bit forced and unimaginative and lacks the scope of what I believe people would behave like in a world like this. Regardless, the dynamic of this trio is on point and even though I’m not a big fan of that quippy humor, they stick the landing more than not.

Another bigger character appearing in the film, Doc Ock, was heavily CGI-ed, not just in his physicality facially but also with his arms now being fully CGI instead of puppeteers like in Spider-Man 2. No Way Home has overall a bit of a gloss problem, where - I assume partly due to COVID restrictions but also just cause it’s easier now - practically every set feels very CGI. Even moments that are not action-heavy - which arguably aren’t that many, this movie is jam-packed with action - background feel weirdly fake and even some of the motion of characters in action scenes felt quite off. 

Another complaint I had was the frequent Deus Ex Machina way of solving hard problems, which are nit-picky in a sci-fi superhero universe, but still, a bit distracting from a narrative standpoint and are quite apparent ever since Tony Stark figured out time travel REAL FAST in Endgame.

I would love to get more into detail of moments that happen after the inciting incident, but those would definitely be spoilers but they are rather impactful for what’s to come in the near future of the MCU. If you want to hear my spoiler thoughts on No Way Home check out next week's episode on the Quiet On Set Podcast, where Lachlan and I will talk full of spoilers about the friendly neighborhood spiderman. 

Spider-Man No Way Home is like a thrilling theme park ride filled with references, action, and the one or other heartfelt moment that will resonate with not just MCU but just overall Marvel fans alike and sees Tom Holland fully come into his role in this third installment that somehow feels like an origin story.

7/10

The Unforgivable (2021)

The Unforgivable is a quite blatant attempt at using existing IP and notable, respected actors to push for the little golden boy. In that process, it fails to say or portray anything of substance.

Full Review: spoti.fi/3DGFVWd

2021 Ranked

The Unforgivable is a Netflix production from Nora Fingscheidt starring Sandra Bullock as Ruth Slater, who is released from prison into a society that won't forgive her past and she seeks redemption by searching for the sister she left behind. 
Also among that cast is Jon Bernthal and Viola Davis, in unfortunately underused roles within this rather dysfunctionally thrown-together mess of a film. 

The Unforgivable is clearly and quite transparently one of those productions that seek a nomination for its lead and maybe even some supporting players. Recently, Hillbilly Elegy comes to mind that puts amazing actors like Amy Adams and Glenn Close in a bad movie and gives them some ´acting´ moments to shine.
Bullock is no different in this, and I personally wouldn't consider her on the same level as Adams or Close, but more someone who I see chasing the little golden man ever since THE BLIND SIDE. 

Another factor is the story itself, a half-hearted attempt at telling a story of someone who is alienated by society because she murdered a sheriff. Now, this might be personal but I don't enjoy consuming media where policing is portrayed as this daily life and death job of high risk. Because that simply plays into the stereotypes of glorying police that we often get in movies. 
But even putting my own bias to the side, what we get is a melodramatic - but still - bland look at a person alienated by society.

At first, this film screams to be a ´based on true events´ type of film (which also plays nicely for the Academy - see Hillbilly Elegy) but it is rather an adaptation of a British 3 episode mini-series called Unforgiven from 2009. I have not seen that series, so I can't comment on how it compares to this 2021 film version.

What I can say though - and I´ve seen many other critics say the same thing - is that this clearly has the thematic depth of a mini-series that was now stuffed into a 2hr long film. 
Here, the issue of underused characters like Viola Davis´ Liz Ingram and Jon Bernthal´s Blake. 
Davis is probably hit the hardest from this, as she really hasn't got anything to do at all in the film apart from one scene where she gets loud. that's it. I won't be going into any spoilers in this review but even if I were - apart from her driving someone around - she really doesn't get anything to do.
Now Bernthal as Blake does get a bit more. He's introduced as a character whose intentions - apart from a romantic interest in Ruth - are somewhat unclear. Once we finally get around to getting something that could be potentially interesting through his backstory, he is completely shut out of the rest of the movie.

Instead, we focus on an idiotic, overdramatized, and a straight-up horrible third act that was set up - so incredibly obviously and without any sort of depth - by the two sons left behind from the dead cop. Their lines are just comical and feel like they were written by a kid doing a bit of quote-on-quote foreshadowing. It was laughably bad. 

But what do we actually get in The Unforgivable?
Although an attempt and showcasing the struggle to adjust to life after 20 years of imprisonment are tried, there´s close to no focus on Ruth´s struggle to find work - she actually finds two quite quickly - but instead, the narrative focuses more on her as this tragic character that has a lot of talents, like carpentry, which enables her to score a job. This sets up a theme of undercutting Ruth as a broken and flawed person and instead almost tries to redeem her and make her appear noble. 

Throughout the entire film, we are presented with flashes of flashbacks, setting this up to be a sort of thriller-like drama building towards a reveal. These scenes are also often realized in the simplest of ways by our characters remembering something in current them and a sort of flashback being provided. This gets stale and unimaginative very fast. It also grew more frustrating with me as Ruth in the current time wasn't really anything at all. She wasn't working on herself and simply had the mission to reunite with her sister. But apart from the shared tragic memory of the murder, there is not much more we get from those two characters as well. 

All in all, as you might have been able to guess, I wasn't big on Fingscheidt´s The Unforgivable. But to disregard the filmmaker entirely. Apparently her film from last year, Systemcrasher - which I have not seen yet but wanted to for quite some time - is quite great. 

The Unforgivable is a quite blatant attempt at using existing IP and notable, respected actors to push for the little golden boy and fails to say or portray anything of substance. 

3/10

The Humans (2021)

The Humans is a wonderfully captivating and devastating story of a Thanksgiving night filled with rich performances from every single actor in it. While not being conventionally shot and told, director Karem brings the best of his play onto the big screen or the slightly smaller screen to you at home.

Full Review: bit.ly/3dFaott

2021 Ranked

Transcript of audio review: 

Set inside a pre-war duplex in downtown Manhattan, The Humans follows the course of an evening in which the Blake family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving. As darkness falls outside and eerie things start to go bump in the night, the group’s deepest fears are laid bare. 

THE HUMANS is a 2021 drama and adaptation of the play from Stephen Karam who also brings his play to the silver screen in his directorial debut.

Set among the cast are Richard Jenkins, Steven Yeun, Beanie Feldstein, Amy Schumer, Jayne Houdyshell, and June Squibb. And that's it. With its setting within a single two-story apartment in Manhattan Karam manages to make the blend between stage and screen seamlessly and often stages and shoots his scenes from a distance further away than other dramas would do. This might come off as alienating at first and refuses to make the process of caring for individual characters simple. But ultimately, that is all in service of the overall story, which is about a family gettogether and the underlying little notions of annoyance and disregard to deep feelings of empathy and love. Karam and cinematographer Crawling manage to pull the camera back further and create a captivating experience of constant perspective shift that emphasizes sound in particular.

As someone who doesn't mind the smaller scale that these stage adaptations inherently always have, The Humans doesn't let us escape from the duplex as well. We are stuck there like the characters, questioning ourselves and each other constantly and bringing the full baggage of rich family history. 

