“Sound of Metal” stars Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, and Mathieu Amalric. Released in theaters on November 20, 2020, followed by an Amazon Prime Video release on December 4, 2020, the film is about a drummer who begins to lose his hearing. The film is directed by Darius Marder, who is known for directing the 2008 documentary “Loot” and co-writing “The Place Beyond the Pines”. Hearing loss can be a pain for those who are impacted, especially those who need their hearing to listen to the music or a film’s sound effects or even other people’s conversations. It’s just one of those things that are completely irreversible and can be tough to accept. The film I’ll be looking at today represents this difficult situation and the struggles that came with it. It was already released in theaters last month and has gained a respectable amount of strong reviews, with most of the praise going towards Riz Ahmed’s performance. I’ve only heard of Ahmed from a few movies I’ve seen recently, including the superhero film “Venom”, so I’m glad that he’s getting some recognition with something like this. This weekend, Amazon Studios is kind enough to release it on Prime Video at no extra cost, so that everyone with a Prime subscription (myself included) can see if it’s worthy enough to earn some awards recognition next year. With that in mind, let’s see if it’s able to hit all of the right beats. The story follows Ruben Stone (Ahmed), a drummer who is a part of a rock band known as Blackgammon along with his singer girlfriend Lou (Cooke). His rockstar life unexpectedly takes a huge nosedive when he suddenly starts to lose his hearing during a gig. Seeing that the process is irreversible, Ruben immediately becomes an emotional wreck. He is then persuaded by his sponsor to join a deaf community, lead by Joe (Raci). With Joe’s assistance, Ruben begins the toughest journey of his life. Like I mentioned before, the film depicts the process of hearing loss and the difficult struggle to adapt to this inevitable change. It’s really heartbreaking to have something that we use very often taken away from us, especially our ability to hear. It’s a topic that’s pretty depressing to learn about, but it is also very important for the viewers to know about. With the use of the sound mixing and Darius Marder’s simplistic style of filmmaking, “Sound of Metal” was able to avoid its melodramatic formula and created a realistic, thought-provoking, and honest experience that puts audiences in the mind of a drummer with hearing loss, resulting in it being one of the best films of 2020 so far in my opinion. Riz Ahmed was absolutely fantastic in his role as Ruben Stone as he managed to capture the raw and grounded emotion of a person who’s in absolute denial of the changes he’s facing. I would definitely say that this is his best performance of his career. Olivia Cooke also did very well with her performance as Lou, and Paul Raci made a solid impression on screen as Joe. I would also give the film credit for adding in plenty of people from the deaf community, especially Lauren Ridloff, who also turned in a good performance as Diane. It gave the right amount of authenticity as to how a deaf community operates without having to hire regular actors to portray them. In terms of the screenplay and the direction, I thought Darius Marder did a phenomenal job at crafting a smart and engaging story and representing the deaf community in a respectable light. While I’m not a complete expert on this type of stuff, I can already tell that he understood how this process works. He understood the fear and the drama that came from being deaf as well as the difficult struggle of accepting this change. He was able to make these things work on film without attempting to “Hollywood-ize” the situation. I also want to mention the sound mixing, which I thought was both marvelous and extremely accurate when it comes to the subject matter. Other than the cast, this was one of the things that drove the story. The sound mixing had the perfect level of depth to immerse the viewer into the mind of someone who is deaf. It also gave them an idea on what they would expect if it would happen to them, which I believe was a smart choice that the filmmakers made. Overall, “Sound of Metal” is both a brilliant representation of hearing loss and a fantastic drama about a drummer who encounters that process. Lead by an award-worthy performance by Ahmed, Darius Marder’s direction, and its flawless sound mixing, the film was able to drum its way to the top. This is not only one of the best films I’ve seen this year so far, but also one of the most important films that don’t involve any politics. I believe that the film is a perfect reminder that this type of change could happen to anyone at anytime. It’s a scary thought, but the way I see it, you can either let it ruin your life or learn to embrace it. That’s pretty much how I see it based on my experience with the film. If you happen to have Amazon Prime, this is one of the films from the streaming service you should definitely check out. A
