Nine Days

Not only was Nine Days my favorite selection at the Sundance Film Festival last year, it was my favorite movie of 2020.  I absolutely loved this beautiful exploration of what it means to be alive the first time I saw it and I think I loved it even more when I saw it again yesterday!  On an alternate plane of existence, Will (Winston Duke), a man who was once alive but had a difficult life experience, is tasked with choosing which souls will get the privilege of being born and then monitoring and recording the details of their life experience.  He is assisted by Kyo (Benedict Wong), a soul who is in limbo, and the two of them watch video footage from the POV of each person Will selected on vintage TV screens.  He is worried about a young man who is being bullied by his classmates and a veteran who has suffered a disabling injury but he takes great pride in a violin prodigy named Amanda.  On the day that she is about to perform a concert, she has a fatal car crash that is presumed to be a suicide.  Will is devastated by this loss and obsessively searches through his video archives to look for a sign as to what went wrong.  In the meantime, he must select a soul to replace her and several candidates arrive at his door to be interviewed over a period of nine days: Maria (Arianna Ortiz), Mike (David Rysdahl), Alexander (Tony Hale), Kane (Bill Skarsgard), and Emma (Zazie Beetz).  Afraid of making another mistake, Will tries to determine which candidate will be tough enough to handle all of the hardships and miseries of life.  When a candidate is dismissed, Will creates elaborate simulations of a life experience chosen by each one before he or she disappears from existence.  The final candidate to be dismissed asks for the experience that made Will feel the most alive which, ultimately, teaches him that life is also filled with joy.  Once again, the final scene brought me to tears because it is such a thought-provoking and poignant moment.  I loved the message that happiness can be found in the simplest of moments and that we shouldn't take any of our time on Earth for granted.  I also enjoyed all of the philosophical discussions that Will has with all of the candidates about the nature of humanity, particularly the question about the Holocaust.  Duke gives a phenomenal performance as a man afraid of life who eventually learns to live.  I cannot recommend this movie enough and it is definitely worth seeking out.

Annette

I saw an interview with Adam Driver, back when he was doing press for The Rise of Skywalker, during which he mentioned that he had recently finished filming a musical. I was immediately intrigued by the idea of Driver singing through an entire movie (even though he sings briefly in Hungry Hearts and Marriage Story) and it seems like I have been anticipating the release of Annette ever since!  My anticipation hit a fever pitch when his performance was universally lauded at the Cannes Film Festival (Annette was the opening film) and I have literally been counting down the days until I could see it!  I finally had the chance last night and, even though I thought I knew what to expect, I was completely blown away because it is a masterpiece!  Henry McHenry (Driver) is a provocative comedian who regularly kills his audiences, in his words, during his stage shows.  Ann Defrasnoux (Marion Cotillard) is a world-renowned opera singer who dramatically dies on stage every night.  At first glance they seem to inhabit different worlds but they both have one thing in common: they crave, and even need, the attention and adulation they get from their audiences.  They fall passionately in love, get engaged, get married, have a daughter named Annette, and then experience trouble in their marriage when Ann's fame eclipses Henry's.  All of this is reported in TMZ-like news breaks which function as a Greek chorus during their relationship.  Henry is full of self-loathing and eventually destroys his marriage, alienates his audience, exploits his gifted daughter, then kills a possible rival (Simon Helberg).  He is tormented by his guilt (which manifests itself with a birthmark on his cheek that gets bigger and bigger as he comes undone) until he is confronted by Annette (Devyn McDowell) who vows that she will never be like her parents.  Annette is surreal and operatic in scale as the lines between performance and reality are continually blurred.  In fact, the film opens with Ron and Russell Mael (who wrote the music and lyrics for the film) singing the song "So May We Start" in a recording studio and then continuing to sing while walking outside to the streets of L.A. where they are joined by the cast as themselves before they are transformed into their characters.  It is brilliant!  I also love that Annette is portrayed by a puppet and that she becomes a real little girl only after she refuses to perform ever again (in a scene that left me absolutely gutted) and that Ann haunts Henry like a vengeful character from an opera.  Driver, who is one of my favorite actors, gives a tour-de-force performance that is, in my opinion, the best of his considerable career.  I was really impressed by his physicality in an expletive-laden and rage-fueled rant during a comedy routine and by his singing ability, especially in the emotionally charged "Stepping Back in Time" and "Sympathy for the Abyss."  Annette is not the kind of film that usually gets attention from the Academy but Driver definitely deserves an Oscar nomination!  This will not be for everyone, although I was surprised to see so many people at my screening, but it is a major contender for my favorite movie of the year!

Note:  I already have tickets to see it again!

The Suicide Squad

For the past several months my nephew and I have been having a movie night every Saturday.  We get a treat and pick several movies to watch together and it has been so much fun (watching the movies and spending time with him).  Lately we have been working our way through all of the movies in the DCEU (we are huge fans) in preparation for the release of The Suicide Squad.  It is safe to say that we have been anticipating this movie for a long time and we both had a great time watching it in IMAX last night!  After the ruling family of Corto Maltese, an island nation off the coast of South America, is overthrown and a ruthless anti-American dictator (Joaquin Cosio) is installed, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) recruits a group of supervillains from Belle Reve penitentiary to destroy Project Starfish, run by Dr. Gaius Grieves/ The Thinker (Peter Capaldi) in a Nazi-era laboratory on the island, which could be catastrophic to the U.S. if it is in the wrong hands.  Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) is the field leader of the so-called Suicide Squad composed of Harleen Quinzel/ Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Robert DuBois/ Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Christopher Smith/ Peacemaker (John Cena), Cleo Cazo/ Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Abner Krill/ Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), and Nanaue/ King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone).  There are some interesting, and often hilarious, interactions within the group because Bloodsport and Peacemaker keep trying to show each other up, Harley Quinn has boyfriend issues, Ratcatcher has daddy issues, Polka-Dot Man has mommy issues, King Shark just wants a friend, and Flag has second thoughts about the mission.  The action sequences are fantastic, especially when Harley Quinn fights every soldier at the Presidential Palace to escape while the rest of the group is trying to come up with a plan to save her (Harley is so kick-ass), and they feature a killer soundtrack!  This movie is incredibly violent, gory, and filled with profanity but I was surprised by its heart and by how sympathetic the characters are.  I loved the message that even the lowliest and most despised creatures can still have a purpose and Sean really loved James Gunn's visual style and how all of the title cards are displayed.  This is how you make a comic book movie, in my opinion, and we both loved it!

