CODA

The movie CODA (an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults) was the darling of the Sundance Film Festival this year.  It won all the prizes (U.S. Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Dramatic Audience Award, Special Jury Ensemble Cast Award, and Best Director U.S. Dramatic for Sian Heder) and the distribution rights were acquired by Apple for a record $25 million.  Obviously I wanted to see it but I really wanted to see it on the big screen (I have a one year subscription to Apple TV+ because I recently purchased a new phone but I like movies better when I can see them the way they were meant to be seen).  It was released at a theater that is a bit out of my way last weekend but I was thrilled to discover that it expanded to several more theaters this weekend (including one near me).  I saw it last night and I absolutely loved it!  Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones) is the only hearing member of a deaf family consisting of her father Frank (Troy Kotsur), her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin), and her brother Leo (Daniel Durant).  Her family owns a fishing business in Gloucester, Massachusetts and they rely on her to translate for them in all of their business dealings (and, rather humorously, during an awkward doctor visit).  She loves her family but she is often embarrassed by them and sometimes feels left out as the only one who can hear.  She spontaneously picks choir as her extra-curricular activity at school because she likes to sing (and because the boy she likes also picks it) but she has never sung in public before.  After drawing her out and pairing her with her crush Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) for a duet, her choir teacher Mr. Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez) encourages her to apply to the Berklee School of Music and begins giving her private lessons.  Pursuing her dream eventually clashes with her family's dependence on her until they all learn to see each other from a different perspective.  To be sure, this is the type of formulaic coming of age story that we have all seen before but it is incredibly heartwarming!  It features an exceptional lead performance by Jones as well as an ensemble cast made up of deaf performers which adds authenticity to the story.  I was holding back tears for much of the third act, especially during a scene where Frank realizes for the first time that Ruby has a gift (which is extremely well executed), but I couldn't hold them back any longer when Ruby draws inspiration from her family during an audition (I challenge anyone to make it through that scene without crying).  This feel-good movie is now one of my favorites of 2021 and I highly recommend it!

Note:  The music in this movie is really good (I recommend the soundtrack).

Candyman

I have not seen the original or either of the sequels but I thought the trailer for Candyman, billed as a spiritual sequel, looked really intriguing so I decided to see it last night.  I think it is brilliant but it functions more as social commentary on racial injustice than as a horror movie.  Artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his gallery director girlfriend Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris) move into an upscale apartment located in a former low-income housing project that has been gentrified.  Brianna's brother Troy (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) informs them that the area is haunted and relates an urban legend about the Candyman.  Anthony, desperate for an idea for an upcoming exhibit, decides to investigate and meets a longtime resident (Colman Domingo) of the area who tells him the origin of the myth.  Daniel Robitaille (Tony Todd) was tortured and killed for having an affair with a white woman in the 19th century and now takes his revenge by killing anyone who summons him by saying his name five times into a mirror.  Anthony becomes dangerously obsessed with the Candyman and creates an art installation that unleashes the horror once again into the community.  This movie is incredibly atmospheric with disturbing imagery (including the brilliant use of mirrors and shadow puppets) and an unsettling score but I didn't find it to be very scary.  There is not a lot of suspense or tension because the Candyman always kills his victims immediately after his name is uttered five times and it becomes predictable.  What really works, however, is the use of the Candyman as a proxy for all of the Black men who have suffered violence against them simply because of who they are and this upset me deeply because the racial dynamics in my family.  In fact, I had more sympathy for a Black bystander hiding in a bathroom stall than I did for the victims being attacked by the Candyman because I was afraid that she would be blamed.  In my opinion. the thought-provoking update to the original story far outweighs any shortcomings with the execution of the horror elements and I highly recommend it.

The Protege

I was pleasantly surprised by The Foreigner so I thought I would probably like another action thriller from director Martin Campbell.  I saw his latest, The Protege, last night and, even though it is not a great movie, I enjoyed it anyway.  Moody Dutton (Samuel L. Jackson) is a highly sought-after international assassin who rescues a young girl (Eva Nguyen Thorsen) in Vietnam after she kills the men who kidnapped her and killed her family.  He becomes a surrogate father to her and teaches her everything he knows.  Thirty years later Anna Dutton (Maggie Q) is also an international assassin working with Moody on high-profile contracts.  When Moody is assassinated Anna vows revenge and eventually locates the man responsible in Vietnam.  She must return to her native land to confront her past but not before going toe to toe with the killer's fixer, Michael Rembrandt (Michael Keaton).  The story is incredibly convoluted and doesn't always make sense (I had no idea what was going on some of the time and I felt like I had missed a key piece of information), the characters are very one-dimensional, and there is a strange twist in the third act but this hardly matters.  Maggie Q and Michael Keaton have tremendous chemistry, whether it is in the scenes where they exchange witty banter or in the scenes where they try to kill each other, and they are so much fun to watch.  The action sequences are fantastic, especially all of the hand-to-hand combat.  I also really liked the ending because it is bold and not what I was expecting.  Maggie Q is incredibly fierce in the role and I would definitely like to see her in more (and better) action thrillers in the future.  It's not what I would call a "must-see" but it is very entertaining so I recommend it to fans of the genre (especially when it becomes available on a streaming platform).