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“Mank” stars Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, and Charles Dance. Released in theaters on November 13, 2020, followed by a Netflix release on December 4, 2020, the film is about a screenwriter who attempts to write the screenplay for “Citizen Kane”. The film is directed by David Fincher, who also directed films such as “Seven”, “Fight Club”, “The Social Network”, and “Gone Girl”. In order to find out why a specific film became iconic in the first place, we must take a look at its origins. Making a movie isn’t always easy as people have to deal with plenty of issues such as creative differences and incidents that involve stunts and sets, which is something that I eventually learned while studying the art of film. There were some films that became massive failures because of those issues, but there were also films that became successful, if not classics, because of them. One of the prime examples of the latter is Orson Welles’ 1941 masterpiece, “Citizen Kane”. It was hailed by audiences and film enthusiasts as one of the greatest movies of all time, but the journey towards its success isn’t without its share of controversy, most particularly the authorship of its screenplay. In addition to directing, producing, and starring in “Citizen Kane”, Welles was also responsible for writing its screenplay, but not without the assistance of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, who was hired to rework and revise some parts of Welles’ script. The main part of this controversy was Welles not giving Mankiewicz credit for his work. He eventually did so, but the process in doing so was quite a trip. There have been many interpretations of this troubling production in terms of films and books, including the documentary “The Battle Over Citizen Kane”, but this film, in particular, happens to focus mainly on Mankiewicz during this journey. This latest biographical drama sees David Fincher returning to the director’s chair after a six-year hiatus to bring the screenwriter’s story to life. The film was written by David’s late father, Jack Fincher, back in the 1990s with the intention of them filming it after the completion of “The Game”, but it never came to be, and Jack passed away in 2003 after his battle with cancer. The script went unproduced until 2019 when David decided to finish what his father started. It finally made its way to theaters last month and has gained some strong reviews in the process, resulting in it being another possible Oscar contender. This weekend sees its streaming debut on Netflix, and seeing that I am a big movie buff and have viewed “Citizen Kane” during film class back in college, this was something that I wasn’t going to ignore. Was it just as captivating as its behind-the-scenes story? Let’s travel back in time and find out. Set in the 1940s, the film tells the tale of Herman J. Mankiewicz (Oldman), an alcoholic screenwriter who was hired by Orson Welles (Tom Burke) to help him write the script for his film “Citizen Kane”. During that time, a series of flashbacks were shown depicting the events Herman experienced during his time in 1930s Hollywood, such as his relationships with William Randolph Hearst (Dance) and Marion Davies (Seyfried). What I enjoy the most from these types of films is the “behind-the-scenes” aspect, in which they examine the people that were responsible for a specific project and how they’re inspired to do the impossible. It's such an interesting way to see what happened behind some of our favorite films. It worked extremely well for films like “The Disaster Artist”, and unsurprisingly, it also worked for “Mank”. “Mank” examines Mankiewicz’s attempt to write a great script with a healthy amount of style and wit in David Fincher’s direction and Jack Fincher’s screenplay. While it came close to being a masterpiece when it comes to its narrative, the film still delivered a compelling and well-executed Hollywood story that should impress plenty of film buffs. One of the main highlights of the film would have to be the technical artistry. Shot in gorgeous black and white by Erik Messerschmidt, the film brilliantly recaptured the look and feel of an actual black-and-white film from the 1930s. What made it even more authentic was its accurate production design, the stunning costumes, its upbeat score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and the sound mixing. It gives you this unique feeling of actually watching a black-and-white film in the 30s. David Fincher has been known for helming films that are down-to-earth, dark, and bleak, including “Fight Club” and “Gone Girl”. “Mank” is something that lies outside of the director’s usual approach because of its tone. Thankfully, it didn’t feel too out-of-place as Fincher was able to provide a sense of charm and majesty in its compelling, yet slow, dialogue-driven sequences. Another highlight for me was the cast. They were top-notch from start to finish, especially the great Gary Oldman, who completely mastered the witty persona of the title character. He didn’t match his career-best performance in “Darkest Hour” in my opinion, but his performance as Mankiewicz still proves that Oldman has the right talent to lose himself in these types of roles. Amanda Seyfried and Lily Collins were also great in their roles as Marion Davies and Rita Alexander (Herman’s secretary) respectively. As I mentioned before, the film fell a bit short of being a straight-up masterpiece because of its narrative. Not that there’s anything wrong with it since the story has a lot of really good moments, including its political elements. It’s the fact that there were some scenes that either dragged a bit or were a tad underwhelming. Other than that, the story has enough material to make this intriguing concept work. Overall, “Mank” is an artistic marvel that serves as both a tribute to classic filmmaking and as an engaging character study of the screenwriter behind the timeless classic. While far from a perfect film, this is another impressive piece of cinematic art from David Fincher thanks to its talented cast, its suitable script, and its incredible technical aspects. I can already imagine Jack Fincher smiling down at his son from above the clouds for finally bringing his script to life