Although dramatic beats and resolutions are reached I never felt that it was all to serve a neatly constructed narrative and more to just observe this family gettogether forced upon them by the structure of traditions. 
This brings up another subject frequently brought up in the film, that being how to cope with life. and how unfair, lonely, and disheartening it can be. But instead of condemning any single character to be morally questionable, we get a full set of people all dealing with their own demons.

The Humans is a wonderfully captivating and devastating story of a Thanksgiving night filled with rich performances from every single actor in it. While not being conventionally shot and told, director Karem brings the best of his play onto the big screen or the slightly smaller screen to you at home.

My rating for The Humans is an 8/10 proved to be one of the strongest films of 2021. 

THE HUMANS is currently streaming on Showtime.

Halloween Kills

INT. HALLOWEEN: MICHAEL STRIKES BACK - NIGHT

Michael Myers is back and he’s mad as all hell.  I’ll start off by saying, I’m not a horror guy. The list of my favorite horror films is a small one: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alien, Midsommar. But for me, sequels that ‘bring the heat’ will always be rated higher. Halloween Kills is the Aliens in this rebooted trilogy. Spooky, tense, action-packed and it’s the sequel to a horror movie, after watching this movie you’ll see what I mean. Michael Myers is still the horror icon he has always been, but someone has been watching John Wick.

While Halloween (2018) might be the horror reboot, and the start of this trilogy. Halloween Kills, the ‘second act,’ as I’m calling it, shows us the terror/power Michael has, setting up the final battle between him and Laurie which we’ll hopefully see in Halloween Ends. Speaking of Laurie, she’s become the Sarah Connor of this universe, which we saw in the previous installment, but in this film, she’s the one on the sideline. Laurie is just spilling exposition, we often cut back to her telling another character how ‘Michael is “MORE THAN A MAN”, He’s transcending into something more’ speech. While many hardcore fans might be disappointed that she’s not going head-to-head with Michael again, I’m not, because this film isn’t about their epic battle. We learned what Laurie can do in Halloween (2018) and we learned what Michael can do in Halloween Kills. Setting up a massive conclusion for Halloween Ends. No pressure to the filmmakers.  

For those not enjoying this film, maybe not every ‘reboot’ should follow the same structure as the original (look at the latest Star Wars movies) Halloween Kills stands on its own two feet, it’s the action-horror it can and wants to be. Michael is terrifying, Laurie is a backbencher, Allyson takes the fight to Michael, legacy characters you’ll have to make your own opinion on, but I liked their inclusion.  If you want horror, it’s there, but go in wanting action and you’ll love it.  

Review on QOS Podcast: HERE
Halloween (1978): 46:42

Halloween (2018) / Halloween Kills

Non-Spoiler Review: 59:36 - Halloween Kills: 64:15

Spoiler Review: 67:38

Ratings: 83:49

Pig (2021)

INT. PORKCHOP – DAY

This film, like many others, has the potential to be a great movie, but it also has the characteristic of a flop. You have, first and foremost, Nicolas Cage. An actor who stereotypically doesn’t play tame, slow roles. You also have a very small budget with a very large-scale idea and, at least according to IMDB trivia, an untrained pig. If I told you these things without showing you a trailer or any screenshot of the film, imagine what that film would be.

That image in your head is from alternative universe because in this reality, it’s a fucking hit.

All the pieces are laid out and putting it all together seemed near impossible, there can be some pieces missing here and there however, the overall picture is clear.

Cage pulls out one of his best performances, one that doesn’t reach the same level as ‘Joe’ but comes very close. The smaller budget required excellent storytelling to be front and centre, and whilst originally having a runtime of two hours, cutting it down to the 90-minute runtime was again another very good move.

Cage is the glue to hang the picture on the wall. He captivates every scene he’s in, drawing me in with what mysteries he’s hiding. There were so many times I thought, this can’t be the same guy from, most recently, ‘Willy’s Wonderland’ (which I watched about 40 minutes of and had to turn off) or even ‘The Wicker Man.’ It is a brave performance, reminding me that we need to give this man another Oscar.

Alex Wolff holds his own too. Not his strongest performance to date, however I can see Alex rising over the next few years, after all every actor needs to have a fun role occasionally and Nic Cage has been doing fun roles for a very long time.

Finally, a word of warning, many of my friends who saw the trailer and read up about the film thought this would be a ‘Nic Cage – John Wick’ movie, and while yes, the trailer gives that vibe, it’s nothing like John Wick. So please, don’t go into this movie wanting that, you’ll come out disappointed. Go in expecting to see a well-crafted film and be surprised with the journey it takes you on.

Because honestly, if Nicolas Cage wanted his pig back, I wouldn't care who he is, I’m giving him his fucking pig back.

FADE OUT.

Cherry (2021) - Avenger vs Opioids

CHERRY is the feature film adaption of Nico Walker’s 2018 novel of the same name. The drama about an Army medic turned drug addict and bank robber is brought to your AppleTV+ screen from the director duo behind the latest two Avengers films. Tom Holland stars as Cherry, a college dropout who impulsively joins the Army after his girlfriend breaks up with him. Cherry swiftly gets back together with his ex, but it’s already too late to back out of his commitment to the Army. He returns riddled with the traumatic experience of the war in Iraq and rapidly develops an addiction to opioids and struggles to keep afloat as a war vet in his mid-20s.

Joe and Anthony Russo return to a Non-MCU-film after seven years and four movies over at the big mouse. Backed with fewer dollars in the budget but stacked with notable star power as Tom Holland once again tries his hardest to drop his London accent for an American one. Holland’s performance is quite solid and from what I can tell - being Swiss - also on point with his American accent. Cherry also stars Ciara Bravo in her biggest role to date. Whereas Holland left an overall good impression Bravo missed more often than not, resulting in a moderate amount of unconvincing scenes. 

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Arguably, this is less on her and more on the overcrammed narrative that repeatedly falls short in selling rather abrupt character developments. At almost two and a half hours of runtime Cherry is certainly not a short film and quite honestly might have been better served in the form of a mini-series. However, the long run-time would probably be shortened by over 15 minutes if the overuse of slow-motion sequences were less frequent. The sudden shifts in aspect ratios and fourth wall break alongside the few and far between Wes Anderson-like staging and framing add up to an overall tonal mess that is structured into five chapters, which I assume was taken from the novel, for no apparent reason other than those cool red title cards.

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On the whole, Cherry tries to tell an engaging narrative whilst poking fun and highlighting some of the flawed systems in the US. Although the attempt is very much noted and respected, there is not enough substance to let the narrative flow fittingly. What we get is a Coming-of-Age love story, war drama, cheeky fourth-wall-breaking character study on PTSD and drug addiction in addition to a Scorsese-esce rise and fall of a bank robber. It's just a bit much.

Conclusively, Cherry tackles PTSD and opioid addiction from a narrow field of view and rests a bit too comfortably on its bankable lead and directors creating a ball bath of cinematic ideas for them to play in to leave more to be desired. Nonetheless, it’s a big win for Apple TV+. One that will hopefully bring some new subscribers to the streaming service.  