Reminiscence

I was incredibly unmotivated last weekend and canceled plans to see Reminiscence twice before I finally got my act together to see it last night.  Unfortunately, because I waited a few days, I saw some reviews and they were mostly negative so I was not especially looking forward to it.  However, I actually enjoyed it more than I was expecting.  I really liked the premise because it is a neo-noir thriller set in a dystopian future with a tortured protagonist named Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) and a mysterious femme fatale named Mae (Rebecca Ferguson).  Climate change has caused the level of the ocean to rise and temperatures to become more extreme, leading to wars and riots.  Such a bleak existence has forced many people to retreat into their memories.  Nick and a fellow combat veteran, Watts Sanders (Thandiwe Newton), run a business in Miami where people can see and experience their memories again and again and they sometimes use their equipment to help D.A. Avery Castillo (Natalie Martinez) interview incapacitated witnesses.  One night Mae arrives after hours asking to access her memories to find her missing keys.  Nick sees more of her memories than is necessary and falls in love with her.  They begin a relationship but Mae vanishes without a trace after a few months leaving Nick in despair.  Despite warnings from Watts about his reckless behavior, he spends most of his time using the equipment on himself to access his memories of Mae hoping to find a clue to her whereabouts.  Meanwhile, D.A. Castillo requests their help deposing a comatose patient to get evidence against a drug lord named Saint Joe (Daniel Wu) and, when Nick sees Mae in his memories, he realizes that she is not who he thinks she is.  The plot is very convoluted and I sometimes had a hard time keeping track of all of the secondary characters and stories.  It is also quite derivative (it reminded me a lot of Strange Days which is a better movie).  However, I enjoyed the world-building, particularly the depiction of a Miami that is mostly under water, and the images on the screen are often stunning.  The commentary about the division between the rich and poor is very interesting, especially regarding the control of land which is the most valuable resource in this society.  Jackman and Ferguson give great performances and I was always invested in their relationship.  I also liked the action sequences, especially a scene in a ballroom under water.  It is not perfect but there is enough for me to recommend it, especially if you subscribe to HBOMax.

The Magic of Queen at Sandy Amphitheater

Last summer I really missed seeing outdoor performances (I wonder if I have mentioned that?) so this summer I made a list of all of my favorite outdoor performance venues and I have been trying to get to all of them (it looks like I will be able to check off most of them before the summer is over).  A few weeks ago I realized that I didn't include the Sandy Amphitheater (which is a great venue) so I decided to look at the website and see if there was a show that I might like.  I got very excited when I saw a show called The Magic of Queen (I wonder if I have mentioned that I really love Queen?) and I got even more excited when I saw that there were still good tickets available (it eventually sold out).  The show was last night and the weather could not have been better for an outdoor show!  Most of the summer has been unbearably hot and this week there has been a lot of rain but last night was nice and cool.  This was the first concert I have been to since I saw Sarah McLachlan at the Eccles Theatre in February of 2020 and I loved feeling the energy from such a large and enthusiastic crowd!  The Magic of Queen is a show featuring Brody Dolyniuk and his band performing the music of Queen (he also does shows performing the music of Led Zeppelin and Elton John).  He sounds like Freddie Mercury but he doesn't try to imitate him and I really enjoyed his versions of the classic songs.  The first half of the show included "One Vision," "Tie Your Mother Down," "Play the Game," "Keep Yourself Alive," "You're My Best Friend," "Killer Queen," "Now I'm Here," "Somebody to Love," and "Under Pressure."  After the intermission, they played a beautiful rendition of "Love of My Life" and then the crowd came to life during "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Fat Bottomed Girls."  Next came "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Radio Ga Ga" (complete with clapping).  Dolyniuk introduced the next song by saying that it was the title of a recent movie about a rock star and then started playing "Rocket Man," which got a huge laugh from the crowd.  Then they performed a stirring version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" which is the song I had been waiting all night for!  It did not disappoint!  The concert concluded, as Queen concerts often do, with "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions." I had so much fun at this concert and I am so glad that I suddenly remembered to add Sandy Amphitheater to my list!  Go here for the remaining shows this summer.