28 Years Later

I took my nephew to 28 Years Later at the Broadway last night and, as a fan of the first two movies in the franchise, I was excited to see it.  Even though it is very different from what I was expecting, I really loved the exploration of how to live in the midst of death.  Twenty-eight years after the spread of the rage virus, the UK is still heavily quarantined and survivors have been left to fend for themselves.  A group of these survivors, including Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his wife Isla (Jodie Comer), who suffers from a mysterious illness that causes hallucinations, and his 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams), have found refuge on an isolated island separated from the mainland by a fortified causeway that is only accessible during low tide.  Jamie takes Spike to the mainland to initiate him in hunting the infected but they soon become overrun by a large group that has mutated to become stronger and faster and they are forced to take shelter in the attic of an abandoned cottage.  Spike sees a large bonfire in the distance and, when they return to the island, he learns that it was most likely lit by Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), an eccentric who burns the bodies of the dead in a ritual of remembrance.  Spike is disillusioned by Jamie's exaggeration of their exploits on the mainland and by his behavior towards Isla so he decides to take her in search of Kelson so he can cure her.  The main narrative is bookended by Jimmy (Rocco Haynes as a child and Jack O'Connell as an adult) who survives an attack by the infected and then reappears twenty-eight years later with his cult to help Spike fight another group that has mutated.  Jimmy provides the chaos I was expecting but I loved the more meditative (relatively speaking) hero's journey taken by Spike as he learns how to reconcile himself to death (and new life) and become what his father pretends to be.  I also really enjoyed a montage showing images of war throughout the years accompanied by Rudyard Kipling's poem "Boots" read by Taylor Holmes (which is used very effectively in the trailer) because it establishes the idea that people have always had to survive the consequences of savagery.  Fiennes gives an incredibly moving performance but I was most impressed by Williams and I am very much looking forward to the continuation of Spike's story in the sequel(s).  I recommend this to fans of the franchise who are willing to set aside their expectations because it is definitely more haunting than frightening but I think it is brilliant.

Materialists

I loved Past Lives so much I named it as my favorite movie of 2023 so I was very eager to see what writer/director Celine Song would do next.  My nephew and I saw her latest movie, Materialists, last night as part of our double feature at the Broadway and, while it doesn't quite have the same emotional impact as Past Lives, I really enjoyed it.  Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a successful New York City matchmaker responsible for nine marriages using her own unique algorithm for compatibility.  At the wedding of one of her clients, she meets the groom's brother Harry (Pedro Pascal) and, because he is tall, handsome, charming, well educated, and incredibly wealthy, he fits the algorithm for her perfect match.  However, she also encounters her ex-boyfriend John (Chris Evans), a struggling actor working as a waiter for the company catering the wedding.  The two of them split five years earlier because of their incompatible attitudes towards money but they still clearly have feelings for each other.  Harry, who believes that Lucy is also the perfect match for him, pursues her with extravagant dates but she contrives to find ways to keep in contact with John.  Eventually, she must decide if she belongs with the one who is perfect for her based on what she thinks she wants or the one she loves in spite of his imperfections.  There is also a subplot involving one of Lucy's clients (Zoe Winters) who has a terrifying experience with a man who is matched to her using the surface-level specifications in Lucy's algorithm and this ultimately helps her make her decision.  As with Past Lives, Song explores what it means to find your soul mate but this time love miraculously overcomes all complications (which is certainly less heartbreaking but also feels a bit unearned).  Nevertheless, I loved the witty banter between the characters and the honest, if sometimes harsh, observations about dating and marriage.  I also loved the performances.  Johnson is hit or miss with me because I think she is the kind of actress who needs a good director to pull a good performance out of her and this is one of her best.  Pascal is incredibly charming and Evans is endearing (one of the things that makes this so compelling is that it is entirely plausible that she could end up with either of them).  This may not be as strong as Past Lives (how could it be?) but I definitely liked it and would recommend it.

