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      'Judas and the Black Messiah' Is the Latest Film to Punt on Politics

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCritic’s Notebook‘Judas’ Is the Latest Political Movie to Punt on PoliticsBoth “Judas and the Black Messiah” and “BlacKkKlansman” are rooted in issues of radicalism vs. the system, but the dramas rely on morally opaque characters that undermine the stories.Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) onstage, and Bill O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), an F.B.I. informant, in beret. Was O’Neal actually a supporter of the Black Panthers?Credit…Glen Wilson/Warner BrosMarch 5, 2021Updated 5:43 p.m. ETAt the beginning of the fact-based drama “Judas and the Black Messiah,” an F.B.I. informant named Bill O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), wearing a slate gray suit and matching tie, sits in front of a camera. He’s being interviewed for the documentary series “Eyes on the Prize II,” and an unseen questioner asks, “Looking back on your activities in the late ’60s, early ’70s, what would you tell your son about what you did then?” What he did then was abet the police killing of the Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. O’Neal’s expression is guarded; his eyes flit to the right and his lips part ever so slightly, but no words come out.The film thus begins with an open question: How does O’Neal account for his actions?It’s a question the movie examines but doesn’t actually answer; “Judas” does not even give an indication that it has its own take. Despite the great performances and otherwise entrancing narrative, there’s a flaw in the storytelling: The moral opacity of the character of O’Neal fails to give us any true sense of the personal stakes involved and hinders the film’s ability to connect to current politics. In this way, “Judas” recalls another recent biographical drama about an undercover agent that punts on politics: Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman,” from 2018.In that film, a Black detective named Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) teams up with a white Jewish officer (Adam Driver) to infiltrate a local Ku Klux Klan chapter in 1970s Colorado. When Ron goes undercover at a Black Panthers rally, he gets involved with a student there named Patrice, who eventually discovers, to her disgust, that he’s a police officer. “Ron Stallworth, are you for the revolution and the liberation of Black people?” Patrice asks, but Ron deflects, saying, “I’m an undercover detective with the Colorado Springs police. That’s my j-o-b, that’s the truth.”As an undercover police officer, John David Washington, right, with Adam Driver, deflects questions about his beliefs.Credit…David Lee/Focus Features, via Associated PressBut that’s not just a deflection on Ron’s part; it’s a deflection by the film as well. Though Ron insists that he nevertheless cares about the Black community, Patrice has a point. As a Black police officer, how complicit is he with the system? His politics aren’t spelled out, and Washington’s acting is too wooden to reveal what Ron thinks of the radical Panthers.At the rally he watches intently, but it’s unclear whether his gaze reflects his attraction to Patrice, a real interest in the politics or a shallow admiration for the pageantry of the proceedings, the flair of the rhetoric and the energy of the participants. There’s a sense that both Ron and the film see the Panthers and the Klan as comparable political extremes, just positioned at opposite ends of the spectrum, and that neither is righteous or effective — though the film shies away from conveying this with more confidence and clarity.As a director known for taking risks, Spike Lee is surprisingly moderate when it comes to this film’s politics, never allowing his protagonist to cross over to the side of the revolution. In an effort to remain faithful to the conventional cop-film genre, “BlacKkKlansman” embraces the belief that not all cops are rotten. Ron has faith in the system; he has his buddies, and they’re fighting a group of violent white supremacists, so we too invest ourselves in these good cops and their fight for justice. But of course, by the end, when Ron’s superior tells him to drop the K.K.K. case, Ron is surprised to find that the institution of which he’s a part is fundamentally flawed.While “BlacKkKlansman” maintains faith that the system might prevail thanks to a few good cops, “Judas” openly recognizes that the system is broken and veers more closely to sympathy for the Panthers’ cause without explicitly promoting or denouncing it.“Judas” distinguishes itself by providing a nuanced look at the Panthers, not simply their militant actions but also their community initiatives. And like many of the characters themselves, the film is captivated by the charisma of its Black messiah, Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya, who won a Golden Globe on Sunday for his performance). He brings his usual steely intensity to the role; it’s like watching a game of chicken between him and the camera, so resolute is his gaze and so palpable his attention when he cocks his head to the side like a challenge.Hampton is not the real focus of the film; Shaka King’s direction and Kaluuya’s performance give him such depth and appeal that he steals the spotlight. But the film begins and ends with Bill O’Neal. He is our eyes, his path is what leads us to Hampton — he should be the film’s real focus. And his ambivalence and internal conflict about betraying Hampton, despite his being the propulsive force behind the film’s tension, lack a clear motivation.Bill dances around the issue of his motives and politics, whether he’s working for the F.B.I. or the Panthers. The agent he reports to, Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons), interrogates Bill about his stances on the assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but Bill shrugs off the questions, saying he’s never thought about them. Whether he’s in earnest or lying to stay safe is unclear. In a later scene, an undercover Mitchell observes Bill at a rally and concludes that this operative must actually be invested in the movement — either that or he’s a terrific actor.Daniel Kaluuya, left, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, Dominique Thorne and Lakeith Stanfield in a scene from “Judas and the Black Messiah.”Credit…Glen Wilson/Warner Bros.And that’s part of the problem too — that Bill does seem to be an Academy Award-worthy actor, and Stanfield, who is such a careful, cerebral actor, delivers a performance that is almost too perfect. With just a sideways glance or a subtle movement of his mouth he immediately conveys a switch of role, cluing us in yet again that despite Bill’s seeming devotion to the Panthers, this is all a performance, one that confounds not just Agent Mitchell and Fred Hampton but us as well.It’s possible that we’re meant to see Bill as an opportunist, so politics are irrelevant. But for a film so blatantly political, that seems unlikely.It’s strange that these dramas opted for noncommittal protagonists