Cherry is entertaining, easy to look at and its sweeping camera movements and charismatic lead will probably be enough to please most audiences. It uses its lack of character depth in the form of a rather fast-paced plot. 

2.5/5

Cherry releases on Feb 26 in cinemas and will be available to stream on March 12 on Apple TV+

CODA (2021) - The Big Winner of the Sundance Film Festival 2021

Siân Heder’s CODA, an American remake of the French La Famille Bélier (2014) manages to exceed the mainly comedic approach of the original and tackles the story from a more grounded and authentic angle. Whereas the original didn’t make an effort to actually cast deaf actors in the respective roles, Siân Heder did for CODA. Emilia Jones’ Ruby is the only hearing member of her deaf family who makes ends meet with fishing. She helps out each morning before school and faces social isolation in school due to her family's disabilities. When she finally jumps over her own shadow and joins the choir to act on her lifelong passion for singing, she is encouraged by her teacher Bernardo (Eugenio Derbez), who insists on rolling the R’s in his name, to aim higher than keeping up the family fishing business and to consider going to music school.

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Emilia Jones as Ruby Rossi

CODA is the type of film you can recommend to pretty much anyone without risking that they won’t enjoy their time with it. It’s a crowd-pleasing movie with several great emotional pay-offs for multiple characters and overall it is just a great time to watch. However, apart from deaf performers in deaf roles, the movie isn’t anything groundbreaking or spectacular. At the end of the day, it is a very familiar story of a young adolescent who doesn’t believe in themselves (enough) until a third party, mostly some kind of mentor figure, comes in and teaches them to harness their true potential. It even packs the ‘don’t be held back by people around you in your small town’ trope into the mix and if I’m being totally honest, I don’t mind the storytelling clichés that CODA uses. Because the film shines especially in smaller moments of situational comedy and emotional payoffs between Ruby and her parents. 

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Amy Forsyth as Gertie, Daniel Durant as Leo Rossi, Marlee Matlin as Jackie Rossi, and Troy Kotsur as Frank Rossi (from left)

Although there are a number of knit-picks I have with the film, the overall story hinders me to not enjoy this heartfelt story to the fullest. Certain dramatic tensions feel rather forced and easily avoidable mostly through communication, but I guess ultimately that is one of the issues tackled in the narrative itself so I cannot fault it too much for that.

Siân Heder’s second feature won big at Sundance taking home the award for Directing, Ensemble Cast, and both the Audience and Grand Jury Prize for best Drama Feature. 

CODA was a worthy tick-off for the Sundance Film Festival and broke records by its $25Mio. acquisition by Apple for their streaming service AppleTV+, surpassing last year’s Palm Springs that was bought by Hulu for $17Mio & 69 Cents and can be expected to be released in the next few months on Apple’s streaming service.

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Eugenio Derbez as Bernardo Villalobos

CODA sets Ruby on a familiar journey of self-discovery and combines a Coming-of-Age story with authentic and respectful portrayals of a mostly deaf family. With a healthy dose of humor, drama, and music CODA will have something for everyone.

3.5/5

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)

Review on Quiet on Set Podcast HERE

Shaka King tackles the story of Fred Hampton, the deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party in this historic Drama-Thriller accurately titled JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH. The Warner Bros production hits theatres on February 12 (wherever they’re open) and will be available to stream for 30 days on HBO Max. Judas and the Black Messiah focuses mainly on Bill O’Neal, an informant who is forced to work with the FBI to escape from a decade-long prison sentence for impersonating an officer and lifting cars. He soon finds himself in the midst of the already exhausted Civil Rights Movement that suffered the loss of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. just a few years prior.

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Daniel Kaluuya (left) as Fred Hampton & Lakeith Stanfield (right) as Bill O’Neal

Lakeith Stanfield plays the conflicted and often helpless Bill O’Neal with phenomenal moral ambiguity as he climbs ranks in the Black Panther Party and thereby increasing his value to the federal agencies. Stanfield has a way of portraying his multilayered and complex character with his eyes alone which does a great deal in humanizing what many simply regard as a sell-out, betrayer, or a Judas. Daniel Kaluuya IS Fred Hampton. He absolutely nails this performance on a level that is on par with Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (1992). Hampton is young, driven, and selfless. A man on a mission. King doesn’t shy away from presenting the radical side of Hampton or the Panthers either.

It balances the ambiguity of characters’ intent and results quite effectively. As a result, whatever atrocities and injustices were committed, we have history to look back onto to judge who was right or wrong. Hoover, for instance, played by Martin Sheen, is simply a clear-cut villain from start to finish, which accurately displays this monster of a man. The far more interesting dynamic and dramatic tension comes from Fred and Bill as they grow a bit closer. To its own benefit, the film never falls into traps of sentimentality or overdramatizing events and allows this to be a thriller that has you tensed up even if you are aware of the ultimate devastating outcome of Hampton's way too short a story. Jesse Plemons as FBI agent Roy Mitchell, Bill O’Neal’s contact person, has his own smaller arc in the form reversed version of Bill’s journey.

In addition to a quite successful second feature directing effort, Shaka King furthermore delivers a fantastic original screenplay with Will Berson, Kenneth Lucas, and Keith Lucas as his collaborators. The frequent Steve McQueen collaborator Sean Bobbit (12 Years A Slave/Widows/Shame/Hunger) packs award-worthy shots into the tightly structured narrative and Sam Liscenco’s (Uncut Gems/Good Time/Eight Grade) Production Design reanimates late 60s Chicago in a stunning manner. 

Judas and the Black Messiah doesn’t take your hand along the way and avoids dumbing down characters based on real people for a simpler plot. There might not be a courtroom full of people clapping, seemingly creating a false sense of having overcome a complex and layered issue. (Trial of the Chicago 7). Judas and the Black Messiah, on the contrary, packs a devastating real ending after Fred’s already exasperating assassination that left me speechless and depleted.

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Daniel Kaluuya (top) as Fred Hampton & Lakeith Stanfield (center) as Bill O’Neal during a powerful speech

Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah packs the best performances from both Stanfield and especially Kaluuya in addition to being a thrilling portrayal and humanization of an iconic figure from the Civil Rights movement. Additionally, it’s a dire reminder of the countless criminal and ruthless acts committed by the FBI.

4/5

Unhinged

Derrick Borte’s UNHINGED explores a What If story of road raging gone to the very extreme. The chronically-late Rachel (Caren Pistorius) is on her way to drop her son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman) off at school when she hooks at a car in front of her that is not driving despite the light turning green. Behind the wheel of the big, grey 4x4 is a driver (Russel Crowe) who gets enraged by Rachel’s refusal to apologize after he did just that to her. What follows is a non-stop chase fuelled by the Stranger’s wrath towards Rachel. Desperately set on teaching her a lesson, the stranger doesn’t just go after her, but everyone she loves.

In a cinematic world and story, there’s this term called Suspension of Disbelief, which is basically an acceptance and willing ignorance towards certain illogical or surreal events that the viewer believes in for the sake of the story. UNHINGED tries to set up a world in which a psychotic road-rager, like the one we see, as the result of “an increase of violence on the streets”. Within the first scene, we get to observe this bitter, psychotic, and broken man that does not back down from harming people who hurt him, as he kills his ex-wife and her new boyfriend. Immediately afterward, we get a drawn-out and overly long montage of news clips showcasing various acts of road rage that try to prime you into a connection between this maniac and people honking at each other. 