The Life of Chuck

Last night my nephew and I had a double feature at the Broadway starting with The Life of Chuck.  I absolutely loved this and I find it even more meaningful the more I think about it!  In Act One, Charles "Chuck" Krantz (Cody Flanagan as a 7-year-old, Benjamin Pajak as an 11-year-old, and Jacob Tremblay as a 17-year-old) spends his formative years with his accountant grandfather (Mark Hamill) and free-spirited grandmother (Mia Sara) and becomes involved with an extracurricular dance club run by the gym teacher (Samantha Sloyan).  In Act Two, Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) demonstrates how the people in his life have influenced him during an encounter with a busker (Taylor Gordon) and a woman reeling from a recent breakup (Annalise Basso).  In Act Three, a high school teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a nurse (Karen Gillan), and a mortician (Carl Lumbly) discover the influence Chuck has had on them at the end of his life.  This is told in reverse chronological order with narration from Nick Offerman and an elaborate conceit in Act Three that is both brilliant and thought-provoking (I haven't read the novella by Stephen King, upon which this is based, so I gasped out loud when I finally realized what was going on).  I loved all the recurring images that tie the three different acts together, especially the use of Walt Whitman's poem "Song of Myself" (which eventually provides a powerful message).  I also really loved Hiddleston's performance (he's got some serious moves) but I was really surprised by how little screen time he actually has.  In fact, I was surprised by the number of people who essentially have cameos (my favorites involve David Dastmalchian because his is very amusing and Matthew Lillard because his is incredibly profound) but this serves to emphasize the tremendous impact that one ordinary person can have in a lifetime.  This is a moving, and surprisingly optimistic, exploration of existence and I cannot recommend it enough!

The Phoenician Scheme

I am a big fan of Wes Anderson (I think The Grand Budapest Hotel is a masterpiece) so I took my nephew to see The Phoenician Scheme at the Broadway last night.  Those who are not already fans of Anderson's quirky and idiosyncratic style will probably not enjoy this but I absolutely loved it!  Wealthy business tycoon Anatole "Zsa Zsa" Korda (Benicio del Toro) has a near death experience during the latest of several assassination attempts on his life in which he is forced to defend his worthiness to enter heaven.  Shaken, he decides to make contact with his estranged daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton), a novitiate nun, and proceed with a plan to improve the infrastructure of Phoenicia.  However, Agent Excalibur (Rupert Friend) and a consortium of other government agents from around the world attempt to disrupt his plan by manipulating the cost of building supplies.  Korda enlists Liesl and Bjorn Lund (Michael Cera), a Norwegian etymologist acting as his tutor, to accompany him as he meets with all of his business partners in order to coerce them into covering the gap in funding.  These include Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), the crown prince of Phoenicia, Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston), brothers from Sacramento, Marseilles Bob (Mathieu Amalric), a gangster and nightclub owner, Marty (Jeffrey Wright), a fast talking businessman from Newark, Hilda Sussman-Korda (Scarlett Johansson), his second cousin, and Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch), his estranged half-brother.  Along the way, Korda survives an attack by a revolutionary guerrilla (Richard Ayoade), several more assassination attempts, and an attack by Nubar before deciding to fund the scheme himself, which will bankrupt him, in order to retire and live a simple life with Liesl.  I listed the usual characteristics of a Wes Anderson movie (a specific color palette to denote a mood, symmetrical shot composition, stylized production design, long tracking shots, elaborate title cards, deadpan delivery, an ensemble cast with recurring actors, and melancholy themes about dysfunctional families) for my nephew and he said he found all of them!  However, I found this to be one of Anderson's most philosophical movies with an incredibly touching redemption arc (I loved the black and white scenes in heaven with a hilarious cameo by Bill Murray as God).  I loved the relationship that develops between Korda and Liesl as he slowly realizes how amoral his business practices are and she comes to understand that he loves her the only way he knows how (Threapleton's performance is brilliant).  This is really funny but, as always, the humor is subtle and I was sometimes the only one in the audience laughing (a lot of the comedy comes from Cera's performance and I propose that he be in every future Wes Anderson movie).  I thoroughly enjoyed this (The Grand Budapest Hotel is still my favorite but this is one of his best) and recommend it to fans of the director.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

Last night I went back to the Broadway to see Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.  I am not a big fan of romantic comedies but if Jane Austen is in the title I will be seated and I really enjoyed this.  Agathe (Camille Rutherford) is a struggling writer in Paris who has put her life on hold after a traumatic car accident that took the lives of her parents several years ago.  Her best friend Felix (Pablo Pauly) wants to give her a spark so he sends some of her previous work to the Jane Austen Residency run by descendants of the author in England and she is accepted.  Felix convinces a reluctant Agathe to go and, because she is secretly in love with him, she spontaneously kisses him as she leaves and sends him a provocative text when she arrives which confuses him.  She soon meets Oliver (Charlie Anson), the arrogant son of the proprietors, and they take an immediate dislike to each other.  However, she is still unable to write so she spends most of her time with Oliver and develops feelings for him before Felix arrives to surprise her.  She eventually realizes that she needs to resolve the trauma in her life before she can write or decide which man is meant for her.  This is a slow burn but it is so charming that it will win you over.  The cinematography is gorgeous and I enjoyed all of the locations, especially Shakespeare and Company where Agathe works.  I loved the scene where Agathe compares herself to Anne Elliot in Persuasion because she is letting life pass her by and Felix to Henry Crawford in Mansfield Park because he is a cad who is unwilling to commit (I also loved that Oliver is obviously modeled on Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice).  There are lots of other moments that put a smile on my face but I definitely swooned during the Regency costume ball when Agathe dances with Felix and then with Oliver because it is so apparent who she belongs with (I wrote a paper in college about the importance of dancing in Jane Austen's works).  Rutherford and Anson are very appealing and have tremendous chemistry but I really appreciate that this focuses just as much on Agathe's journey to find herself as a writer as it does on finding a romantic partner.  This is a lot more subtle and thoughtful than Austenland and The Jane Austen Book Club but it is a lot of fun and I recommend it.