because both clearly want to engage with the real world — with history and modern-day events. “BlacKkKlansman” includes footage of the deadly Charlottesville Unite the Right rally the year before the movie was released, and the epilogue of “Judas” includes details about Hampton’s partner and son and their continued involvement with the Panthers, along with footage of the real O’Neal from “Eyes on the Prize.”Perhaps one reason these otherwise politically outspoken (and liberal-leaning) films are reluctant to take a stance involves actual history, a fear they might misrepresent the real flesh-and-blood men they depict. And perhaps it is symptomatic of a lack of imagination that despite their gestures toward the present, “Judas” and “BlacKkKlansman” don’t dare expound on Black radical politics or negotiate what these politics — or even ambivalence — could mean in the context of the real-life climate in which the films were released.O’Neal with his F.B.I. handler, played by Jesse Plemons.Credit…Warner BrosEither way, the films underestimate the depth of their protagonists and the awareness of the audience. In the argument between Patrice and Ron or the meetings between Bill and his F.B.I. handler, King and Lee could have forced their respective protagonists to confirm their views on radical activism vs. the law enforcement system and negotiate their positions in the larger narrative of the history within that divide, but “Judas” and “BlacKkKlansman” shuffle away, tails between their legs.In the “Eyes on the Prize” footage, the real O’Neal sits in front of the camera, in that slate gray suit and tie, and is asked the question we heard in the beginning: “What would you tell your son about what you did then?” There’s the pause and the eyes shifting to the right. His response, when it comes, is indecipherable: “I don’t know what I’d tell him other than I was part of the struggle, that’s the bottom line.” He then says that “at least” he “had a point of view,” though he doesn’t state exactly what that was.That O’Neal, who committed suicide in 1990 on the same day “Eyes on the Prize II” premiered, is the film’s Judas is appropriate. In the Bible, the end of Judas’s story is unclear. In one gospel he hangs himself out of guilt for betraying Jesus. In another there’s no account of his guilt, but he dies in what seems an act of divine punishment. Did Judas betray the Messiah for those 30 pieces of silver alone, or did he have other reasons? Did he regret the action afterward, and if so, was it for his role in the murder of another human being or for a more personal betrayal of his own beliefs, that he offered up the man he honestly believed was the messiah?O’Neal’s final words in the clip are, “I think I’ll let history speak for me.” That’s where O’Neal and these two otherwise good films were wrong. History has no mouthpiece of its own; it can only speak through the interpretations of those who tell the stories of the past. And if those stories intend to also speak to our present, they must speak with conviction. They must take a stance.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      The American Academy of Arts and Letters Unveils Expanded Roster

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe American Academy of Arts and Letters Unveils Expanded RosterFor the first time in more than a century, the society is adding new spots for members, with a diverse group of cultural figures.From left, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Joy Harjo, Wynton Marsalis and Betye Saar, who are among the new members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.Credit…John Lamparski/Associated PressMarch 5, 2021, 5:19 p.m. ETThe American Academy of Arts and Letters, an honor society of leading architects, artists, composers and writers, announced 33 new members on Friday as part of an effort to expand and diversify.Among them are the painter Mark Bradford, the poet Joy Harjo, the artist Betye Saar and the composer Wynton Marsalis and the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates.Founded in 1898, the institution had capped membership at 250 since 1908; members are elected for life and pay no dues. In addition to adding 33 members, the academy announced it is going to grow to 300 by 2025. Its move to diversify comes as the arts reckon with issues of race, inclusion and social justice.“The board of directors is committed to creating a more inclusive membership that truly represents America and believes that expanding the Academy’s membership will allow the Academy to more readily achieve that goal,” the organization said in a statement.Early on after its establishment, the organization — which now administers more than 70 awards and prizes, totaling more than $1 million — was mainly made up of white men, like Theodore Roosevelt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John Singer Sargent and Mark Twain. Previously, new members could only be elected after the death of existing members.“That the doors of the institution have opened to a more representative membership is symbolic of a cultural shift that is long overdue,” Harjo said in an email to The New York Times.“Every culture has contributed to the restoration, remaking and revisioning of this country,” she added. “Together we are a rich, dynamic story field of every shade, tone and rhythm.”The academy is ushering in its most diverse group as institutions across the nation have reckoned with racial justice, equity and inclusion in the last year. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation announced a $5.3 million program to distribute curated collections of books to prisons across the country last June and later pledged $250 million to help reimagine the country’s monuments and memorials to include the histories of people who have been marginalized. In January, the Library of Congress also announced a Mellon-funded initiative to expand its collection and encourage diverse outreach for future librarians and archivists.Employees at other arts organizations are also airing their issues with the gatekeepers of high arts: a coalition from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Opera, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and other New York-based cultural institutions issued an open letter on social media regarding the “unfair treatment of Black/Brown people” last year, demanding “the immediate removal of ineffective, biased Administrative and Curatorial leadership,” among other requests.The academy only includes American architects, artists, writers and composers. Among the new additions, who are not in these categories, are honorary members, like Mikhail Baryshnikov, Spike Lee, Unsuk Chin and Balkrishna Doshi.All of the new members will be inducted on May 19 via a virtual award ceremony.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Harry Styles to Romance David Dawson in New Movie 'My Policeman'

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      WENN/Carnival Films

      The One Direction member will embark on an onscreen romantic relationship with the ‘Ripper Street’ actor for a new movie set in time when being gay was illegal.