While I was most certainly entertained, thanks for asking, the dread of having a message that is not about mental health but more on how we don’t care about each other on the streets feels like an odd parallel to this movie’s release, which much like many people on the street is much more concerned about being first rather than getting there in a safe manner.

All that being said, there are some good ideas in UNHINGED. Especially how Russel Crowe has to be overweight to play this part. Right? Okay, now I’m done trashing it.

Crowe delivers a solid performance. He is certainly able to portray a mostly silent menace being a calm and collected killer that must have drawn some inspiration from Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Although Crowe is lightyears away from a performance on par with Bardem.

I was caught off guard by the R-rated violence displayed in the film, albeit out of place for the characters, grounded this as a world with fatal consequences. Even though Crowe’s stranger was mostly driving next/into NPC’s that did not seem to react to whatever he was doing. Which I get, it was one of the points the story was trying to make. That no one cares in traffic, but come on… Do you really not realize someone rear-ending someone else's car next to you? Unfortunately, this resulted in more than a few unintentionally amusing moments that were supposed to be thrilling. 

The sound that design, on the contrary, was utterly fascinating. Although that might be a result of my almost five-month absence from cinemas.

UNHINGED is a mediocre action film that tries too hard to have some kind of message hidden in between the loud motors of its cars. It is like Harvey Dent’s two-face in that we deserve it, but we don’t need right now. They probably just really had to push for a release because the Fortnite references were already outdated in AVENGER’S ENDGAME, let alone mid-summer 2020.

★★⋆☆☆

Film Release (Switzerland): 30.07.20 - Film Release (USA): TBD

Film Data: Director: Derrick Borte - Writers: Carl Ellsworth - Cast: Russel Crowe, Gabriel Bateman, Caren Pistorius, Anna Leighton, Jimmi Simpson - 90’ - 2020 - USA - Solstice Production - Ascot Elite Switzerland

Photos: © 2020 Ascot Elite Entertainment AG

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UNHINGED is like a dog that sticks his head out the window - it’s entertaining to look at for a while but ultimately cats are better. 

EMMA.

After Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995) comes Autumn de Wilde’s adaptation of the Austen novel Emma. The explanation for her stylized title ‘EMMA.’ is, so de Wilde to RadioTimes, “There’s a period at the end of Emma because it’s a period film”. So it is only right that this version of Emma is set in its original setting; England in the early 19th century.

Spoiled young woman Emma lives with her widowed father (Bill Nighy) alone in a big country house in Highbury. In her daily boredom, she soon discovers that she can entertain herself by playing matchmaker. She engineers the marriage between her beloved governess and a widowed man. But as she is now deprived of the only motherly figure she knows, she turns her attention to naive girl Harriet Smith, whom she declared her companion. Despite knowing that Harriet is in love and courted by a local farmer, Emma coaxed her into refusing Mr. Martin and instead orchestrates a relationship between the vicar Elton and her, whom Emma thinks more fitting. The plot thickens when Emma is soon made aware of the fact that not all her arrangements will work out in her favor. Her neighbour and brother-in-law Mr. Knightley is the only one to be mindful of her vanity and naiveté. At that same time, Emma finds herself attracted to good looking Mr. Frank Churchill, while it is rumored that Knightley himself is taken by the accomplished Jane Fairfax. Being at the center of all these events, Emma gets tangled up quickly.  Capering about in the lavish society, she is ultimately confronted with the question of growing up, assuming responsibility for her actions and finding her place in the world. 

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Autumn de Wilde’s directorial debut puts a quirky, rom-comesque spin on the already comedic original story. Watching this film wasn’t a completely different experience than watching Clueless, apart from the admittedly gorgeous setting and decor they pulled off. At times it actually felt like they recast Clueless and then had them dress up and talk fancily. In a good way though. It is definitely an enjoyable film, albeit not outstanding. The cast was splendid, with Bill Nighy portraying a valetudinarian old man (quite honestly one of his better roles) and Johnny Flynn being his cuddly and adorable self through his character of Knightley. 

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De Wilde artfully juggles with banter and benevolent bestialities to deliver a nicely dressed up film. 

If you have read the novel it is definitely fun seeing this film I believe. And if you have loved and worshipped Paul Rudd in Clueless as I have growing up (still do tbh), then don’t worry, Johnny Flynn (almost) does him justice. I think you don’t even have to love period pieces to like this film.

Should I see Emma? Go see it if you wanna know what this famous novel is about (always good to know what people are talking about) and like a quirky movie.

★★★☆☆

Film Release (Switzerland): 5.3.20 - Film Release (Australia): 13.2.20 - Film Release (USA): 6.2.20

Film Data: Director: Autumn de Wilde - Writers: Elanor Catton, Jane Austen - Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, Josh O'Connor, Callum Turner, Rupert Graves - 124’ - 2020 - UK - Universal Pictures

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Photo and Video: © Universal Pictures International Switzerland. All Rights Reserved.

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Onward

The world used to be filled with all sorts of magic but the rise of technology made magic redundant in many ways. New Mushroomton, a small town in which all sorts of creatures like dragons, giants, dwarfs and elfs co-exist, has adapted to a magic-free lifestyle and opened the door for modern technology to take over. Most inhabitants of New Mushroomton do not even believe in magic anymore, as everything fantastical in their world has been made fictitious. In doing that, they completely negated their once magical history.

Onward is the 22nd feature film from Pixar and Dan Scanlon’s second Pixar film after 2013’s Monster’s University, the prequel to the critically acclaimed Monster’s Inc. from 2001. 

Tom Holland and Chris Pratt team up once again, this time not to fight Thanos but to voice the elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot. On the day of this 16th birthday, Ian receives a present from his Dad that passed away when he was very young. A magical staff and a spell able to bring his Dad back for one whole day. But the spell goes wrong and only brings back the bottom half of their father, so the brothers are forced to embark on an adventurous quest to find an artifact powerful enough to complete the spell and bring back the rest of his body.

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Pixar has always been strong at pulling at the audience’s heartstrings and it has gotten to a point where it has become a cliché to cry when the lamp is done stamping on the ‘I’ and the consecutive story starts to play out. I found myself at a dilemma with this because although moments of the third act did manage to make my eyes quite watery, I do not think this is one of the stronger Pixar outings. The story told in Onward is one that I feel quite personally attached to because of a similar life experience that I had with my father. The brother relationship is another one that I relate to quite a bit, as I have a little brother around the same age as Ian. Therefore, I was really connected to the relationships between the characters, rather than the plot itself. Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of spectacle over substance in the film. This film could have had an even bigger focus on its well-established character relationships, but it went for action-packed chase scenes instead. Ian is a blank canvas, as most protagonists in those types of stories are, in order for people to relate to him. His character traits are; being socially awkward, sad about his father’s death and not believing in himself. But apart from that, he does not resemble someone that would exist outside of this story. 