Bring Her Back

As a huge fan of Talk to Me, I was really eager to see what Danny and Michael Philippou would do next.  Their latest, Bring Her Back, is now playing at the Broadway so I went to see it last night and, like their first movie, it is incredibly gory and disturbing but it is also a powerful exploration of grief.  After their father dies, Andy (Billy Barratt) and his visually impaired step-sister Piper (Sora Wong) are temporarily placed with Laura (Sally Hawkins) and her other foster child Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips).  Laura overtly favors Piper but Andy believes it is because she had a visually impaired twelve-year-old daughter named Cathy (Mischa Heywood) who accidentally drowned in the backyard pool so he tries to make the best of the situation.  However, Andy is soon disconcerted by strange goings-on, especially the erratic behavior exhibited by Oliver, who is frequently locked in his room and denied food, and the demonic ritual shown on a grainy VHS tape that Laura obsessively watches at night.  Laura turns Piper against Andy with the hope that she will stay with her permanently so he goes searching for answers and discovers Laura's plan to implement the strange ritual with Piper and Oliver in order to bring her daughter back to life.  The escalating dread is almost unbearable because the characters are unpredictable and keep each other (and the audience) off balance.  Laura is often sympathetic and almost debilitated by her grief over the death of her daughter but then she becomes increasingly unhinged as time goes on while Andy is volatile with unclear motivations until they are slowly revealed.  Hawkins gives a powerful and unsettling performance as she transitions from warm and caring to evil and manipulative and back again (she is so scary).  The young actors are also outstanding and I was particularly impressed with Phillips because he matches Hawkins in intensity.  The visuals add to the unease because the camera angles are disorienting and the focus is sometimes distorted to mimic what Piper is seeing inside the house.  Finally, this is not for the faint of heart because the scenes involving the ritual (which feature elaborate prosthetics worn by Phillips) are so grisly that I averted my eyes several times (and I have a strong tolerance for body horror).  This might be a brutal watch but fans of the genre are sure to find it as riveting as I did.

Friendship

Last night I took my nephew to see Friendship at the Broadway because the trailer made me laugh out loud.  It is absolutely hilarious but it is also a really sad exploration of the extent to which someone will go to be accepted.  Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson) is an unremarkable middle-aged man living in the suburbs with a corporate job who is so socially awkward that he gets nosebleeds when he gets excited.  He meets Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd), a charismatic TV weatherman, when he moves into Craig's neighborhood and they soon begin spending lots of time together.  Craig becomes infatuated with Austin but, when they are hanging out with Austin's friends, he commits a social faux pas that ends the evening on a sour note.  This causes Austin to distance himself from Craig because he is also insecure and wants to keep his friend group.  Eventually, Craig goes to extreme lengths to reestablish his friendship with Austin even though his actions threaten his job and his relationships with his wife Tami (Kate Mara) and his son Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer).  I was unfamiliar with Tim Robinson and his popular sketch comedy I Think You Should Leave so this was my introduction to his particular brand of cringe comedy and I laughed out loud so many times (as did everyone else in the audience) at his antics.  He has outstanding comedic timing and his facial expressions, physical movements, and line deliveries as a character who cannot read social cues but desperately wants to fit in are brilliant.  Rudd is also very funny as the straight man to all of Robinson's mania.  Having said all of that, this is sometimes very difficult to watch because both Craig and Austin are profoundly lonely characters (even though Austin is more socially adept) searching for connection and, while it is realistic, the resolution between them is unsatisfying.  This will make you laugh but it will also make you squirm and I recommend it to fans of this specific genre (it's definitely not for everyone).

