Vice (2018)
https://www.hulu.com/movie/vice-9e2359f5-c334-43e2-b9cc-c4beeea666a2
When Rami Malek won the 2019 Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of legendary Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody there were several cracks on social media about false teeth winning Best Actor (Mercury had famously very British teeth, and Rami’s performance did prominently feature impressive fake choppers). While I would say Rami did do a pretty good job as Freddie, I firmly believe that Christian Bale was more deserving the oscar for his portrayal of Bush era uberVP Dick Cheney.
While Bale famously gained a lot of weight for the role, he also had Cheney’s mannerisms and speaking cadence down cold. What’s more is he managed to make Cheney, a man with perhaps the most misanthropic image of any VP in US History, seem human, even a little bit relatable as a human being. Vice is a much better, and much more clever movie than Bohemian Rhapsody (which is actually feels like a 90s made for TV movie). And while there was already resemblance between Malek and Mercury, I don’t think there are many folks who thought Bale at all resembled Cheney before this movie. Am I selling you on this yet? Vice is a good, not great, movie. But Bale’s performance is incredible and he doesn’t even chew any scenery. He (and the film) makes a man many think of as a demon seem human, or humanish, and without making him too sympathetic or rewriting history.
Three Identical Strangers (2018)
https://www.hulu.com/movie/three-identical-strangers-438d26ae-629e-495e-ad09-a4d41f36889d
Imagine finding out you had a brother or a sister you never knew existed. Imagine finding out you had a twin who you never knew existed. Now imagine you had two twins you never knew existed. Wait, that would mean, my goodness, you must be a T R I P L E T. Whoa!
Well that’s the conceit at the heart of this 2018 documentary. Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran were triplets born in 1961 to a single mother and then, under the direction of some controversial social scientists, they were given to three different families for adoption. The scientists were conducting what they thought would be the definitive study on Nature vs Nurture. They even visited the children from time to time as they grew up with their adoptive families and took notes.
The film traces the story of how each of these men discovered they had 2 other brothers, how they fast became inseparable, and became a national sensation in the 80s, appearing on multiple talk shows. The film also traces how many other twins were seperated for adoption by the same scientists and adoption agency. Neither the children nor their adopted families were ever told they had siblings or about the study. And so the film covers questions of ethics of sthe researchers and the adoption agency (now defunct) about separating siblings shortly after birth for scientific purposes. There are several instances of the filmmakers introducing those involved with the study to the families and siblings involved. Some of these interactions are startling.
What starts out as an interesting human interest story shortly turns into a cautious tale of science run amok. A very engrossing story that may leave you with many questions about human nature and human ethics.
Up In The Air (2009)
https://www.hulu.com/movie/up-in-the-air-9a329b50-80f2-4ca6-b85e-8e2315322b48
A slightly unconventional rom-com, Up In The Air is yet another film (see Her and Killing Them Softly on previous posts) whose plot perhaps feels a bit different today than when it was released 11 years ago. George Clooney is Ryan Bingham, a man after a holy grail of sorts - collecting 10 million frequent flyer miles with American Airlines. It’s a lofty goal a rare few have reached. It’s an achievable goal for Ryan because his job takes him constantly all over the country and because Ryan, also a motivational speaker, lives by the philosophy of not being held down by material possessions or long term relationships.It’s almost as if he’s on the run… from himself! But I digress.
His actual job? When companies decide to downsize, they hire Ryan’s firm wh then sends folks to do the individual firing of all the employees. This way the downsizing company executives don’t have to feel so badly themselves by having to face the employees whose livelihoods they are taking away. Like I said, this film takes on new context in today’s world where 10 million people have just filed for unemployment in the last 2 weeks (at the time of writing). But Ryan is very good at his job. Ryan is also very good at compartmentalizing, which is why he can deliver bad news to many people and even seem - maybe even really feel - compassionate and sympathetic (we're talking George Clooney after all).
But there’s a problem. Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) is the hot shot ivy league grad who will save Clooney’s company a boat load of money by moving to delivering the bad news of the firings to employees via internet video conferencing. This would save Ryan's firm the expense and time of having to fly staff all over the country. Of course this would also preent Ryan from making his 10 million miles and essentially ground his nomadic lifestyle. This would in turn probably wreck the years and years Ryan has spent compartmentalizing his life and make him face his family and himself.