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Fact: Pixar makes the prettiest looking movies. After last year’s gorgeous Toy Story 4, comes Onward with a colorful, quirky animation style that is incredibly detailed. The comedy mostly worked as well, the highlight being all the Weekend at Bernie’s and literal ‘Daddy-only-legs’ humor coming from Wilden, Ian and Barley’s dad.

Onward is filled with moments that are universally relatable to young viewers like believing in yourself and appreciating what you have. As an adult, you pick up on when the filmmakers try to put those moments in and although I noticed when it was happening, it did not feel forced or preachy. When films are able to incorporate inspiring and touching messages into their films without bringing the story to a screeching halt, I applaud them for that. Because a lot of animated movies tend to cater to their target audience way too much. Although, there are a few tense moments in Onward that I wish were not played and broken for lazy attempts at comedy.

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Should you see this film? Yes, if you have enjoyed Pixar films in the past, Onward will certainly not disappoint. If not, who are you and who has robbed your childhood that you don’t enjoy Pixar? 

Onward is an enjoyable family film that will make you laugh, cry and hug your loved ones.

★★★⋆☆

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Release Date (CH): 05.03.20 - Release Date (Australia): 02.04.20 - Release Date (US): 06.03.20

Film Data: Director: Dan Scanlon - Writer: Dan Scanlon, Keith Bunin, Jason Headley - Cast: Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer, Mel Rodriguez, Ali Wong, Lena Waithe, John Ratzenberger, Tracey Ullman - 103’ - 2020 - USA - Pixar - Walt Disney Company

Photo and Video Source: Walt Disney Company Switzerland

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About Endlessness by Roy Andersson

A waiter that forgets that he is pouring wine and lets it run over the glass and onto the neatly ironed tablecloth. A woman in a train station taking off her shoes, because the heel is broken. A caring father who stops in the pouring rain to tie his little daughters shoe laces. These are some of the scenes that stuck with me for a while after seeing this film. Roy Andersson’s new film About endlessness (Om det oändliga) is a manifesto of human existence. 

In the 76 minutes we are presented with thirty-two static shots. If we go along with the mythological analogy of life being a thread, then Andersson weaves a whole tapestry with his thirty-two threads. Because even if every single shot would work as it’s own little universe, they all still depend on one another to make up that thing we call living. Seemingly banal scenes from everyday life follow one another, one not given more attention than the other. They are all roughly of the same length so that a scene with german soldiers marching towards their death sentence is given the same weight as a woman enjoying champagne in a restaurant. And that is exactly Andersson’s statement; in the big tapestry that I will now call existence (because analogies), both scenes have always existed right next to each other, they both happened all the same, one as absurd as the other. 

In a scene where a highschool boy explains the theory of thermodynamics to his friend, Andersson slips us a possible explanation for his film. “You are energy, I am energy, and both of our energies will never cease to exist; they can only be transformed into something new.” So in his movie, Andersson moves from scene to scene will all of them constantly being transformed into something new in front of the backdrop the notion of ‘endlessness’, because ultimately ennui will always be the same, doesn’t matter what form it is portrayed in. 

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However, Andersson’s film is not necessarily a pessimistic one. We recognize the beauty in the bleakness and the sublime in what is senseless. “Isn’t it all still fantastic?” “What do you mean?” “All of it.” (oh hey, a scene where the sentimentality doesn’t bother me for once but actually fits perfectly)

As well as introspective, this film is deeply comedic too. You can’t help but chuckle at the sheer pointlessness. You laugh because you’ve been there, you realize how utterly ridiculous it all is in the end. A good moment was, when the panicked priest who lost faith in God gets shuffled out of the doctor’s office because they’re closing and the psychiatrist has to catch the bus - with endlessness and a never ending time frame being the whole theme of the film. 

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While watching the film I kept asking myself: “How is he going to end this film, how does one even do that?” Turns out, exactly like that. I think Andersson couldn’t have closed the ‘story’ better than the way that he did. Because, as is shown in different scenes during the film, we are always on our way, quite literally and metaphorically. We are on trains, we wait for buses and we walk to birthday parties in the pouring rain. Maybe we are on our way to realizing what we believe in or, more fittingly, do not believe in. And, sometimes, we just get stuck in transit.

So should you go see this film? Yes absolutely. Go in with the expectation that this is going to be a slow-paced, bleak-coloured and quiet little film and you will love it. Maybe not. But please do and don’t tell me if you didn’t. Goodbye (yes, this is to be read as a quote from the film)

★★★★☆

Release Date (Switzerland): 05.03.20 - Release Date (US): 12.06.20

Film Data: Director: Roy Andersson, Writer: Roy Andersson - Cast: Magnus Wallgren, Lisa Blohm, Kristina Ekmark, Martin Serner, Jessica Louthander, Tatiana Delaunay, Anders Hellström - 76’ - 2019 - Sweden/Norway - Xenix Film distribution

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Mare

Mare lives an ordinary life in the rural part of Croatia. She loves her family, but she also strives for more freedom and self-determination. Her husband works at the local airport, but nevertheless, Mare has never flown anywhere her entire life. Similarly, her family life is not satisfying and it gets quite stressful with three teenage children and a husband that is not the best at communicating. When a young man suddenly enters Mare’s life, he reanimates her joie de vivre and consequently turns her world upside down.

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Marija Škaričić

The ‘Zürcher Hochschule der Künste’ graduate Andrea Štaka (Das Fräulein, Hotel Belgrad) writes and directs her fourth feature film and reunites with Marija Škaričić (A Wonderful Night in Split, What is a man without a Moustache?) as the lead. Marija Škaričić won best actress for her performance in Andrea Štaka’s Das Fräulein at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Mare premiered at the 70th Berlin Film Festival in the Panorama Section. The film was shot in a small town of Dubrovnik in Croatia and a Swiss-Croatian production.

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Director Andrea Štaka

Even though I usually enjoy slow-paced films, I could not help but feel a bit bored with Mare. There is quite a bit of repetition of similar scenes that capture the mundanity of everyday life, but ultimately are rather meaningless to the overall story. This gave me the impression of simply ‘filling up time’ instead of moving the characters or the plot along. The performances from the primary and secondary characters were all fine. I was positively surprised by the actor that played Mare's oldest son, who kept on walking the thin line of almost over-acting without ever actually fully crossing it.

As the first few scenes of the film play out, you might wonder why it looks so old and grainy. Turns out the film was entirely shot on 16mm film on the Arri 416. The aesthetic grew on me and gave it the raw realness Štaka was going for.

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Marija Škaričić, Goran Navojec

I left the cinema rather disappointed for a reason that I cannot fault the movie too much. It is, however, a slight spoiler, so if you wish to go into this without knowing anything more then the premise, skip ahead to the rating now. 

There is no real conclusion to the main conflict. All parties are just there - partly aware of what is going on - and then it just ends. I get that the inconclusiveness of an open-end is supposed to reflect real life, but I find it frustrating after seeing plenty of thematically similar scenes that were leading to a more active confrontation. 

If you enjoy slow-paced films with down-to-earth realistic characters then Mare just might be for you.