The Shrouds

David Cronenberg is definitely not for everyone but I really like him as a director so I was excited, and nervous, to introduce my nephew to him by seeing The Shrouds at the Broadway last night.  Businessman Karsh (Vincent Cassel) is so grief-stricken over the death of his wife Rebecca (Diane Kruger) from a virulent form of cancer that he creates a company called GraveTech which uses specially designed shrouds with 3D cameras to allow loved ones to watch the decomposition of the deceased's corpse through a live feed but this keeps him from moving on.  When several graves are vandalized, including Rebecca's, the live feed is hacked and Karsh is drawn into several conspiracy theories.  One involves Rebecca's oncologist, Dr. Jerry Eckler (Steve Switzman), who Karsh suspects was experimenting on his patients after discovering unusual protrusions on Rebecca's bones and on the bones of those in the other defaced graves.  Another involves a suspected plot by the Chinese government, who are investors in GraveTech, to use the live feed for surveillance.  Yet another involves his former brother-in-law Maury (Guy Pearce), who wrote the code for GraveTech's security, because of his growing paranoia over Karsh's relationship with Rebecca's sister, Terry (Diane Kruger).  I had prepared my nephew for Cronenberg's use of body horror in his movies but, while this does show the devastating effects of cancer when Karsh has a series of dreams about Rebecca's worsening condition before her death, I think it is pretty mild.  However, both of us found it incredibly thought-provoking with commentary on several topics.  My nephew was intrigued by the use of technology, particularly Karsh's reliance on the AI assistant modeled on Rebecca, but I was struck by the theme of obsession and its dangers.  Karsh is preoccupied by Rebecca's body which is why he eventually begins a relationship with Terry because her body is so similar to Rebecca's and why he is tormented by jealousy because Dr. Eckler was more intimately involved with her body at the end of her life than he was.  Both Karsh and Maury go to extreme lengths to maintain possession of Rebecca and Terry, respectively, because they cannot let them go.  I know that some will be frustrated by the ambiguity of the ending (there are no definitive answers about the conspiracy surrounding the vandalism of the graves) but, to me, the resolution comes from Karsh letting go of his obsession for Rebecca in order to move on (although I interpret the final scene to mean that, even though he has someone new in his life, he will still carry the memory of his wife wherever he goes).  I loved Cassel's detached and almost stilted delivery because, in my opinion, it shows that Karsh's desire to be with his wife has kept him from truly living.  I think this is brilliant (I haven't been able to stop thinking about it) but it is not something I would recommend to everyone.

On Swift Horses

I didn't really know much about On Swift Horses but I was really excited about the stellar cast so I decided to see a matinee at the Broadway yesterday.  It looks beautiful and has a powerful message but I found it strangely underwhelming.  After a troubled childhood, Lee Walker (Will Poulter) has a plan for his life which includes going out West to California, buying a house, and starting a family but his wife Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and his brother Julius (Jacob Elordi) feel constrained by the conventions of the 1950s.  Muriel begins betting on horse races but she hides her winnings from her husband.  Julius takes a job as security in a Las Vegas casino even though he still acts as a card sharp.  However, the biggest gamble that Muriel and Julius take is to begin clandestine relationships with Sandra (Sasha Calle) and Henry (Diego Calva), respectively.  Will they risk it all for love?  I am really torn on this because the visuals are absolutely gorgeous and I enjoyed the performances because they are filled with so much wistful longing shown with lots of closeups on the beautiful faces of Edgar-Jones and Elordi.  I also think the gambling metaphor works very well for the risk taking and secrecy involved in pursuing a forbidden love and the journey to break free from conformity is one I always appreciate.  There is just something that kept me from loving this.  The pacing is incredibly slow but I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters because they are not very well developed.  I also found the ending to be really ambiguous for all of the characters and I wanted something more after the endless build-up.  I suspect that the novel by Shannon Pufahl, upon which this is based, is much better and I recommend waiting for streaming to watch it.

