Uncut Gems

My favourite film of 2017 was Good Time. Uncut Gems is the second feature film by the same dynamic duo, the Safdie brothers. Uncut Gems stars Adam Sandler. Hold on, don't stop reading. I like Adam Sandler, I by no means love Adam Sandler. He has made lots of bad films (Jack and Jill, Murder Mystery), a few funny ones (The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates), and some good ones (The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), Funny People, and Spanglish) but Sandler has never been in a great film; until now. Uncut Gems ranks as Sandler's best work. I loved this movie. What's it about? Sandler plays a jeweler who is looking for the big payoff. He is up to ears in debt, has a gambling problem, a mistress on the side, and his life is falling apart. He has a chance to turn it all around with one magical rock full of uncut gems. He has to get it sold before the mobsters close in and beat the living shit out of him. It's riveting.  
Let me take a moment and talk about John Cassavetes. If you only watch two Cassavetes films, make sure to watch A Woman Under the Influence and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Cassavetes was an independent film maker and his influence can be felt in so many films. Watch the scene in A Woman Under the Influence where Peter Falk brings his work crew home and they sit around the dinner room eating spaghetti and then watch the scene in Ridley Scott's Alien where the crew are all sitting around eating after they have come out of hypersleep - Scott is a fan of Cassavetes. Or watch the chase scene at the end of Blade Runner and then compare it to the The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.
So why have I digressed into this Cassavetes rambling, you might ask? Because Uncut Gems is almost the modern version of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. There is so much I loved about Uncut Gems, the retro 70s and 80s zeitgeist of independent film, the music, the lighting, the overlapping dialogue - it's like it was made in a different time. And yet it's completely contemporary; it even has a cameo by the Canadian group, The Weekend.
It's playing this week in Ottawa at the Mayfair. Go watch it. 

The Report

To my surprise, a few people have told me they don't like Adam Driver. I suppose there are a few actors that rub people the wrong way. Or maybe they are just miscast in Star Wars films like Hayden Christensen. I personally love Adam Driver as an actor and he is everywhere these days: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Marriage Story, and The Report. If you only see one of these films, see The Report. What's it all about? This is a whistle-blower story that really isn't a whistle-blower, but somebody who is really persistent in doing his job. This is the true story of Daniel Jones, a US Senate staffer in charge of reviewing 6 million pages of CIA material relating to the destruction of the 2005 CIA interrogation videotapes of supposed Al-Qaeda suspects. Remember all those photos that came out? If it doesn't ring a bell, then you really should be watching this movie. I don't think The Report is breaking a lot of new ground cinematically; there are lots of films like it, Spotlight, The Insider, to name a few. A bunch of people sitting around a room with dramatic music playing while they ask questions about who knew what when. This is an important movie and it's a story that paints the CIA in a very bad light. The USA has done some awful stuff. Catch this on Amazon Prime. 

Ford V Ferrari

If you are looking for something fun to watch, get your motor running (so to speak), Ford V Ferrari is your picture. I took my thirteen year old son to see this one and we both enjoyed ourselves immensely. What's it all about? This is the true story of how Ford beat Ferrari at one of the world's greatest car racing events, Le Mans. This is a 24 hour race with multiple drivers. It's an endurance test of both man and machine and in 1965, Ferrari was King and Ford, well Ford made a lot of automobiles, but they didn't make anything as good as Ferrari. Ford attempts to buy Ferrari, but this takeover goes skidding into the ditch and ends with Ferrari insulting Ford on a personal level. This is a story of revenge. Ford, with deep, deep pockets hires Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) to get the job done. Whatever it takes. Shelby builds a car to win, but they need a renegade to drive it, to push the car to maximum potential. In comes the Englishman and madman, Ken Miles (Christian Bale). Miles isn't the image Ford wants, but only Miles can drive the car to the limit. Christian Bale is great, speaking to the car as he drives like the car was alive - it reminded me of Steve McQueen talking to the engine in The Sand Pebbles. This isn't a Samson and Goliath tale, this is a Goliath vs Goliath tale at top speed. Take a wild ride with this one and catch it at a cinema near you.