The film will be in Swiss theatres on March 12th.

★★⋆☆☆

Film Date: Director: Andrea Štaka - Writer: Andrea Štaka - Cast: Marija Škaričić Goran Navojec Mateusz Kościukiewicz Mirjana Karanović Ivana Roščić Zdenko Jelčić - 84’ - Croatia/Switzerland - 2020 - Distributor (CH): Frenetic Films

Photos and Video rights: FRENETIC FILMS and Ona Pinkus

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Sonic The Hedgehog

INT. HOW IS JIM CARREY MORE OF A CARTOON THAN SONIC - DAY

Sonic, The Hedgehog is yet another video game to movie adaption with so many bugs. The film follows Sonic (Ben Schwartz) and Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) on a road trip to San Francisco to collect Sonics rings (those rings being the way that all intelligent life travels in the universe, duh.) The Two, are hunted down by Doctor Robotnik AKA Doctor Eggman (AKA Jim Carrey) aided by his army of drones, multilevel cars, super-intelligence and sex appeal (I may have made that last part up, but it’s Jim Carrey in a suit and he dances really well in one scene.) Sonic, the (re)animated wonder of the internet, is a loveable protagonist who, as I stated before, is a character that has adapted really well to the big screen. Tom Wachowski, played by James Marsden, is a small-town cop who wants to live his dream of being a city cop even if most of his dreams probably come from his love of 90s action flicks. Yet, the character is stale and boring. But the standout performance is the animated (not that kind of animated) Jim Carrey as Doctor Robotnik AKA Doctor Eggman, who just seems to be having fun with the role. Sadly though I believe his performance doesn’t fit the film, while it’s a delight to watch and you can see him enjoying the character, his ‘cartoony’ performance doesn’t match the tone of the film. This is in no way Carrey’s fault, I can’t see anyone else playing this character, it’s the fact that the film is slow, has no style and has a number of basic continuity issues that were very jarring. But to tear this film apart I think we should start at the beginning. Yes, all the way back to trailer number 1. 

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Sonic in the controversial old design from the trailer back in April 2019

For those who missed it, this film originally had a different design for Sonic which caused the internet to literally lose their shit at Sega and anyone involved with this film. The film went away for a while to redesign Sonic and later returned to the praise of the internet for listening. Sadly though a point that’s often missed, is that the animators and team behind the reanimation were underpaid and overworked and ultimately the VFX studio shutdown. I think that while the film was being ‘recooked’ they should have also looked at it as a whole, but they seem to have just fixed the singular problem of Sonic not looking like Sonic. In turn, the film suffers from a few editing issues, mostly related to continuity with the jarring moment coming from shots, seemingly taking place multiple seconds one after the other. For example, there’s a small drone from Dr. Eggman that is slowly removing the roof of the car that Tom and Sonic are in with a laser; in one shot the drone is halfway through the front and then in the next shot, it’s on the driver’s side door. This error was very noticeable to me (obviously as a filmmaker you pick up on these things, however, people I was with didn’t pick up on it until I brought it up.)

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Fixing the visual look of the character seems to be the only thing they focused on because while Sonic is fun and so is Dr. Eggman, the film isn’t. It’s a slow drag and fails to grab you at any point throughout its runtime. We have no stakes so I really couldn’t care if Sonic doesn’t get his rings and I couldn’t care less if Eggman gets Sonic, the only reason I care isn’t from anything the film sets up. It’s because I’m a fan of the games. Similar to how Birds of Prey kept me engaged by breaking peoples knees (yes, I’m that easily entertained), Sonic is a fun, exciting character and I think that the kid inside of me is remembering all the ‘Sonic Unleashed’ memories. Fans will get excited to see Sonic on screen, and they should be proud that their character is the best adaptation of a video game character to date. 

While having a slow and boring story, jarring continuity issues and a no stakes, Sonic and Eggman make it fun, most scenes with Carrey are a delight to watch and it’s enjoyable to see my childhood memories on the big screen. I wish I could give it a higher rating but as a film, it’s bad, as a kids film, it’s bad, but as a love letter to Sonic, it’s still pretty bad but at least they made Sonic look like Sonic. 

FADE OUT. 

★★☆☆☆

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Release Date (Switzerland): 12.02.20

Release Date (Australia): 13.02.20

Film Data: Director: Jeff Fowler '- Writers: Josh Miller, Patrick Casey, Oren Uziel, Van Robichaux, Evan Susser - Cast: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Tika Sumpter, Lee Majdoub, Frank C. Turner, Adam Pally, Natasha Rothwell - 99’ - USA - 2020 - Paramount - Sega

Photo and Video: © 2020 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

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Just Mercy

“Your life is still meaningful,
and I’m going to do everything I can
to keep them from taking it.
”

— Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy tells the powerful story of Bryan Stevenson, played by Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther, Creed), a young lawyer set out to represent the ones that cannot afford it. Instead of money, he fights for justice for the wrongly condemned prisoners on Death Row. The Harvard graduate moves to Alabama, which has a prison with a track record of never releasing a convicted felon from its facility before execution. Water McMillian (Jamie Foxx - Baby Driver, Django Unchained) is one of those innocent prisoners sentenced to die on the electric chair for supposedly killing an 18-year-old girl. But a closer look at the evidence makes it obvious that the single witness testimony - given by a convicted felon with a motive to lie is incorrect. What follows is an exploration into the many injustices that the lower class has to face with a corrupt and racist government.

The extended cast included Brie Larson (Captain Marvel, Room) as Eva Ansley, who supports Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) in his endeavor. Something that never gets explored or explained in the film is how they afford to work for their clients free of charge even as their company grows. While this doesn’t affect the story that we focus on, but it was something I was personally interested in. Rob Morgan (Mudbound) as Herbert Richardson and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton) as Anthony Ray Hinton are the two prisoners on death row that share the neighboring cells with McMillian.

The story is based on true events and therefore covers quite a bit of historical ground throughout its runtime. We get introduced to the character McMillian in Alabama in 1987. A few years later Stevenson and McMillian’s paths cross for the first time as Steveson takes on the task of helping prisoners on death row.

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Micheal B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian

Just Mercy is another one of these films based on a true story that has a wide range of interesting characters to pull from in its over two-hour-long runtime. But somehow still leaves so much untold. I mean that in a positive way. There is more to these characters than what we see on screen because it would not fit into a film narrative like this. The death penalty is certainly a controversial topic that is relevant to this day, as the US stills legalize the death penalty in over half of its 52 states. Including Alabama.

What could have easily been a preachy, pandering movie about prisoners on death row surprised me with the nuance and moral ambiguity it was able to illustrate. A major weak point was, however, a few moments on unconvincing performances that felt like actors reading their lines instead of them playing their characters. But the positives outweigh the negatives here, especially because Jamie Foxx is great in every scene he’s in. Brie Larson’s southern accent is one of the few humorous things coming out of this rather serious historic drama.

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If you’ve been holding off on seeing films in 2020, this is the first one (not counting Swiss release dates for Knives Out and Little Women) that I can whole-heartedly recommend to pretty much anyone. Even though the runtime is well over two hours it doesn’t feel long due to the great pacing that knows when to linger and when to move on. Another standout is the cinematography by Brett Pawlak which puts you right into the scene with these characters, walking that fine line of connecting us with the characters without presenting information in a polarizing way.