onscreen. If you’re one of the people that enjoy watching classic films from the 30s and 40s, I believe that you’re going to get a kick out of this one. B+“Happiest Season” stars Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Daniel Levy, Victor Garber, and Mary Steenburgen. Released on Hulu on November 25, 2020, the film is about a young woman who discovers that her girlfriend hasn’t come out to her parents. The film is directed by Clea DuVall, who also directed “The Intervention” and starred in films like “The Faculty”, “She’s All That”, and “Identity”. There’s nothing like spending the holidays with the ones you love, including your friends, your family, and even your boyfriends or girlfriends, especially the latter. Here’s hoping that they know you have one. Similar to “Run”, this film was purchased by Hulu after its theatrical release was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It looks like the streaming service is really stepping up their game this year after allowing the likes of Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max to have some fun with this strategy. I was speculating on whether or not I should talk about this film because even though it has a good cast, I usually don’t have a strong interest in romance films, let alone romantic comedies. After seeing that it’s been getting some very good reviews, I finally decided to see what all the hubbub was about. Sorry it took me this long to get to it. With that said, let’s go pay this family a visit. The story follows Abby Holland (Stewart) and Harper Caldwell (Davis), a lesbian couple who are living in Pittsburgh together and have been dating for nearly a year. One day, Harper invites Abby to spend the holidays with her family in her hometown, even though Abby hasn’t been celebrating Christmas since her parents passed away. During the trip, Harper told Abby that she hasn’t revealed her sexuality to her parents yet as she fears that it will jeopardize her father’s (Garber) run for mayor. She persuaded Abby to pretend to be her straight roommate until she can tell them after Christmas. As Harper spends some time with her friends and family, Abby begins to question whether or not their relationship will survive because of the amount of secrets that she’s hiding from her. Like “Hillbilly Elegy”, which I reviewed yesterday, this is another film that deals with family, but unlike that film, this one appears to be more light-hearted and comedic, which is good because I don’t think I can handle another idiotic family. It is also a film that puts a lesbian couple front and center, which is seen in plenty of small films before. This is something that I personally support in films and television shows because it represents the fact that love has no boundaries. It might be awkward seeing two people from the same sex sharing their love with each other, but it’s also something that people should respect. We have enough hate for one day. Anyway, the film has a straightforward plot with plenty of romantic-comedy elements that most viewers can see coming a mile away, which is unsurprisingly unavoidable at the time, but to me, all that matters the most is the execution, which I thought was pretty good. It’s not going to win any big awards or anything like that, but if there is one for “most heartwarming holiday film of 2020”, it should go to this film hands down. Not only was it an enjoyable and well-directed rom-com from start to finish, but it also showcased the LGBT representation in the most respectable and honest way possible. The film was supposed to be inspired by Clea DuVall’s own experience with her family, so I’m guessing that she made this story as a way of telling people to not be afraid of staying true to one’s self. If that’s the case, then I thought she did a really good job at delivering this message. Another thing that I thought was enjoyable was the cast. Kristen Stewart delivered yet another likable performance as Abby, thus continuing her well-deserved success outside of her “Twilight” franchise. Mackenzie Davis also did a really nice job with her performance as Harper, and her chemistry with Stewart was exactly what I expected it to be: endearing, bright, and sentimental. DuVall’s script worked very well as it managed to blend the comedy with the romance elements and its heartwarming tone. There was this one joke in the film that was a bit too far-fetched in my eyes, but other than that, the humor did its part in making me laugh and distancing itself from being too silly. Most of that is due to Mary Holland as Jane, one of Harper’s sisters, and Dan Levy as John, Abby’s best friend. I was a bit concerned that either one of these two might ruin its tone with their personalities, but thankfully DuVall was able to make them and their humor just as appealing as a Christmas tree. Overall, “Happiest Season” is a joyful, yet familiar, rom-com that should put everyone in a holiday mood this year. While not as emotionally compelling as the other LGBT-related film “Love, Simon”, the film has enough Christmas spirit to compensate. Thanks to its solid cast, DuVall’s respectable direction, and its heartfelt screenplay, this is a worthy addition to the holiday binge-watching list. Sometimes it’s nice to have films that make us feel good inside, especially with everything that’s still going on right now, and I’m happy to say that “Happiest Season” is one of them. It’s worth checking out on Hulu if you’re a fan of romantic comedies. B“Hillbilly Elegy” stars Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto, Bo Hopkins, and Owen Asztalos. Released on November 11, 2020, followed by a Netflix release on November 24, 2020, the film chronicles the lives of an