The Legend of Ochi

The trailer for The Legend of Ochi was absolutely beautiful so I decided to see a matinee at the Broadway yesterday afternoon.  I mostly loved this throwback to the adventure movies of my youth.  Yuri (Helena Zengel) is a young farm girl living on Carpathia, an isolated island in the Black Sea.  The inhabitants share the island with mysterious creatures, known as ochi, that are feared and hunted.  Yuri's father Maxim (Willem Dafoe) is especially zealous in his desire to hunt them down and trains a group of boys, including an orphan he has adopted named Petro (Finn Wolfhard), who he takes out on patrol every night.  Yuri rejects much of what her father says so, when she finds a baby ochi in one of his traps, she releases it and smuggles it home.  Yuri interacts with the baby and, when she realizes that it is a gentle creature, she decides to try and find its family.  On the journey, she encounters her mother Dasha (Emily Watson), who left the family because of Maxim's brutality, and discovers that she has studied the ochi extensively.  Her father hates them and her mother respects them but it is Yuri who truly understands the ochi and it is her bond that will ultimately bring about acceptance.  The theme of fearing what is different is not new but it is so gorgeously rendered that I was absolutely enchanted by Yuri’s quest.  I loved all of the stunning visuals of the island and the puppets are amazing (the baby ochi is adorable).  The relationship that develops between Yuri and the creature is so moving because there are many parallels between them and I think the lack of dialogue is really effective (she communicates with the ochi in their language) although some might find the pace sluggish as a result.  I really enjoyed the Eastern European influences because they make the story feel like a fairy tale (Maxim hunts the ochi wearing medieval armor) but the music is sometimes overpowering.  Zengel is luminous and Dafoe is as unhinged as ever but I especially liked Watson's performance (Wolfhard has very little to do and his character's motivations are very ambiguous).  However, I found the scene in a grocery store to be incredibly jarring.  I think it is included as commentary about the encroachment of the modern world into traditional life on the island but this theme is underdeveloped and the scene feels like it belongs in a completely different movie.  I found this dark fantasy to be very magical most of the time and would recommend it but I seem to like it more than most.

The Ugly Stepsister

I had planned on seeing The Ugly Stepsister at Sundance this year and I was even in line for the screening but I decided that I was too tired to enjoy it and went home instead (festival fatigue is real).  When I saw that it was playing at the Broadway, I went to a matinee yesterday and I really liked this twisted take on Cinderella.  Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) marries Otto (Ralph Carlsson) because she thinks he is wealthy but is dismayed to learn that he was penniless after he dies.  She now must take care of her daughters Elvira (Lea Myren) and Alma (Flo Fagerli), as well as her new stepdaughter Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Naess), on her own.  She believes that the only solution is for one of her daughters to marry well and, since Alma is too young, she pins her hopes on Elvira even though she thinks that she is unattractive.  Elvira fantasizes about marrying Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth) so, when it is announced that he is throwing a ball, she submits to her mother's primitive and painful attempts to make her beautiful even though her personality deteriorates as her physical appearance improves.  The prince seems to fall in love with her at the ball but he ignores her when an enchanted version of Agnes suddenly appears.  When Elvira realizes that it is Agnes who has stolen her prince, she moves to attack her but Agnes escapes leaving behind her shoe.  The prince declares that he will only marry the girl whose foot fits inside the shoe so a desperate Elvira maims herself (this occurs in the original fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm).  What I found interesting is that every character is extremely unsympathetic (even Agnes because she is really in love with the stable boy but is willing to marry the prince to escape her stepmother) except for Alma, who cares nothing for beauty and does most of the work around the estate, and it is she who ultimately rescues Elvira.  The commentary on the lengths to which women will go to be beautiful reminded me of The Substance but this takes the body horror to a whole new level!  It is sometimes really gross and there was a scene involving a tape worm that actually made me gag (there were lots of audible reactions from the crowd to several other scenes).  The production design, costumes, and score are all what you would expect from a traditional fairy tale so this subversive take is a lot of fun!  I dug it but I would only recommend it to those with strong stomachs!

The Wedding Banquet

There was a lot of buzz for The Wedding Banquet at Sundance this year and I had the opportunity to see it but, because it already had a release date (I saw a trailer for it at the Broadway before Sundance even started), I decided to see something else (the film I saw instead was Rebuilding with Josh O'Connor and I ended up loving it so it was a good decision).  It is now playing at the Broadway so I saw it last night with my nephew and I have to admit that I was a little disappointed because it is very different from what I was expecting.  Lee (Lily Gladstone) and Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) are a lesbian couple hoping to have a child through IVF but two attempts have failed and they are not sure if they can afford a third.  Chris (Bowen Yang), Angela's aimless best friend from college, lives in their garage with his boyfriend Min (Han Gi-chan), the scion of a wealthy family in Korea who is about to lose his student visa.  Min proposes to Chris but he refuses because he knows that Min's family will disown him and cut him off financially if they find out he is gay.  Min is disappointed but then decides to ask Angela to marry him instead and, in return for helping him get a green card, he will pay for the next round of IVF.  Angela agrees but complications ensue when she tells her mother May (Joan Chen), who has made supporting LGBTQ+ causes her whole personality after initially rejecting Angela, and when Min's grandmother Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung) decides to come for the wedding.  This is a remake of the 1993 movie of the same name by Ang Lee and, since I have not seen the original, my expectations were based on the trailer alone and it led me to expect a comedy which I did not get.  While there are a few funny moments (which all appear in the trailer), this is more dramatic with themes of acceptance and reconciliation as flawed people learn the importance of found family.  All of the characters have interesting arcs but the resolutions for some of them feel very rushed, especially Angela's fear about being a mother and Lee's anger about an infidelity.  However, I loved how Ja-Young gradually comes to understand her grandson and Youn Yuh-jung gives a lovely performance (that brought a tear to my eye).  Chen steals every scene she is in and Tran impressed me with the depth of her emotional performance but Gladstone is underused and Yang doesn't really sell the dramatic moments (he is a much better comedic actor).  I didn't hate this but I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Note:  I really hate when the marketing for a movie is misleading.