      Mar 6, 2021
      AceShowbiz – David Dawson will play Harry Styles’ lover in “My Policeman”.
      The “Ripper Street” actor will play Patrick Hazelwood in the upcoming movie opposite the former One Direction singer as Tom Burgess, the titular cop, and Emma Corrin as Tom’s wife Marion.
      The movie is based on Bethan Roberts’ 2012 novel and begins in the 1990s when the elderly invalid Patrick goes to the home of Tom and Marion, prompting a journey back in time to explore the sexual politics of the 1950s, a time when homosexuality was illegal.
      And according to the Daily Mail newspaper’s Baz Bamigboye, bosses on the Amazon Films-backed picture – which will be directed by Michael Grandage – have hired Linus Roache to play the older Tom, alongside Rupert Everett as Patrick and Gina McKee as Marion.

        See also…

      In the novel, the story plays out in the form of two journals, one from Marion and one from Patrick, offering their contrasting views of Tom.
      Filming is scheduled to begin on location in London and the South East of England in April (21) from a screenplay penned by Philadelphia writer Ron Nyswaner, with more intimate scenes shot in an unspecified major studio.
      Harry Styles was last seen on the big screen in Christopher Nolan’s 2017 war movie “Dunkirk”.
      The “Watermelon Sugar” hitmaker recently filmed “Don’t Worry Darling” with Florence Pugh and Chris Pine among others.
      Olivia Wilde takes on the double duty as a director and cast member. It’s her second directorial project following her 2019 critically-acclaimed coming-of-age film “Booksmart”.

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      Watch These 13 Titles on Netflix Before They Leave This Month

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWatch These 13 Titles on Netflix Before They Leave This MonthEvery month, dozens of movies and TV shows expire from the streaming service. These are the ones not to miss in March.March 5, 2021, 2:31 p.m. ETThis month’s slate of catch-them-before-they’re-gone titles on Netflix in the United States is an especially eclectic assortment of romantic comedies, far-out indies, family fare and martial arts. Dates reflect the final day a title is available.From left, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine and Vanessa Hudgens in a scene from “Spring Breakers.”Credit…Michael Muller/A24 Films‘Spring Breakers’ (March 13)The director Harmony Korine (“Gummo,” “Trash Humpers”) made his first big play for mainstream respectability with this 2012 effort, subversively casting the tween-entertainment superstars Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez and Ashley Benson (and his frequent star and wife, Rachel Korine) as four party-hungry college students whose spring break getaway turns into a crime spree. A scene-stealing James Franco co-stars as Alien, a hedonistic drug dealer who puts them to work, but “Spring Breakers” is focused less on its drugs-and-guns plotline than its visceral components, casting a candy-coated, drug-induced haze over the viewer that replicates the head space of its protagonists.Stream it here‘Chicken Little’ (March 15)This 2005 feature from Walt Disney Pictures — one of the final films to make the transition from Netflix to Disney+ — isn’t widely considered one of the studio’s classics. And that’s just fine; it has the feel of a B-side, a giggly sidebar free of the outsized ambition (and, frequently, stodginess) of too many big Disney events. Zach Braff voices the title character, whose warnings that the sky will fall are first ignored as another of his tall tales. “Chicken Little” is enjoyably irrelevant and self-aware, particularly in its clever opening sequence, narrated by Garry Marshall. Joan Cusack, Amy Sedaris, Steve Zahn, and the Disney legend Don Knotts also join the fun.Stream it here‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (March 16)“Annie Hall” was advertised as “a nervous romance,” and that tagline also applies to this 2012 comedy-drama from the director David O. Russell. Bradley Cooper stars as a schoolteacher who moves back in with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver) after his release from a mental institution, hoping to steady himself after an ugly divorce; Jennifer Lawrence won an Oscar for her work as a young widow who becomes his unlikely partner, first in competitive dance, then in romance. It all sounds much more conventional than it is, thanks to the anything-goes spirit of Russell’s direction and the spiky, complicated performances of his knockout ensemble.Stream it hereNikolaj Coster-Waldau and Carice van Houten in “Domino.”Credit…Saban Films‘Domino’ (March 27)Production issues plagued this, Brian De Palma’s most recent feature, and the filmmaker all but disowned the final result. So it’s difficult to give the picture a full-throated endorsement. But out of its messy making and compromised completion, one can still find enough traces of De Palma’s snazzy, baroque style — inventive camerawork, creative compositions, ingenious set pieces and cheerful indifference to plot — to warrant at least a curiosity peek. It’s far from top-tier DePalma, but at least it has some personality, which is more than you can say for most thrillers these days.Stream it here‘Extras’: Seasons 1 and 2 (March 30)In the mid-aughts, Ricky Gervais used his cultural cachet to land a series of all-star cameos in this cringe-comedy look at the life of an actor. In the first season, Andy Millman (Gervais) is a struggling nobody, working as an extra and dreaming of something better; he gets it in the second season, landing a catchphrase-spouting starring role in a bad sitcom, and discovers he might’ve preferred anonymity. The series co-creator and co-writer Stephen Merchant appears as Andy’s wildly ineffective agent, while such stars as Kate Winslet, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Stiller, Daniel Radcliffe and (especially) David Bowie entertainingly