Appalachian family. The film is directed by Ron Howard, who also directed films such as “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind”, “Cinderella Man”, “The Da Vinci Code”, and “In the Heart of the Sea”. It is based on the memoir of the same name by J. D. Vance. The holiday season is a special time of the year when we spend some quality time with our friends and family, especially the latter. So why don’t we spend some time with a family from Appalachia? Ron Howard has been directing a variety of films for many years ranging from comedies to thrillers to even dramas. Some of his films have reached critical gold and became classics. Others, not so much. In terms of box office and critical reception, Howard has been having a difficult time keeping his reputation consistent recently. Throughout the last decade, he has delivered a few misfires like “The Dilemma” and “Inferno”, along with some pretty good films like “Rush” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story”, in my personal opinion. Now he’s starting off the new decade by helming a film adaptation of J. D. Vance’s real-life experience with his family. Ever since its official release a couple of weeks ago, the film hasn’t been doing a lot to redeem Howard’s flawed career as it received some criticism for its story. On the plus side, the cast has earned some praise for their performances, so there’s that. Now that it’s released on Netflix, was it worth the criticism or was it the type of film that’s highly misunderstood? The story’s main focus is J. D. Vance himself (played by Basso), a Yale law student who returns to his family home in Ohio, and his relationship with his mother Bev (Adams) and his grandmother Bonnie “Mamaw” Vance (Close). It also showcases a series of flashbacks that depicts the three generations of the Vance family. In other words, it’s a film that consists of family problems and people having a yelling contest. Typical ingredients for an “awards-worthy” film. But for a film like this to work, it needs to have more than just those elements. It needs to have a compelling story that resonates with people and the topics that we are currently experiencing as we speak. That’s what made “The Trial of the Chicago 7” work for me. In “Hillbilly Elegy”, it deals with poverty and social issues in the Appalachian culture as well as generational trauma and the importance of family and how their teachings can help someone become a better person. Those themes alone could make for an interesting and emotionally-driven story that’ll require multiple tissues, especially the latter two. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. This is one of the films that you’ll either love or hate depending on your expectations. If you’re expecting it to be a straightforward drama about an imperfect family and nothing else, I believe that you’ll be mostly satisfied with the final result. However, if you’re expecting it to be an emotional and well-written roller coaster that focuses on respecting the representation of economic issues in Appalachian culture and its themes, you might not appreciate it as much as the ones that do. Personally, I’m a little bit close to the latter. To Howard’s credit, he did try to make the family drama work by letting the main actors shine and attempting to provide some small doses of emotion into the characters and their relationships. Sadly, he wound up with something that’s somehow more frustrating than sentimental when it comes to the characters and the direction. He had the right idea on the story he wants to envision, but his style of storytelling lacked a lot of things that made the other films with similar themes work extremely well. Some of the editing during a couple of scenes was a bit questionable at times and the emotional depth just felt forced, like it was trying way too hard to make us feel bad for the characters because of the situations that they’re in. Not only was it as mediocre as a made-for-television melodrama on Lifetime, but it’s also unbalanced to a fault. It wants to showcase plenty of emotions, like anger, sad, and happy, but to me, it’s leaning a bit too close to the former, which is something that I really don’t want in a film. This is mostly due to the actions that some of the characters made throughout the film, most particularly Bev. Despite the talent that Adams brought to the table, her character was just way too provocative for me to care about. I can understand that she went through some issues herself, such as drug addiction, but the script didn’t do a whole lot to her character that made me want to feel bad for her. Bev just became one of the mean-spirited characters that made me want to hit with a huge shovel. If there’s one thing that actually made the film worth watching, it would have to be Glenn Close’s performance as Mamaw. While Mamaw is far from a perfect character, Close did a really good job at capturing her strict, yet caring, persona, which could help her get into this year’s Oscar race if she’s lucky. Gabriel Basso also did a suitable job with his role as Vance, and Asztalos wasn’t too bad as Vance’s younger self. Overall, “Hillbilly Elegy” has the ingredients needed to make a compelling and thought-provoking drama. What we got instead is a mediocre experience that force feeds emotions and frustrates me to no end. Even though the cast did their best with their performances, the film suffers from its lackluster storytelling, Howard’s mediocre sense of direction, and some frustrating characters. It’s not as horrible as most of the critics suggested, but I can definitely see this as another misfire from Ron Howard. It’s worth checking out for Glenn Close alone. Other than that, you