I recommend the book written by Stevenson himself of the same name, Just Mercy, which chronicles McMillain’s as well as many other cases.

★★★★☆

Just Mercy is a solid film with heartfelt moments that you will connect with when you least expect it.

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Micheal B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson and Brie Larson as Eva Ansley

Swiss Release Date: 27.02.20

Australian Release Date: 23.01.20

Film Data: Director: Destin Daniel Cretton - Writer: Destin Daniel Cretton, Bryan Stevenson, Andre Lanham - Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Rafe Spall, Rob Morgan

Photo and Video: © 2020 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.

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Queen & Slim

Think you’ve been on a bad tinder date? Well, think again, because Queen & Slim has come to change your mind.

We meet Queen and Slim, an African-American couple, having their first date at a cheap diner. It does not go very well, so they decide to leave and Slim offers to give Queen a ride home. The two aren’t getting along very well and it’s clear that they won’t see each other again. Until a police officer pulls them over. We, as viewers and the duo are then confronted with an agitated police officer, who isn’t calming down. After an altercation, the police officer takes a shot at Queen, grazing her leg, and Slim shoots the police officer in self-defense. 

What do you do? Stay and possibly spend a lifetime in prison? Or do you run and risk everything for the slight possibility of fleeing successfully?

Queen, a criminal defense attorney, decides that in this case, it’s better to run.

Queen & Slim marks the directorial feature debut of Melina Matsoukas, who is best known for working with pop stars such as Beyoncé, Rihanna and Lady Gaga on some of their most influential music videos, such as Just Dance, We Found Love, Pretty Hurts, Formation and many others. It’s clear that Matsoukas is excellent at making music videos, but features? Not as much.

The film certainly opens strongly and gives the viewer a promise of a great story. In fact, the first 15 minutes might even be the best part. Instead of living up to this promise, the whole story feels like a veeeery long short film, which is stuck in a timeless continuum. The last 15 minutes of the story managed to pick up my interest again for a great finale, even though it felt a bit cliché, to say the least.

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Matsoukas definitely knows how to make a film look beautiful. It has some great shots and is visually appealing, but feels all together very dreamy and unrealistic, which isn’t exactly what the story intends to go for, at least at the beginning. All in all, one could say that the story is mediocre. The execution doesn’t lack in spectacle, but the film is so set on making Queen and Slim icons of the Black Lives Matter movement and all of it so deep, that it just feels forced and overdone. Combine this with bizarre choices in sound editing and the climax pun and it just doesn’t really seem to work. (You’ll know what I mean once you’ve seen it)

Finally, the story all just feels very lucky and unrealistic. The characters never seem to run out of luck. The collaboration of Matsoukas’ directing and the writing by James Frey and Lena Waither just doesn’t mesh well. Matsoukas’ intention is to create an everlasting story, which clearly attempts to become an icon for the Black Lives Matter movement but instead, it just overdoes it and bores. Again, not the first and last 15 minutes though! 

What I personally was able to enjoy most, was the cast. Daniel Kaluuya doesn’t have to prove himself anymore, we all know that he’s a great actor and together with Jodie Turner-Smith the two make a great duo. Also noteworthy are Chloë Sevigny and Indya Moore, the latter giving us some much needed queer representation.

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In conclusion, Queen & Slim is a good movie, but it feels more like a stretched out short film. 

★★★⋆☆

Also, next time, consider Canada instead of Cuba. Your chances might be better.

Release date (Switzerland): 09.01.2020

Release date (USA): 27.11.2019

• Ewan Graf
• Kally Künnap
• Lachlan Thiele
• Michelle Bernet

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Film data: Director: Melina Matsoukas - Screenplay: Lena Waither - Story: James Frey and Lena Waithe - Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine, Chloë Sevigny, Flea, Sturgill Simpson, Indya Moore, Benito Martinez - 131’ - USA - 2019 - Universal Pictures

Photo and Video Source: © Universal Pictures International Switzerland. All Rights Reserved.

The Peanut Butter Falcon

Peanut Butter Falcon, the Audience Award in Narrative Spotlight winner at the SXSW Film festival tells the down-to-earth adventure story of Zak, a 22-year-old man with Down syndrome who’s stuck in an elderly home. As well as fisherman Tyler (LaBoeuf) who finds himself in a wild feud with angry crab fishermen from whom he stole their catch. The unlikely pair is forced to work together when Zak, after escaping from the care facility, hides on a boat that Tyler uses to escape from the fishermen. Zak and Tyler embark on a bonding journey towards Florida to fulfill Zak’s life long dream of attending the wrestling school of his idol Salt Water Redneck and becoming a professional wrestler.

The Peanut Butter Falcon is written and directed by the creative team Tyler Nilson and Micheal Schwartz in their directorial feature debut. It stars Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson, and Zack Gottsagen as the main protagonists. This marks Zack Gottsagen’s first feature film performance after writer and director Tyler Nilson discovered the actor at a camp for actors with disabilities and decided to write a story designed especially for him.

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LaBoeuf and Gottsagen seem to click well together, which is integral for such an intimate and personal story like this to work. The film has some great moments that feel original and honest, but not all the way through. At a point towards the end of the second act, it starts to tick off the Hollywood plot point boxes and ends rather abruptly. I appreciate the trust in an emotionally intelligent audience because any other Hollywood film might have resorted to a voice-over narrator to explain the essentially obvious plot, and thus making the audience seem incapable of reading emotions themselves. But The Peanut Butter Falcon doesn’t rely on this lazy narrative element.

I especially enjoyed the muted and green-toned color palette which brings out the constantly changing landscape. The camera work is well done and both staging and blocking are conceived in a way that helps convey the story and emotional beats well. This becomes apparent in every scene Dakota Johnson is in as they visually establish the dynamic of the trio in a subtle but effective way.

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One aspect that did not work and felt superfluous was the angry fishermen Duncan and Ratboy’s dedication to hunt down and kill Tyler. It felt a bit excessive and over the top. Even though the story has magical moments, they never cross the line to fantastical, it tonally shifts whenever there was another fishermen scene. In my mind, the story would have worked even better without that spectacle of the eventual explosive confrontation between Tyler and the fishermen. However, it was the initial and to an extent seemingly the main drive to keep LaBoeuf’s character moving, which wouldn’t have happened if there was no big conflict when he initially stole their catch that forced him to run away from his home like Zak did.

Should I watch this movie? It’s a great film to watch for anyone who wants to see an uplifting, emotional story that is able to pull on your heartstrings. The main reason I’d recommend it, is Zack Gottsagen’s performance alone, simply because it’s the best performance I have seen from an actor with Down syndrome and is a real delight to watch.

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★★★⋆☆

The Peanut Butter Falcon is an adventure movie about friendship and fulfilling your biggest dreams against all odds. It shines the brightest through the performances of Gottsagen and LaBoeuf but falls victim to a rather predictable plot in the latter half and an abrupt ending that prevents it from being a truly great film.