But, after a disastrous test run of Natalie’s fire by facetime plan, the CEO decides she needs to experience the firing process in person, so she is sent up in the air to learn with Ryan. No, this does not turn into the creepy love story of a late 40s something man with a mid 20s gal (ala Funny Face or something) as Natalie is engaged and Ryan, as I mentioned doesn’t want to be tied down. What's more is Ryan has found a flame closer to his age in Alex (Vera Farmiga), and in a similar “ain’t got no strings to hold me down” philosophy. Alex also seems to live her life up in the air What follows is the journey of the wizened middle aged man and the young ambitious and idealistic upstart learning lessons from each other. Both Ryan and Natalie realize maybe they’ve not figured out life nearly as well as they thought. There are some interesting twists along the way, and the characters are engaging to hang out with, especially when Ryan invites Alex to attend his sister's wedding with him. But as it's been a few years since I've seen this, I wonder if Ryan will be as sympathetic a character given our current realities.
Sorry To Bother You (2018)
https://www.hulu.com/movie/sorry-to-bother-you-c66b772e-75e9-43b1-bcb7-e09ce9e8582d
Boots Riley leads The Coup, a San Francisco based hip-hop group with communist leanings. They are the sort of group that wants to bring the revolution, but they want to make you dance and bop your head to it too (their 2004 record, “Pick A Bigger Weapon” includes the song “Laugh/Love/F*ck” with the classic refrain “I’m here to laugh, love, f*ck and drink liquor, and help the damn revolution come quicker”).
Sorry To Bother You is his first film, a comedy that also has a pro working man/anti establishment bend that gets more surreal as it goes along. Lakeith Stanfield is Cassius “Cash” Green. Along with his artist girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson) he lives in his Uncle’s garage, and he’s behind on the rent. Cash is not real successful at his telemarketer job until a co-worker clues him in on how he should use his “white” voice when on the phone with potential customers.
Using the “white voice” (voiced by Patton Oswalt) Cash is suddenly both raking in the sales and cracking us up. Soon he is recruited for a union, since the telemarketers are vastly underpaid. Then Cash, expecting to be fired after being apart of some union protests, is instead promoted to become a "Power Caller." He leaves the dingy call center for fancier offices, more money and more benefits. This, of course, causes a strain between Cash and Detroit and his union friends, as Cash is caught between the union and his girl and his personal success. Soon Cash is being invited to attend parties at the lavish mansion of the company’s crazy CEO (played with delightful relish by Armie Hammer) and a completely insane plot of the CEO's is revealed.
Despite it’s low budget and a few rough edges for first time filmmaker Riley, Sorry To Bother You is that rare comedy that makes its social points quite well, without preaching, while making you laugh quite hysterically. And then, of course, in the final third of the film are some great WTF moments that will make some people tune out, but for my money they really make the film. High high recomendation for folks who like shaking it up a bit, and like to laugh with it's eat the rich style humor.
The Bellboy (1960)
https://www.hulu.com/movie/the-bellboy-e2cad8d4-8cf5-4174-acb6-982fd6572975
“Oh my god - he’s recommending a Jerry Lewis film - this dude’s name doesn’t even sound French.” Yes, yes I am recommending this.
The Bellboy, written, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis is the first film he made after splitting with Dean Martin. It is a short comedy, barely 75 minutes about a bellboy (Lewis) in a hotel in Florida. Well, it follows all the bellboys, with a focus on Lewis's Stanley, through a series of vignettes around the hotel (a point made in the introduction to the film is that there is not really a linear narrative with a beginning, middle and end - it's more a series of gags). A series of sight gags and slapstick, some have aged well, others less so. But it is an interesting sightseeing tour of mainstream white America circa 1960. Though Lewis as Stanley (Lewis also has a smaller role as himself as a guest at the hotel) does a great amount of mugging for the camera, he is completely silent until the end of the film. So that wacky, grating “HEY LADY” Lewis voice is conspicuously absent from most of the film.
Seeing the 60s chic of the then modern hotel, and styles of the day make the film an interesting viewing, even if many of the jokes fall flat for you. Like the Airplane or Naked Gun films, nothing is drawn out too long, and even though the jokes don’t come quite at the rate of those films, they do come and go fairly quickly.
And if you are familiar with the films of the French physical comedian/autuer Jacques Tahti (Mon Oncle, M. Hulot’s Holiday and Playtime!) you can see how earlier Tahti may have influenced Lewis and how this film probably influenced Tahti’s Playtime (and the restaurant sequence in particular). Viewed as a droll time capsule more than a laugh riot, The Bellboy is a nice bit of ratpack era enterainment, without the mafia or show biz undertones (though there is a brief goofy scene with Stanley eating lunch in the staff cafeteria with some mafiosos) and a peek at an America long gone, but revisited in recently acclaimed television series like Mad Men and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
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