Footloose at Sundance

Last night I took a beautiful drive through Provo Canyon to the Sundance Mountain Resort to see Footloose, this year's Sundance Summer Theatre production in partnership with Utah Valley University.  I have been coming to these shows for years and I was so excited to be back after last summer's production was cancelled.  In my zeal to be back in the mountains watching live theatre under the stars, however, I forgot that I don't really care for this musical (I saw it several years ago at HCT).  I love the 1984 movie about a big city boy who moves to a small Midwestern town where he discovers that rock and roll and dancing have been banned by a city council still reeling from a tragic accident five years earlier and the stage musical is at its best when it incorporates the music from the movie, including "Footloose," "Somebody's Eyes," "Holding Out for a Hero," "I'm Free," "Let's Hear It for the Boy," and "Almost Paradise."  Unfortunately, most of the songs written specifically for the musical are for the adults to sing and, in my opinion, they are incredibly contrived and take away from the energy of the show.  Jason Baldwin, as Shaw Moore, Bailee Brinkerhoff Morris, as Vi Moore, and Heather Shelley, as Ethel McCormack, all have great voices but I found myself looking at the program to see when the next familiar song was coming up whenever they were on stage, particularly during the second act (I think the majority of the audience just wanted to get to the dance).  It still could have been a lot of fun if the performances were great but I didn't really like them, either.  Eric Ascione, as Ren McCormack, is an incredible dancer who brings a lot of enthusiasm and charisma to the role but he is not a singer and he really struggles in "I'm Free" and "Almost Paradise." Beatriz Melo, as Rusty, Emma Wadsworth, as Urleen, and Abigail Watts, as Wendy Jo, embellish their songs with showy vocal runs, which is great if you are Mariah Carey, but if you are not Mariah Carey it just sounds like screeching that is off-key.  Their songs, particularly "Let's Hear It for the Boy," are sometimes really cringe-worthy.  I did really enjoy Hailey Hyde, as Ariel, because she has the best voice in the cast, and Maxwell Eddington, as Willard, because he is hilarious.  I will say that this production really shines in the high-energy choreography by Adam Ray Dyer and the big production numbers are very well executed by the talented dancers in the cast.  I especially loved the way "Holding Out for a Hero" and "I'm Free" are staged because the former incorporates superhero costumes and the latter incorporates athletic equipment in a gym.  I also really liked the set design by Glenn Pepe, especially the large metal bridge that looms above every scene which is brilliant because the car crash on the bridge still has a profound effect on the town even five years later.  This is probably my least favorite production that I've seen at Sundance (it should be noted that everyone around me seemed to love it) but I still had a lot of fun and I definitely loved being up in the mountains where it is significantly cooler than in the valley.  Footloose runs Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through August 14 but I believe all of the shows are sold out (go here for more information).

Stillwater

Last night I finally had the opportunity to see Stillwater (I had plans to see it two different times over the weekend but I couldn't get myself motivated enough to follow through with them) and, even though it drags on a bit, I really enjoyed it.  Bill Baker (Matt Damon) is an Oklahoma roughneck who periodically travels to Marseilles to visit his estranged daughter Allison (Abigail Breslin).  She went to France for a university study abroad program but has now been in prison for four years after being convicted of killing her girlfriend with circumstantial evidence during a high-profile and sensational trial (it obviously draws inspiration from the Amanda Knox case but the two stories are very different).  During his latest visit, Allison asks him to give a letter, written in French so he can't read it, to her lawyer which suggests that there might be DNA evidence to tie the murder to an Arab man named Akim (Adir Azougli) which will exonerate her.  However, her lawyer (Ann Le Ny) says that she cannot reopen the case based on hearsay and refuses to investigate.  Even though he is in over his head, he decides to stay in Marseilles and conduct an investigation himself with the help of Virginie (Camille Cottin), a woman staying in the room next to him at his hotel with her daughter Maya (Lilou Siauvaud), as a translator, guide, and possible love interest.  He goes to extraordinary lengths to prove his daughter’s innocence but will his actions destroy his newfound relationship with Virginie and Maya?  This movie really took me be surprise.  The narrative does involve an investigation into a murder (including a twist at the end that I predicted early on) with some interesting things to say about racial tension but I enjoyed it most when the story focused on rebuilding the damaged relationship between a father and a daughter.  I also enjoyed seeing Bill attempt to find a bit of redemption through his relationship with Maya as a way to atone for his failures with Allison.  Damon gives an incredibly affecting performance, one of his best, in an unsympathetic role and I was also really impressed by Cottin and Siauvaud (she received a lengthy standing ovation at Cannes).  The action slowly builds and builds, creating a palpable tension, but I feel like it gets bogged down when it returns to the murder mystery in the third act and my mind started to wander (it is a long movie).  It is not really the thriller that it is marketed to be but I would definitely recommend this movie because it is, ultimately, an intriguing character study with outstanding performances.