Sacramento

Yesterday I went to a matinee of Sacramento at the Broadway (there are so many movies that I want to see playing at the Broadway right now so I have to fit them in when I can) and I found it very charming.  The free-spirited Rickey (Michael Angarano) meets a woman named Tallie (Maya Erskine) before learning of his father's death.  One year later, after he is kicked out of his grief support group, he arrives unannounced at the home of his estranged friend Glenn (Michael Cera).  The uptight Glenn is about to become a father and is filled with anxiety to the chagrin of his exasperated wife Rosie (Kristen Stewart).  Rickey notices how stressed Glenn is acting and spontaneously suggests a road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento and, when Glenn refuses to go, he tells him that the purpose of the trip is to scatter his father's ashes even though he has another motive for wanting to go there.  Glenn suspects that Rickey is lying but agrees to go because he is worried about him.  As they argue over who is having a bigger breakdown, Glenn helps Rickey face up to his responsibilities and Rickey helps Glenn calm down.  This is both funny and heartwarming and plays to the strengths of Angarano and Cera as actors.  I laughed out loud when Rickey and Glenn end up at a boxing gym, for reasons, and end up going at each other in the ring and when they wrestle each other to the ground in the middle of a parking lot because they are just like twelve year old boys.  I also laughed at the lengths to which Rickey goes to keep Glenn on the trip with him, especially arranging for his car to be towed.  There is also an incredibly poignant scene where Rickey helps Glenn through a panic attack and reassures him they will both be okay.  Stewart and Erskine don't have a lot of screen time but they really ground the story.  I enjoyed this buddy comedy (I think it is a more lighthearted version of A Real Pain) and I recommend it to fans of the actors.

Warfare

The second movie in the double feature at the Broadway with my nephew last night was Warfare.  It was quite a shift in tone from our first movie because it is incredibly intense!  In 2006 the Navy SEAL platoon Alpha One is sent on a surveillance mission looking for insurgents in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Ramadi.  They commandeer the house of a local family and begin to monitor the market located across the street after it shows an elevated level of activity.  In the ensuing firefight with the insurgents, several members of the platoon are injured and require evacuation but this proves to be incredibly dangerous until Alpha Two eventually reaches their position.  It focuses on Erik (Will Poulter), the Officer in Charge, Ray (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), the communications officer, Elliott (Cosmo Jarvis), the lead sniper injured in the firefight, Sam (Joseph Quinn), the LPO injured by an IED, Tommy (Kit Connor), a relatively inexperienced gunner, and Jake (Charles Melton), the Assistant Officer in Charge.  Ray Mendoza, the communications officer in the actual Alpha One platoon, is the co-writer and co-director and he wanted the movie to serve as a memory of the events for the injured Elliott Miller and, as such, it is one of the most accurate portrayals of war that I have ever seen.  It is incredibly immersive, especially a scene where the soldiers use smoke to mask their movements and the scenes depicting the explosion of an IED, because the visual effects and sound design put the audience in the middle of the action which is shown in real-time.  The scenes showing a plane strafing the street as a "show of force" are especially visceral.  This is definitely an experience rather than a narrative (although there is more of a story arc than I was expecting) and I was particularly struck by the moments of tedium as the soldiers wait for something to happen juxtaposed with the total chaos and terror of battle.  It is very powerful but, in my opinion, it is quite neutral in its message about war in that it is merely an objective look at what actually happens and the audience is meant to take away their own interpretation.  I highly recommend it but it may be difficult for some to watch.