send up their own personas in guest roles.Stream it here‘Killing Them Softly’ (March 30)Brad Pitt teamed up again with Andrew Dominik, the writer and director of “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” for this noir-tinged adaptation of the crime novel “Cogan’s Trade.” Pitt and James Gandolfini (in one of his final roles) star as two contract killers sent by their Mob bosses to take out a group of small-timers who robbed the wrong poker game. But “Softly” is neither a traditional gangster movie nor a Tarantino-style hit-man flick. Dominik sets the film during the 2008 financial crisis and presidential election, the better to situate his central thesis: that capitalism and organized crime aren’t as far apart as we might like to think.Stream it here‘Chappaquiddick’ (March 31)The drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne, inside a car driven into a pond and then abandoned by Senator Ted Kennedy, was one of the darker moments in a family history plagued by tragedy — and one in which a Kennedy was not the victim, but the villain. This 2017 historical drama from the director John Curran revisits that event and makes an admirable attempt at being evenhanded; Senator Kennedy, played with a combination of determination and self-doubt by Jason Clarke, isn’t drawn as a monstrous figure, but neither are his considerable sins forgiven. Most important, Curran vividly recreates the atmosphere of that fateful weekend in 1969, the same weekend as the moon landing, a moment in which anything seemed possible — except undoing what Ted Kennedy did.Stream it here‘Enter the Dragon’ (March 31)After headlining several influential kung fu movies in Hong Kong, Bruce Lee made his big breakthrough to American audiences with this 1973 Warner Bros. production. Lee stars as a martial arts instructor who is hired by British spies to gather intelligence against a crime lord at a fighting competition — a silly plot, but one sturdy enough to hang several genuinely jaw-dropping fight sequences on. “Enter the Dragon” became one of the highest-grossing action movies of all time, but tragically, Lee didn’t live to see its success; he died less than a month before its premiere. Yet its influence lives on, in the cinema of John Woo, Jackie Chan, Quentin Tarantino and …Stream it hereStephen Chow, top, in a scene from his film “Kung Fu Hustle.”Credit…Saeed Adyani/Sony Pictures Classics‘Kung Fu Hustle’ (March 31)… Stephen Chow, who co-wrote, co-produced, directed and starred in this 2005 international hit that mashes up Lee-style action, Chan-style slapstick and Looney Tunes-style cartoon high jinks. Chow stars as a would-be gangster in 1940s Shanghai who attempts to ingratiate himself with the infamous “Axe Gang” but finds his skill doesn’t quite match his aspirations. Chow can execute an action beat with the best of them, and he packs plenty of them into the picture’s lightning-fast 98 minutes. But he also eschews the solemn seriousness of too many contemporary action movies, embracing goofy special effects and broadly comic characters to keep his audience on its toes.Stream it here‘Molly’s Game’ (March 31)The Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin made his feature directorial debut with this 2017 adaptation of the memoir by Molly Bloom, who ran secret poker games for the obscenely wealthy until she got in too deep with the Russian Mob. Jessica Chastain stars as Bloom, and her icy cool demeanor and rapid-fire delivery make her an ideal Sorkin heroine. Idris Elba stars as her lawyer, and the two of them perfect a rat-tat-tat back-and-forth that, at its best, recalls Hepburn and Tracy. The pace drags a bit — the film runs a leisurely 141 minutes — and the emotional keys held by Molly’s father (Kevin Costner) feel a bit too much like shorthand Freud. But it’s an engaging picture, filled with solid performers and smart dialogue.Stream it here‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ (March 31)Stephen Chbosky wrote and directed this 2012 adaptation of his best-selling young adult novel, in which a shy young man (Logan Lerman) attempts to survive not only the typical trials of the teenage years but also his own depression and trauma. Emma Watson and Ezra Miller play his best friends, convincingly conveying the kind of to-the-end-of-the-world tightness that never seems as indestructible as in those vulnerable years. Joan Cusack, Kate Walsh, Dylan McDermott, and Paul Rudd provide ample support as the refreshingly complicated adults in his orbit.Stream it here‘School Daze’ (March 31)Spike Lee’s sophomore film, after his micro-budgeted and critically acclaimed debut, “She’s Gotta Have It,” was this big, bold ensemble musical set on the campus of a Historically Black College over a busy homecoming weekend. Though steeped in the specific politics and activism of its 1988 release, stubborn issues like classicism, colorism and misogyny are very much in the conversation. Lee’s cast is first-rate — Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson and Jasmine Guy make early appearances — and his directorial confidence is striking as he moves smoothly from the intimacy of “She’s Gotta Have It” to an Altman-style mosaic of music, comedy and confrontation.Stream it hereRomany Malco and Mary-Louise Parker in a scene from Season 3 of “Weeds.”Credit…Monty Brinton/Showtime‘Weeds: Seasons 1 to 7’ (March 31)Before creating the Netflix sensation “Orange Is the New Black,” Jenji Kohan gave Showtime one of its longest-running series with this half-hour comedy-drama chronicling the exploits of Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker), who goes from typical Starbucks-sipping soccer mom to white-collar drug dealer after the death of her husband. Parker is electrifying in the leading role, adroitly capturing the character’s combined (and often conflicting) sense of responsibility, desperation and danger. The later seasons struggle to retain that balance, but the early years, which explore the rich, comic possibilities of suburban weed-slinging, are both dark and delightful.Stream it hereAlso leaving in March:“All About Nina” (March 17); “I Don’t Know How She Does It” (March 22); “Blood Father” (March 25); “Ghost Rider” (March 26); “Inception,” “The Prince & Me,” “Sex and the City: The Movie,” “Sex and the City 2” and “Taxi Driver” (March 31).AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      A Dirty Winner at a Lonely Berlin Film Festival