might be okay skipping this one unless you’re still interested in watching it. C-“Superintelligence” stars Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Brian Tyree Henry, Jean Smart, and James Corden. Released on HBO Max on November 26, 2020, the film is about a woman who comes across the world’s first super-intelligence. The film is directed by Ben Falcone, who also directed “Tammy”, “The Boss”, and “Life of the Party”. We always knew that someday, our world will be taken over by technology. We just didn’t know that this uprising will start with an artificial intelligence that sounds like James Corden. This latest film from HBO Max marks yet another collaboration between Melissa McCarthy and director Ben Falcone, the husband-and-wife duo who has delivered some mildly successful comedies despite receiving some mixed-to-negative reviews in the process. While I too am not a huge fan of Falcone’s filmography (with “Tammy” being the worst in my opinion), I was able to find some enjoyment from some of them due to McCarthy’s likable charisma. Given the film's well-known cast and its family-friendly concept, it looks like it might pull off this familiar feat. Was it able to do so? Let’s find out. The film follows Carol Peters (McCarthy), a former corporate executive who is living an earnest yet unfulfilled life. One day, she gets some snarky backtalk from every piece of technology around her. At first, she thought it was just some dumb prank, but it turns out that she’s being monitored by the world’s first super-intelligence (voiced by Corden), whose goal is to observe human behavior and see if the world is ready to keep on living or be destroyed. Based on everything that’s going on today, this makes total sense. With time running short, Carol must find a way to prove to the super-intelligence that people are worth saving, while also attempting to win back her former boyfriend George (Cannavale). It’s no surprise that this is another comedy that showcases McCarthy using her own sense of charm and brand of humor to attract her audience, which I didn’t mind since everyone has a different taste in comedy, myself included. Based on the marketing and its concept, you would probably think that this could be a wildly entertaining chuckle-fest that offers fun, comedy, romance, and an endearing message about love. It was able to handle the latter two all right. The former two, not so much. Aside from a fine cast (especially McCarthy) and an okay-ish third act, the film is another unfortunate misfire in Falcone’s directorial career. This is one of those moments when I really wanted to like a film because of its intriguing concept, but it was making things harder for me to do so. I find this very upsetting, and I’m pretty sure that most people would feel the same way. The film definitely has heart, and I can’t call it out for that, but it was sadly overshadowed by two types of viruses: Ben Falcone’s poor sense of direction and its underwhelming humor. You can easily tell that Falcone had no idea how to blend the two genres (comedy and romance) together seamlessly, resulting in his direction being a program with an identity crisis. Is it supposed to be comedy? A romantic love story? A romantic comedy? An action romance comedy? No one knows. I didn’t hate it as much as I did with “Jexi”, another comedy that has a character interacting with an artificial intelligence, thank goodness. It actually left me feeling disappointed rather than upset because of how abysmal the execution was. The film’s plot was extremely bland to a fault, and Steve Mallory’s screenplay missed a whole bunch of opportunities to take the concept even further and make the characters more interesting, especially Carol. It’s like the writer didn’t care that much about getting into the concept’s bizarreness and just used the A.I. element as a way to drive its lazy romantic plot forward. You can still have the romance part in the film as long as everything else is interesting and fun, which are the key words when it comes to films like this. At least with “The Boss” and “Life of the Party”, they had that sense of enjoyment in their humorous and heartfelt scenarios despite them not being that great. With “Superintelligence”, there’s no excuse. It’s almost as lifeless as a 1980s IBM computer. Don’t know what it is? Look it up. There were some jokes that had the potential to be funny, but like its plot, a lot of them felt either lazy or forced, even by its PG-rated standards. I did get like one or two small chuckles out of them, but other than that, the humor just didn’t land for me. Not even the voice of James Corden (who had a decent moment or two) can make it even more amusing than it should be. Overall, it doesn’t take an artificial intelligence to discover that “Superintelligence” has a lot of bugs in its system. While I didn’t hate it as much as I did with the likes of “Coffee & Kareem” and even “Jexi”, I would say that this is Ben Falcone’s worst film since his directorial debut, “Tammy”, back in 2014. With its boring plot, mediocre characters, weak humor, and an unsatisfying script, this film will make certain people swear off technology for a while. It’s a good thing that the studio decided to release it on HBO Max instead of in the theater so that people can watch it at home for free without complaining about wasting their money on a “bad film”. Although it won’t stop them from complaining about wasting their time watching a bad film. Can’t win them all, I guess. If you’re a fan of McCarthy’s other works, you should be fine watching it once. If not, then you’re better off watching the Fresh Prince reunion special. D+ |
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