The Ballad of Wallis Island

I really enjoyed The Ballad of Wallis Island at Sundance this year (it was one of the few comedies at the festival that actually worked for me) so I was secretly happy when my nephew expressed an interest in it because that meant I had an excuse to see it again!  It was the first in a double feature at the Broadway last night and he liked it as much as I did (I liked it even more upon a second viewing).  The awkward and eccentric Charles (Tim Key) retired to a remote island after winning the lottery not once but twice.  On the five year anniversary of the death of his wife Marie, he uses some of his winnings to bring Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden), one half of their favorite folk duo McGwyer Mortimer, to the island to perform a concert.  Charles is a very enthusiastic fan and Herb soon finds the whole arrangement to be strange, especially when he learns that Charles will be the only one in the audience, but he stays because he needs the money to finance a solo album.  Complications ensue when Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), the other half of the folk duo, arrives on the island with her husband Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen).  There are unresolved tensions between Herb and Nell stemming from their messy break-up both personally and professionally but, as they rehearse, Herb begins to romanticize their time as a duo because he is unhappy with the direction of his solo career.  Charles also romanticizes their music because it reminds him of his late wife and this is keeping him from pursuing a relationship with Amanda (Sian Clifford), the owner of a shop on the island.  Both Herb and Charles must learn to let go of the past in order to move forward into the future.  The story is incredibly charming and I love how music (my nephew and I both loved all of the songs) is used as a way to evoke memories because I am instantly transported back to a certain time and place whenever I hear some songs.  The humor is really dry (you have to listen very carefully to all of Charles's one-liners because they are absolutely hilarious) and it was a lot of fun to hear the large crowd laughing out loud with me because I was sometimes the only one laughing during the Sundance screening.  This is a movie with a lot of heart and I definitely recommend it!

A Nice Indian Boy

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was A Nice Indian Boy.  I am not a huge fan of romantic comedies but I decided to see this because the trailer made me laugh out loud!  Megha and Archit Gavaskar (Zarna Garg and Harish Pateal, respectively) are overjoyed when their daughter Arundhathi (Sunita Mani) marries the nice Indian boy (Sachin Sahel) that they and his parents arrange for her.  They only wish that their son Naveen (Karan Soni), who they begrudgingly acknowledge is gay, will be next.  Eventually the mild-mannered and awkward Naveen meets the outgoing and dramatic Jay Kurundkar (Jonathan Goff), a former foster kid who is white but was adopted by an Indian couple.  They bond over the Bollywood musical Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (the source of much amusement throughout the movie), fall in love, and get engaged (twice).  Complications ensue when Naveen introduces Jay to his parents and when Arundhathi announces that she wants to divorce her husband.  What I loved most about this heartwarming story is that Megha and Archit, who had a traditional arranged marriage, realize that they actually love each other after all of these years (in some hilarious scenes) and that, once Arundhathi and Naveen finally communicate how they feel, they are a lot more accepting than their children assumed they would be (in some really moving scenes).  The central romance is a lot of fun, especially their meet-cute in a Hindu temple and when Naveen reenacts the song from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge that Jay embarrassed him with when he sang it to him on the street.  All of the performances are great (Soni and Groff have believable chemistry) but I especially enjoyed Garg when the overwrought Megha plans the elaborate wedding (with printed invitations).  This is incredibly charming and I had a lot of fun watching it so fans of romantic comedies will love it.

The Friend

Last night I went to the Broadway for a double feature and I started with The Friend because I have a soft spot for dogs.  It is a slow-moving but poignant exploration of how an unlikely friendship helps a woman come to terms with her grief (bring tissues).  Walter (Bill Murray) is a successful author and professor with a messy personal life which includes three troubled marriages, countless affairs with students, and an estranged daughter.  The only constants in his life are Iris (Naomi Watts), a friend and former student who is also an author, and Apollo (Bing), a 150-pound Great Dane.  Iris is devastated when Walter commits suicide but she is surprised and annoyed when she learns that he has chosen her to care for Apollo.  This completely disrupts her life because her rent-controlled apartment has a strict no-dogs policy and, since Apollo is also mourning the loss of Walter, he dislikes being alone which keeps her from working on her current novel.  She eventually forms a bond with Apollo so, in a last ditch attempt to avoid being evicted, she meets with a therapist to certify that she needs him as an emotional support animal only to discover that she actually does.  Anyone who has ever had a dog will definitely relate to how much comfort they can provide and I cried several times, particularly when Iris wishes that Apollo could live as long as her.  Even though Watts and Murray are outstanding, especially in an emotional scene where Iris imagines confronting Walter about abandoning Apollo (who is a stand-in for her), I absolutely loved Bing's performance because he is so expressive.  I enjoyed this touching movie and highly recommend it (but please heed my suggestion about the tissues).