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCritic’s NotebookA Dirty Winner at a Lonely Berlin Film FestivalThe Romanian director Radu Jude’s “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” took the top prize in an online-only edition that lacked the magic of in-person moviegoing.“Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” won the Golden Bear, the Berlin International Film Festival’s top award, on Friday.Credit…Silviu Ghetie/Micro FilmMarch 5, 2021Updated 1:01 p.m. ETBERLIN — No one wants to read more on the things we miss about going to the movies. Too much has been written about that already — and I can practically hear the pipsqueak sighing of mini-Mr. Stradivarius, stressed out by the demand for his tiny violins. But with the Berlin International Film Festival divided this year into two events — a physical edition to take place in city theaters this summer, and an online press-and-industry portion that unfolded over the past five days — the so-near-yet-so-far contrast between theatrical and home viewing has never been more stark.I’ve never felt more removed from the real Berlinale, as the yearly festival is known, nor sensed more acutely the strange sterility of pandemic-era online movie watching.“Mr. Bachmann and His Class,” directed by Maria Speth, won the festival’s Jury Prize.Credit…Madonnen FilmA jury of directors whose films have won the Golden Bear, the festival’s top prize, announced the competition prizes without fanfare via a video livestream on Friday. Some were among my favorites from an outstanding lineup: the top awardee, “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn,” by Radu Jude; the Best Screenplay winner, “Introduction,” by Hong Sang-soo; and Maria Speth’s Jury Prize recipient, “Mr. Bachmann and His Class.” Others, I have yet to catch. That is always the way — but this year’s online-only presentation meant few buzzy, last-minute discoveries, found out by word of mouth.Instead the stellar program played at my personal convenience, in my living room, sometimes scarcely 12 inches from the end of my nose, on a laptop screen. The stories were teleported in perfect resolution directly into my brain, with a frictionless purity. At some point, I realized: It’s no longer even the sociability of the theatrical experience that I long for; it’s simply the interference. I miss the dust in the projector beam. I miss the tiny tactile imperfections of being in a public place that remind you there’s a world outside the film and your own echo-box brain. Without them, everything is too clean.“Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” is a satire about a schoolteacher whose sex tape is uploaded to the internet.Credit…Silviu Ghetie/Micro FilmSo it’s good that some of the best films were, frankly, dirty. Radu Jude’s Golden Bear-winner, “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn,” begins with graphic sex acts, and ends with a woman in a superhero costume shoving an oversize sex toy into a priest’s mouth. So, maybe not one to have on when the kids are home-schooling. In between, however, it’s perhaps the most direct sampler of pandemic-era filmmaking we’ve yet seen, with virus restrictions shaping both the form and the content of a scrupulously untidy satire about a schoolteacher whose sex tape is uploaded to the internet.But its central section is a different beast: a compendium of bite-size segments, most just a few seconds long, into which Jude packs a hundred sometimes blistering, sometimes banal observations about life, sex and Romanian society. It’s almost like an exorcism of all of the ideas that can ferment in a mind left alone too long with its thoughts — so it might feel familiar to anyone who has ever wildly overshared on a Zoom call because it’s their first social interaction in a week.Betsey Brown in “The Scary of Sixty-First,” about two young women who become obsessed with conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein.Credit…Stag PicturesBad taste is also the chief attribute of the actor-director Dasha Nekrasova’s hysterically schlocky “The Scary of Sixty-First.” In the film, two young women become obsessed (and possessed) by the sordid story of Jeffrey Epstein, as theorized on numerous conspiracy websites, after they discover he used to own their new apartment. It’s not directly about the pandemic, but the horror of the walls closing in and being Too Much Online are certainly elements many of us can relate to.Infinitely more wholesome, Natalie Morales’s “Language Lessons” is also a response to quarantine filmmaking restrictions. Told entirely via virtual-meeting app calls, it casts Morales as an online Spanish teacher who connects with a student (Mark Duplass) after the sudden death of his partner. It’s not often that films track platonic friendships as though they’re romances, and rarer still that the process happens exclusively in head-and-shoulder close-up. But the movie, while a little, well, “millennial” in its portrayal of the duo’s angsty interactions, is surprisingly easy to watch, despite the constraints of its format — a testament especially to Morales’s amiable screen presence.Mark Duplass, left, and Natalie Morales in “Language Lessons,” a movie told entirely via virutal-meeting app calls.Credit…Jeremy MackieIt would be a reach to claim any acute topical relevance in the quietly stunning Vietnamese title “Taste,” which took a Special Jury Prize in the festival program’s Encounters sidebar. But for those of us