Knives Out

Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019)

I had no expectations going in to see this film. I’ve seen two of Rian Johnson’s films and I didn’t think much of Looper and I very much enjoyed The Last Jedi. The cast is one of the major selling points here. Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Daniel Craig and Christopher Plummer are all great draws. I loved seeing Don Johnson again after so long, and to see M. Emmet Walsh is a joy.

Anyway Plummer plays a rich successful author with a hideous family. He’s 85 years old and is found dead one morning. There is then an investigation and many twists and turns that really play with Police procedures, as any whodunnit does. 

The joy here is that the film appears not to conform to all the rules, or does it. I couldn’t really care who did or didn’t do it, I found it far too enjoyable. I don’t think there are enough joyous films made for adults, these films used to be the stock trade of cinema, thirty or forty years ago. Long may these films continue. Wonderful, I want to see more not too demanding, enjoyable films

Greed

Greed (Michael Winterbottom, 2019)

With films such as The Big Short (Adam McKay, 2015) in the recent past capitalism has not had a good rap really. Even going back to It’s A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) and Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) we see that money doesn’t bring that much happiness per se. Here we have Sir Richard McCready, ‘Greedy’ to his friends and enemies alike on the verge of celebrating his 60th birthday on a Greek Island.

McCready, played by the sparkling toothed Steve Coogan, is a clothes retail magnate who built an empire with small beginnings, and grew it with shady deals. Any comparison to any Arcadian is, well you know.

The theme of his 60th birthday party, apart from excess, is Rome and the film Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)- so he has a gladiatorial arena built on this Greek island. First of all by Bulgarians, and then eventually Syrian refugees.

I’m not sure how many times Steve Coogan and Michael Winterbottom have worked together, but they have a substantial working relationship. You can see the blossoming of it here, Coogan is so comfortable in his role, even in that of such an unlikeable character. It’s all very post modern as well, shifting times and places, going back and forth. It’s all like find the lady I suppose you have to look closely. The film says as much about global economics as it does about this industrialist. He is emblematic of bigger travails. ‘Only connect’, E.M. Forster is referenced as saying at the beginning, but then so to be honest is Chekhov.

Bad Education

Bad Education (Cory Finley, 2019)

As opposed to, well you know. Banish all thoughts of Pedro Almodovar, Jack Whitehall and even Charlize Theron, most of the education here is good. Well maybe not in being a good influence on your children. Hugh Jackman plays Dr Frank Tassone, an inspirational school superintendent, like a super head, a chief education officer or someone in charge of an academy chain in England. He’s loved by everyone it seems, he’s in charge of a very successful school, enabling students to achieve, making it to Ivy League Colleges etc. He’s also credited with helping house prices sky rocket in the vicinity of the school. A good school creates demand and can be the centre of a good community. As well he’s a man of taste and wealth, and seems to be as liberally perfumed as Mr Gustave.

However, there’s always a however. The school is on the verge of building a skywalk, an $8 million bridge that the students will love, right. The school newspaper sends a reporter to cover the skywalk story, just to really say ‘yay, we’re getting a skywalk!’ in speaking to the superintendent she’s inspired to write what she wants to write, dig deeper, impose herself. That’s where the kernel of the story is.

It’s a cautionary tale of not taking things at face value and also a case of looking at why someone might throw someone else under the bus. That it’s a true story is even more interesting, what was the film where they said ‘some of this stuff actually happened’. I’m not what was done was in the interests of comedy, but that’s where it all ends up.

Jojo Rabbit

Jojo Rabbit(Taika Waititi, 2019)

I was a bit squeamish about this film to be honest and faced the prospect of it with some trepidation. It being a comedy, with Nazis in it. It gave me some apprehension. I remember having exactly the same feelings about It’s Life Is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1997), and then being entranced by that film.

Here we have Jojo who, at the age of 10, takes his first steps towards manhood. Living in Nazi Germany this involves going to camp, of the Hitler Youth, he discusses this with his friend Adolf Hitler, played by Taika Waititi, as you do at the age of 10 (in Nazi Germany). The camp, run by Sam Rockwell, is very reminiscent of the pack in Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012), with a similar amount of inappropriately dangerous activities organised for children; knife skills, killing small animals, throwing hand grenades etc, for the boys that is.