Release Date (Switzerland): 20.01.2020

Release Date: (Australia): 30.01.2020

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Film Data: Director: Tyler Nilson Michael Schwartz - Writer: Tyler Nilson Michael Schwartz - Cast: Shia LaBeouf Zack Gottsagen Dakota Johnson John Hawkes Thomas Haden Church Bruce Dern Jon Bernthal Yelawolf Jake Roberts Mick Foley - 97’ - USA - 2020 - Distributor: Impuls Pictures

Photo and Video Source: © Impuls Pictures AG. All Rights Reserved.

Moskau Einfach! (One Way to Moscow) - English + German Review

One-way to Moscow - English

Against the backdrop of the secret-files-scandal of 1989, Lewinsky succeeded in making an actually funny comedy. For an hour and a half, I had my *very Swiss* parents in the cinema next to me cackling at things they recognize from “the old times” and gushing about polit-gossip from “back in the day”. Hilarious (not so much for some of the other viewers shushing them – which might or might not have been me). 

Viktor Schuler, a Swiss police officer, is sent off on an undercover mission in the Zurich Schauspielhaus, where he is supposed to spy upon the theatre ensemble who is allegedly planning some dangerous demonstration against Switzerland. Because naturally artists and actors are all anarchists and are of course secretly terrorists. (The Swiss at that time were afraid of the Russians and wanted to "protect" Switzerland from turning into a totalitarian dictatorship - by spying on more than 900.000 people in their daily lives and creating files of them to oversee their every move, because whoever had a leftist political opinion was THE ENEMY). During the course of his mission, Viktor is then forced to question his and others’ ideologies after he meets the spirited actress Odile who seems to show him an alternate reality of what he and the world could be. 

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However, at different points in the second half of the film, it felt like a bad Hollywood rom-com. The emotionality and sappiness were over the top. I felt like the audience in the Schauspieltheater during the recital of the ensemble’s play - who was ooh-ing and aww-ing at the impromptu love scene between Victor/Walo and Odile - was the exact same as the audience who sat in the cinema with me tonight. So I guess Lewinsky actually managed to pull off a realistic portrait of my country, with all the things I hate about it included. 

It would have been of interest to show less of the over-stylised love story and more of the secret-files-scandal or more of the comedy. Or just make it less emotional, but I guess that might just be my taste getting in the way of objectivity here. The film doesn’t need to make the polit-historical backdrop the main thing in this movie. The aim of this film was, I believe, to create a comedy set at that time. And that it did perfectly fine. 

At this point, I want to compliment the film on its cinematography. Some shots are genuinely nicely done,  to watch. The coloring and tone of the movie are aesthetically pleasing. 

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I believe that this movie is enjoyable even if you’re not Swiss. However, knowing the country and its customs – sometimes quirky, odd and yes, frustrating, but I shouldn’t make this a sociological analysis – is certainly a plus when watching this. A film such as Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite may just as well be as international but seems more approachable or even universal than Moskau Einfach in its themes and conventions (Yes, I know you can’t compare these two movies).

So, go watch this if you’re Swiss – always fun to see what your own country is up to – or go see it if you’re not Swiss but want to acquire some new material to mock Switzerland with. It’s got all the clichés you will already have heard of (sketchy bank deals, funny language, laughable policemen, all the red tape) and even more to stock up on. 

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Moskau Einfach – Deutsch

Mit dem Fichen-Skandal von 1989 als Hintergrund schafft es Micha Lewinsky eine tatsächlich unterhaltende Komödie zu schaffen. Meine Eltern, selbst zu dieser Zeit in der Schweiz gross geworden, haben während den ganzen eineinhalb Stunden Laufzeit über „die guten alten Zeiten“ getuschelt und über die Politdramen der Zeit getratscht. Für alle Involvierten äusserst amüsant wahrscheinlich, für alle Anderen, unter Anderem für diejenigen, die ihnen böse Blicke zuwarfen (mag ich selbst gewesen sein) vermutlich weniger. 

Viktor Schuler ist ein Schweizer Polizist und wird gedrängt, illegal im Zürcher Schauspielhaus ein Theater-Ensemble zu bespitzeln, das angeblich einen gefährlichen Plot gegen die Regierung plant. Denn, allbekannt, sind ja Künstler und Schauspieler alle Anarchisten und darum sehr wahrscheinlich auch Terroristen. Die Schweiz., um diese Zeit, hatte Angst vor den „bösen“ Russen und wollten sie „beschützen“ vor der anscheinend imminenten Gefahr eine totalitäre Diktatur zu werden. So nahm die Regierung es auf sich, heldenhaft 900'000 Menschen abzuhören und sie im privaten Leben zu überwachen – für die allgemeine Sicherheit im Land – wobei sie Akten von vor allem links-politischen Personen zusammenstellten, die sogenannten Fichen. Während seiner Ermittlung sieht sich Viktor gezwungen, seine und andere Ideologien zu hinterfragen. Er lernt die Schauspielerin Odile Lehmann kennen, die ihm zeigt, was er und die Welt sein könnten.

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Die Komödie ist durchaus gelungen, jedoch fühlte sich der zweite Hälfte des Films an wie eine schlechte Hollywood Rom-Com. Der Handlungsbogen der Liebesgeschichte wird überspitzt emotional und kitschig dargestellt. Das Publikum im Schauspielhaus Zürich, das bei der Premiere überschwänglich mitklatschte und mitfühlte bei der Liebesszene zwischen Odile und Viktor, war dasselbe wie bei mir im Kino. Insofern müsste man zugeben, dass Lewinsky hier die Schweiz artgerecht darzustellen wusste. 

Man hätte hierbei die überschwängliche Liebesgeschichte reduzieren können und mehr Fichen-Skandal und Füdlibürgertum hineinmischen können. Aber ich denke, hier steht mein eigener Geschmack meiner Objektivität im Weg. Allgemein ist der Mix gut gelungen. Es muss keine Aufarbeitung des polit-historischen Fichen-Skandals stattfinden. Das Ziel war es, denke ich, eine Komödie, die sich in dieser Zeit abspielt, zu machen. Und genau das ist es. 

Ich bin mir sicher, dass dieser Film unterhaltsam ist, auch wenn man nicht von der Schweiz ist. Trotzdem macht das Meiste erst Sinn, wenn  man mit der Schweiz vertraut ist. Die biederen Büroangestellten und die sogenannte Bourgeois-Bohème der Schweiz sind Archetypen im Land, genau so wie das Aromat, der TipTopf und das „Beefy“ im Silberkugel fast schon Nationalhelden sind. Der ironische Umgang mit diesen Eigenarten der Schweiz ist eben nur dann effektiv, wenn man sie kennt. 

★★★☆☆

Release Date (Switzerland): 13.02.2020

Film Data: Director: Micha Lewinsky - Writer: Micha Lewinsky Plinio Bachmann Barbara Sommer - Cast: Philippe Graber, Miriam Stein, Mike Müller, Micheal Maertens, Oriana Schrage, Fabian Krüger - 99’ - 2020 - Langfilm

Photo and Video: Copyright © 2020 Vinca Film