who have experienced lockdown as an infinitely repeating cycle of postures in the same few dimly lit interiors, there is a kind of kinship with its uncannily precise and minutely choreographed tableaux. The director Le Bao’s arresting debut is a largely wordless depiction of a Nigerian footballer who lives, cooks and occasionally couples with four Vietnamese women in an eerily stripped-back Saigon tenement.At the end of “Taste” a tiny rodent sticks its quivering nose out of a mouse hole, before retreating back within. Which leads me to those Berlin titles that are the opposite of brash, that beguiled me instead with their smallness — a quality flattered by the intimacy of online home viewing. And feature films don’t come much smaller than “Introduction,” the latest miniature by the South Korean auteur darling Hong Sang-soo. It is a 66-minute black-and-white scrap of a thing that still somehow manages to play as a deep breath of refreshingly cool, oxygenated air.It won’t convert anyone not already attuned to Hong’s low-key, rueful register, but for the initiated, its delicate story of a young couple navigating a fearful entree into the adult world with the well-meaning assistance of their mothers, has all of the familiar strangeness of the director’s best work.Joséphine Sanz and Gabrielle Sanz in Céline Sciamma’s “Petite Maman.”Credit…Lilies FilmsThere’s another small, exquisitely detailed portrayal of a mother-child relationship in “Petite Maman,” the latest film from the director of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Céline Sciamma. “Portrait” was something of an art-house blockbuster when it came out last year, but in “Petite Maman,” Sciamma is back in the mode of earlier films like “Tomboy,” delivering a beautifully observed growing-pains drama that is also deeply respectful of the dignity and personhood of very young children. It has a magical central twist, but the film’s real magic is in its somehow healing evocation of the bone-deep loneliness of existence, summed up by a line spoken by its 8-year old star: “Secrets aren’t always things we try to hide. There’s just no one to tell them to.”Great films often feel like a secret you’ve been told, and that’s how it is with Alexandre Koberidze’s “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?,” a gorgeous modern fairy tale about ill-starred love, mysticism, soccer and street dogs, which is also perhaps the most bewitching love letter to a hometown that I’ve ever seen. Throughout, the filmmaker’s own wry baritone narrates, and sometimes contradicts or digresses from, the story, and the effect is almost a flirtation, as he invites you to amble with him through the ancient city of Kutaisi, Georgia, making briefly visible the invisible, supernatural forces that connect us all even though we don’t believe in them anymore.Ani Karseladze in Alexandre Koberidze’s “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?”Credit…Faraz Fesharaki/DFFBFull disclosure: I got to see this one in a movie theater, at a socially distanced press screening before the festival began. (I’ve since watched it online, and its miraculousness was not lessened one iota.) So in addition to the transcendence offered by the scene in which a gang of local kids plays soccer in joyful slow motion while a gloriously cheesy song by the Italian singer Gianna Nannini plays, just this once, I also got the dust in the projector beam. It was like a glimpse of better, dirtier days to come.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘Coming 2 America’ | Anatomy of a Scene

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      Film directors walk viewers through one scene of their movies, showing the magic, motives and the mistakes from behind the camera.Film directors walk viewers through one scene of their movies, showing the magic, motives and the mistakes from behind the camera. More

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      ‘Coming 2 America’ Review: Comedic Royalty

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Coming 2 America’ Review: Comedic RoyaltyMore than 30 years later, Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reunite for a return trip from Zamunda to New York.The director Craig Brewer narrates a sequence from the film, which has Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reprising their roles from the 1988 comedy.CreditCredit…Quantrell D. Colbert/Paramount Pictures/Amazon StudiosMarch 4, 2021Coming 2 AmericaDirected by Craig BrewerComedyPG-131h 50mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.Breaking away from a lavish palace party meant to celebrate his engagement, Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler), the newly minted crown prince of Zamunda, complains about the state of Hollywood filmmaking. He never says what kinds of movies he does like, but he’s vocal in his disdain for superhero spectacles and “sequels that nobody asked for.” Mirembe (Nomzamo Mbatha), his royal groomer and love interest, disagrees. Zamundan cinema isn’t so great, she says, and some of those sequels aren’t so bad.Their conversation is one of several meta-jokes scattered through “Coming 2 America,” a genial, mostly inoffensive, sometimes quite funny sequel to a beloved comedy from way back in the 1980s. “Coming to America” — the original, directed by John Landis — starred Eddie Murphy as Crown Prince Akeem, who traveled to the royally named borough of Queens to sow his wild oats, accompanied by Arsenio Hall as his aide-de-camp and comic foil, Semmi.Eddie Murphy returns as Akeem in the genial sequel “Coming 2 America.”Credit…Quantrell D. Colbert/Paramount Pictures/Amazon StudiosIf you remember that movie — it holds up pretty well in spite of a few bits that may chafe against present-day sensitivities — you will recall that the prince fell in love with a New Yorker named Lisa (Shari Headley), whose father (John Amos) owned a fast-food restaurant called McDowell’s. If you haven’t seen or