The Ballad of Wallis Island

It is very hard not to be charmed by this lovely little film which is a kind of mashup of Local Hero meets The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. What's it all about? Lottery winner and music fan, Charles (Tim Key) has a dream to bring his favourite folk duo, McGwyer & Mortimer - (Herb McGwyer and Nell Mortimer played by Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan) back together after their break-up thirteen years prior for a private show on the remote island of Wallis. Charles and his late wife were huge fans of the duo. Charles is planning on having the concert of the fifth anniversary of her passing. There is a lot of what you might consider schmaltz, but it doesn't come off that way. And it goes in directions I didn't expect largely due to Charles himself. He has a personality like a goofy birthday card, the dialogue he spews is a rhyming sing-song of pop culture nonsense which you cannot help but enjoy. The music is great and the chemistry and tension between Herb and Nell is well done. These characters felt real. This was playing in theatres for a long time. If you missed it, it's now streaming on Prime. Or go rent it a Movies 'N Stuff here in Ottawa. 

Disturbia

My kids were just starting out as inhabitants on this planet so I missed Disturbia when it came out in 2007. Plus nobody told me about it! Which is why I'm telling you. I love Alfred Hitchcock. He is my favourite director of all time (I'm not sure he was an excellent human but for sure he was an excellent director). My favourite of his films is Rear Window (1954), starring the late, great Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. If for some reason you haven't seen this movie, Rear Window, stop what you are doing and go watch this. Don't read on, go watch it. Then, come back here and finish my blog post. So, now you have seen Rear Window (great, right?) you will know that there have been copies. Brian De Palma made Body Double, which is his homage to Rear Window and Vertigo. I also love this movie. And this brings us to Disturbia starring Shia LaBeouf as Kale. No spoilers here, so with that, I will say that high-school Kale becomes in some way housebound, unable to leave his property. His mom, Canadian actress, Carrie-Anne Moss (from Matrix fame) has cut off his access to video games on top of it all. So Kale has nothing to do but look out the window. New hot girl has moved in next door (Sarah Roemer) and there is a creepy guy across the street (David Morse). Let the Rear Window fun play out. I loved it. It's fantastic. Shia LaBeouf - what a talent. I'm a big fan. It was Andrea Arnold's American Honey that turned me into a fan. If you haven't seen American Honey, then you have film homework. Then, Honey Boy where Shia plays his own father - amazing. Then The Peanut Butter Falcon - it's a delight. So for me to go back and see Shia before all this was a treat. Go get some binoculars and go watch Disturbia now. 

Sorry, Baby

Writer, director, and star, Eva Victor needs to be nominated for all the awards this season. I'm truly impressed. I would say she is extraordinary, except after watching Sorry, Baby the word "extraordinary" might be triggering. This is a portrait of a woman, Agnes, an academic college professor of literature, who undergoes a traumatic event and its aftermath. It's personal. It's also funny despite the heavy subject matter. The characters are fully formed and the dialogue is very well written - natural, witty, and smart. Naomi Ackie plays Lydie, Agnes's best friend and trauma confidant. Lucas Hedges plays Gavin, the next-door neighbor and potential love interest. And then there is the small role of character actor, John Carroll Lynch as Pete, the sandwich maker. I love Lynch in everything he does. He always fills the frame with warmth (or terror, depending on the role). Sorry, Baby is a story about surviving trauma. It's also about healing and friendship. It's intelligent, funny, honest, and empathetic. It is another clear example of why I go to the movies. It will no doubt make my list of best films of the year. In Ottawa it was playing at the Bytwone (maybe it will come back). No doubt it is likely to show up at the Mayfair. And I know it's on order for rent at Movies 'N Stuff on Kilborn. Catch this one for sure. 