The film is really about the choices we make and who can influence those choices. Jojo’s mother, played by Scarlett Johansson does her best to be a good influence on him. Her influence and her views become apparent throughout the film, it’s all about breadcrumbs I guess.

This, though, is the last days of the Second World War and there have been plenty of cinematic examples of what happened then. It’s all played with a heavy amount of humour, which we’ve seen before as well. I was reminded though of The Book Thief (Brian Percival, 2013) with its end of day’s vibes, the German army recruiting anyone that could hold a weapon.

Although it could be argued that the film is flippant, it could be said that’s done for entertainments sake. The film does attempt to discuss weighty issues and does show the Nazis in their true light. It does as well show that not all Germans were Nazis, it shows as well that friendship and love means an awful lot and that people can change, with the right influences.

Days of the Bagnold Summer

Days of the Bagnold Summer (Simon Bird, 2019) I suppose that one of the skills of good film making is to surround yourself with good people. Simon Bird has done that here, but of course it was up to him to use all of these elements to his advantage. The story concerns itself with a teenage boy and his mother spending a Summer together in suburban England. He should have been away in Florida with his dad, but it didn’t go to plan. It’s another story of a child growing up trying to fit into the world, he though listens to death metal wears black and doesn’t want to engage per se. So his mother spends time trying to connect with and re-establish the relationship they had when he was younger. 

The producers talked about how in the US they make films like this and Ghost World springs to mind as a prime example of a good Summer film. I suppose another element in all of this is acceptance. This can be accepting those around you, seeing people for what they are and ultimately accepting yourself. Often that’s a difficult skill, being comfortable with yourself.

There is here as well a sparkling cast with some lovely performances. Monica Dolan and Earl Cave do a fantastic job of mother and son. They’re supported ably by Rob Brydon, Alice Lowe and Tamsin Greig, among others. Simon Bird got some very good performances out of his actors.

I’ve had a really good few weeks listening to the soundtrack of this film, by Belle & Sebastian. It was quite interesting to see how the music fitted in to the film and not the other way round really. Their music has been inspired by the suburbs, as has so much great British music. It’s great to see it come to life through another medium here.

Joker

Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019)Well, there has been a lot of care given over to the making of this film. You cannot deny the impact that performances of this character have had in the past, namely Jack Nicholson’s and Heath Ledger’s. Here then Joaquin Phoenix is given his chance to inhabit this role, and of course he does so. Todd Phillips does his best to press all the right buttons, set the film in 80s, have an 80s Warners logo at the beginning, give it a Scorsese, Mean Streets, King of Comedy air. It’s also far grittier than most other Batman films, Gotham City really is an awful place to live it seems. There also seems to be such a massive problem with reality here. It could be argued that a lot of what happens goes on in Arthur’s head. This is apparent with all the inconsistencies in the story-telling. Maybe that’s what superheroes are, meta beings invented in our imagination, now that’s novel.

Our Ladies

Our Ladies(Michael Caton-Jones, 2019) Am I wrong to be nostalgic? I couldn’t give a fig, I was swept away by the Tigermilk reference at the beginning. The story is reminiscent of those heady late 90s Belle & Sebastian stories, which is none too surprising in that this in an adaptation of Alan Warner’s late 90s novel ‘The Sopranos’. I was thoroughly entertained by the book and that story of five girls and their day in Edinburgh. Of course it’s another story of growing up and finding your way in the world, and as well another story of friendship. It’s an age old story with many examples in the past, but not always told with as much love as here. There are lovely tropes here as well, big town and small town, being on the cusp as well as the big wide world, appearances deceiving and that delicate time when actions and choices can reverberate across the decades. We also have here a group where anyone can say anything to anyone, at least in theory. The director, Michael Caton-Jones, was lucky to have such subject matter to work with, but also having the skill to make the best of these elements. He then made master strokes with the choice of music to put more flesh on the bone.