can’t quite recall “Coming to America,” the relevant background is helpfully supplied here, along with some new information. Back then, it seems, there was an oat that got away — a not-even-one-night stand with Mary Junson (Leslie Jones) that resulted in Lavelle.Akeem, who has three daughters with Lisa, learns of his son’s existence during an eventful first act, as he and his queen celebrate their 30th anniversary and bid farewell to King Jaffe (James Earl Jones). Complicating factors include threats from General Izzi (Wesley Snipes), the bellicose ruler of the neighboring country of Nexdoria, and the patriarchal laws of Zamunda, which stipulate that the occupant of the throne must be male. Lavelle, a college dropout and part-time ticket scalper with some of his father’s good-hearted charm, looks like the solution to the kingdom’s problems.But of course the laws of comedy require that further problems ensue, and the many-authored script supplies plenty. Akeem and Semmi return to New York for what feels like a too-brief visit. The fish-out-of-water delights of “Coming to America” could hardly be repeated, but that film’s comic view of America from the perspective of a naïve African aristocrat could have used a more energetic updating. It’s nice to catch up with some of the secondary comic characters — the barbershop guys played by Hall and Murphy in old-age prosthetics, most especially — but any time a ripe satirical opportunity comes into view, “Coming 2,” directed by Craig Brewer, runs in the other direction.But maybe satire isn’t really the point. It isn’t hard, at the moment, to find comedy with a sharper edge, or a tougher view of American dysfunction. “Coming 2” — not unlike Brewer and Murphy’s previous collaboration, “Dolemite Is My Name” — is a sweet and silly celebration of Black popular culture, with a sincere respect for history and a welcoming regard for the new generation. (Speaking of “Dolemite,” this movie provides further testimony to the absolute comic genius of Wesley Snipes.)Murphy, left, with Jermaine Fowler in the film, directed by Craig Brewer.Credit…Quantrell D. Colbert/Paramount Pictures/Amazon StudiosGladys Knight, En Vogue and Salt N Pepa show up (as themselves, in fine vocal form), and so does KiKi Layne, a rising star (see “If Beale Street Could Talk”) who plays Meeka, Akeem’s oldest daughter. Generational conflict may drive the story, but the vibe is of an all-ages party, a blended family reunion with Tracy Morgan as the wacky uncle.Still, like Lavelle and Mirembe at the big bash, you might be tempted to wander off in the long, soft middle, when the music and jokes are put on hold in the interests of a creaky, corny, self-helpy plot. It takes “Coming 2” three-quarters of its running time to arrive at the place where “Coming to” started — the rejection of an arranged marriage in favor of the search for a soul mate. The feminist gestures at the end have an obligatory, let’s-all-nod-our-heads-in-unison feeling that a more daring movie, or one with a stronger idea of what it wanted to be, would not have needed. Lavelle’s cynicism about sequels isn’t challenged very effectively, I’m afraid.I do have one more thing to say, though, which may in itself be a sufficient recommendation, and that is: Ruth E. Carter. One of the all-time great costume designers, she won an Oscar for “Black Panther” and could win another one just for General Izzi’s warlord couture. (Don’t skip the credits or you’ll miss him in a kilt.) The art of “Coming 2 America” resides most fully in the costumes, which are at once travesties of globalist modern style and inspired tributes to it, as well as fully realized examples of a cultural collision that the movie itself can’t quite imagine.Coming 2 AmericaRated PG-13. Mild cross-cultural naughtiness. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes. 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      Kelly Marie Tran: ‘I’m Not Afraid Anymore’

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyKelly Marie Tran: ‘I’m Not Afraid Anymore’The actress has left the “Star Wars” bullies behind to star as Disney’s first Southeast Asian princess in “Raya and the Last Dragon.” She says, “I’m finally asking for the things I want.”Kelly Marie Tran in Los Angeles. Three years after enduring vicious online trolls, “I’m a much stronger person now,” she said. “And I have the tools to react to those situations.”Credit…Tracy Nguyen for The New York TimesMarch 5, 2021, 11:24 a.m. ETThere are two Kelly Marie Trans in this story.One is self-assured, confident and eager to show young Asian-American girls that, yes, women who do not have long blond hair, big doe eyes and porcelain skin can get major roles in films.The other is a distant, if prominent, memory.When Tran wrote a scathing essay in The New York Times in August 2018 excoriating a culture that had marginalized her for the color of her skin, she’d just deleted her Instagram posts amid online harassment from “Star Wars” fans. Her performance as Rose Tico, the first lead character in a “Star Wars” film to be played by a woman of color, had been a proud moment for her. But then, she wrote, she started to believe the racist and sexist comments from online trolls. “Their words reinforced a narrative I had heard my whole life,” the Vietnamese-American actress wrote. “That I was ‘other,’ that I didn’t belong, that I wasn’t good enough, simply because I wasn’t like them.”But recent box office successes like “Crazy Rich Asians” and critical hits like “Minari” that have focused on Asian characters have brightened her view of the film industry — and contributed to her own empowerment. “I’m finally asking for the things I want and learning to trust my own opinion,” she said in a video interview from Los Angeles last month. “And I wish so badly that I grew up in a world that taught me how to do that at a younger age.”Tran voices the starring role of the warrior princess Raya (which rhymes with Maya) in the animated film “Raya and the Last Dragon,” out March 5 on Disney+. That makes her the first actress of Southeast Asian descent to play a lead role in an animated Disney movie, a milestone she doesn’t take lightly. “I feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility,” she said. “To be honest, I haven’t slept in, like, two weeks.”Tran’s title character in “Raya and the Last Dragon.” She said she felt “an overwhelming sense of responsibility” as the first actress of Southeast Asian descent to get a lead role in a Disney animated movie.Credit…DisneyIn a conversation, Tran discussed how the “Star Wars” films prepared her for the pressure that comes with being a Disney princess, the boom in Asian and Asian-American screen stories, and the pros and cons of life without social media. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.Do you intentionally target barrier-breaking roles?I wish! I never thought in a million years that I would be doing what I’m doing now. I was the first woman of color to have a leading role in a “Star Wars” movie; I’m the first Southeast Asian Disney princess — these are things that no one that had looked like me had done before.In your New York Times essay, you spoke out about the harassment you experienced after your role in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Given the recent slate of successful Asian and Asian-American films, does it feel like things have shifted in Hollywood?I’m so [expletive] excited that more of these movies like “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Parasite” and “Minari” are being made. I’m really proud to be part of that change in terms of making movies that honor people from those parts of the world. But there have also been a lot of anti-Asian hate crimes recently, so there’s still a lot of work to be done.Would you still have done “Star Wars” knowing the harassment you’d face?[Long pause] I think I would’ve done it anyway. Doing that first movie was so fun — it was like being admitted to Hogwarts. It was like, “This is impossible,” and then I was doing it. I don’t really look back with that much regret anymore. “Star Wars” feels like I fell in love for the first time, and then we had a really bad breakup, and then I learned how to love again, and now I’m in a better relationship with “Raya.” I’ve moved on, and it feels great.Tran with John Boyega in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” After enduring online harassment over her role in the franchise, the actress said, “I don’t really look back with that much regret anymore.”Credit…David James/DisneyHow are you a different person than you were three years ago?I was so afraid and put so much pressure on myself starting out. You feel like you have to do it the right way or else no one else is going to get a chance. But I’m a much stronger person now, and I have the tools to react to those situations when they happen. I’m not afraid anymore. I’m finally making room for myself and asking for the things that I want. God, I wish I knew how to do that 10 years ago!What are some of the things you feel comfortable asking for now?I’ve been very, very loud about the projects I do and don’t want to be involved in. I never want to further a stereotype or take a job that makes me feel like I’m perpetuating some sort of idea about what it is to be Asian. And I’ve been really, really adamant about my boundaries. Leaving social media was so mentally healthy for me, even though I’ve been told over and over again, “Kelly, you’re not going to get brand sponsorships.” I just don’t care, because I know what’s best for myself, and I know that I’m happier than I ever was being on it.What is most encouraging to you about the entertainment industry right now?I’m most inspired by the people who continue to fight in order for their voices to be heard, and not just in the Asian community, but in the Black, trans, L.G.B.T.Q. and other underrepresented communities. On my dark days, when I feel sad and insecure about myself, those are the shows that I watch and the stories that I turn to. It brings me so much hope that people are speaking their truths and actually having people listen.Asked if she sets her sights on barrier-breaking roles, she said, “I wish! I never thought in a million years that I would be doing what I’m doing now.”Credit…Tracy Nguyen for The New York TimesAre microaggressions something you still encounter?I haven’t recently experienced outward racism in the way I experienced it when I was a young child, but now I experience subtle racism in terms of people who are publicly allies but privately complicit. In Hollywood, there are people who outwardly are like, “We believe in this,” and then when you’re actually in the trenches with them, they do things that show you they are actually complicit with white supremacy, and with institutions of power that have allowed specific types of people to get away with injustice over and over and over again.Your Vietnamese name is Loan. When did you start using the name Kelly?The name on my birth certificate is actually Kelly. My parents, who are war refugees from Vietnam, adopted American names when they started working — my dad worked at Burger King for almost 40 years, and my mom worked at a funeral home. And they gave their children American names. I didn’t realize it until I was older, but it was them protecting us so that people wouldn’t mispronounce our names. But I didn’t realize until later on that it was also an erasure of culture. It makes my heart hurt a lot to think about it.What advice do you have for young Asian-American actors?Do not blame yourself if someone is not educated enough to understand that there are different types of people in the world who exist and who deserve to be heard. Do not internalize racism, do not internalize misogyny, make space for yourself and ask for what you want, because no one else is going to make space for you.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More