Eddington

Savage. This word not only perfectly describes Ari Aster’s latest film but it's also a word frequently used by the late great writer Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson used it to describe the work of his often-collaborator, artist Ralph Steadman. As I watched Eddington I thought about the work of Steadman, especially from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Steadman’s portraits of Americans are often grotesque, unflattering, and as Thompson would say, savage. So too, is Ari Aster’s Eddington, a film that takes place in the early days of the pandemic, more specifically, May 2020, in the small New Mexican town of Eddington. Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) doesn't enjoy wearing a mask and doesn't think anyone should who is uncomfortable doing so. The town's mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) is running for reelection and is unhappy with his town's law enforcement. Cross decides to run for mayor himself - it's buffoonery. The whole film has a Coen brothers feel to it, Burn After Reading crossed with No Country for Old Men. It's darkly funny. At times as ridiculous as South Park, and I mean this as a compliment. Ari Aster was already one of my new favourtie directors. Beau is Afraid was my top pick for 2023. Eddington solidifies Aster is one of the best writers and directors working today, up there with Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, and the Coen brothers. Eddington is a scathing, savage, and tremendously funny portrait of modern America. Catch it in theatres now. In Ottawa, it's currently playing at the Bytowne.   

Jurassic World: Rebirth

David Koepp is a busy man. If you don't know who that is, he is the writer of the latest Jurassic film, Jurassic World: Rebirth. He has also given us, this year, Presence and Black Bag, two films by Steven Soderbergh. David Koepp co-wrote the first two Jurassic Park films with the late, great Michael Crichton. Koepp also wrote and directed one of my favourite films, The Trigger Effect - a film about what happens when the power goes out, much like Leave the World Behind. That film starred Mahershala Ali, who also stars in this latest Jurassic movie, alongside Scarlett Johansson. Koepp is a gifted storyteller, a talented writer. He knows what works and what works is having characters you care about. Also, kids. Throw kids into the mix, put them in danger, and you got yourself a winner - it's a Steven Spielberg formula, who is also an executive producer on this film and his DNA is all over it. Of the seven films this franchise has produced, it's the best thing since the original. The last three World films have felt like the Star Wars prequels - not good but we watched them anyway because we were hoping for some sort of magic. Go get chased by some monsters, in theatres now. 

M3GAN 2.0

"Final Destination: Bloodlines" was definitely not on my summer BINGO card to make an entry on McPherson's Movie Marquee. Equally unlikely, maybe even more so, was "M3GAN 2.0" and yet, like Trump's second presidency, here we are. The first M3GAN was fun, a female dancing Chucky but it wasn't much more. It did score an honourable mention the year it came out here on the Marquee. M3gan 2.0 is a complete and utter upgrade. In some ways, it's just Terminator 2, the girl version, minus the time travel. It's also self aware, like any evil A.I. is, and thus funny. You can tell that the people who made this film like films. There are nods to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, and a plethora of inside Steven Seagal references. It felt like an 80s action film, in the best possible way - Die Hard crawling through air vents, and a ridiculous sequence of building a robot in a lab like the A-Team. What's it all about? M3GAN has been weaponized by the military into Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno) but you know A.I., it always goes rogue, and goes evil. It's M3GAN Vs Amelia - the showdown of the summer. On Deadly Ground for sure! Download this upgrade in theatres now.  

The Assessment

 

Welcome to the future, where the planet has gone to hell. Protective domes, greenhouse food, banned household pets, and population control are part of this dystopian world, a world where we find Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) who would like to have a child but are required to have an assessment by the state to see if they are suitable parents. The assessment is done by an assessor over a week-long period. Enter, Virginia (Alicia Vikander) as the government parent appraiser. She is there to observe, test, play act, and finally render a verdict. Her decision is final. Virginia, for a good chunk of the time, pretends to be their child and goes full method acting. It is darkly funny at times. If you are a parent or even an observer of parents, you will know certain scenarios improvised here - food tantrums, bad dreams, etc. Virginia also tasks Mia and Aaryan to build a from-IKEA-hell child playhouse - a test of patience and sanity; welcome to the Amazing Race. This sci-fi world feels as fresh as when "Gattaca" was released, or more recently the impressive, "Vesper." This is director Fleur Fortune first feature length film and if they don't hit it quite out of the park, they definitely made it to third. Catch this baby now streaming on Prime.