Dolemite is My Name

I love underdog stories, whether it's a sports story or in this case, a entertainer past his prime and who really has no shot of making it in the showbiz world. This is the true story of Rudy Ray Moore, played by the great Eddie Murphy. Dolemite is My Name is kind of like the Black 1970s version of Ed Wood or The Disaster Artist. Rudy is a man who's hell bent on making something of his life after his farmer father told him he would amount to nothing. The story begins with a middle aged, slightly overweight Rudy, working in a record store with a failed singing and comedy career already behind him. But Rudy is tenacious, the belittling words of his father linger in his head; he presses on. He creates the character of Dolemite, a crude, rude, rapping pimp persona with a catch phrase, "Dolemite is my name and fucking up motherfuckers is my game." This line is delivered (multiple times) by Murphy with a profane panache that plastered a big smile onto my face. Murphy is great in this role.
So Rudy begins to have some mild success with his Dolemite character on vinyl records - a large segment of the black intercity crowd loves Dolemite. But when Rudy goes and watches the film, The Front Page, a white comedy for white audiences, he realizes that to be a true star, he needs to make a movie. Rudy goes all in to make a B- version of Shaft with very little in terms of experienced talent or budget. I had a hell of a good time watching it all go down. Catch this bad motherfucker on Netflix.

Younger

Are you looking for a new light, funny, smart series you can binge? If so, look no further, Younger is the show for you. What's it all about? It about Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) a forty-something year old woman who is going through a divorce and needs to find her way back into the workforce. She used to be an editor before motherhood. When she applies for a job, she is told she is too old. Liza Miller looks young for age - still gets asked for ID. So she decides to lie, pretend she is 26, dresses really young, and boom, she lands a job as and assistant in a publishing house, Empirical Press.
This is a very likable show with a very likable cast. I was very skeptical going in, as it was a recommendation for my wife from a friend and I thought, oh god, not a chick-flick series; which it kinda is. It also stars Hilary Duff - large eye roll from me. My prejudices are coming out. Duff is great in the show as is the entire cast. The writing is smart enough and the ideas are fresh from show to show. I found myself surprised over and over again about just how good Younger really is.
And here is a little bonus for you, the fashion of the show is something to behold. The clothes! OMG I don't think I saw a single outfit worn more than once by any character. Nobody could afford the clothes in this show, but who cares? Pay close attention to Liza's boss, Diana Trout (played wonderfully by Miriam Shor). This woman has an astounding collection of necklaces, some of which are ridiculous, while others are stunningly beautiful.
Shows run about 22 minutes an episode and there are 12 episodes per season. There are 6 seasons and it's has been renewed for a 7th.
Slide into this DM by catching it on Amazon Prime.

Midsommar

The movie Hereditary was one of my favourite films last year. I actually let out an audible gasp while watching it. I didn't and still don't understand the Exorcist cult-like ending - it was bananas. But I loved every minute of it. So when I heard Ari Aster had a new film coming out, well I was giddy.

Midsommar is off the hook bananas. OMG did I love this movie. It's like if The Wicker Man had a Rosemary's Baby with The Holy Mountain. What's it all about? Good grief, where do I start?!

The simplest explanation, it's about a bunch of university kids who go spend their summer at a Swedish hippie farm for their summer festival. But not all is as it seems (of course) and the weird factor just keeps ramping up and up. I think in this day and age, it takes courage to go this weird. It's also about Dani (played by Florence Pugh) who has lost her parents and has a clingy relationship with her boyfriend Christian. There is a lot going on in Dani's post traumatized head and it's compounded with everything that's going on the Swedish Kool-Aid Acid Farm. Take a trip to Sweden and catch this one on streaming services or in a rep cinema near you.  

Us

It's October, so let's get into some horror movies. Let's begin with something that came out earlier in the year, Us. Us is the second horror film from comedic star, Jordan Peele. Critics gushed over his first film, Get Out. I liked it, didn't love it. Peele seems to have embraced the horror genre with loving arms, so much so that he has rebooted The Twilight Zone. So I went into Us with somewhat midgrade expectations; horror is hard to do well. I was delighted to find a very creepy monster knocking on my cinema's door.

What's it all about? It's about the childhood fears of getting lost and it's about adult fears and guilt of losing a child. It's also about the innate existential fear of being replaced - somebody could take my job; my partner could leave me and get a better me; my kids could have a better stepfather than their real dad; our very existence will one day be gone and we will be replaced.

It's about the Wilson family, Gabe and Adelaide (played with great intensity by Lupita Nyong'o) and their two kids. One night a strange family comes knocking on the Wilsons's door. It's their doppelgangers dressed in red outfits and wearing ornate racing gloves - it's scary shit.

Peele is a comedian and he has sprinkled humour throughout his new monster movie of the self. Elisabeth Moss calling for the police is particularly amusing. This is all I want to tell you - go watch it with the lights out.

You couldn't do much better than Us, to begin your Halloween horror movie season. Catch it on streaming services.