Bob Trevino Likes It

My nephew and I went to the Broadway last night for Bob Trevino Likes It and it is one of the most heartwarming movies I've seen in a long time!  Lily Trevino (Barbie Ferreira) had a traumatic childhood with an absent mother and her father Bob (French Stewart) continues to be narcissistic and manipulative.  She is desperate for a relationship with him, so after he cuts off contact with her, she tries to reach out to him by searching for him on Facebook.  She finds a profile without a picture for a Bob Trevino and sends him a friend request.  Even though he doesn't know her, this Bob Trevino (John Leguizamo) accepts it, starts liking her posts, and begins communicating with her.  They eventually meet and, because Bob had a tragedy in his past that has left him feeling just as alone as Lily, their interactions help both of them heal.  The story about a young woman who is so isolated and starved for affection that she seeks a connection anywhere she can find it is incredibly moving and there were several scenes that reduced me to tears, particularly one that takes place at an animal shelter.  The message about the importance of found families to fill the void left by dysfunctional or absent biological families is also really powerful and I found it very hopeful.  Ferreira gives a raw and emotional performance and it is easy to root for her character as she finally learns how to put herself first in her dealings with her abusive father.  She has wonderful chemistry with Leguizamo, who gives one of the best performances of his career, and I absolutely loved his character because he is so kind, gentle, and caring (everyone needs someone like Bob in their lives).  The cathartic ending is earned rather than manipulative, in my opinion, and it left me a blubbering mess (several people walking out of the theater were also wiping their eyes).  I cannot recommend this enough!

The Penguin Lessons

The trailer for The Penguin Lessons looked really heartwarming so I decided to see it at the Broadway last night.  It is a charming, but superficial, character study about a man whose life is unexpectedly transformed by a penguin.  Tom Michell (Steve Coogan) is an Englishman who takes a teaching position at an exclusive school in Argentina during a military coup in 1976.  He is misanthropic and cynical, disengaged from the tumultuous political situation around him, and largely ineffective in the classroom.  While on holiday in Uruguay, he rescues a Magellanic penguin from an oil slick on the beach in order to impress a woman.  However, once the encounter with this woman is over, he tries to return the penguin to the ocean but it follows him back to his hotel and he eventually smuggles it home.  He attempts to hide the penguin, who he names Juan Salvatore, from the persnickety headmaster (Jonathan Pryce) but soon others at the school show an interest and this leads to friendships with another teacher (Bjorn Gustafsson), the school housekeeper Maria (Vivian El Jaber), and her granddaughter Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio).  He brings Juan Salvatore to class and his unruly students are captivated and see Michell in a new light.  He also uses Juan Salvatore to strike up a conversation with a military leader to advocate for the release of Sofia after she is arrested.  This is at its best when it focuses on Michell learning how to reengage with the world with the help of his penguin friend.  It is less successful when it attempts to blandly explore the politics of the region through his privileged eyes (there is even a scene where he confesses that he could have intervened when Sofia was arrested but didn't and her distraught grandmother hugs him to make him feel better).  Coogan is great in the role with his signature deadpan delivery (I laughed out loud multiple times) and, of course, the penguin is absolutely adorable.  This is an entertaining and (mostly) feel-good comedy but you can probably wait until it streams to watch it.

Death of a Unicorn

Last night my nephew and I went to the Broadway for Death of a Unicorn, a movie we were both looking forward to, and we had a blast watching it.  Lawyer Elliot Kitner (Paul Rudd) and his estranged daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) travel through a wildlife preserve to spend the weekend at the home of Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), a wealthy pharmaceutical executive who is dying of cancer, his wife Belinda (Tea Leoni), and his son Shepherd (Will Poulter).  Elliot wants the visit to go well because Odell is a potential client but Ridley is not very enthusiastic and is further traumatized when he hits and kills a unicorn. They eventually confess what they have done to the Leopolds and, because contact with the unicorn has cured Ridley's acne and Elliot's allergies, Odell believes it will cure his cancer and has his scientists experiment on it.  Ridley begins researching the mythology surrounding unicorns and warns against this but, when the dust from the unicorn's horn cures Odell, he, his family, and even Elliot want to sell it to the highest bidders which angers the other unicorns in the area.  This is obviously a satire criticizing the evils of big pharma and corporate greed but, while it is really funny (Poulter and Anthony Carrigan, who plays the silent and put-upon butler Griff, steal the show with their hilarious performances), I especially enjoyed the interactions of Rudd and Ortega as a father and daughter who discover what is really important in life.  The unicorn sequences in the third act are absolutely wild (I was rooting for the unicorns as they hunt all of these despicable people) even if the visual effects are sometimes a bit sloppy.  This has a lot of really bonkers tonal shifts but they all somehow work and it is so much fun.  I recommend seeing it with a large late night crowd.